this is bbc news. with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. i'm lewis vaughan jones. a u—turn from the bosses of american football admitting they were wrong to ban players from protesting against police brutality. we, the national football league, admit we were wrong for not listening to nfl players earlier and encourage all to speak out and peacefully protest. the official coronavirus death toll in britain passes 40,000 — only the us has more. and france says its forces have killed a key islamist militant leader in mali. and after vietnam's success fighting coronavirus, its football league restarts —

watched by huge crowds. welcome to bbc news. we started in the us and that you turn by the nfl. four years ago one american football player knelt when the national anthem was played in a protest against police brutality towards black americans. many other players followed colin kapernick‘s example, he was sanctioned by the game's governing body. since the death in custody of george floyd, taking the knee — as it's now called — has been repeated at demonstrations around the country. and now the national football league, the nfl, has completely reversed its earlier position. where the national football league condemn racism. we the national foot or leg admitted we we re

national foot or leg admitted we were wrong for not listening to nfl players earlier and encouraging all to speak out and peacefully protest —— national football league. we the national foot for leave believe black lives matter. i've personally protest with you and want to be part of the much—needed change in this country. during the recent protests in the us, colin kapernick‘s gesture has been copied again and again. in minneapolis last weekend, one national guard officer and his squad troops knelt alongside protestors in a powerful gesture of reconciliation. and on friday, in the canadian capital 0ttawa prime minister justin trudeau joined protestors and took the knee himself. 0ur north america correspondent david willis has more on the story. this is a significant reversal of policy from the nfl. very significant, and a sign of the zeitgeist you might say. let me tell you why, because 75% of players in the nfl are african—american, yet almost

all the team owners are white, and many of them are supporters of president trump. but president trump, who early of course back in 2016 in the days of colin kaepernick, called for players who took the knee to be sacked by team managers, well now the president has re—entered the fray after another leading player in the league called for, came out against the kneeling protest, only to withdraw that, those comments in the face of widespread criticism. president trump has gone after him, saying he shouldn't have withdrawn those comments and writing on twitter "no kneeling". but now we have the man who runs the nfl coming out basically in favour of the players, saying that it was a mistake to oppress them back in 2016 and to oppress those kneeling protest, and basically saying that as far as the league is concerned, black lives do matter. just to be clear, this isn't just about sport, is it, or one particular sport. this issue over years and years has polarised people, been a huge issue of contention right across us society. absolutely, we are talking about centuries in actual fact of oppression of black people at the hands of whites. and this is what we are seeing at the moment, a movement really, that has coalesced into very large protests

in major cities across the united states. we have seen more of them today, we will see more of them tonight. and this is a movement, make no question of it, much is made of a watershed in history, we really have one here it would seem. judging by the complexion of many of these protests, lewis, many of them have more white faces in them than black. ok, thanks david. david willis there.

here in the uk, people are being urged not to attend black lives matter protests over the weekend in a bid to keep the coronavirus infection rate down. it comes as the number of people who've died after testing positive for the coronavirus in the uk passed 40,000 on friday. britain is now only the second country in the world to reach that figure, after the united states. here's our health editor, hugh pym. for families and friends of the bereaved, some of whom spent weeks in intensive care, there've been months of grief and emotional turmoil. my mum, she was my best friend. she was kind, funny. this is just the worst pain in the world. i feel like without the proper protection, then more things like this and more families will lose a loved one. since the first uk death in early march, a total of 40,000 have now died after testing positive for coronavirus. the government's chief scientific adviser said keeping the death total to 20,000 or below would be a good outcome. it's now above 40,000.

how do you assess that outcome given where we are now? the day that the number of deaths from coronavirus has gone over 40,000 is a time of sorrow for us all. we've got to remember that each one of these is an impact on a family that will never be the same again. and my heart goes out to them all. and it makes me redouble my determination to deal with this virus. so, how did we get here? on" march, the world health organization formally declared a pandemic. that day, spanish football fans were in liverpool for a champions league football fixture. the next day, testing and tracking of new community cases was stopped, with resources focusing on hospitals. the four—day cheltenham racing festival was in full swing. on 16 march, people were told to avoid pubs and other social venues, and work

from home if possible. the next day, the chief scientific adviser made this prediction. if we can get this down to numbers 20,000 and below, that's a good outcome. on 23 march, lockdown began across the uk. on 21 april, the daily death toll hit a peak, with more than 1000 deaths. since then, the overall total has climbed and now stands atjust over 40,000 deaths, though this doesn't include those in all settings where there wasn't a test. some experts argue the government should have reacted more quickly after seeing what was happening in italy. we had two to three weeks more time to get ready for this, but i think we just took it too easy, to be very frank. i think we assumed that we were different, that somehow we were going to respond in a different way, that we could cope. and then, by the time they realised they had the problem, it was too late.

the uk covid—19 death toll, at around 40,000, is ahead of other european countries, with italy next on the latest reported figure atjust over 33,500, followed by france, spain and belgium. but adjusted for the size of the population, belgium has the highest death rate, at around 84 per 100,000 people, with the uk at 60, a little above spain, italy and france. there are slight differences in the way each country calculates its figures. this virus has hit lots of very developed nations with robust healthcare systems, robust health infrastructures, and it's taken a lot of people by surprise. and i don't think the uk is alone in having been taken by surprise. i think we need to essentially wait till the end of the pandemic and then have a dissection of what happened and learn lessons from it. for now, the authorities will focus on testing as many people as possible and then

tracing their contacts, seen as the best way to suppress the virus. hugh pym, bbc news. parts of europe are continuing the process of opening up even further after strict coronavirus lockdowns. in france, the government's top scientific advisor announced that the virus there is now under control, while spain and ireland are planning to ease their restrictions too. reged ahmad reports. the sumptuous rooms of france's palace of versailles, as workers prepare for the historical tourist site to open its doors to the public once again on saturday. france's covid—19 figures are continuing to go down, and the country's last restrictions on movement were lifted this week. health officials say the virus is now under control and will remain manageable so long as people continue to socially distance. they say any new clusters are effectively being contained by testing, quarantine

and contact tracing. spain too is following close behind on easing strict measures. from next week people in the hard—hit cities of madrid and barcelona will be allowed to eat and drink inside bars and restaurants, and children can play outside at any time of day. international tourists will be allowed back into spain from july, but there are mixed reactions on the easing of rules from local residents. translation: i think it is a bit risky. if there is an outbreak i don't know if there will be resources. translation: i think things have been done more or less well, so let's hope to continue this way. ireland's response to the coronavirus is seen as a success story, with relatively low deaths and case numbers. the irish prime minister says things have gone so well, he is accelerating plans to exit lockdown. today i can confirm that it is safe to move to phase two of the plan to reopen our country, starting on monday. this has been made possible because of the considerable sacrifices that you have made

to restrict the spread of the virus and protect others. those plans include from monday groups of six allowed to meet, provided social distancing is maintained. and retail stores and libraries are to reopen. spain's king and queen held a minute's silence on friday to mark the last day of the country's official mourning period. honouring the nearly 30,000 who have died from covid—19. the continued easing of restrictions on parts of europe will come with mixed feelings, and in the shadow of those who have already lost their lives. france says its forces have killed a key islamist militant leader in mali. the french armed forces minister says abdelmalek droukdel died on wednesday in what she called ‘a daring operation‘ which is being seen as a major success in the fight against islamic extremism in the region. rich preston has this report.

mali has been suffering an islamist insurgency since 2012. dozens of attacks over the years have left thousands of malians dead, with violence spreading across the region. the man in charge, abdelmalek droukdel, commanding the group calling itself al-qaeda in the islamic maghreb, the north african arm of the extremists made infamous for the 9/11 attacks on the united states. mali was a french colony until independence came in 1960. when islamists gained a foothold in the country at the start of the last decade, it sought help from its former colonial power. with french and united nations support, the islamists were suppressed, but not beaten. this announcement from the french armed forces minister is a significant victory in the fight against the militants, saying droukdel and several members of his inner circle were killed in what she called a severe blow to the terrorist groups.

the news comes as thousands of malians gathered in the capital bamako on friday, calling for the country's leader to step down, saying ibrahim boubacar keita has failed in his handling of islamist insurgencies, and that his seven years of rule should end. translation: it's time for everything to change. 0ur army is disorganised and demoralised. the money that was promised to the army has been diverted. soldiers don't get their food rations. we are the laughing stock of the whole region. france has around 5,000 troops in mali, alongside 13,000 un peacekeepers, but though the killing of the militants' leader is a success story in this long—running battle, the security of mali as a whole, and the safety of its people, is unlikely to change anytime soon. rich preston, bbc news. you are watching bbc news.

our main story this hour: the us national football league has reversed its stance against players protesting by ‘taking the knee'. it's said it was wrong to stop them doing so. let's have more on that. in washington, mayor muriel bowser, a democrat, also unveiled a two—block long mural painted onto the street leading up to the white house declaring black lives matter and renamed the plaza accordingly. clarence williams is a reporter for the washington post. he says the mural painting is an extra—ordinary piece of symbolism for every washington resident. these streets are seeing far fewer people than they have over the course of the past week, the tone has been more of a street festival or tourist attraction that has been the kind of shouting, anger and defiance that we've seen from protesters. some bleeding and fires and destruction in earlier days, but tonight, this plaza in the city, black lives matter, people have been here taking selfies.

i have seen firefighters having their photo taken here, that's something that's new. so tonight, it's calm, there are evening storms. but tomorrow, officials here are gearing up for what should be... a huge increase in numbers expected. we should explain, those big yellow lines on the street behind you, thank you for the excellent camerawork. it is extraordinary, this mural. it is something else, to be honest. to just be objective, this is not a plaza as much as 16th st. the most famous address perhaps certainly in our country

or the world, than pennsylvania avenue, this is the 1600 block, not that, but just a few hundred metres south of me, so this is quite an extraordinary thing for the people of washington and people in the entire western area. myself included, i must say i was surprised myself. for people watching around the world, this will probably be among the first times they've heard, just tell us what she is about. she is a native washingtonian and she will come into political life in her mid—career, i'd say. she is well—known as a council woman who followed one of the previous mayors. she was very active in constituent services, making sure the street lights got picked up in her community. vision then started to move on the city council to take

more positions of power. and she is clearly not a fan of donald trump. well, she a democrat and any democrat is certainly going to be at odds with the republican administration. this republican administration brings challenges like anyone has ever seen, talking to them our‘s officials, they tried to set up their position. and let them know where they are staying at any given issue. but the tenure as president and from there, and they go into negotiations and sometimes friction, which is what has been on display throughout this week in terms of the response and how to deal with the massive amount of demonstrations. extraordinary times indeed.

0ur our thanks to clarence williams from the washington post. former us vice president joe biden has formally won the democratic party nomination for this november's presidential election. a tally of recent state primary votes by the associated press news agency shows mr biden has attained enough pledged delegates to the democratic convention to become the pa rty‘s candidate. in effect, he became the nominee when his rival bernie sanders withdrew from the race in april. it's the third time the 77—year—old former senator has run for president. a sign that the lockdown is being eased around the world is the gradual return of professional sport. we've seen football matches being played in various countries, although usually the games take place behind closed doors. that's not the case in vietnam, though, where the fans are also making a comeback. the bbc‘s tim allman reports. in nam dinh city, you would think that covid—19 never even existed.

dozens of supporters showing their colours ahead of the big match. yes, masks are being worn, temperatures are being taken but apart from that, anything seems, well, completely normal. —— but apart from that, everything seems, well, completely normal. "vietnam is always ready to fight the outbreaks," says the supporter. "the measures taken to fight the virus are very good. that's why our league was resumed in full, faster than other leagues in the world." and look at the crowd — no social distancing here. cheering and applause. people standing shoulder to shoulder. the authorities in vietnam took the strictest of measures to fight the virus — easy to do when you're a one—party state — but it worked. the country had little more than 300 cases and not a single death, which means a welcome

return for the national sport. translation: we all know how much football needs spectators. matches at a stadium filled with fans are so wonderful. i'm not saying this to compare us with other countries, but vietnamese football has returned after the covid, which shows how well we have fought the virus. it wasn't the greatest results for the home fans — their team lost 2—1 — but the fact they were here to see it is the biggest victory of them all. tim allman, bbc news. while so many industries have really struggled during lockdowns around the world, one that's really made the most of having a captive audience is virtual tourism. a quick search online will find you a tour to chernobyl, a visit to a new zealand sheep farm, or a cooking lesson in bali. one of the earliest forms of virtual tourism to really take off is the african safari. 0ur correspondent andrew harding has more from south africa.

0n the edge of the vast kalahari desert, dawn has group of meerkats out of their burrow to warm themselves in the winter sun. some more focused on the task than others. little do they know or presumably care but their morning ritual is being broadcast around the world. live. with a commentary from a safari guide. good morning from a beautiful kalahari morning. in distant essex, the mills family home. can you say meerkats? meerkat. transported from the tedium of lockdown to the african wilderness. i just lockdown to the african wilderness. ijust found lockdown to the african wilderness. i just found it really does make i love the sounds of the birds and it is relaxing and it is something we can all do together. it does feel as though you could be there with them. nothing can

beat watching these animals up close like this but perhaps virtual safaris are the future. during the lockdowns in particular the number of people watching these animals live online on the internet has risen fivefold. 0k, copy. thank you. instead of crowd of tourists, there are a handful of film crews. it seems like the animals have noticed the difference. i can 100 and -- hundred % say that wildlife sightings and elephant sightings and elephant sightings have increased a lot. because there are no people to scare them off? that would be my theory, definitely. but can this last? will appetite for travel return all virtual become the new normal?” travel return all virtual become the new normal? i think virtual tourism in general is definitely a part of the future. i think it is a critical way for us to be able to share our natural heritage with everybody without damaging that which we love and care about. time to track down more

wildlife for today's second live performance before an adoring online audience. and when you are stuck inside all this time, does it allow you to feel almost like you are going outdoors? yes. to explore the world a bit. yes, but you cannot smell anything! but is very true. —— that is very true. no smell. technology and the internet still have their limits. andrew harding, bbc news, south africa. one of the world's finest orchestras, the vienna philharmonic, hasjust held its first live post—lockdown concert. they performed beethoven's fifth symphony, but in line with anti—coronavirus regulations in austria, only 100 people were present. bethany bell has more. the vienna philharmonic is back, with beethoven's 5th symphony conducted by daniel barenboim, and attended

by a tiny audience. the performabce took place in vienna's musikverein wien concert hall, which hosts up to 2000 people at events like the new year's concert, but nowjust100 people were allowed to attend because of coronavirus social distancing regulations. daniel barenboim says this is an important moment for music—making. i think it's wonderful and this is the message that the vienna philharmonic and i want to give today — that we start again with live music—making. and this is how music can and should be experienced, live. all the players tested negative for covid—19 before the concert. the orchestra hasn't played in public for three months.

it's the first time in its history the vienna philharmonic has had such a long break between concerts. for the audience, the event was a sign of hope. it was wonderful after corona for the first time, that we could go back to our golden hall and have the vienna philharmonic play for us with daniel barenboim. wonderful programme with beethoven and they played exceptionally well. having live performances is very important for a country like austria, which prides itself on its cultural offerings. for now, it's just for the lucky few, but there are plans to slowly increase the sizes of audiences as the summer goes on. bethany bell, bbc news, vienna. you can reach me on twitter. i'm @lvaughanjones.

iam i am lewis vaughanjones and this is bbc news. goodbye. well, it's certainly not going to feel like a day injune out there on saturday, and certainly not compared to what we had last week, when temperatures were in the mid to high 20s. saturday is going to be a blustery one with further showers and low pressure is firmly in charge of our weather. you can see the clouds circling around the area of low pressure very close to scotland and actually, through the early hours we're seeing a band of cloud and rain slipping southwards across the uk, accompanied by some pretty strong winds. it's the weather front that's linked to this low pressure, and this low pressure will hang around through most of saturday and then by sunday, it looks as though it's going to clear away. but through the early hours, we've got a band of more persistent rain stretching from the north, moving due south. it does look as though the south of the country is actually going to wake up

to some sunshine but look how that cloud, that rain—bearing cloud, slips southwards through the course of the day, so i think most of us will catch at least a little bit of rain. but the chances are that during the afternoon, the skies will clear across more northern parts of the country and the sun will come out. but it's across the south, mid of the afternoon, where we'll probably have most of the cloud and the outbreaks of rain. now, the wind arrows you can see here, those are the gusts of wind, and in places, they are in excess of 40 mph, perhaps even up to 50. 50 mph in gusts isjust about gale force, and that's a strong wind for the time of the year, certainly whipping those trees around. now, the temperatures in the sunshine in the north will probably peak at around 19 degrees, for example in the lowlands of scotland. but further south, we are talking more like the low or the mid teens, and it is going to feel nippy in those gusty winds. the showers will continue into saturday night and the early hours of sunday but there is an indication that that low pressure and this weather front will drift a little bit further towards the east during the course of sunday.

so, yes, sunday on the north sea coast blustery with showers but even here, they will eventually fade a little bit later on in the day. and i think for most of us, overall, sunday is looking better, particularly the further west and the north you are. so, again, another fine day in glasgow. and the outlook actually shows that the weather will be stabilising itself as we go through next week. perhaps not all that sunny and not all that warm, but at least those winds will die down. that's it from me. bye— bye.

this is bbc news. the headlines: the national football league in the united states has reversed its stance against players speaking out. the commissioner of the nfl, roger goodell, said it had been wrong to stop players from peacefully protesting during the national anthem, as they did by taking the knee. more than 40,000 people are now known to have died in the uk from coronavirus according to latest government figures. britain is only the second country in the world to surpass the number after the us. the toll rose by 357 on friday. france says its forces in northern mali and their allies have killed the leader of the militant group al-qaeda in the islamic maghreb. the armed forces minister said abdelmalek droukdel was killed in an operation on wednesday along with several of his closest collaborators. she described it as a major success.