this is bbc news with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. a member of the scientific group advising the uk government says the country should've gone into lockdown earlier. wish we had gone into lockdi earlier. i wish we had gone into lockdown earlier. i think that has cost a lot of lives, unfortunately.” earlier. i think that has cost a lot of lives, unfortunately. i think earlier. i think that has cost a lot of lives, unfortunately. ithink we took the right decisions at the right time and there is a broad range on sage of scientific opinions. thousands of people across the uk have demonstrated in solidarity with anti—racism protests in the united states. huge protests over the death of george floyd have continued in cities across america — all of them peaceful. in washington, thousands gathered in the biggest demonstrations there in 12 days.

the head of the world bank calls the current global economic crisis a "catastrophe" and appeals for debt relief for the poorer nations. brazil says it will no longer publish total numbers of cases and deaths from coronavirus, after their death toll passes 3a,000. and, in a week's time, places of worship in england will be reopened for individual prayer. hello and welcome if you're watching in the uk or around the world, and stay with us for the latest news and analysis from here and across the globe. a senior scientist, and a member of the group who advises government

on their coronavirus strategy, has said britain locked down too late, at the cost of lives. professorjohn edmunds, who sits on sage, said he wished the restrictions had been in place sooner, but the data they had at the time was poor, and it would have been hard to impose restrictions at that time. the uk health secretary, matt hancock, has insisted the government made the "right decisions at the right time" over coronavirus, "guided by the science." professor edmunds was speaking on the andrew marr programme. yes, we should have gone into lockdown earlier. i think it would have been hard to do it and i think the data that we were dealing with in the early part of march and our situational awareness was really quite poor. and so, i think it would have been very hard to pull the trigger at that point, but i wish we had. i wish we had gone into lockdown earlier.

i think that has cost a lot of lives, unfortunately. the health secretary matt hancock was asked whether he agreed with professor edmunds' assessment. no, ithink no, i think we took the right decisions at the right time and there is a broad range on sage of scientific opinion. we followed and we we re scientific opinion. we followed and we were guided by the science, which means guided by the balance of that opinion, as expressed to ministers through the chief medical officer and chief scientific adviser, that is the right way for it to have been done. i'm not saying it is an easy decision but he is absolutely clear it cost lives, not locking down earlier. while there are who equally make different scientific arguments... is that anyone who thought it did not cost lives? yes, if you listen to the balance of opinion on sage, approximate 100

people, what we do as ministers is ta ke people, what we do as ministers is take the scientific advice channel through the chief medical officer and the chief scientific adviser on the broader science and as professor edmonds said, we have to make the balanced judgments based on that advice and that is the way it works. you will always come in a body of 100 people, find differing voices. to be absolutely clear, locking when you did and not earlier, did not cost lives 7 you did and not earlier, did not cost lives? i'm sure, and as i keep looking back on that period, i am sure, that taking into account everything we knew at that moment, we made, my view is, that we made the right decisions at the right time. but the other thing i would say is that i spend most of my time trying to rid this country, all of

us, of this ghastly virus and really most my time and energy i devoted to looking forwards, as well is trying to learn lessons from what happened in the past. he said the official tally of 5000 new cases a day did not include no hotspots such as hospitals and care homes. well also on the andrew marr show, the shadow foreign secretary lisa nandy was asked whether the labour party supported the current easing of lockdown measures. well, we support the easing of the lockdown restrictions, but it has to be safe, so we want the government to ta ke be safe, so we want the government to take a cautious approach was not there are a number of things that they should be doing now that are not currently working properly, the test, track and trace system needs to improve. 0ne test, track and trace system needs to improve. one of the major problems with test, track and trace at the moment is that local gps, local public health directors, do not currently know who is testing

positive for covid—i9. not currently know who is testing positive for covid-19. given that, sorry to jump positive for covid-19. given that, sorry tojump in, but given that, do you think it is safe to unlock at this rate at the moment or not?|j think it is right to be followed by the science and right to do that cautiously. of course, we have not seen all of the science, because they won't release it, but we do wa nt to they won't release it, but we do want to see lockdown easing. there isa want to see lockdown easing. there is a huge impact on people of being ina is a huge impact on people of being in a lockdown come on people's mental health, people who live alone oi’ mental health, people who live alone or children, but they have to be safe and cautious and at the moment the government has been far too slow about things like test, track and trace and are put too little support infour trace and are put too little support in four people who are going need to self—isolate. we are keen to work with the government to help to get that right. more anti—racism rallies are expected across the uk later, after the police killing of george floyd in the united states. british protests yesterday passed off largely peacefully. but in london, 14 people were arrested after clashes with police and 14 officers were injured.

metropolitan police commissioner, cressida dick has said she is "deeply saddened and depressed" that the officers were injured in what she called "shocking" assaults by a minority of protesters. in the united states, there've been some of the largest demonstrations against police violence since george floyd's death in minneapolis nearly two weeks ago. in los angeles, a crowd marched from hollywood to beverly hills, at one point kneeling down for five minutes and chanting, " peaceful protest, " before breaking into applause. in san francisco, demonstrators briefly shut the golden gate bridge. and an estimated 30,000 people rallied in chicago to demand police reform. more on the protests in the united states in a moment, but first, let's look at the demonstration held in london yesterday. this report is from sean dilly. black lives matter! more than 4000 miles from the scene of george floyd's death, during an encounter with white

police officers in minneapolis, the cries of injustice could be no clearer in the streets of britain. black lives matter! in central london, many thousands gathered in support of black lives matter. it's been our grandfather's fight, it's been our father's fight. we don't want it to be our children's fight, and that's why we want to make sure they're a part of this as well. nojustice, no peace! police say the day passed mostly without event, but as evening approached, the mood started to turn. many had already left when fireworks, bikes and other missiles were launched towards police lines outside downing street. officers in public order riot gear replaced those in less protective uniforms to disperse those who remained. oh, my god, the horse has bolted! a mounted police officer hit her head on a traffic light when her panicked horse bolted. by then riderless, it ran into the crowd and trampled a person. both the protester and the officer received medical treatment. the horse made its own way back to police stables. the justice for george floyd

protests went ahead in heavy rain, and despite the government strongly urging people not to break social distancing rules by gathering in massed crowds. more protests will take place outside the american embassy in london later. sean dilly, bbc news. we've had a statement from cressida dick, commissioner of the metropolitan police service about the protests in the uk and the injured officers. she says... "i am deeply saddened and depressed that a minority of protesters became violent towards officers in central london yesterday evening. this led to 11! officers being injured, in addition to 13 hurt in earlier protests this week. we have made a number of arrests and justice will follow. the number of assaults is shocking and completely unacceptable. "

meanwhile, the metropolitan police federation chairman ken marsh has expressed concern that the protests were allowed to go ahead amid the coronavirus pandemic. i am not happy at all with what i saw yesterday. my brave colleagues were put in a position that they should not be put in at all. isn't becrying this, why the home secretary isn't. we are in the middle of a pandemic, unless something has happened i am not aware of. i understand fully why they want to protest, but the circumstances are so different they should not be there and they should not have been allowed. staying with those protests, in the united states, tens of thousands of people have marched in cities across the country, on the 12th day

of demonstrations sparked by the death of george floyd. from washington, our north america correspondent aleem maqbool reports. no peace! nojustice! no peace! it was the biggest demonstration in washington had seen since the killing of george floyd. but with none of the confrontation with security forces we saw previously. they sent in the national guard, there was the national guard here the streets, they were tear gassing people, shooting them with rubber bullets, you know, really, like, perpetuating police brutality and violence in the streets of washington, dc, and still, people are still out here and showing up. we are not afraid, we are not backing down until we see change. we are still getting arrested, we are still being pulled over, we are still being discriminated in everything in american life, so we have got to fight, not for now, but for the future. well, we may bejust outside the white house, but the sense we get through speaking to people here is that this has now gone beyond just getting a message across to donald trump.

what people are telling us is that they have now really given up on him doing the right thing. instead, the focus has become on changing the system, individuals and police departments. there are huge protests in london, in paris, in berlin, in sydney, in solidarity with african americans, how does that feel to you? i have cried every day since i have been seeing protests, out ofjust purejoy, that finally, finally the voices are being heard. at the same time as the demonstration in washington, there was a memorial service for george floyd in north carolina, close to where he was born. these images associated with this will affect all of our lives for the rest of our lives. not only did we lose a family member, but y'all watched as well.

george floyd's body will now continue its finaljourney but the reverberations of his death will be felt long beyond his funeral in texas on tuesday. aleem maqbool, bbc news, in washington. adam elliott—cooper is a sociologist and activist. he sits on the board of the monitoring group, an anti—racist organisation. he joined the protests in the uk yesterday and will do so again today. is that right? yes, i'll be attending the protest, monitoring the police, very concerned about the welfare protesters, considering that police charged at peaceful protesters, one of those police officers charging at protesters with such one and abandon that they not themselves off their police horse,

so themselves off their police horse, soiam themselves off their police horse, so i am concerned about the safety and will be monitoring today. so, you are blaming the police. cressida dick, she said that the number of assaults is shocking assaultsjs.-,-,.-,'n - there a