welcome to bbc news — i'm aaron safir. our top stories: council members in minneapolis pledge to dismantle the city's police force following the death in custody there of george floyd. thousands of people continue to take part in peaceful protests against police brutality and racism in the us. huge crowds gather in cities and towns across the country. thousands of people across britain take part in more anti racism protests. in bristol a statue of a 17th century slave trader is torn down and rolled into the river. in london a huge crowd gathered at the us embassy — as anger over the killing of george floyd in minneapolis widens to a call for change here. and in brazil, hundreds of people have demonstrated there against president bolsonaro‘s response to the coronavirus.

we start with news that minneapolis city council has voted to dismantle its police department. minneapolis is the city where two weeks ago the unarmed black man george floyd died after a police officer officers knelt on his neck for nearly 9 minutes — triggering protests that have gone global. nine of the minneapolis council's thirteen members said they would instead create a new system of public safety.they told demonstrators, that decades over the weekend, the mayor was forced away from a rally after he would not commit to abolishing the police.

police department could not be fundamentally changed. miguel otarola is the minneapolis reporter for startribune and was at powderhorn park in minneapolis where the pledge was taken. thanks very much forjoining us. thanks very much forjoining us. that ledge we understand was greeted with cheers and approvalfrom the was greeted with cheers and approval from the crowd and that's quite a significant change in the mood from what we've seen over the last couple of weeks. exactly. thank you for having me. i want to be clear that there has been no vote made, this isjust a verbal pledge, a statement made in front of more than 1000 people to say that they are committed to end the minneapolis police department. it's definitely a sign of action based on the last couple of weeks of reaction that we've seen following the death of george floyd. what could this mean for the police force in the city? what kind of future and people start imagining now?

we arejust beginning and people start imagining now? we are just beginning that conversation. it's unclear what they mean by what it means. what it means to have the reform that so many people are doing right now. already the minneapolis police department is under investigation over the past ten years. that is probably the most imminent thing they are facing and just on friday, the city council had voted to go ahead and ban the use of chokehold is a neck restraints, have police intervene with other officers who are using too much force and already you are beginning to see some wheels in motion but this is likely going to be a process that takes months, if not more than a year. you hinted at previous cases of police brutality against african—americans in minneapolis. why is it that

previous attempts to reform the police department have failed? that's a great question. honestly when i go out into the protests, it's one of the main things i ask people who are demonstrating. why do you think this feels so much different? there are many factors to put in play, whether it's the pandemic, people being cooped up pandemic, people being cooped upforso pandemic, people being cooped up for so long, trying to show their feelings, maybe up for so long, trying to show theirfeelings, maybe there is unemployment that goes into that but when i speak to black protesters and african—american protesters, they say they feel why people also woke up to them and obviously this is something thatis and obviously this is something that is much bigger than minneapolis now. it's gone across the entire world, even london. miguel, i wonder across the entire world, even london. miguel, iwonder what we're going to see, what you expect to see in your city over the next few days. now that this big concession has been made, other protests going to

fizzle out, will they start focusing on another of their demands? what is your sense of what could happen? exactly, to be honest, i do not think this is going to be enough for the demonstrations to end. starting to ta ke demonstrations to end. starting to take a little bit more time and put in more community input when it comes to their future decisions. sure, i don't think there is going to be so many big decisions made, but the demonstrations are sure not to end. the feelings against the police department and george floyd's death and the charges and the case continue. thanks very much for your time, thank you for sharing your experience with us. charles wilson is a retired police officer and chairman of the national association of black enforcement officers. a little earlier i asked him what he thought of the move by minneapolis city council

to dismantle its police force. my understanding is that they have not presented any clear—cut concepts of what it is they're going to put in its place yet. only that they are looking to, quote unquote, dismantle what's there. that's likely to be a long and complicated process that could take some time. i want to talk bit about your experience. you were the first black police chief in a suburb of cleveland, ohio, in the late—80s and mid—1990s. what do you think it's like now for black police officers to be out on the streets dealing with protests, where, in many cases, the police are the target of those protests? it's hard. as black officers, we have to tread a very thin line.

we know that we represent the, quote unquote, police establishment, by virtue of the job that we do. but we also have both a self recognition and community recognition as being members of that black community. of the 9000 some odd members of our organisation, most of them predominantly work in communities where they grew up and live in, so they know the community, the community knows them and they know that it's a need to work together to resolve the problems that people face.

you talked to our team and said that there's a dual consciousness of both a black person and a police officer. what's it like carrying those two thoughts in your mind once? when i first went on the job, somebody asked me what was i? was i a black police officer or a police officer who was black? i very specifically told them, i'm a very strong—minded black man who happens to wear the same uniform you do and i'm watching you. it's... it's hard being a black officer.

there's no doubt whatsoever about it. but we consistently try to remember who we are, where we come from and the reason we do the job we do. it's not for the fame and glory, it's not for the major overtime, it's to make a difference in the communities that we serve. here in the uk ,thousands of people defied a ban on mass gatherings to join rallies triggered by the killing of george floyd. demonstrators in the city of bristol in the west of england, pulled down a bronze statue of a 17th century slave trader, edward colston, and threw it into the harbour. colston‘s company transported more than one hundred thousand slaves from west africa to the caribbean and the americas at the end of the 17th century cramming them into ships to maximise profit.

the prime minister borisjohnson says that the anti—racism protests across britain have been — in his words — subverted by thuggery. jon kay is in bristol where the statue was taken down. chanting: take it down! 300 years after his death, edward colston‘s fall from grace. for centuries, he took pride of place in bristol, celebrated as a merchant, politician and philanthropist. now, reviled for his part in the slave trade. that statue represents years of oppression, it represents years of hurt and just a lot of emotion and hatred that has been built up inside of us, that we have internalised for years, and that coming down today hopefully signifies change, hopefully we have sent a message, notjust to everyone in the uk or the usa, worldwide.

cast in bronze, now daubed with graffiti, one of bristol's most famous sons. some protesters knelt on his neck, a reference to the death of george floyd across the atlantic. this had begun as a black lives matter demonstration, but it ended in the historic docks, where colston‘s ships once sailed. cheering and yelling gone! jasmine is a trainee teacher. what do you say to somebody who lives in bristol who is horrified by the fact this is gone? people might say it's vandalism, but black people have to walk these streets, black slaves built bristol. we have to walk the streets and see that statue of colston every day. that is what it means. that statue is a kick in the face to all black people.

there has been a growing campaign in recent years to remove colston‘s name from buildings across the city, but many feel destroying the statue was the wrong way to do it. tonight, there was a small counter protest, claiming local history had been trashed. sheer vandalism and disorder, is completely unacceptable, and it is right, actually, that the police follow up on that and make sure that justice is taken and undertaken with those individuals that are responsible for such disorderly and lawless behaviour. avon and somerset police say they deliberately took a low—key approach to the whole protest, due to sensitivities, safety and social distancing. some people will look at this and think, "hang on a minute, you should have intervened and stepped in and at least avon and somerset police say they deliberately took a low—key approach to the whole protest, due to sensitivities, avon and somerset police say

they deliberately took a low—key approach to the whole protest, due to sensitivities, safety and social distancing. some people will look at this and think, "hang on a minute, you should have intervened and stepped in and at least challenged the behaviour that was happening." this was a very difficult policing operation. there is a lot of context that sits around it and i believe we did the right thing. no regrets? avon and somerset police say they deliberately took a low—key approach to the whole protest, due to sensitivities, safety and social distancing. well, this evening, people are coming down here and laying placards and many are just standing, looking in disbelief at what has happened here, that in one afternoon, this city has challenged its history and changed its landscape. the tearing down of a statue of bristol slave owner edward colston followed a fresh wave of demands in america, for the removal of statues representing figures owner edward colston followed a fresh wave of demands on saturday, crowds in richmond tore down a statue of confederate general williams carter wickham outside which stood outside virgina commonwealth university. the destruction followed the decision by virginia's governor to order the removal of a statue of leading confederate robert e. lee from the state's capitol. ashleigh lawrence—sanders is assistant proffesor at dayton university, specialising in public memory and african—american history. shejoins me now.

can you explain the link between the black lives matter protests in the protests for george floyd and this urgent demand to remove statues and other markers of history from the confederate civil war era ? well, we saw in the first wave of statue removals, it all began pretty much recently, i say all began, but the recent wave began in 2000 been after the murders in charleston, south carolina. dylann roof was associated with white supremacist causes and used the can do it lag in many pictures and that sped up the removal of the confederate lag from the south carolina state house but also the questioning of the space of the lengthening of the confederacy in public spaces throughout the south so we saw

eventually new orleans removed several of their monuments, baltimore removed some of their monuments. defence of the monuments. defence of the monuments coalesced in charlottesville, monuments coalesced in cha rlottesville, the monuments coalesced in charlottesville, the unite the right rally where heather heyer was killed, defending those, the conversation sat back off a bit but i was said that in addition to the massacre that happened in 2000 for dean, it was sort of a joining together ofa was sort of a joining together of a lot of grassroots movements that had been put together on the ground by black slide matter in the previous year, 2014, 2015. local youth led protest, black lead protest joined with long—standing anti— monument sentiment to help begin this conversation again on why these monuments are up in the first place and that's what we are seeing here right now, the linking of racial violence against

african—americans violence against african—america ns with a long—standing legacy of racial violence that statues represent. in bristol, we saw that statue being torn down by a mob. they were a happy mob, they were quite pleased with what they are doing and they had many supporters but they have many detractors. also people who may well agree with the statue being taken down but not happy with being taken down ina not happy with being taken down in a lawless way. where do you stand on that? i think we need to be clear here there have been processes to take down this statue before, the legal bureaucratic incrementalist processes trying to petition, trying to ask your local leaders but we are seeing these processes have not panned out. many cities after 2015 in the united states created monument commissions to look at the monuments and in their cities andi monuments and in their cities and i would say for a good chunk of them, the decision—making process was not

in the hands of people in the community, particularly not from those communities that we re from those communities that were harmed by these people and the second thing is that these commissions did very little. in the case of charleston, whether massacre happened in 2015, where this sort of wave began, no confederate statue has come down. they had a commission. one of the out puts of the commission was a similar controversy as bristol, they wanted a clerk but they couldn't even agree on the language of the clerk, the language of the clerk, the language of the plaque was controversial, they couldn't vote on it, they watered it down and there was a good chunk of black councilmembers who are like, no, we should take the statue down. so these incrementalist processes have not serve the people who have been particularly harmed in what i overheard in that new segmentjust now, what i overheard in that new segment just now, what what i overheard in that new segmentjust now, what the young lady was saying, if you area young lady was saying, if you are a black person in bristol 01’ are a black person in bristol or if you are a black person or charleston or richmond all

these places, you have to walk by the statues every day and on top of that, in the united states at least, your taxpayer money, your public money that is supposed to be for everyone is supposed to be for everyone is going to maintain the statues, millions of dollars has gone to maintain the statues and these monuments in the states over the years. it's a clearly topic which gets people impatient, thank you. stay with us on bbc news. still to come: the madeleine mccann suspect‘s life in portugal. we report from the village where he lived around the time of her disappearance. the day the british liberated the falklands.

and by tonight, british troops had begun the task of disarming the enemy. in the heart of the west german capital, this was gorby—mania at its height. the crowd packed to see the man who for them has raised great hopes for an end to the division of europe. it happened as the queen moved towards horse guards parade for the start of trooping the colour. gunshots the queen looks worried but recovers quickly. as long as they'll pay to go and see me, i'll get out there and kick 'em down the hill. what does it feel like to be the first man to go across the channel by your own power? it feels pretty neat. it feels marvellous, really. this is bbc news. the latest headlines: council members in minneapolis have pledged to dismantle the city's police force, a key demand of protestors following the death in custody

there of george floyd. thousands of people across britain have taken part in more anti—racism protests. in bristol a statue of a 17th—century slave trader is torn down and rolled into the river hundreds of anti—government protesters in brazil have staged a demonstration against racism and against presidentjair bolsonaro over his handling of the coronavirus. brazil's death toll has overtaken italy's, and in the next few days, it is expected to overtake the uk and become the second—highest in the world. the brazilian government has been accused of trying to hide the true numbers by removing months of data on covid—19 from a government website. oliver stuenkel is a professor of international relations at the getulio vargas foundation in sao paulo, and says the president is being criticised for his actions. bolsonaro has gravely mishandled the crisis.

he has systematically minimised the pandemic, even though brazil had much more time than other countries to prepare for the crisis. so in that sense, he's pretty much followed the us approach, even though his strategy overall has been much more radical. he has changed his minister of health twice, because both ministers refused to publicly endorse a medicine that — you know, without any real evidence of being effective in the fight against the coronavirus. so, in that sense, he is perhaps one of the most radical — or he has chosen the most radical sort of anti—science strategy one can imagine. and the reason behind that is quite simple. he knows that an economic crisis is coming because of the pandemic, and he doesn't want to take the responsibility, so his decision is to work consistently against social distancing measures. he has consistently violated

the rules of social distancing. he has met followers throughout the pandemic, and will certainly say in six or 12 months from now that the governors and mayors who insisted on the social distancing measures were the ones to blame. but oliver, as you have been speaking, we have been seeing pictures of the president meeting, shaking hands with very enthusiastic reporters. his views on this, his actions on this, do have support in brazil. yes, i would say that about one third of brazil's population is sort of the core, you know, very resilient and determined supporters of the president, and many of these have genuine doubts about the pandemic. the president and several of his ministers have peddled conspiracy theories. i regularly speak to bolsonaro supporters, and a significant amount of those say that this is something the media is, you know, is trying to promote as an attempt to weaken

trump and bolsonaro. there is a lot of rumours about supposedly fake death certificates, so that the number is artificially increased of covid—19—related deaths. so these are people who are unlikely to be deterred, even though there is a lot of evidence now which suggests that the president's strategy has caused a lot of unnecessary deaths, and that brazil is in a way becoming the country that's — you know, one of the countries that's most affected by the pandemic in the world. the new suspect in the madeleine mccann case has been described as strange and intimidating by people in the portuguese village where he stayed around the time of the child's disappearance in 2007. one resident claimed people were terrified of the man, identified by the german authorities as christian b, because he carried a gun. our correspondent gavin lee sent this report.

this small village is where christian b is said to have stayed in the weeks after the disappearance of madeleine mccann. the suspect is reported to have turned up here, 30 miles from where she went missing, without money, asking for work. christian b is understood to have stayed in this village for several months, and was often seen at this restaurant and with his campervan that police have appealed for information on, and several people have told us they found him strange and that he was intimidating. they said he spent time with two friends who rented this house and claimed they were fostering german children. this woman, who asked not to be identified, rented the property to the couple. she says locals feared him, and he was seen with a weapon on his belt. everybody was really terrified of him, because my friend's daughter had a health issue, a mental health issue, and my friend was very scared that, you know,

he could — he could really do something to her. and being seen with a gun — i suppose, you know, people would be frightened. in germany, police are also investigating the suspect over the disappearance of five—year—old inga in 2015. and the father of another german child, six—year—old rene, who went missing from this algarve beach in 1996, says police have told him there could be a link. this local fireman was part of the search team. translation: we never had any evidence about where rene had been seen. one person said he was near the river, but wasn't very sure. normally, when people drown in this part of the coast, a body appears after a few hours. in four days since the new madeleine mccann appeal, police have received almost 400 tip—offs from the public, help which is vital, they say, if there is to be a breakthrough in this case. gavin lee, bbc news, portugal. that's about it from me and the

team. you can reach me on twitter. i'm @aaronsafir. you can stay up—to—date with all of our latest stories on the website. thank you for watching. hello there. the first week of summer has certainly brought a big change in the weather pattern. over the weekend, cool northerly winds, some rain, and a good deal of cloud around as well. interestingly, at loftus, in redcar and cleveland, there's been more rain in the last week than we've had during the whole of spring. the start of the new week, though, looks a lot drier. the winds won't be as strong either. that's because we've got this area of high pressure, or at least the nose of it, heading towards the uk. may not last long, but for a while, it will keep those weather fronts at bay from the north—west of the uk. now, many places will have a dry day on monday, the sunshine coming and going. there'll still be a few light showers blown onto some of those north sea coasts, and during the afternoon, watch out for some heavy, slow—moving showers in wales

and the south—west of england. but, on the whole, a lot of dry weather around. temperatures not very different from what we had on sunday, but we'll find that the winds are a good deal lighter today. and those light winds continue into the evening. it shouldn't be too long before we see the back of those showers from the south—west, and overnight into tuesday morning, it's going to be dry pretty much everywhere. a fair bit of cloud around, perhaps not quite as chilly across scotland and the north—east of england as it will be first thing on monday morning. well, moving into tuesday, and there's still quite a lot of cloud in the picture. and whilst most places will be dry, there's the odd shower developing through the day ahead of the main change, which is this band of rain here arriving into western scotland and northern ireland, probably very late on in the day on tuesday, if not into the evening. temperatures on the cool side, though. 15—17 degrees. and then more significant changes arrive from mid—week onwards. we've got that weather front driving some rain southwards.

pressure is dropping, we end up with an area of low pressure a cross the uk on wednesday. so we've got some cloud, we've got some outbreaks of rain pushing towards the south—east. and whilst it may well brighten up a bit further north, look at all the showers developing, and those actually could be heavy and thundery. and because there's more cloud, because there's more rain around, temperatures will be a bit lower, 14—16 degrees. that area of low pressure is still going to be around during thursday and perhaps into friday. it's drifting further south, as well. so the wetter weather as we head towards the latter part of the week more likely to be across england and wales. we'll see the winds picking up, but by the end of the week, it could be a warmer wind.

this is bbc news, the headlines: a majority of the minneapolis city council has promised to dismantle its police department. the move follows the death of an unarmed black man, george floyd, in minneapolis police custody, nearly two weeks ago. nine of the council's 13 members said they would instead create a new system of public safety. large numbers of people are continuing to take part in peaceful protests against police brutality and racism in the us. tens of thousands gathered in cities including washington and new york, as well as small towns across the country. the protests began as an expression of anger over the police killing of george floyd. this thousands of people defied the ban on mass gatherings to join rallies triggered by the killing of george floyd in police custody in the us. in the uk, demonstrators in bristol pulled down a bronze statue of a 17th century slave trader, edward colston, and threw it into the harbour.