this is bbc news, with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. paying their respects: thousands of mourners file past the casket of george floyd in his hometown of houston. democrats in congress introduce a sweeping police reform bill and kneel for the amount of time a police officer kept his knee on george floyd's neck. prince andrew is embroiled in an increasingly bitter dispute with us prosecutors investigating his friend, the latejeffrey epstein — the convicted sex offender. and hong kong marks one year since protests began against a controversial extradition bill. we'll look at what — if anything — has changed.

hello, and welcome to our viewers in the uk and around the world. stay with us for the latest news and analysis from here and across the globe. thousands of people in the us state of texas are queueing to pay their last respects to george floyd, the man whose killing by police has sparked protests for racial justice around the world. a memorial is being held at the fountain of praise church in houston, where mr floyd grew up, and mourners are filing past his body. the democratic party candidate in this year's presidential election, joe biden, has met some of mr floyd's family ahead of a private funeral which will be held tomorrow. barbara plett—usher has this report. they queued in the heat of the day to pay their last respects, to show solidarity with a hometown man who's become a global symbol

of police brutality. some were grieving the loss of a friend and neighbour, but all were showing up to strengthen the movement for racialjustice that erupted as america watched george floyd stop breathing with a policeman‘s knee on his neck. we will do what we can to make this thing happen which is called change. hopefully, policies will begin to change, people will begin to get out and vote and effect change. as far as equality, people to learn who we are, why we do what we do, to kind of get in our world, to see where we are, and i think that's going to make a difference. in the nation's capital also, a solemn pause. we will have a moment's silence, actually eight minutes and 46 seconds of silence, in honour of george floyd under so many others. congressional democrats fell silent for the exact period of time that mr floyd was pinned to the ground.

they unveiled today sweeping legislation on police reform. calls to change the way policing is done are echoing across the country. already in minneapolis, where mr floyd died, a majority of city councillors has pledged to dismantle the police department and replace it with a community—led system. they say reform hasn't worked, as activists have long claimed. when people say they might file a complaint against the officer, the officers willjust laugh, they know it's a joke. the system is a joke to them, because it never provides consequences, and they act with impunity. but maybe not this time. the officer charged with murder in mr floyd's case appeared in court for the first time today. in washington, donald trump weighed in on the debate by meeting police officers and dismissing the idea of any radical changes.

there's not going to be any disbanding of our police, our police have been letting us live in peace, and we want to make sure we don't have any bad actors in there, and sometimes you'll see some horrible things, like we witnessed recently, but 99, i say 99.9, but let's go with 99% of them are great, great people. in houston, the democratic presidential contenderjoe biden met mr floyd's family privately for more than an hour. police reform has become part of the mix in a turbulent time. there's a quiet sense of confidence here that inow firmly on the agenda in an election year. barbara plett—usher, bbc news, houston. let's bring you some live pictures now from the memorial in houston. people are still filing past the casket there. a limited due to social distancing. you can see that most of them are wearing face masks,

as well. let's stay with these pictures. joy sewing is a journalist at the houston chronicle, and has been covering the george floyd protests and the impact his death has had on the community. shejoins me live now from his memorial. he spent quite a few years of his childhood, didn't he, at school there, involved in music, involved in sports, as well. so he knew a lot of people and was part of that community? he grew up in a community that i live in here in houston. he was active in his high school, he played sports, he was into music, i believe you did some rapping. so people knew him, and people really like george floyd. he was in the third ward out there, wasn't he? eager up there. so how many people have been there to pay their respects? i don't have that number, i'm actually going to the private funeral tomorrow, so i asked my

collea g u es funeral tomorrow, so i asked my colleagues there today, and i know there are thousands of people who we re there are thousands of people who were pouring in, they were there earlier this morning ready to pay their respects. there were no cameras allowed near the casket area, and it was an open casket.|j thinkjoe biden has taped a message but which will be played at the funeral tomorrow — why did he decide not to attend the service itself?” don't know, i don't know what his schedule was. i know that there are a lot of people who are coming in for tomorrow for the private ceremony. the press release with a number of celebrities that are supposed to be there. i had originally known thatjoe biden was going to be there tomorrow... obviously a lot of respect being shown by the people who have cute outside in the heat to pay their last respects. do you get a sense that a lot of the anger about george

floyd's death has now dissipated a little, or not? not at all. i don't think that. i think george floyd's death was the boiling point, and people were at a point where they we re people were at a point where they were tired§ people were at a point where they were tired? ongoing attacks on lisa—“z: 51254 559-2:— eéé—ei—zr .:§§.::lf:. ft". black l355“;— éi';.‘4 5592:— eéé—eier .:;‘;‘.:.-lf:. a“: black men lisa—“z: 5-22.“ .a.?!e; 55551—55- 7299725425; .a.-a. black men by lisa—“z: 512.4 .a.?!e; 55551—55- 7299725425; .a.a. black men by police, “.a.!aaa ‘ji-‘aa a§'.“a.a éé?£:"zf .2;‘§.:z‘l:55. aa. black men by police, innocent “.a.!aaa ‘ji-‘aa a§'.‘aa aaaaiaa aqqaalfa. aa black men by police, innocent lives lost, families, you know, shattered. and so, i think people are at a point where they are just tired of it and they're exhausted by it. and what we've seen with this particular death is that there is a world outcry. and we haven't seen that before. and george floyd's death, though, encapsulating that anger about other black men who've died in police custody, as well? sure - and

women, but mostly black men, yes. do you think the family wanted it to be a smaller service tomorrow, but will people gather outside and follow it as well? what are you hearing in the community? i am pretty sure that people will be outside, because i think a number of people are just curious as to who will be allowed in. soi curious as to who will be allowed in. so i think we do have that element and we plan to get there early. i do know that there'll be a lot of people there, i don't know what it will be like compared to date because today was the public viewing. joy at the houston chronicle, thanks very much separately thank you very much. some more detail now on derek chauvin‘s brief court appearence via video link. the judge in minneapolis set his bail at over $1 million. mr chauvin has been charged with second and third degree murder and manslaughter charges.

his next court appearance is scheduled for 29 june. three other officers were also sacked and charged with aiding and abetting the killing. and we'll be discussing the calls for police reform in the usa later in the programme. let's get some of the day's other news... the united states economy has officially entered a recession. the body that monitors economic cycles in the us said the last period of growth ended in february, and there had since been a decline in employment and production of unprecedented magnitude, ending the country's longest ever period of uninterrupted expansion. north korea has said it will sever inter—korean hotlines with south korea as the first step toward completely shutting down all means of contact with seoul. north korea had been threatening to do so for seveal days if the south refused to stop defectors sending leaflets and other material into the north. —— several days.

as of today, travellers arriving in the uk will have to quarantine themselves for two weeks. those who don't will face fines. officials say it's necessary to protect public health, as the country tries to limit further coronavirus infections and the risk of a second wave. but airlines have warned of dire consequences for the transport and tourism industries. authorities in the united states have formally asked prince andrew, the queen's son, to answer questions as a "witness" in the criminal investigation into the sex offender, jeffrey epsteen who died last year. —— jeffrey epstein. but in the past couple of hours, lawyers for the prince have accused the usjustice department of trying to seek publicity, and claim he has offered three times to provide evidence about his friendship with mr epstein. here's our royal correspondent nicholas witchell. it's more than six months now since andrew withdrew from royal duties.