this is bbc news. i'm mike embley with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. the brother of george floyd testifies before congress, calling for real change in american policing. my family cry and cry every day and just ask, "why? why?" a virus warning for india's capital. officials say there could be 500,000 coronavirus cases in delhi by the end of next month. and we'll take you to the city of portsmouth, virginia, where protestors tried to destroy a confederate monument.

the brother of george floyd, whose death in the custody of minneapolis police has triggered protests around the world, has urged congress to ensure he did not die in vain. philonise floyd called on lawmakers in washington to work together to make meaningful reforms to how law enforcement operates in the us, with the hope that changes worldwide might follow. this report from our north america correspondent aleem maqbool. less than 2a hours ago philonise floyd, in the white suit, buried his brother in texas. reporter: mr floyd, what do you hope to tell the committee today? justice for george. today he came to washington to plead with politicians to ensure that george wasn't killed in vain. his kids had to watch that video, itjust hurts. it's a lot of people with... a lot of pain.

my family, they just cry and cry every day and just ask, "why? why?" he pleaded for his life, he said he couldn't breathe. nobody cared, nobody. it was all part of an emotional hearing about what changes need to be made to police practices. some forces, like the one in minneapolis where george floyd was killed, say they are going to reform anyway, but acknowledge training can't solve all their ills. i've struggled with, when i watched that video, that i did not see humanity — i did not see humanity. and arguably a lack of humanity has been displayed by many police over the last two weeks, but it's clear not all officers are going to welcome change. this isn't stained by someone in minneapolis, it's still got a shine on it and so do theirs — so do theirs.

stop treating us like animals and thugs and start treating us with some respect. back on capitol hill, there was a powerful testimony from the sister of an officer who was shot dead in violence on the streets two weeks ago. my brother wore a uniform, he wore the uniform proudly. i am wondering where is the outrage for a fallen officer that also happens to be african—american? the pain being felt by so many here is raw, but there are no easy solutions. aleem maqbool, bbc news, washington. meanwhile in new york, people protesting against racism and police brutality temporarily shut down manhattan's sixth avenue. protestors knelt or sat on the street, also known

as the avenue of the americas, holding their fists in the air and chanting. protestors nationwide have also continued to target controversial statues of historicalfigures. we'll bring you more on that later. the us secretary of state has promised an investigation into allegations that foreign journalists were abused by american police as they covered the protests ignited by the death of george floyd. australia, britain and germany have voiced concern over video of journalists coming under direct attack from officers. i know there have been concerns from some countries of their reporters being treated inappropriately here. we've seen some of the allegations come in from the state department. you should know and those countries should know we will handle them in a completely appropriate way. we will do our best to investigate them to the extent the state department is capable of doing that. the number of coronavirus deaths in the uk could have been halved if lockdown had been introduced a week earlier according to a leading scientist. professor neil ferguson says the outbreak had been doubling every three to four days before measures began.

0ur political editor, laura kuenssberg, has more. quite some claim made by professor neil ferguson, who was one of the scientists part of the group advising the government on the science at the early stages of this pandemic. important to say that he actually stood down from that committee after claims about the fact he himself had been involved in breaking some of the lockdown rules, but still a very eminent scientist and somebody who was absolutely critically involved at those early stages. talking to mps today, he suggested if the lockdown measures had been brought in a week earlier, as many as half the deaths could have been avoided. now, of course, he was talking with the benefit of hindsight. he himself said the information around at the time and the quality of the data was very, very poor. but when asked about this today, the government scientist and the prime minister were notably very reluctant really to start talking about the decisions that had been made at that early stage.

they kind of said, "well, look, now is not the time." certainly from a political point of view, the government wants to focus on what will come next, but i think it is fair to say the list of criticisms that's being put at the government's door for their early handling of the crisis is getting longer by the day. but this is, of course, a very, very complicated situation in all of this. professor whitty, the chief medic, said today, "if you don't understand there is no comfortable way of handling this, then you haven't really understand what's going on and what it's all about." that goes for the policies and plans themselves, but certainly for the politics of it too. india is being hit hard by coronavirus, with more than quarter of a million confirmed cases, hospitals are stuggling to cope. it's predicted that india's capital, delhi, could have more than half a million infected people by the end of july. and yet, the nation

is re—opening its economy. 0ur india correspondent yogita limaye reports from mumbai, the city that has been worst affected so far. a family that was preparing for a celebration, now in mourning. for 13 hours, they went from hospital to hospital. nilam singh was eight months pregnant. when she started getting breathless, some hospitals said they were too full because of covid—i9. others were too scared of it. she died in an ambulance. "i feel so alone, i have no words. my son asked me where his mother is, i don't know what to say to him. she was such a good person, we are devastated," her husband, rajinder singh, says. this man is pleading for his wife to be treated. he says hospitals are turning him away. after many hours, she was admitted. social media is flooded with people calling for help.

a woman in delhi made a desperate appealfor herfather. a former mp struggled to save his niece. a mumbaifamily lost two members before they could get proper care. too many stories of despair and helplessness. and even as the situation is grimmer than ever, india is lifting its lockdown. economic compulsions have driven the government to open up the country again. and for many people even in hot spots like mumbai, there is no option now to avoid public transport or to stay indoors. and every time they step out, it's with the knowledge and fear that if you get sick you could well be on your own. frontline workers say not enough was done to contain the virus. what we were expecting from the lockdown is the first thing that we will try to break the chain of infection.

we will try to break the spread. and for that, what was needed is to do extensive testing but now what we have seen is that the lockdown was very unplanned. there could be more than 500,000 cases in delhi alone by the end ofjuly, the government has said, and a shortage of 80,000 hospital beds. the moment that many had feared since the virus reached the country is here. yogita limaye, bbc news, india. let's get some of the day's other news: the us central bank, the federal reserve, has released its first economic projections since the coronavirus pandemic. it estimates a 6.5% decline in gdp and unemployment just above 9% by year's end. it also signalled it would mantain its close to zero interest rate for several more years. tokyo's olympic games will be a simplified version of the global sporting event.

that's according to the chief executive of the organising committee. organizers say they are working on more than 200 ideas to simplify and reduce costs for the games. the event was supposed to start injuly, but was pushed back to next march. a work by the british graffiti artist banksy, which was cut away by theives last year from the bataclan music hall in paris, has been found by police in an abandoned farmhouse in abruzzo central italy. the work was stenciled on an emergency exit of the venue commemorating the victims of the 2015 islamist terror attack in paris, which had targetted the concert hall. in arctic russia, there are warnings that the operation to clean—up more than 20,000 tonnes of spilled diesel could take years. the leak happened at the end of may, prompting russia's president, vladimir putin, to declare a state of emergency, but so far measures to contain the spread of the fuel have had limited success. rich preston has this report. in two weeks, the leaked diesel

has drifted more than 10km from the site of the accident, already reaching a nearby lake and turning the ambarnaya river red. there are fears the contaminated water could eventually reach the pyasina river, which flows directly into the kara sea, part of the arctic ocean. booms have been brought into trying to contain the spread but have failed to completely stop the fuel, already impacting the local ecosystem. translation: our workers saw dead donkeys. today i saw a dead muskrat. if a bird lands on the fuel or if a muskrat swims in it, it's condemned to death. the storage unit that housed the fuel was part of a metalworks facility located outside the town of norilsk, one of the northernmost towns in the world — 300km above the arctic circle. president putin criticised the company, a subsidiary of norilsk nickel, for its delay in reporting the accident, and criminal

proceedings have been launched. three members of the powerplant's staff have been ta ken into custody. norilsk nickel said the measures were unjustifiably harsh and promised to cover the cost of the clean—up operation, thought to be about $146 million. around 700 people are involved in the clean—up in what environmentalists say is the largest incident of its kind ever to hit the arctic. rich preston, bbc news. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: gone with the wind — the oscar—winning film is dropped from hbo because of its depiction of slavery. how cardboard could be the a nswer to how cardboard could be the answer to workplace worries about the coronavirus.

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 world news, the latest headlines:

the brother of george floyd has told the us congress there must be meaningful changes to america's policing practices. the oscar—winning film gone with the wind has been removed from the american streaming platform hbo max, following the global racism protests. the company said the film, made in 1939, would return with an explanation of its historical context and a denouncement of racist depictions. disney plus also advises its subscribers that some of its older films, among them 1941 animation, dumbo, may contain outdated cultural depictions. the cable network paramount has cancelled one of america's longest running reality shows amid the protests. cops was first aired more than three decades ago. gina yashere is a british comedian and writer currently in los angeles making a sitcom broadcast prime time on the cbs network. she gave us her thoughts about the issue, and described the show she has written for us television.

basically it is about a family of nigerians who have been in america working and one of them is a nurse, and basically a white guy goes into hospital, having had a heart attack, and falls in love with her. and it is basically the story of these two cultures coming together and realizing that they have a lot more common ground than they initially thought. it is about — it's a show about love, acceptance, friendship and the fact that immigrants are just people just like everybody else, trying to make a living, trying to live a happy life, trying to give their children the best possibly future that they can. that's what the show is about. you created it, i know, wrote it and act in it — you are well—placed to talk about these matters. several people pointing out, of course, that even at the time some of these movies were made, there were plenty of people unhappy with the depictions in them, many native americans have made this point — theyjust were not being listened to. well, exactly, i can't understand why in 2020 we are still talking about blackface. it's ridiculous. when we complained —

nobody was listening to us, when we complained about it back then, all the way back the mammy depictions in the gone with the wind type movies, then you've got the black—and—white minstrel show which is hugely offensive and the way that native americans were depicted in films, the whole cowboys and indians franchise and the white man is always the hero and they are always the savages — but now it we've complained about this for a long time but nobody ever listened and now it takes a horrendous murder seen on televisions all around the world and online to now suddenly make people realise "oh, maybe blackface is not good," i mean, come on! it is ridiculous. we should note i guess that hettie mcdaniel, who was the first black person to win an oscar, won it for gone with the wind. i think it would have been, june the 10th, would have been her 127th birthday but we should also note, i think, that at the ceremony she had to sit separately from the rest of the cast... they would not even let her in the room — they would not even let her in the room. she won an oscar and she was not allowed

to be in the room. they brought her in through the back door to collect her award and then out again. so she was not even sitting separate, she was in another place completely. people suggesting too — certainly people, i think it is unfair to say — supporters of president trump suggesting blazing saddles is now going to be in the firing line, perhaps missing the point that blazing saddles is a satire on the white—washing of hollywood westerns. well, you know, the trump supporters are always going to be arguing about any kind of change. i have no interested in people who are not willing to actually listen to the conversation and listen to people who are being offended and treated in such a horrible way. at the end of the day, a lot of these movies were made at a time when black people were discriminated against horribly in hollywood. they were not even allowed to play black people. they got white actors to play black people when there were plenty of black actors to play those parts, and black actors were discriminated against all the time. the fact that people were complaining now,

because, "oh, no, white actors aren't allowed to put on black faces and make us look like fools" — i have no interested in what the trump supporters have got to say on the matter, none. of course, movies, books, works of art, tell us a lot about the time in which they came out. it does not make sense surly to argue they should be simply removed but we need context, we need to be told more about them and about the times. yeah, but that is not what is happening. and the fact is, there were plenty of movies — birth of a nation was another hugely racist movie that was made and that was of the time but that is not a movie people gladly show because they know it is offensive, so why are they arguing about these things now? is it only because it featured the kkk? what is the difference? i am not saying they should censor the whole thing but what i am saying is people should be aware that some of this

stuff is not good. amen to that. since a statue of the slave—trader edward colston was toppled in the english city of bristol at the weekend, there have been calls for similar monuments to be removed, across the uk. scotland's first minister nicola sturgeon says she wants to establish a special commission, to look at the issue. in edinburgh, the monument to the imperialist henry dundas has prompted fierce debate, as allan little reports. 200 years after he died, henry dundas still stands on his looming pedestal in edinburgh. for decades, he was the most powerful figure in scotland. he served as home secretary, extended british power in india, and notoriously delayed the abolition of the slave trade for 15 years. at the weekend, his plinth was dogged with graffiti, as was as a street bearing his name. should he now be removed? we have curriculums at schools where people can deep dive into good people, bad people, and complex people,

and also people of their time. whether they need to be in a place where we have to walk past them every day and subconsciously salute to them because they are larger than us, i don't know. history needs its villains as well as its heroes. in bristol, edward colston will be fished from the sea and placed in a museum, to be a reminder of the darkness in the city's past, rather than an object of public veneration. bute house, the official residence of scotland's first minister, was once home to men who owned slave plantations in the west indies. today, nicola sturgeon said it is time to take a hard look at the way our streets continue to honour those who profited from human misery. i live in glasgow. i represent a constituency in glasgow, and i've heard both opinions. rename all of the streets on the one hand — which i've got a lot of sympathy for — but on the other hand, don't brush under the carpet the history, the shameful parts of our country's history. the people who put henry dundas

on his column 200 years ago wanted future generations to know that, in his day, he was revered, that the values he embodied and defended were regarded by his contemporaries as great public virtues. many argue that it is precisely to remember that that's what our country used to be like, that he should stay where he is. if you take the statue down, you will be removing some of the evidence of the history of scotland. it's that serious. my view is, i would rather have a plaque on it to explain what he did and i would hope that, whether a tourists or the general public, can learn something about our history by going over there and looking at his plaque. in edinburgh, the city council said it would put a plaque on the dundas column, explaining henry's role in prolonging the slave trade. when we put up a statue, we are signalling to posterity something about the values of our age. but posterity will

make its own judgement in the light of its own values. allan little, bbc news, edinburgh. a confederate war memorial in the city of portsmouth in virginia is the latest to be targeted by black lives matter protesters. protestors cheered as statues of confederate soldiers were smashed with sledge hammers, sprayed with paint and pulled down with ropes. but there are reports that one man has been left critically ill after being hit by one of the monuments as it fell to the ground. as we've been hearing philonise floyd, the brother of george floyd, addressed a congressional hearing on police brutality in washington. he said his brother's calls for help were ignored, but that his death didn't have to be in vain. george called for help and he was ignored. please, listen to the call i am making to you now, to the calls of our family, and the calls ringing out

the streets across the world. people of our background, genders and races, have come together to demand change. honour them, honour george and make the necessary changes that make law enforcement the solution and not the problem. hold them accountable when they do something wrong. teach them what it means to treat people with empathy and respect. teach them what necessary force is. teach them that deadly force should be used rarely and only when life is at risk. many countries are now trying to ease lockdown conditions but for some that's easier said than done. maintaining the necessary social distancing can be difficult in shops, offices and factories. now a british company has found a novel solution, as the bbc‘s tim allman explains. # am i living in a box # am i living in

a cardboard box...# funny to think that our economic salvation may lie in recycled cardboard. this company used to make pallets and containers for industry, but then along came covid—i9 and, with it, a need to embrace new ideas. as people have started to come back to work, we have switched to making a range of distancing at work products such as free—standing screens, counter screens and desk partitions. the screens provide protection in a work environment, isolating staff from one another. you can also buy quick—to—assemble cardboard desks for those who are working from home. a neighbouring company has already embraced the idea in a big way, although they were keen to add a personal touch. it is pretty extreme to put yourself into cardboard boxes so the reasons for cutting the windows and trimming them in those colours,

was because i've got a manchester united supporter sitting at my desk and i support liverpool, well, that could become liverpool again, couldn't it? all of this is relatively cheap, plus it is environmentally friendly and, yes, they really have been thinking outside and, now, inside the box. tim allman, bbc news. just time for a visit to animal corner. his name is white king he's ten days old and he's the first white lion to be born in a spanish zoo. u nfortu nately fluffy—toy cuteness has not saved him from being rejected by his mother. white king was abandoned after the lioness who gave birth to him had a traumatic experience. zoo workers are taking on the role of caring for him, and it's hoped he will be reintroduced to his mother in the future. much more on all of the

national and international news under the bbc website. and you can get in touch with me and most of the team on twitter. thank you very much for watching. well, it doesn't look like the weather is in any hurry to settle down over the next day or two. more rain—bearing clouds on the way. in fact, it has already been raining quite heavily across the south—west of england, western parts of wales, all thanks to this weather front that's been moving across the uk. quite sluggishly really. 0vercast skies across much of the country. for most of us it has just been patchy rain here and there, and the heaviest of the rain has indeed been across parts of cornwall, devon. it is now clearing away from wales. the little bits of pieces further north and actually scotland and northern ireland escaping most of that rain. 10 degrees will be morning temperature. so here are the occasional showers during the middle of the day.

a lot of cloud across england and wales, with a few glimmers of brightness. and then we see another spell of rain heading towards eastern parts of the uk, thursday, late afternoon and evening. and that rain is sort of going to barrel across the uk, across the pennines, into parts of wales but, all the while, scotland and northern ireland escape all of that weather so actually, during thursday, this is where the best weather will be, in northern ireland, and particularly western parts of scotland. low pressure is pretty much stuck end of the week to the south of us, it's stuck around the bay of biscay but, within this area of low pressure, there is actually quite a lot of fairly warm and humid aircircling. that warm and humid air heading our way but, with it, also comes the return of this weather front so that does mean that on friday we are anticipating again a dose of heavy rain, particularly across the south south—west, and into wales as well and, again, the best of the weather will be the further north you are, in fact cracking weather there in the north of scotland but it will be cooler there, around 14 degrees. that weather front will make its journey a little bit further north during saturday

and to the south of that, we'll probably see showers breaking up, the possibility of some thunderstorms as well. this is actually humid air streaming in from the south. those temperatures will be rising. 20 degrees or so on saturday in glasgow. but in western scotland, still a lot of sunshine around. and here's sunday — again, the best of the weather i think the further north you are. in the south we still could catch some thunderstorms. bye— bye.

this is bbc news, the headlines: the brother of george floyd, whose death in police custody in minneapolis has ignited anti—racism protests around the world, has called for meaningful changes in american policing. philonise floyd told a congressional hearing his brother's death did not have to be in vain. democrats have introduced legislation on police reforms in congress. authorities in delhi have warned that coronavirus infections in the indian capital could shoot up to more than half a million by the end ofjuly. they say the city will need 80,000 hospital beds by then. delhi's current capacity isjustjust 9,000. russian investigators have detained three managers of the norilsk power plant in siberia on suspicion of breaching environmental protection regulations. it follows the spilling of 20,000 tonnes of diesel oil into local rivers and a lake. environmentalists say it's the worst accident of its kind in post—soviet russia.