this is bbc news. i'm lewis vaughan jones. america's top general apologises for appearing alongside president trump at the height of the anti—racism protests. as many of you saw, the results of the photograph of me at lafayette square last week sparked a national debate about the role of the military in civil society. i should not have been there. us stock markets suffer their deepest one—day falls since equity markets crashed in march. is it a brexit u—turn? the uk abandons plans to introduce full border checks with the european union in january. british rapper stormzy pledges millions of dollars to tackle prejudice. we talk to those who've suffered racism.

hello. we start in the united states, where statues of confederate leaders and the explorer christopher columbus have been torn down. pressure is growing on authorities to remove monuments connected to slavery and colonialism. meanwhile, america's top military officer now says he was wrong to have joined president trump during his controversial walk to a damaged church near the white house after a peaceful protest at the death of the african—american george floyd. aleem maqbool reports. it was arguably the most controversial moment of the demonstrations. the white house told security forces to clear peaceful protesters from an area, which they did, violently, so the president could walk out with an entourage that included

america's top military official, general mark milley, seen here on the right in uniform, to go and pose briefly outside a church, to show he was in control, something general milley now says he regrets. i should not have been there. my presence in that moment, and in that environment, created a perception of the military involvement in domestic politics. as a commissioned, uniformed officer, it was a mistake that i learned from. and the president is setting himself on another collision course with military leaders. he says it's out of the question the us renames bases that currently commemorate confederate generals, but there are growing calls from present and former military leadership to do just that. and it's time we name us army bases after a us army leaders or soldiers who didn't take up arms against the united states to support slavery. this is the right time and this is the right moment to get this done.

across the country, activists are taking matters into their own hands, bringing down statues that glorify white supremacy and of violent colonisers. they deny it's vandalism. our entire lives have been vandalised by the state since these laws were created. probably one of the most exciting times of my life was running next to people dragging christopher columbus on the ground to the lake. well, it feels like a completely different landscape to a couple of weeks ago. we've got generals criticising the way the military‘s name was besmirched during the protest, the discussion about the renaming of military bases, and the bringing down of confederate statues. the president may not be on board with these things, but they're happening at pace in any case. aleem maqbool, bbc news, washington. speaking at an event in texas, president trump has promised to spend more on police training in his first policy proposals since nationwide protests erupted in response

to the death of george floyd. but he dismissed calls to defund the police, saying some people were trying to push an extreme agenda. we to push an extreme agenda. will finalise an execut order we will finalise an executive order that will encourage police departments nationwide to meet the most current professional standards for the use of force, including tactics for deescalation. also, we'll encourage pilot programmes that allow social workers to join certain law—enforcement officers so they work together. we'll take care of our police without defunding police — if anything, we're going the other route. we'll make sure our police are well trained, perfectly trained — have the best equipment. i'll be speaking to a us military analyst about general milley‘s apology in about ten minutes. staying in the us. moving to a different story: us stock markets

have fallen sharply. the dow jones index of leading shares closed down by almost 7%. it seems investors are becoming much less optimistic about the coronavirus situation in america. the market sell—off was triggered, in part, by new data showing that cases of covid—19 were rising again after five weeks of decline. that report was compiled by the covid tracking project, a volu nteer—run effort sponsored by the atlantic magazine. the head of that project is alexis madrigal, and i asked him what lies behind the rise in cases. well, it's really in the united states, the national story has changed. you know, the initial outbreak really dominated the north—east — new york, newjersey — and now the real locus of the outbreak is in the south and the west. so you have a case in which the north—east

successfully suppressed the outbreak but now it is spreading a new in other places and in places that don't have the strict lockdown measures that new york and newjersey went into, and people fear we're going to have uncontrolled spread across many large american cities. let's pick up on that, those southern areas appear to be worse affected. is that because of more lax lockdowns or is it climate, heat, any other factors? it's really a couple of things. in late april, early may, a lot of southern and western states — arizona, north carolina, south carolina, florida — started to pull out of the moderate lockdowns they had gone into, so what we're seeing is the effects of those changes in social behaviour. there was a lag from when the government said,

"ok, you can go and start doing things," to when people actually did, so it has lengthened out the time from when the lockdowns ended and when we started to see the rises in cases as well as in the positive rate of tests that are coming back. i was talking about the impact on the stock market, huge falls, are you surprised by the impact this data is having? it's difficult for the stock market to metabolise these kinds of medium—term risks. you know, the stock—market is good at looking out, like, a long way, it's pretty good at looking at day—to—day data, but the problem with the pandemic is it's a little bit random, it's not going away and there's always this ever present fear we might have to go back to lockdowns in the major american industrial centres. that's a big part of it and people wanted heat and the summer to make the virus go away, and if you look at where the outbreak is growing in the us, it is growing in the hot parts of the country. that has taken out this folk theory that a lot of people

on wall street really wanted to believe. our thanks to alexis madrigal there. let's get some of the day's other news. africa is the continent least affected by the coronavirus pandemic, but there are concerns that its status could quickly change. the world health organization issued a stark warning on thursday that the pandemic is accelerating across the continent. earlier this week, the number of confirmed cases on the continent passed 200,000 and the death toll is approaching 6,000. activists in rio de janeiro's copacabana beach have dug 100 graves in the sand as a protest against the government's pandemic response. brazil has the second highest number of coronavirus cases in the world. it's also expected to overtake the uk to become the country with the second highest number of global deaths. protestors in lebanon, reacting to a record plunge in the value of their currency, have blocked roads, set tyres alight and thrown petrol—bombs to vent their anger. the lebanese pound has lost 70% of its value since october, throwing the country into its worst

economic crisis in decades. since october, throwing the country into its worst many lebanese citizens who rely on hard currency savings have fallen into poverty, their plight worsened by the pandemic. the mayor of the city of norilsk in russia has been charged with criminal negligence over his response to an oil spill that dumped tens of thousands of diesel fuel into local waterways. —— tens of thousands of tons. environmentalist say the spill from a power station two weeks ago is the worst to hit the arctic and could take years to clean up. let's get an update on brexit now. the british government is expected to apply much less rigorous checks to goods coming into the uk than it was initially planning to when the transition period finishes at the end of this year. the bbc‘s been told it's necessary due to the impact of coronavirus. it means agricultural goods and animal products will now no longer have to be checked. industrial goods

declarations will be waived as will safety and security checks. the measures will last six months and are not expected to be reciprocated by the eu. 0ur political correspondent, chris mason, has this from westminster. we formally left the european union at the end ofjanuary. we are in this transition period where technically, yes, we are outside of the eu, but in pretty much all practical terms we are still in and we are in a transition period that runs until the end of this year. now, the government is likely to confirm formerly very soon that that transition period will not be extended, that's what they've been saying repeatedly for the last few months. but a report in the financial times tonight saying that they will change their approach to imports coming into the country immediately after the end of the transition period at the start of next year. they will have a more flexible, pragmatic approach. and a source confirming that tonight saying to the bbc that is essential given the impact of the coronavirus

as businesses adjust to the reality after the virus but also to being outside of the single market and the customs union — two of those big economic structures of the european union. you might have thought you'd heard the last brexit — you hadn't. chris mason there. while tackling the coronavirus has preoccupied most asian countries, myanmar‘s government is fighting another battle, against armed insurgents in rakhine state. now the central government's hold on the state is being challenged by the rival rakhine buddhist community. 0ur report from our south east asia correspondent jonathan head contains images of violence. for more than a year much of rakhine state has been at war. the myanmar military has been using air power and artillery against a relatively new and powerful insurgent group. entire communities have been uprooted, hundreds of civilians have

been killed or wounded. with most muslim rohingyas now expelled or contained in camps, it's the rakhine buddhist population that's at the heart of this struggle, inflamed by their historical grievances against what they see as an occupation, and by the actions of government forces. the group which is claiming to fight in their name is arakan army. it was founded 11 years ago by rakhine migrants, far away, along the border with china, funded by smuggling and backed by other insurgent groups, they are now capable of challenging and at times defeating the myanmar armed forces back in their home state of rakhine. it's a much younger organisation than pretty much any of the other insurgent forces in burma. it's an educated leadership, it's a tech—savvy leadership. they use social media in a way

that we simply have not seen in burma before, and they've tapped into a very young following in rakhine state. this rough video taken only last month by army volunteers, shows what appears to be the aftermath of an ambush of military vehicles close to the main road. they're well armed and, despite some evident jumpiness, confident. these incidents are now frequent in rakhine. the ambush took place just a few hundred metres from this village, letka, which satellite and army drone photos show was largely burnt only the week before. its residents had already fled from a military operation last year. each side blames the other, but human rights groups say this kind of destruction is a well—known military tactic against rebellious villages. the army's unpopularity

here wasn't helped when this video emerged in april, showing soldiers kicking and beating suspected arakan army supporters on a boat that was taking them for questioning. the battle for hearts and minds in rakhine is being lost by the government. the myanmar military is incapable of any sophisticated counter—insurgency campaign. they simply don't have the training and they don't have the mentality, so you see the same sort of pretty brutal responses that we saw writ large with the rohingya expulsion in 2017. three years ago many communities supported the military‘s scorched earth campaign against their rohingyas neighbours, but in this complex and tragic corner of south east asia they now find themselves drawn into conflict with a burmese

state which is still struggling to impose its authority on myanmar‘s vast and remote border regions. jonathan head, bbc news. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: strange goings—on in the lab, using vegetation to produce electricity. 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 see me, i'll get out there and kick ‘em down the hills. 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. i'm lewis vaughan jones. the main story this hour: america's top military officer apologizes for accompanying president trump to a photo—op at a church during black lives matter protests. more on that now. what role should the military play in a civil society and what does the general‘s statement say

about the relationship between the us president and his senior military staff? let's discuss these questions with military analyst and columnist for newsweek, willam m arkin, who joins us from new york. thank you very much for being with us. what was your reaction to this apology? i thought it was probably less than meets the eye. we have now seen a dozen or so senior military officers or regard speaking out very strongly against donald trump and against, in a way, the military leadership of the united states, that is general mark a milley and the secretary. they have admonished them for being too accommodating with the president and for participating in the present‘s political use of the military so general mark a milley today coming out and saying he was sorry, that he did not have situational

awareness, it is welcome but in awareness, it is welcome but in a way it is a little bit too late and also the secretary and the general have sort of demonstrated they do not have what it takes to stand up to donald trump and, i am afraid as we move forward, we will see the both of them are gone or we will see a very weak military leadership at a time when we probably need to have a much stronger one. that is really interesting because on the surface it looks the opposite and it looks like military figures coming up against the president but your argument is that it president but your argument is thatitis president but your argument is that it is not what it seems? we again have a lot of military leaders, retired military leaders, retired military leaders saying the proper things. the us military to stay out of partisan politics, the american military should not be deployed on domestic soil for partisan critical purposes. those are great things to say

however many of those same men have been involved in partisan politics. james mattis was the secretary of defence under donald trump, john kelly was chief of staff so they sort of violated their own edit, if you will, and as we move forward, i certainly applaud the idea that the us military should stay out of domestic politics and i certainly think that someone should stand up to donald trump in terms of his aggressive use of the military both in response to coronavirus as a kind of photo op and now in response to civil unrest in american society but, if i am going to take the general seriously and really listen to what they are saying, what they are saying is to not listen to us are saying is to not listen to us and in an ironic way, they are saying we do not really have a voice in domestic society and we should not really play a strong log in

civil society —— strong role. that our mission is overseas. i am afraid that, however, the political intentions of those are very generals and if that nature in washington, dc is to be involved in politics and thatis be involved in politics and that is not going to go away. really interesting to get your thoughts on that, willam m arkin. thank you very much for having me on. the british rapper stormzy has pledged £10 million or $12.5 million, to organisations and charities tackling racialinequality in the uk. he said the uk continuously fails to admit that black people have been at a constant disadvantage in every aspect of life. with black men three times more likley to be arrested than white men, our correspondent, ashley john—ba ptiste has been hearing some of their experiences. four black men from different walks of life, but there's one thing they all have in common — experiences of racism.

guys, as black men, what's been your experience of racism in the uk? so this time last year, i was racially profiled by the police. i was coming home from football with a mate of mine and we drove up to my house. a couple of officers, i think six or seven of them, arrested me on suspicion of arson, and i was so confused. i was locked up for 2h hours and didn't have a phone call for the first, like, ten hours. the case went on forfive months and then it was dropped. the ptsd and the trauma that comes with that situation, i still go through it until today. dayo didn't make a formal complaint about his arrest, but in the last financial year over 1,200 black people in england and wales made complaints about the police, and according to the home office, black men are three times more likely to get arrested in england and wales compared to white men. adam, from birmingham, first experienced what he calls racism at school.

it was a teacher asking you if you speak english, that kind of stuff. it was going to play the cello and having cello lessons and being told that basically your face doesn't fit. will says racism is a regular occurrence, but was especially impacted in the workplace. i run a successful business now, but before that i was working in the city as a recruitment consultant. one of my managers comes up to me one day because i was really hard working and was like, "oh, you're hungry for money just like our nigerian contractors, aren't you?" i'm actually looking with my wife and daughter to completely leave the country. i'm looking to move to ghana in west africa, where my parents are from, because i think the problem is so deep rooted in society that you can't escape it. ric's first encounter of discrimination was as a foster child in bournemouth. when i was seven and i was privately fostered with white parents, they called me the n word behind closed doors. yeah, it was a crazy period. do you think things will change as a result

of the black lives matter protests? i think people are more aware, more enlightened than before. i think a lot of people are. i'm still seeing pockets of society that are refusing to acknowledge it's even a thing, it's even a problem. while many welcome the current spotlight that's been put on racism, for dayo, it's uncertain whether real change will take place. i feel things can definitely change. will it change? i'm not completely sure. like the guys have said, it's literally just like it's ingrained into the dna of the uk. ashleyjohn—baptiste, bbc news. scientists in israel say they've managed to produce hydrogen from plants, in what's hoped could be a breakthrough in using vegetation to produce electricity. rich preston explains. the discovery was made using microscopic algae. plants naturally absorb energy from the sun and photosynthesise it for their own needs,

but when these researchers in tel aviv planted an enzyme into the algae, they were able to harvest the energy the plants were producing in the form of hydrogen. translation: the purpose of our research is to find a point inside the solar biological nano panels, existing in every leaf and algae, and redirect the electrical flow. the researchers say the electrical output from the algae means plants could be the power source of the future. translation: for 20,000 years, agriculture was our source for food. now we can expand its purposes and agriculture could serve some of our daily energy, chemical, heavy industry and non—food needs. hydrogen is already used to fuel some cars and drones. britain even has a hydrogen train. whereas a burning fossil fuels produces dirty, smelly carbon dioxide, the biproduct of hydrogen power is of this colourless,

odourless water. producing hydrogen is normally an energy intensive industrial process, this research gives hope of making the process much more natural but the scientist warn that, whilst theirfindings do signify a significant development, it could be another 20 years before the world benefits from plant power. rich preston, bbc news. finally, a story about a baby deer being adopted by a goat. this is silver hoof, a roe deer cub, that was found alone in a forest in the crimea. the animal was brought to this wildlife park and is now being looked after by a goat called roza who feeds silver hoof every three hours. you can reach me on twitter. i'm @ lvaughanjones.

i'm lewis vaughan jones. i'm lewis vaughanjones. this is bbc news. hello. a lot going on with our weather the next few days, and it's all being driven by an area of low pressure — this beautiful swirl of cloud here on the satellite picture. and rather than moving through quickly, this area of low pressure is just going to sit around, it's going to spin areas of rain up in our direction. brisk winds for a time, as well. and with the flow of air around this area of low pressure, we're going to tap into something rather warm and potentially quite humid. so, to sum up the next few days, there will be some heavy, thundery downpours, with some sunny spells in between, and that warm and humid feel across most parts of the uk. now over recent hours, we've had a lot of rain across northeast england. that rain continues here, pushing into northwest england, northern ireland,

eventually up into southern and eastern scotland. and across the south of england, another pulse of very heavy rain working in through the afternoon. some flashes of lightning, some rumbles of thunder are likely. this rain starting to get up into the southeast of wales, and the south midlands. the odd heavy shower following on behind. the temperatures a little bit higher than they have been, 21 celsius there in london. sunshine and showers to the north midlands into wales. a lot of cloud with some outbreaks in rain for northern england, and northern ireland. some of that rain eventually pushing up towards the southeast of scotland. but towards the northwest of scotland, well, here probably the best of the dry and sunny weather, although for some coasts in the northeast, it's likely to stay more murky. and it's going to be quite a breezy day, as well. now as we move through friday night and into saturday, you can see further pulses of wet weather pushing across the map. some clear spells, as well. it's going to be a very mild night. we've got quite a few mild nights to come, actually. temperatures as we start saturday in double digits

for most. now potentially another area of rain to push across northern england into northern ireland, parts of southern scotland. to the south of that, sunshine and really heavy showers breaking out — they will be quite well scattered. not everyone will get a shower but, if you do, it could bring some thunder, some lightning, some large hail and certainly a lot of rain in a short space of time. but look at the temperatures, 25 degrees in norwich, 20 there in glasgow. a bit cooler for some of these northern and eastern coasts where we keep a lot of cloud, some mist and fog. it could be quite grey and murky again for northeastern coasts on sunday. for most, it's another day of sunny spells and torrential, thundery downpours. and once again, it will feel warm — temperatures of 17 degrees in aberdeen, 2a celsius in london.

this is bbc news, the headlines: america's top general says accompanying the president to a church and appearing in a photo—op near the white house was a mistake. mark milley, the chairman of thejoint chiefs of staff, said the event created a perception of the military being involved in domestic politics. us stock markets have fallen sharply as investors became less optimistic about the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the american economy. the dow jones index closed down by almost 7%. losses in other indices were almost as great. stocks suffered their worst day since march. activists in rio's copacabana beach have dug 100 graves as a protest against the government's handling of the pandemic. brazil has the second highest number of coronavirus cases in the world. it's also expected to overtake the uk to have the second highest death rate.