welcome to bbc news. i'm aaron safir. our top stories: the prominentjournalist, maria ressa, has been convicted of libel in the philippines — we'll have the latest live from manila. railway carriages in india are being turned into makeshift hospital wards as coronavirus cases surge. the daily number of confirmed new cases has reached almost 12,000. france's president says his country has scored a first victory against coronavirus, as he announces a significant lifting of the remaining lockdown restrictions. and sushant singh rajput, one of the biggest stars in bollywood, has been found dead in his apartment in mumbai.

within the past hour, a court in the philippines has convicted the prominent journalist, maria ressa, of libel. she and a former writer with her news website, rappler, were found guilty by the court in manila. both now face up to six years injail, though they've been released on bail pending appeal. the case has been seen as a test of freedom of the press in philippines — maria ressa, along with human rights campaigners say she's been targeted because of her website‘s criticism of the country's president, rodrigo duterte. for more, i'm joined by our correspondent in manila, howard johnson. she was speaking before she went into court and heard from

her after the verdict. what did she have to say? she said the verdict will affect the quality of democracy notjust here in the philippines but around the world. this is a serious attack of the freedom of the media and anyone posting online from this day onwards has the chance of becoming criminalised for their behaviour. this dates back to 2012 when the article was written. in 2014 it was changed by rappler, they said it was changing a typo but it meant the cyber law passed a few months after the article was first printed went into play. this progressed into thousand 18 to this court case. the complainant said the article besmirched his name and defamed him in the eyes of the public.

they said that rappler did not provide claims against him and that he was involved in drug smuggling and human trafficking, allegations that he always denied. the judge said you cannot use the freedom of the press as a shield against these allegations made and we found that maria ressa and we found that maria ressa and a writer from the website have been found guilty and could face up to six years in jail. do you think they will go to jail? they are appealing, how long could all this take? justice in the philippines is normally sluggish but this case was interesting because it moved very quickly. another senator has been languishing for three years injail senator has been languishing for three years in jail waiting for three years in jail waiting for her day in court but this one was turned around relatively quickly. lots of people saying you have to look at the bigger picture stop they we re at the bigger picture stop they

were 11 cases found against rappler, tax evasion, foreign ownership violation and this one about cyber libels are critics of the president say this was a result of a concerted effort by the president who has called rappler a fake use allen and com plete rappler a fake use allen and complete one of the reporters that he would send them to jail without bail, something we are not seen here today because they are having the chance to go and ask for bail. what we have seen here is a government also saying they are applying the letter of the law and if a person, a private businessman had his name degraded by an article, that he has the right to go to court and protest that. steve butler is the asia program lead for the committee to protectjournalists. hejoins me now from washington.

can we get your reaction to this verdict? i am horrified by it. it is a complete miscarriage of justice. it. it is a complete miscarriage ofjustice. if you look at all of the cases you're corresponded has outlined, it is clear there is a campaign against maria ressa and rappler and it has grave implications for press freedom in the philippines. everyjournalist 110w philippines. everyjournalist now is under threat because of what has taken place. he also mentioned the cyber law under which this case was prosecuted. how was that law applied in this case? initially the government decided the law did not apply because of the timing of the law but it is true, in 2014, they change one letter in a typo and this was considered to bea a typo and this was considered to be a republishing of the article, which is a bit of a

stretch, to be honest. they looked at every turn and really twisted the law to create a climate for conviction. twisted the law to create a climate for convictionlj twisted the law to create a climate for conviction. i want to get a sense of the wider context here because, of course, this is not the first lawsuit against rappler and not the first case of the philippine government going after media outlets. we have also seen a major tv news outlet, essentially come off the air. that's right. the president in december said that he was determined to get abs simian network of the air and, although he claims he was not responsible for it happening, then come to pass because of then come to pass because of the license was not renewed by the license was not renewed by the congress and the administrative authorities decided to force it off the air. this is by far the largest

and most successful tv network on which many filipinos depend for on their use. in a pandemic, it is even more horrifying that this could be shut off. how do you assess the role of rodrigo duterte, the president of the philippines, in these cases? how involved and how engaged easy and how dizzy play and interest? he says he has been hands of in these cases and not been directly involved but it is very ha rd to directly involved but it is very hard to take that seriously. he has an administration that reports to him and these are people who are carrying this out. he has been gunning for rappler and maria ressa for quite a long time and it is notjust her, other people on the staff he has gone after. it is just not very credible. steve butler of the committee to protect

journalists, thank you for your time. my pleasure. the indian government has new plans to deal with a surge of coronavirus infections in the capital, delhi. railway carriages are to be converted so they can take patients, and nursing homes will also be requisitioned. across india, the daily number of confirmed new cases has reached almost 12,000, and the total number of cases — more than 320,000 — puts india fourth in the world. reged ahmad has the story. this is the coronavirus intensive care unit in delhi at one of india's top private hospitals. the beds and treatment like this is expensive and hard to come by as the number of covid—19 cases climb. the shortage of beds has become so acute, patients have told stories of going from hospital to hospital in search of treatment. now in an attempt to deal with the crisis, india's home minister says 500 railway coaches will be converted to create 8,000 beds for covid—19 patients in delhi, and has promised a rapid

increase in testing too. india has been converting train carriages into isolation wards since april, but doctors say a failure to test adequately has been one of the reasons behind the surge in cases. i think the one thing which our government is underestimating from the beginning is the increased testing, because we have to stop the spread, stop the chain of transmission. on friday, the supreme court criticised delhi and three other states, saying covid—19 patients were being treated worse than animals. but delhi's chief minister has largely defended his state's handling of the pandemic. translation: we have been making a note and trying to identify the problems in the system and to rectify them so that more people don't suffer in the coming days. but we aren't perfect. not everything is alright. there is a lot lacking in our system,

but at the same time, not everything is broken either. the situation has been further complicated by india's easing of its lockdown after restrictions began to take a huge economic toll on the country. some businesses, markets and places of worship have been allowed to open back up, but the move has been criticised for being too soon and too fast. i think this is not the right time to open up the economy. the government must first control the coronavirus because coronavirus is a deadly disease. people's life has much more importance than any other factors and the government must take care of people's life first. delhi is the third—worst affected state in india, and the chief minister says the number of infections in the city could be more than 500,000 by the end ofjuly. so it's a race against the clock now to get the pandemic under control. reged ahmad, bbc news. health officials are warning that latin america is now the epicentre of the coronavirus pandemic,

with some countries reporting record numbers of infections. drivers took to their cars in mexico city to protest at the president's handling of the outbreak. in the latest figures, mexico reported 269 new deaths on sunday, taking the total to over 17,000. argentina, chile, colombia and peru have all reported record numbers of coronavirus infections over the weekend. but the worst affected country in the region remains brazil, where more than 43,000 people have died of covid—19 — that's second only to the united states. there are now nearly 870,000 confirmed cases. the mayor of sao paulo, who has cancer, confirmed that he's now tested positive. translation: after four negative tests, today unfortunately, i tested positive for covid—19, for coronavirus. my doctor's advice since i have

no symptoms is to stay at home. let's hearfrom camilla mota, our correspondent in sao paulo, on the mixed picture across brazil. may was a really green month for some states, it was when we saw the healthcare system really collapse, so people were dying at home, they were dying at basic healthcare units because they were not able to get icu beds. the situation started to look a bit better now injune, either because health authorities were able to increase the system's capacity or because quarantine measures were able to flatten the curve of infection, so that's what state governors are relying on to reopen the economy. but in other parts of the country, we still see that the infection is accelerating, and not only that, the disease is moving from big cities to medium and small cities where the infrastructure is weaker so authorities fear that we may see those sad stories unfold once again

in the coming weeks. the french president emmanuel macron says his country has scored a first victory over the coronavirus and has strongly defended his latest strategy in dealing with the pandemic. in his latest televised address to the nation, more than three months after lockdown, he set out his roadmap for getting the country back to normal. freya cole reports. in france, the mood is upbeat. the plan to reopen society to save the economy has been accelerated. translation: we are going to be able to turn the page on the first chapter, in a manner of speaking, of the crisis we have just been through. from monday, the whole country, apart from mayotte and guyane, where the virus is still actively spreading, the whole country will become part of what we now call the green zone which will allow a greater return to work and a reopening of cafes a nd restau ra nts in the paris region.

it's now been a month since the country started easing lockdown measures and there has been no rise in new coronavirus cases. it means businesses will reopen fully and residents can travel across europe. from next week, nurseries and both primary and secondary schools will welcome back students and byjuly1st, international travel will be permitted to and from countries where the virus is under control. president emmanuel macron is particularly keen to support local companies and pivot away from global supply chains, a move which won't come cheap. translation: we will not finance spending by increasing taxes. the only answer is to build an economic model which is sustainable, stronger, and produce more so we don't depend on others. hand sanitiser, face masks and social distancing will all play a big part in discovering

the new french way of life. freya cole, bbc news. no will stay with us on bbc news, still to come: the killing that shook the world — is the death of george floyd a watershed moment for the politics of race in america? there was a bomb in the city centre. a code word known to be one used by the ira was given. army bomb experts were examining a suspect van when there was a huge explosion. the south african parliament has destroyed the foundation of apartheid by abolishing the population registration act, which for 40 years, forcibly classified each citizen according to race. just a day old, and the royal baby is tonight sleeping in his cot at home.

early this evening, the new prince was taken by his mother and father to their apartments in kensington palace. germany's parliament, the bundestag, has voted by a narrow majority to move the seat of government from bonn to berlin. berliners celebrated into the night, but the decision was greeted with shock in bonn. the real focus of attention today was valentina tereshkova, the world's first woman cosmonaut. what do you think of the russian woman in space? i think it's a wonderful achievement and i think we might be able to persuade the wife it would be a good idea if i could to get her to go up there for a little while. this is bbc news, the latest headlines: within the last hour a court in the philippines has found the prominent journalist, maria ressa, guilty of libel. the editor of the rappler news website now faces a possible jail sentence of up to seven years.

glenda gloria is the managing editor of rappler and joins me now to reflect on the verdict. cani can i get your initial reaction? it is a tragedy for all of us here at rappler but also the nation. it's been four yea rs also the nation. it's been four years after all, a lot of attacks against journalists years after all, a lot of attacks againstjournalists but what we like to see is to continue to hold the line. this isa continue to hold the line. this is a blow to the journalism rappler has been known for. we will continue to shine a light on the critical issues in the country. the article around which this case centred dates back to 2012. in the judges verdict, he said there was no proof to back up the allegations against the businessman. what's your reaction? well, first of all,

thejudge, we zeroed in. on the other hand, it went over the very big issues which is the fa ct very big issues which is the fact that the cyber law that charges, that maria ressa was accused for, came out long after the story was published. 0n issue republication and therefore, those other bigger for press freedom i think and four journalists in for press freedom i think and fourjournalists in general, that now the description. for on line libel has been stretched. the president of the philippines as described your website as they can use. what's it like to be accused of peddling fake news by the president of your country?

well, we are emboldened to prove him wrong. we are in fact the leading website against this information. so it is not weakened our resolve to expose what you're doing in government, and about how this government, and about how this government has been with its measures against the coronavirus. and glenda, what next for your colleague? what are you going to do to try to support her in her appeal? well, actually this is available defence and the judge upheld the original bail that was already posted. we will hobble with the lawyers and the next step will be to find a case for the court of appeal, to appeal the decision. that's

something that we will have to consult our lawyers on. glenda gloria, managing editor of the rappler news website and the philippines, thank you for joining us in sharing your reaction to what's happened in the last hour or so stop atlanta is one of many us cities to have seen protests protests since the killing last month of george floyd by police in minneapolis. and around the world, thousands of people have joined marches against racism. the bbc‘s clive myrie looks now at whether this could be a watershed moment for the politics of race in america. george floyd's death was an american tragedy that sparked an outpouring of anger and soul—searching. we don't want no more police. but look at the faces. we are done dying! it wasn't just black america that was appalled, but white america too. chanting: don't shoot, don't shoot!

this is a seismic shift in attitudes towards police brutality and racism. it was a point addressed by one black veteran civil rights activist at george floyd's funeral who had marched side—by—side with dr martin luther king. back in the days when i used to be part of marches, all the marchers were black. but now, there are white people who know the story, and there are hispanics who know the story, and there are asians who know the story. it's the denial on the part of much of white america that racism is widespread and real that's helped perpetuate the discrimination that they claim doesn't exist. listen to charlie sykes,

a former right—wing talkshow host and staunch republican conservative. if you're a white american you might think this happens but it's random, it's a few bad apples here and there, but i think what we have been seeing the last couple of weeks is the recognition that it's notjust a few bad apples, it is systemic, it's incredibly widespread and that this situation, in fact, we have been in denial on it. penny sitz lives in one of minneapolis' comfortable suburbs, three streets away from the police officer who knelt on george floyd's neck. for the first time in her life, she's been taking part in street protests with her family. what has surprised me in the past week has been seeing how widespread the abuse is and the brutality is. this is something i had no idea about. i knew it happened in a few big cities but i didn't think it was as widespread as it is.

george floyd's brutal death held up a mirror to this country and most americans didn't like what they saw. if lasting change does come, it will be because of the sacrifice of one man who managed to bridge a once unbridgeable racial divide. clive myrie, bbc news. sushant singh rajput, has been found dead in his apartment in mumbai. police believe the 34—year—old may have killed himself. rajput was best known for his acting in a bi—opic on former indian cricket team captain ms dhoni. bollywood's biggest stars have been paying tribute to him on social media. ishleen kaur has more. popularfor his acting popular for his acting on popularfor his acting on both tv and film, the young bollywood heartthrob was lauded for his portrait of cricket star ms dhoni on the silver screen. matt had to quit his studies to pursue a career in bollywood. thanks rajput. as news of his death came, fans gathered outside his home in

mumbai. translation: i am feeling very sad so i came to this house to pay my respects. it was my favourite. it was a good. he did lots of good movies. he grew from being a small actor to a big. police have reported that the actor might have taken his own life. the news has shocked the indian film industry and has once again put the spot light on the importance of mental health. sushant singh importance of mental health. susha nt singh rajput importance of mental health. sushant singh rajput was reportedly battling depression. deepika padukone is one of many bollywood celebrities are speaking about the need to seek help after the news broke. 0utside help after the news broke. outside the actors home, his uncle was one of those coming to terms with the news. translation: last night i was watching this programme on my mobile phone and today i got a call from my son saying there was news running about sushant,

ask us where we were. i turned on the television and i broke down. i used to play with him when he was a kid. he was a brave boy with heart. this man was a childhood friend of the actor. we used to play cricket nearby. it's shocking to get this news about a boy with a very positive mindset. it's unbelievable this is happened. a self—made star and outsider are words being used to describe the actor who is believed to be at the peak of his career. tributes and condolences have been pouring in as the country reels from the tragic news of the actor's demise. sad story there. a reminder of our top story. a court in the philippines has convicted the prominent journalist, maria ressa, of libel. ms ressa, a critic of president rodrigo duterte, was found guilty along with reynaldo santos — a former writer with her news website rappler. both face up to six

years injail. hello there. the broad weather pattern is going to change very little over the week ahead. it will be a week of contrasts in the uk, as it was over the weekend. many places in the south of england having a warm and sunny day on sunday. a dramatic skyline, though, in the north—west of england following those late in the day thundery showers, and an area of low pressure is keeping this very unstable airacross the uk, so more showers to come. a lot of low cloud is streaming in from off the north sea at the moment so a grey start in some places. but over the weekend, we keep this mixture of warm sunshine, but some heavy and thundery downpours. many places starting dry on monday. grey start for much of scotland and the north—east of england, down to lincolnshire and east anglia,

burning back to coastal areas, sunshine develops more widely. as it warms up we develop those showers, particularly in the afternoon. some of them heavy and thundery. not many showers across southern england. probably more chance of picking up some downpours as you move northwards across the midlands, wales, into the north—west of england and perhaps northern ireland. again a few sharp showers though are possible in western scotland, where it is going to be an awful lot warmer than it will be for eastern scotland, where we are struggling with that low cloud, the haar that's coming in off the north sea. now, many places will end monday dry and probably quite sunny as well, but there will be a few sharp showers still around in the evening. those will then fade away overnight, but we have still got this flabby area of low pressure. not a great deal to see on the pressure chart but enough low pressure and enough instability in the air to bring us more showers. and many places will start the day dry on tuesday again. a grey start for the north—east of the uk. should brighten up in most areas, some sunshine but, again, we trigger those showers. probably more widely those showers developing

during the day on tuesday. again some slow—moving, heavy, perhaps thundery downpours and temperatures again typically into the low 20s, as they will be again probably on wednesday. not a great deal is changing. those showers developing, perhaps this time more towards the west and the south of the uk. so for eastern scotland, north—east of england, whilst it may be a bit grey at times, it should be largely dry, and there may be some sunshine at times as well. temperatures not changing a great deal over the week ahead. we keep those heavy thundery showers going through thursday and friday, particularly across more southern parts of the uk as it dries up further north.

this is bbc news, the headlines: a court in the philippines has convicted the prominentjournalist, maria ressa, of libel. ms ressa, a critic of president rodrigo duterte, was found guilty along with reynaldo santos, a former writer with her news website rappler. both face up to six years in jail. india's federal government has announced new plans to deal with a surge in coronavirus infections in delhi as the country struggles to contain its covid19 infection rate. india's total number of confirmed cases puts it fourth in the world in the pandemic. the french president emmanuel macron has defended his coronavirus strategy and set out a plan to return france to normal. he said borders would reopen from monday to visitors from many other eu countries. mr macron also promised to do more to tackle inequality.