this is bbc news, i'm lewis vaughan jones. our top stories: rallies to celebrate juneteenth, the day americans mark the formal end of slavery 155 years ago. it is about a reminder that we are not truly free, that there is so much work that needs to be done. in the city of tulsa, site of a notorious massacre 99 years ago, the reverend al sharpton is preparing to deliver a juneteenth speech. brazil's coronavirus epidemic hits over a million cases — with almost 55,000 new infections over the past 2a hours. but in the uk, the alert level is lowered after case numbers drop in allfour parts of the country. and the head of russia's foreign intelligence service tells the bbc that america has

been trying to "rule the world" and this could lead to "disaster". hello and welcome to bbc news. juneteenth — also known as freedom day, or the "black fourth ofjuly" is an unofficial annual holiday in the united states. the word is a combination of "june" and "nineteenth", and it celebrates the emancipation of african—americans from slavery. this was the scene in washington earlier — people are holding rallies all over the us to celebrate. this year, the 155th anniversary comes as the country grapples with its long—standing history of racial tensions, as well as the fate of its confederate monuments, flags and symbols. the bbc‘s nick bryant

looks at how people have been marking juneteenth and its emotional resonance today. say his name! crowd: george floyd! it's normally a date in the national calendar that, for white americans, at least, passes without much notice or recognition. but this year, juneteenth falls in the midst of the most widespread racial protests we've witnessed since the late 1960s, and is therefore loaded with much more meaning. events that often have a celebratory feel and revel in the richness in african—american culture feel more politically—charged and momentous. the cry once more is black lives matter. we have never truly been free in america, but that's what this movement is about today. it's about a reminder that we are not truly free. that there's so much work that needs to be done. this was a march in the nation's capital led by basketball stars from the washington wizards.

0n the eve ofjuneteenth, this confederate monument was removed from a suburb of atlanta, just the latest symbol toppled since the killing of george floyd in minneapolis. and these were portraits of former house speakers who served in the confederacy being taken down from the corridors of capitol hill. there's no room in the hallowed halls of this democracy, this temple of democracy, to memorialise people who embody violent bigotry and grotesque racism of the confederacy. my dear citizens... there's been no address from the american president, but his wife, melania trump, released this video statement. ..as our country works through the racial issues that we still face today, it is important to remember we are one global community. because of juneteenth and accusations of racial insensitivity, donald trump postponed his first political rally since public gatherings were shut down.

it's being held in tulsa, 0klahoma, an especially controversial setting because it was the site of a black massacre in the 1920s. this is a day that marks freedom and emancipation, but these protests are yet another reminder that african—america ns have yet to achieve genuine racial equality. some american corporations for the first time granted employees the day off orjuneteenth, and they are growing calls to make it an official us holiday. america's racial reckoning shows no sign of abating. nick bryant, bbc news, new york. tulsa in oklahoma is hosting major juneteenth celebrations — we can see these live pictures. these are people on stage, lots and lots of people there as the camera pans out a little. lots

of people speaking on stage. culture is a significant location in itself. —— tulsa is a significant location in itself. it's 99 years since a white mob killed an estimated 300 people and ransacked the prosperous black neighbourhood of greenwood. the reverend al sharpton is the keynote speaker and we heard from him earlier on with these comments directed towards president trump. the president said he didn't know this was juneteenth. well, he was born and raised in new york. two thirds of new york is black and latino, but he never heard ofjuneteenth. so either he's lying or he is clearly exposing the ignorance that he has about black history. suzanjohnson cook is a former presidential advisor, pastor, author, and civil rights activist. she was the first female to hold the position of us

ambassador for international religious freedom in 2011. she join us from washington. thank you very much for being with us. thank you for having me it isa with us. thank you for having me it is a joy to be with you. thank you for talking to us on this day, juneteenth, what does it mean to you today, the context leading up to this day has been so different to previous years. as an african—american woman first of all we observe it and we celebrated with pride, my home state of new york, governor andrew cuomo declared a state holiday and i want to give a shout out to him, other states have not, but for us it was the day of emancipation, the second independence day where we were celebrated and freed from enslavement, and it was also the site of the tulsa, what was called the like wall street, so the massacre was because people we re the massacre was because people were prospering and people were very upset about the prosperity we we re very upset about the prosperity we were experiencing. —— black wall street. we see over and over systemic racism. today we

launched the first black women's global chamber of commerce because we want to make sure we are enterprising and entrepreneurial. the first act peopled onjuneteenth when they were released in texas is that they put their money together that they had saved through slavery and they purchased land and bought the emancipation park which still exists today. so we will continue to prosper, will be entrepreneurial because they have been so many disparities in america, racially, historically in terms of economics, in terms of health, and so we are going to make sure that there is a ministry of wealth and wellness for our people. i am of wealth and wellness for our people. iam proud of wealth and wellness for our people. i am proud to be an african—american, we have a lot of work to do, we need a leader who is sensitive and not one who is sensitive and not one who puts hate out there as his ammo. “— who puts hate out there as his ammo. —— m0. who puts hate out there as his ammo. -- m0. donald trump is due to be speaking later on saturday in tulsa, what do you make of that? we heard from the

reverend al sharpton earlier, i am so glad he is there, i think it is insensitive to choose tulsa at this time because it is insensitive to us as african—americans and there is also a spike in coronavirus, there is 10,000 casesjust today spike, and so as a leader you are supposed to make sure there is not a vision and chaos but that you are leading people for wholeness and wellness, which he is not doing. so i think he is in the wrong place, wrong time, he is the wrong leaderfor this time. wrong time, he is the wrong leader for this time. focusing on this time, how different do you feel this is, we have had the protests since george floyd's death, you are talking about the economic empowerment measures you are taking, does this feel to you like an opportunity for real, lasting concrete change? it is an opportunity for the dialogue to really begin. white americans saw for the first time what african—americans saw for the first time what african—america ns have experience throughout our lives. our fathers, experience throughout our lives. 0urfathers, brothers, our uncles, sisters, our daughters have been killed,

some of them not in front of a television but this time we all got to see what happens to black men on a regular basis. it has opened the door, there are companies that are taking racist symbols out, aunt jemima, uncle ben, they are companies beginning to make slides. this is the time for us to come to the table, we need more representation for african—americans, we need more economic development and we need people to partner with us so the disparities which were held will no longer be disparities. we have to close the wealth gap and when people we re the wealth gap and when people were campaigning the president eve ryo ne were campaigning the president everyone was talking about what they would help black communities do well this is the time. we have deaths, how many more deaths does it take for us to see life, that we might have a life that is abundant. thank you very much for talking to us, we really appreciate your thoughts, fascinating at this time, suzan johnson cook, thoughts, fascinating at this time, suzanjohnson cook, thank you. and there as you can see just as we were listening to our

guests they are, reverend al sharpton taking the stage in tulsa. is that many died in the passage across the atlantic. and on the bottom of the atla ntic and on the bottom of the atlantic ocean lays the bones of those that suffered pandemics on the way. 0nly those that could survive the viruses, the storms, the waves, the illnesses made it, and when they got to these shores they we re they got to these shores they were enslaved for over 250 yea rs. were enslaved for over 250 years. why do i start by saying that? because i want people to understand that the strongest africans are the ones that made it, and therefore we are the children and the heirs of the strongest. applause. you are not dealing with people that

don't have strength. you are not dealing with people that don't have backbone. it is going to take more than a lot of threats and backbiting and crooked criminaljustice system to stop us. they put our forefathers on blocks and sold us like a bar of soap, but we never stop fighting. they took our names to where we don't even know our names, we are named after those who owned our forefathers, but even nameless, we never stop fighting. they sold mama to one state, daddy to another, children to another, and we never stop fighting. and in their greed, they began fighting each other. let me tell you whatjuneteenth represents. when the confederate ‘s tried to overta ke confederate ‘s tried to overtake this country, and committed treason, when you see

those of us talking about taking down the statues, can you imagine any country in the world that puts up statues and worshipped people that were traitors and committed treason to that country? if you would put traitor statues up in front of courthouses, no wonder we can't get justice of courthouses, no wonder we can't getjustice in the courthouse. applause. if you would put straight up's statues in front of state legislative buildings, no wonder the laws are crooked. you worship those that tried to bring your government down. and when the confederates got north, all the way to virginia, frederick douglass and others have been saying, let blacks free, let them join the union army, lincoln would not hear it but when they got as close as

virginia, the general said, when they got as close as virginia, the generalsaid, mr lincoln, free the slaves in those confederate states, let them join the union. and they joined the union and backed the confederate two up. —— co nfederates confederate two up. —— confederates up. they tell our children and others that lincoln freed the slaves, the fact is the slaves freed lincoln. applause. if we hadn't joined the union army, stonewalljackson might joined the union army, stonewall jackson might have been the president. so we backed up the union army and lincoln signed at the end of the victory of the civil war for the union, the emancipation proclamation. and when he signed it, he committed that on january one 1863, slaves would be freed. while a lot of folks

that go to black churches and go to watch night service on new year's eve don't understand thatis new year's eve don't understand that is not a night to pray until midnight and then go party after. watch night was where we watched to see the clock struck 12 to know that we we re clock struck 12 to know that we were free. that is what watch night was. but somehow they didn't get that message to texas. there wasn't twitter then, wasn't facebook then. and people in texas continued the slave, the enslavement of blacks for another 2.5 years. finally a general came in and announced the union had one, the slaves were freed, that became known asjuneteenth. applause. so we celebrate the

day that all this country... because juneteenth represented the first day in this country that you did not have legalised slavery. applause. when members of the senate proposed making a federal holiday out of juneteenth, today, it ought to bea juneteenth, today, it ought to be a federal holiday because it is the first day this country stepped towards living up to the model that it had announced that all men were created equal. don't forget, that most of them that wrote that owned slaves. most of them that wrote that didn't even respect their own women. women couldn't vote until 1920. that's why i am a

little puzzled when i hear people walking around talking about" make america great again". give me the date that america was great for everybody. applause. it wasn't great for blacks when we were enslaved and then had to fight jim crow, and then fight for the right to vote. it wasn't great for white women who couldn't even vote, and was reduced to you stay in the kitchen. it wasn't great for those of latinos and asian descent, who were not welcome here, even though you had a statue in the harbour saying bring me your tired and huddled masses that yearn to be free. when was america great? for everybody? we are the ones, you

that are marching in selma, you that are marching in selma, you that are marching all over america, we are the ones that will make america great for everybody, for the first time. you can't be great when you can shoot people down like you did terence crutcher, and let the officer be acquitted and go to another county and serve in law enforcement. ain't nothing great about that. you can't be great about that. you can't be great when you come and shoot a manjogging down great when you come and shoot a man jogging down the great when you come and shoot a manjogging down the road in brunswick, georgia, and you cut him off and kill him in cold blood. that is not great. it's not great when a woman in her own house, sweeping with her boyfriend, and you use a no

knock law and break into the house and the man tries to defend his woman with a legal weapon and you claim to believe in amendment two, but you don't believe in it for him. where are the second amendment people defending that rather in louisville, kentucky? you can't be great when you handcuff a man, and even handcuffed, falling to the ground, over $20, and put his neck down, your knee on his neck, and hold it there, and hold it till his body's limp, and you are full of such vengeance and hate that you keep your knee on the neck ofa man you keep your knee on the neck of a man that could not get up and could not breathe. that is not greatness. greatness is when blacks and whites and

latinos and asians, and original americans, hit the streets all over this country and march against your teargas, and march against your teargas, and march against your rubber bullets, and march against a military occupation you threaten, and march anyhow. that's what will make america great. i read this morning the president talking about warning lowlifes. well, it's lowlifes that shoot unarmed people, mr president. it's lowlifes that has prosecutors that don't prosecute the law, but look out for their friends. prosecute the law, but look out for theirfriends. you prosecute the law, but look out for their friends. you couldn't be talking about us, because we have fought for the country when it wouldn't fight for us. you couldn't be talking about

us, because we went to foreign shores and fought wars where those we fought could check into hotels that we couldn't and eat in restaurants that we couldn't, and we still stood for america. you don't know what greatness is. look over here in greenwood tonight. this is what is great about america. applause we have every fight we have had to fight since that day of juneteenth. right after juneteenth. right after juneteenth came the era of terrorism, ku klux klan. but what really got us turned around was not just what really got us turned around was notjust the guys in the white robes, those in the black robes that sat on the supreme court and said that

there was no rights that a black had that was bound to be respected. well, that is the reverend al sharpton, the civil rights campaigner, speaking there in tulsa at events marking juneteenth. he covered a lot of ground, talking about the fight for justice that is ongoing. he explained quite clearly what juneteenth is. ongoing. he explained quite clearly whatjuneteenth is. of course, the emancipation proclamation signed by abraham lincoln in 1863, but he was saying that texas didn't get that message, joking that there was no twitter, no facebook back then. it wasn't until 1865 that all enslaved people in america were free. he talks about the deaths of black men, including george floyd, at the hands of police, and asked rhetorically, give me the day america was great for everybody. al sharpton, civil

rights campaigner, speaking there in tulsa. let's move onto a different story now, the coronavirus. the number of people who have tested positive for covid—19 in brazil has passed 1 million, only the second country to do so after the united states. brazil has now registered a total of nearly 119,000 deaths, also the second—worst toll in the world after the us. friday also saw a new record daily number of cases, suggesting the outbreak is far from over. the virus is now said to be spreading into rural parts of the country. let's cross to sao paulo and speak to our south america correspondent katy watson. lots of countries, we have been reporting on the figures in the uk, for example, relatively consistent falls in the number of cases. that is simply not the case there. no, that's right. we have seen 511,000 plus now cases being registered on

friday night. that is 20,000 more than the last record, earlier this week. now, the health ministry has said that in part it was due to inaccurate reporting from several states earlier this week, but numbers are numbers. the fact is that the numbers of cases here in brazil are still rising at an ever increasing rate, and the death toll as well. we have seen for four nights ina well. we have seen for four nights in a row more than 1200 fatalities. so it is still very much in the middle of the crisis of the pandemic here in brazil. so huge numbers, katie. how other political leadership responding to these numbers? —— katy. very little. jair bolsonaro continues with his push to reopen the economy. for a long time,jair push to reopen the economy. for a long time, jair bolsonaro was at odds with the state governors who had imposed quarantine measures but it feels like a pressure is filtering down. here in sao paulo, in rio as well, they are starting to reopen, trying to

get back to some sort of normality. but as you mentioned, this concern that it is going towards the interior of the country, inland, and there is less pressure on the cities, but in the smaller towns and cities of brazil, there is still a big concern about the spread of the virus there. and what about the spread of the virus throughout the continent, i suppose? the world health organization saying this isn't defeated until it is defeated in every country, and that is the real worry. absolutely, i mean, brazil is not alone in this. we have seen a big spike in chile, in peru, and peru was a country that had a very early lockdown, very tough lockdown, the president was seen as taking, you know, tough measures, doing very well in it. but it has seen a spike in the numbers. argentina also had a very strict lockdown, and they have fared relatively better. but the eyes of the world are sadly on brazil here, because of the sheer number. of course, it is the biggest country, but it is also battling, you know, the biggest problem, and politically, certainly there hasn't been the leadership that

many people here in brazil would have liked to see. 0k, thanks for that, katy. let's ta ke let's take you back to the us, those events marking juneteenth, the day all enslaved people were freed in the united states back in 1865. you are watching pictures of the reverend al sharpton speaking passionately about the fight forjustice speaking passionately about the fight for justice that speaking passionately about the fight forjustice that is still ongoing. he has been talking about the significance of the date, of the day ofjuneteenth, which is made up of the word june and 19th, and refers to that day, a historical anomaly to some, but hugely significant, this date where in enslaved people were finally freed in the state of texas, some two years after the emancipation proclamation,

after being signed into law across the united states. that speech by al sharpton ongoing there. we will keep you right up there. we will keep you right up to speed with events there. this is bbc news. hello. the weather through the course of the weekend is looking a little bit mixed. we'll see some settled, largely dry weather on saturday, but do expect a bit more rain overnight, and into sunday as well. this picture was taken on friday afternoon in highland scotland, some blue sky and shower cloud around there. for most of us on saturday, we're looking at a largely dry day with some spells of sunshine similar to this. just one or two showers around, but i think most people should avoid them. we have got this ridge of higher pressure building in, that should hold off the weather for saturday. but this area of low pressure, this weather front, not far

away and that'll be more of a player through saturday night and into sunday too. so we start with a few misty patches arond. one or two early showers across parts of southern england, south wales as well. they'll drift through parts of the midlands into eastern england during the afternoon, but they are pretty hit—and—miss, with many places staying dry with long spells of sunshine. it will feel pleasantly warm with temperatures of around 18 to 21 degrees for most of us, but the winds will be picking up in the west and we'll see that rain arriving the islands pushing into wales in western parts of england and overnight, the band of rain will sweep its way eastwards, so i think we'll all be seeing a spell of wet weather overnight and into the early hours on sunday morning. but still mild certainly overnight with those temperatures holding in the teens for most of us. but, through the day on sunday, this cold front is going to push its way eastwards, so it will introduce some slightly cooler, fresher air coming in from the west, quite blustery conditions as well. fairamount of isobars on that map. through the day on sunday, those showers pushed away gradually eastwards and there will be some sunshine but with some heavy downpours particularly in northern ireland and western

scotland, throughout the day and a few between western england and north wales too. quite blustery winds, too, coming in from a south—westerly direction through the day on sunday. temperatures still not bad for the time of year, somewhere between 17—22 degrees, but it will feel a little bit fresher, particularly with the showers and the breeze around too. as we move through monday and into tuesday, you will notice the weather trying to push into the north—west, but we've got an area of high pressure building up towards the east, and that combination will be moving quite warm humid air up across the uk. so if we have a look at the outlook into the new working week, still a few showers around in the north, but temperatures on the rise for all of us. we could see highs of about 31 degrees in london. bye— bye.

this is bbc news, the headlines rallies are being held across america to markjuneteenth, an unofficial holiday commemorating the end of slavery in the united states. demonstrations demanding justice are taking place in many cities. the day has taken on extra significance this year in response to the black lives matter movement. brazil has now recorded over a million cases of coronavirus — and 119,000 deaths. it's the second worst—affected country after the united states. the latest 24—hour total is the highest of the epidemic and the virus appears to be spreading into rural areas, especially in the amazon. the coronavirus alert level across the uk has been moved down from level 4 to 3, because of a continuing steady decrease in the number of cases. a government minister has indicated that the two—metre social distancing