this is bbc news with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. i'm lewis vaughan jones. cheering and applause. liverpool claim the premier league title, ending a 30—year wait to be crowned english football champions again. one month on, and a lifetime of change — how america has been altered since the death of george floyd. as congress votes on a police reform act, his brother tells us what he would have made of the protests. he would be humbled. you know, sad that he is not here to be in a world that is making change like this. the us faces a coronavirus spike — as social distancing is relaxed.

more than 35,000 new cases are identified in a single day. we start in the uk. liverpool supporters are celebrating after the football club clinched their first english premier league title in 30 years, with a record seven games to spare. last season's champions, manchester city, had to win against chelsea to remain in contention but they lost 2—1. what does this mean for the city and the club? let's speak to jenny kirkham, reporter for the liverpool echo, who's in the heart of meryside, liverpool's city centre. thank you for being with us. no problem. as you can hear behind

me, the crowd still going strong in the city centre and no—show of slowing down at all. a football match of their own has broke out in the crowd and if they are cheering. the motion you can see just shows how long they have waited for this. for viewers around the world, we should explain there are lockdown measures in place and the fans have not been able to gather together and watch the games in pubs and bars. people have been watching it at home and then come out onto the streets 7 home and then come out onto the streets? a lot of people obviously watched it at home with theirfamilies obviously watched it at home with their families and in their social bubbles. some watched it on their phones and ta blets watched it on their phones and tablets into the city centre, wanting to celebrate with as many people as they can. it has been difficult but it is a positive note for them and i do

not think it will be tarnished at all with regards to social distancing. what does this mean for the city? for these fans, everything. i have never seen a group of people so emotional and so related in the entire timei and so related in the entire time i have been in philonise floyd and covering ——in liverpool and covering the matches. people were children the last time this happened and hopefully they will see it over and over again hopefully they will see it over and overagain in hopefully they will see it over and over again in years to come but this may be the only child and that is why they are celebrating the way they. because we have had this strange season where it stopped and liverpool fans were nervous about not get a season at all and the title not be taken away, they must be a lot of relief they have now won? it

was a conversation about whether they would prefer to have one at the next week against manchester city but thatis against manchester city but that is all gone now because they are relieved at this point. thank you for talking us through what is happening on the street of meryside. we can now speak to liverpool supporters from opposite ends of the earth. sado bar, in atlanta in the united states, is the home of the city's liverpool supporters club. tonight they've reunited for the first time since the pandemic began to celebrate there. michael crump is their chair. and steve raine is chairman of new zealand's liverpool supporters club. he's taking a break from his working day to speak to us. thank you very much for being with us. let's go to the us first. your reaction to what

has just happened. first. your reaction to what hasjust happened. it is amazing, so delighted. it has been 30 years. we have had to ta ke been 30 years. we have had to take a break for this covid—i9 stuff but we're doing our best, being responsible and having few beers. laughter. was it something you expected. liverpool was so far out in front and then there is doubt about whether this is an would happen at all and finish? we a lwa ys happen at all and finish? we always expected it, after we beat leicester at christmas it was on but after this happened there was a break but we knew it would be null and void, they could not take it away from us. we deserved it and we showed it today, yesterday. it has taken new 30 years to win a title again. what has taken you lot so again. what has taken you lot so long? it has been 30 years to when 19 titles, i do not think many other teams have got

this close. they had a 23 year 93p- this close. they had a 23 year gap. we got a great manager. we will see you again in 20 years. let's go all the way to new zealand, your reaction to liverpool winning the title? fantastic. 30 years is a long time to wait and everyone is justjubilant. just time to wait and everyone is just jubilant. just thrilled we could get it done. we have had manchester city dominating for so manchester city dominating for so many years, with lots of money, how have liverpool turned it around ? money, how have liverpool turned it around? obviously jurgen klopp is the key to that. a great manager. he has been here forfour years. he has slowly built up the team

but it is notjust him, it is the years of history before him and the great managers and players we have had. we got very, very close a couple of times butjurgen klopp makes the difference. a great team selection. strength in their defence and he hasjust selection. strength in their defence and he has just built a great squad, a squad that combines and plays well together. people obviously talk about the magic of the fans and liverpool is a club with so much history and fans right around the world, as we are showing, how well—known is liverpool fc in new zealand, for example? very, very, very well—known. new zealand of course a rugby country. that is their number one spot but we are heavily connected to the uk, a lot of expats living here, a lot of new zealanders that support liveable. we have nearly a thousand supporters just registered with our club.

—— liverpool. just registered with our club. -- liverpool. and many others are not registered. it shows the global reach. let's go back to the us and atlanta. can you still hear me? hello, atlanta! hello, again. before we go, we have never heard any you will never walk alone. # cheering and applause we are the champions of england. ok we will not get a song from you thatis will not get a song from you that is a brilliant way to end. thank you so much for talking to us. thank you so much. great, thank you. and congratulations to liverpool winning the title. let's leave

the football and moved to the united states. it's been a month since the death of george floyd in police custody in minneapolis. it sparked a wave of global protests calling for police reform and an end to institutional racism, including the destruction of historic statues connected to slavery. so much has changed since the fateful encounter that left george floyd gasping for breath. 0ur north america correspondent nick bryant reports. in this month of ceaseless protest, a new generation has been fighting an age old american struggle, here converging on the steps of the lincoln memorial, the sacred spot where martin luther king delivered his most celebrated speech. black people do not have freedom, justice or equality... but his dream of racial equality has continually been deferred and the wounds of slavery and segregation have never truly healed. black lives matter!

it was police brutality that brought protesters out onto the streets, but it's a deeper sense of racial injustice that has kept them marching every day for the past month. a multi—ratio and multi—generalization mobilisation that's claiming tangible progress. this is a merging of the past and future. we all understand that we're standing on the shoulders of civil rights. this is our civil rights movement. this will change the world. and it's already changing america. confederate statues, memorializing the champions of slavery, have been brought down, and new landmarks has emerged. in washington the mantra black lives matter has been painted on the doorstep of the white house. as for policing... ..polls now suggest an overwhelming majority want clearly defined standards for when officers can use force and consequences for those who do so excessively.

some cities have banned the controversial chokehold. this has been a time of fury and frustration, of greater understanding of heightened recognition. but it would be a mistake to see this as a moment of national reconciliation. racial problems have been laid bare, but remedies are still a long way off. it's hard to see a consensus emerging around defunding the police, the demand from demonstrators to reduce policing budgets and reallocate the money to social programmes. but this protest leader does sense an important attitudinal shift — whites finally acknowledging their privilege. there's this theory about pulling yourself up by your bootstraps and privilege isjust something that we can't talk about, but white folks are realising that they got a better set of boots than the black community ever did. they are realising that, you know what, may be my boots helped me to get

where i am quicker and better because of history. that is a sea change. it's a sea change, it's a huge sea change. a tide is turning in this country and we are a new force to be reckoned with. in a nation born of protest, many have seen american beauty in what is largely been a peaceful movement, but history teaches us that when african—america ns achieve progress it's often followed by a white backlash. this is a moment that has pricked the conscience of a rising number of sympathetic americans but it could easily harden the prejudice of others. nick bryant, bbc news, new york. speaking to the bbc one month on from his brother's death, philonise floyd says he and his family are still trying to hold everything together. he said how difficult it had been to lay his brother to rest. and also thinking about what george floyd would've made of the global outcry sparked by his death.

he is not the type of guy that is going to try and muscle you. he is is going to try and muscle you. heisi is going to try and muscle you. he is i was saying things to bring you up. i know he was going to listen to whatever they said and, on the video as you can see, he did everything the right word. it isjust you can see, he did everything the right word. it is just the officers, they just had the right word. it is just the officers, theyjust had a lot officers, theyjust had a lot of hatred in them at the time because you have to put your knee on someone's leg for that time limit. it isjust co nsta ntly, time limit. it isjust constantly, he kept hollering, please, sir, please, i can't breathe, i can't breathe. it just heard a lot watching the video and it hurt more when i watched him scream for our deceased mum. that was painful and kids had to look at that and kids had to look at that and it is just and kids had to look at that and it isjust a lot and kids had to look at that and it is just a lot of and kids had to look at that and it isjust a lot of pain right now. if my brother would have seen everything like this going on like this, he would

appreciate it a lot. he would explain to them different things and the trial they are going through if this is going to happen, if things like that but just from what to happen, if things like that butjust from what he would say, he would be humble, it would be, you know, said that he is not here to be in a world thatis he is not here to be in a world that is making change like this but he would be happy that i advocate for him and the world is trying to get united and we are trying to kick the door down as it has never been kicked down before and basically, very excited, very excited. historically, black people who have been killed by police were denied accountability, they were denied any kind ofjustice. this had been the history of america since slavery but i believe thatjust as america since slavery but i believe that just as philonise floyd has articulated so passionately, that this is the type to see systematic reform

when it comes to the culture and behaviour of police in america, especially as it relates to black america. the protests have been multicultural, you have seen not only black people marching for george floyd but white people, hispanic people, native americans and, really, the young people are saying enough is enough. we do not want to see another ash tag of another black american being killed unnecessarily and senselessly by the people who are supposed to protect and serve them. and so to protect and serve them. and so right now we're asking everybody to take a breath for peace, to take a breath for equaljustice, to take a breath for a respect and a healing in a society but, most importantly, let's take a breath for george floyd,

depressed that those police office rs depressed that those police officers in minneapolis did not give him, so we can breathe again because we have now achieved change in the legacy of george floyd. that is when we will all be able to breathe again. the us house of representatives has voting parts a reform named in order that back in honour of george lloyd. this comes a day after blocking a competing bill in congress. we expect this one to pass because the democrats are in control but it is unlikely to pass in the senate which is controlled by republicans. still to come: we'll have more on the calls for social change after george floyd's death — when we speak to dr rashawn ray — one of

the north america's leading professors of sociology. members of the neo—nazi resistance movement stormed the world trade center armed with pistols and shotguns. we believe that, according to international law, that we have a rightful claim on certain parts of this country as our land. i take pride in the words "ich bin ein berliner." cheering as the uk woke up to the news that it is to exit the european union, leave campaigners began celebrating. in total, 17.4 million people voted for the uk to leave the eu. the medical research council have now advised the government that the great increase in lung cancer is due mainly to smoking tobacco. it was closing time for checkpoint charlie, which, for 29 years,

has stood on the border as a mark of allied determination to defend the city. this is bbc news, the latest headlines: liverpool claim the premier league title — ending a 30—year wait to be crowned english football champions. one month since the death of the black american george floyd, in police custody — congress votes on a police reform act. well, let's stay with that story now. this we can now speak to dr rashawn ray who's a david m rubenstein fellow at the brookings institution. thank you very much for talking to us. this reform act that is going through now and is being voted on right now and when we get the result we will bring that to our viewers but on

that, many different measures in it, things about police oversight and things like that but let's pick on one of them, the idea of qualified immunity for police officers. it is slightly technical. can you talk us through what that is and why do people want that changed? first, this day is significant. the boy, tamir rice who would have turned 18 today was killed for playing with a toy gun. qualified immunity gives a form of immunity gives a form of immunity to police against facing civil suits so they cannot be sued. it is interpreted also by a court of law as leading to criminal immunity. so removing that all ofa immunity. so removing that all of a sudden allows the officer who killed to be pursued. it

allows for other people. qualified immunity in 99% of the time, leads to police officers, the thousands of times it happens in the united states, it leads to them not being held civilly or criminally liable. that is one crucial issue but do you feel that has the support of republicans? i would say that thatis republicans? i would say that that is the big, the big problem there in terms of the differences between republicans and democrats, qualified immunity. they agree when it comes to banning chokehold is and other measures but when it comes to qualified immunity we need to think about restructuring police pay—out and one thing people don't know is that eventually george floyd's family will get a larger civil pay—out for the fa ct larger civil pay—out for the fact that he was dehumanised and murdered in minneapolis. that tax money will be used to

pay them back. qualified immunity pays that back. putting the money with police department insurance would do a lot for them but this bill does a few other things. it puts a limit on military equipment and also provides federal oversight for independent review of departments and offices and it also creates a federal standard of training for the 18,000 law enforcement agencies in the united states. there are a couple of slightly technical reforms being debated and pushed through and you have explained them clearly and we appreciate your time. thank you very much. the us state of texas has suspended plans to further re—open the economy, because of a significant rise in coronavirus infections. governor greg abbott said no new businesses would be allowed to re—start — but those already open would be allowed to keep trading. the number of cases in texas has nearly doubled in ten days. it eased restrictions in may,

before much of the rest of the country. its notjust texas which has faced a rise in cases. more than 35,000 new coronavirus cases were identified on wednesday. it was the highest number reported in a single day since late april. florida, texas, oklahoma and south carolina all reported their highest single—day totals. to discuss this latest spike, eve wittenberg, a senior research scientist, at harvard university joins me now. thank you for being on the programme. a spike and no—one wa nts programme. a spike and no—one wants more spikes or the number of cases to go up. what do you put this down to? is this about the easing of restrictions? many parts of the country in the us have not actually imposed particularly stringent restrictions, even from the outset. so we see cases that

are migrating around the country from the parts that have had the earlier and more severe outbreaks to the rest of the country because people are moving around more and we know this from cellphone data that shows where people are moving and what sort of travel is happening. so not only did some parts of the country not imposed particularly stringent restrictions in the beginning but they are also loosening what they had imposed at any level. an cases are rising. cases are rising. does this constitute a second wave? are we about to see one? i believe that what our officials had designated this as is a first wave. this is still the first wave. this is still the first wave. we have not really come down from the beginning. so we're still looking at the first round this virus in the united states. and the restrictions and the lockdown

as it was, politics and politicians always have a balance to make here. they need to protect the economy and the economy fundamentally is people's lives and people affording healthcare, kids going hungry so there is a difficult balance but do you think the politicians have got it wrong? there is always a balance, of course. we cannot permit a mass spread of cases across the country and at a certain point you need to trade off how much we open up our economy and how much we allow people to die and what we are seeing is death rising as infection is rising and we have not even seen yet what sort of death will come from the spikes in infections now. so if we're going to open up the economy more we have already, we will have all people dead and our governor in new york state said

it eloquently, the alternative that we face now is death. stark words to finish there but we do appreciate your thoughts and coming on and speaking to us and coming on and speaking to us here on the programme. let's go back to the us and washington and you can see the voting there is under way on the policeman form ledges elation. this is the us house of representatives and the vote you can see by the numbers there it is pretty much there and it looks like it will pass. unsurprisingly as it is a democrat ill and the democrats control the us house of representatives that in the senate it is likely to be a different story. the republicans controlled the senate, of course, and they are unlikely to agree to it because of certain measures proposed

about issues such as qualified immunity, which we were discussing earlier. we will keep across that vote for you. stay with us, hello. thursday brought us, for the third consecutive day, the hottest day of the year so far in the uk. temperatures at heathrow in london reached 33.1; celsius, but if you are not a fan of the heat and the humidity, you will probably be pleased to hear that things are now turning fresher. through friday, it will be a cooler day, the chance of some heavy showers and some thunderstorms around too. still quite a mild, muggy start to the morning. first thing friday, those temperatures quite widely in the mid to high teens, could be not shy of 20 degrees for central london first thing friday morning. now, we start with this band of fairly heavy showers and thunderstorms. this is nine o'clock in the morning. it will be drier down towards the southwest

of england and wales. the southeast of england, through the midlands, up towards north and northwest of england into northern ireland as well, that's where we are likely to see some of those heavy downpours. and for the western isles, some of them are going to be really heavy and thundery once again. northern and eastern scotland, probably avoiding quite a good deal of those heavy showers. now, across england and wales, they push their way northwards and eastward through the course of the day. so, it's much of northern england, north wales into scotland that is going to be seeing some of the heavy showers and thunderstorms. northern ireland seeing fewer, i think, during the afternoon, but they will be hit and miss. it will still feel warm in the east with temperatures around 28, possibly up to around 30 degrees, but for many of us, it is turning cooler. into the weekend, fresher conditions moving across the whole of the uk — with some rainfall in the forecast as well. down to the fact that we've got this area of low pressure moving its way in from the west, quite a lot of isobars on the map, as well as those heavy showers rattling around that area of low pressure. so this is how saturday is shaping up then, sunny spells

but frequent heavy showers. again with some hail in some lightning mixed in with some of those heavy thunderstorms. quite blustery winds as well, particularly where you do see the heavy showers, the thunderstorms, with hail as well, that's where you could see some squally and gusty winds at times too. temperatures quite a bit cooler than recent days, somewhere between about 18—21dc for many of us. still a bit of sunshine in between the showers. by the time we get to sunday, the heaviest of the showery rain will be in the north and northwest. a little bit drier further south with a little bit more sunshine on offer, but the winds will be picking up. a blustery fresher feeling day with highs of 15—21 degrees. bye— bye.

this is bbc news, the headlines: liverpool supporters are celebrating after the club were crowned premier league champions. it's the first time they've won english football's top—flight title in 30 years. the side needed one victory to seal the league but manchester city's failure to beat chelsea means they cannot be caught. the us congress is voting on a policejustiice and reform act one month after the death of george floyd in police custody in minneapolis. the manner of his death has led to a global wave of protests, calling for police reform and an end to institutional racism. the us is facing a new coronavirus spike, after lockdown restrictions were relaxed. texas has now suspended plans to further re—open the economy, because of a significant rise in covid 19 cases. across the country a record 35 thousand new cases were identified in a single day.