this is bbc news — my name's mike embley — with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. the death that shook the world: a police officer who knelt on george floyd's neck stands trial in minneapolis. both sides lay out their cases. you'll hear it and you'll see at the same time while he is crying out mr chauvin never moves. the knee remains on his neck. sunglasses remain undisturbed on his head and itjust goes on. derek chauvin did exactly what he had been trained to do. the use of force is not attractive, but it is a necessary component of policing. brazil's president, reshuffles his cabinet — as latin america's largest country descends into further covid—induced chaos. beijing is accuses of using questionable tactics in its attempt to control what's said about china's role in the pandemic.

and — freed at last — the giant container ship that has blocked the suez canal for almost a week — is sailing once again. hello and welcome. the trial has begun in the united states of the white policeman accused of killing george floyd — with lawyers and civil rights leaders claiming the case is a referendum onjustice and equality in america. mr floyd's death in minneapolis last may sparked �*black lives matter�* protests across the world — as public anger was fed by distressing footage showing him begging for air as derek chauvin knelt on his neck. mr chauvin denies charges of manslaughter and murder. aleem maqbool reports from minneapolis. this marks the start

of what will be an emotional and fraught few weeks for the family of george floyd. but the reminders have, of course, never gone away of the way he died. we need justice. i think throughout this whole trial, that's one word that you will hear me and my family say a lot — justice. somebody needs to be held accountable. do you swear or affirm... the outrage the case sparked became an examination of systemic racism in the us. but prosecution lawyers started by bringing back the focus to the man seen here on the right. this case is about mr derek chauvin and not about any of those men and women, it's not about all policing at all. this is when i started watching again. they showed jurors new cctv footage of the lead up to george floyd's death, as well as the full infamous video that caused such distress. and the most important numbers you will hear in this trial are nine two nine. what happened in those nine

minutes and 29 seconds when mr derek chauvin was applying this excessive force to body of mr george floyd. in his opening statement, the lawyerfor the former police officer defended his tactics. derek chauvin did exactly what he had been trained to do over the course of his 19—year career. the use of force is not attractive, but it is a necessary component of policing. but primarily, they are also questioning one fundamental aspect of the death of george floyd, as i heard from a lawyer for the city's police union. the defense�*s main arguments are going to focus around whether or not chauvin actually caused his death. that is an argument that he would've died anyway. right, right. yeah, and i think, well,... that, for a lot of people who saw the video, will sound ludicrous, frankly.

um, well, the video isn't the whole story, it's a piece of the story, and that is what the jury will have to decide. these protests outside the courthouse are a reminder of the strength of feeling there was last summer, notjust here but all over the world. but in this case, one of the most important in us history, will come down to, of course, is the opinion of i2jurors. aleem maqbool, bbc news, minneapolis. our correspondent, lebo diseko, joins us now from hennepin county courthouse in minneapolis. good to talk to you. what would you say is the focus i think both lawyers for the prosecution and defence at the prosecution and defence at the prosecution was a phrase that

struck me with a lawyer said you can believe your eyes. 50 you can believe your eyes. so basically. _ you can believe your eyes. sr basically, what you see in the video, would have the defence say, believe george floyd had very compromised health. it talks about drugs that were in the system that the officer had been doing what he had been trained to do. the prosecution say they will be calling the chief of police in the city as a witness and that he will be testifying that it is not what minnesota police are trained to do at all. it minnesota police are trained to do at all. , do at all. it will be interesting - do at all. it will be interesting to - do at all. it will be interesting to see | do at all. it will be - interesting to see how that plays out in the coming days.

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minneapolis it quiet because of covert. one woman said to me,

look, she is worried about the backlash against black and brown people in this city. if there is not a conviction, she is worried about the reaction. there is huge interest in this case in this country. every tv station today was cap the special coverage of this case. the white house press secretary said joe biden, the president, is watching. he spoke about the impact that this incident had last year. he is going to be watching this case as it plays out because of the significance, and what it showed about the experience of black people in this country. good to talk to you, thank you very much. don't forget you'll find lots more reaction and anaylsis of the trial in minneapolis on our website. including a piece on the power of the police — and this summary of what happened during the first day. just go to bbc.com/news — or download the bbc news app. let's get some of

the day's other news. the us has suspended a trade pact with myanmar following the deadliest weekend of violence since the military coup. more than a hundred people, including several children, were killed on saturday. president biden condemned the violence and said the trade deal would remain suspended until democracy is restored. washington has condemned an attack by islamist militants on a town in mozambique as �*horrific�*. the islamic state group claims to be in control of palma, but the situation on the ground is unclear. prosecutors in new york have announced new charges against ghislaine maxwell — the british socialite accused of grooming young girls for herformer partner, jeffrey epstein. the indictment adds another suspected victim, taking the total to four. ms maxwell denies wrongdoing and is in prison awaiting trial injuly. president biden has asked governors and mayors in the us to continue to require people to wearface masks in public. he said reckless behaviour was causing a rise in the number of coronavirus infections.

brazil has recorded more than 1,600 deaths from covid—i9 in the past 2a hours, and almost 39,000 additional cases. the president, jair bolsonaro, has also replaced six cabinet ministers in the biggest reshuffle since he came to powerjust over two years ago. the foreign minister, ernesto araujo, is among those sacked. camilla motta reports from sao paulo. it is, unfortunately. i think that one of the main symbols of the hospital collapse that we are seeing are these morbid icu lines that have been reported over the last three weeks or so. people there are severely ill, but they cannot get treatment because the system is completely stretched, completely overwhelmed. so if you catch covid—i9 in brazil right now, there is no assurance that you are going to get treatment either on the private or the public sector. one institute has already established this as the worst

hospital collapse in the country's history. at the beginning, 13 months ago, we saw different epicenters as time went by, but now there is no epicentre. the virus seems to be out of control all over the country, and brazil is a big country. borisjohnson says it remains unclear exactly how strong the uk's defences will be against another wave of coronavirus. as some restrictions eased in england, the british prime minister warned that everyone should "proceed with caution". under the latest relaxation of the rules, groups of up to six people, or two households, can socialise outside, and outdoor sports facilities, such as open air swimming pools, can reopen. new freedoms, and all on a sunny day — no wonder these swimmers at a lido in norfolk were enjoying themselves, with outdoor pools in england allowed to reopen.

very nice. it's lovely, it's amazing, it's a great feeling. it's pretty great. it's cold! yeah. until today, weddings were only permitted in exceptional circumstances, but now ceremonies with up to six people are allowed. and in coventry, dwayne and nyasha tied the knot after postponing in the winter. even, like, yesterday, it was like, they could just ring, couldn't they, and go, actually... yeah, not today. ..not today. so, it's surreal, it's wonderful. today, the prime minister and his key advisers appeared at the new downing street media briefing room. isn't there a danger of mixed messaging when you talk both about a road map to freedom and getting back towards normal life but, also, the need to be cautious because of cases rising in some parts of europe? we're pleased to be able to have some measure of relaxation today. it is important, it is valuable. i know it will be

prized by people. but also very important to stress that we are continuing to be cautious. the main thing we're concerned about is the risk of importing into the uk variants which could have a reduced effectiveness on the vaccines we're currently using. now, in the long—term, there would be ways around that, but in the short—term, that is the principal thing that is driving concerns about border issues at this stage. fresh air dilutes. the virus particles and can blow them away... a government advert reminds people that meeting outdoors is less risky than in their homes. hands, face, - space and fresh air. and labour urged ministers not to drop their guard. it's good we've got to this stage of lifting some of the restrictions. we've got to be cautious about it. and i think the single biggest risk is, of course, what we're seeing happening

in other countries, where the numbers are still going up. the number of daily reported cases was coming down, but it's been fairly stable for the last few weeks — between 5,000 and 6,000 on the seven—day rolling average. but the number of daily hospital admissions with covid is falling steadily. it's down to around a few hundred a day. health officials say fewer people are getting seriously ill with covid, and the vaccine is having an impact. from ice hockey and rock concerts to communityjabs, the sse arena in belfast has opened as a mass vaccination centre. ministers said it was a significant milestone. in northern ireland, from thursday, outdoor sports will resume and six people can meet in private gardens. some beaches in wales were busy over the weekend, with travel restrictions lifted and youth sports and meetings of up to six people outside permitted. scotland's stay—at—home message changes to stay local on friday — each nation moving at its own pace out of lockdown. hugh pym, bbc news.

stay with us on bbc news, still to come: back afloat and on its way after almost a week. the ever given is finally dislodged from its spot on the suez canal.

this is bbc news, the latest headlines. the trial has begun in the us city of minneapolis of the white police officer charged with the murder of george floyd. the brazilian president, has reshuffled his cabinet as latin america's largest country descends into covid—induced chaos. let's get more on our main story. geoff alpert is a professor of criminology and criminal justice at the university of south carolina. what do you see is absolutely critical here? there are

several issues that are up in the trial. we may not know towards the end of the most importantjury instructions important jury instructions which are importantjury instructions which are a little different in our country than yours. the judge will order thejury our country than yours. the judge will order the jury and provide them with instructions as to what to determine. and this will drive a lot of the decisions. we know the issue of what killed mr floyd is certainly a question the expert witnesses will argue for the prosecution and the defence that will explain what they believe caused the death and we know already the answers will be diametrically opposed but we don't know what that is going to mean until we hear thejury instructions that is going to be really important. was at the knee on the neck what caused it? i heard your report and we have certainly seen the reports here in the states that people

have said the knee cut off the oxygen but there are a lot of doctors who say, no, the neighbours placed in a location that did not cut off blood supply. those are the medical doctors that are going to be arguing about that that will be critical to influence the jury. the knee on the neck, i think thatis the knee on the neck, i think that is the one no—brainer in this. why on the world would you put your knee in someone's neck for that period of time. i don't think anyone is going to argue that that was appropriate. they can argue that was what he was trained to do and i'm not sure that it's true. that is going to be the easy part but the consequence, what happened with the knee on the neck is going to be the main argument that we are going to see for the next few days. essentially this is going to be a battle medical experts. i believe it will be and then as

i mentioned it will be so important with thejury important with the jury instructions. i important with thejury instructions. i am going to be hypothetical here. the judge could say did the knee on the neck kill mr floyd or the judge could ask thejury neck kill mr floyd or the judge could ask the jury did the knee on the neck create the next step that did something that did something else that killed mr floyd. so it could be an aggravated situation or it could be the cause and we won't know what the jury will have to respond to until we hear the jury respond to until we hear the jury instructions.— jury instructions. thank you very much- _ jury instructions. thank you very much. absolutely. - jury instructions. thank you | very much. absolutely. have jury instructions. thank you i very much. absolutely. have a aood very much. absolutely. have a good evening- _ have a good evening. ships have started sailing through the suez canal again, after a giant container vessel blocking the way was freed. the ever given was trapped for nearly a week in one of the world's busiest trade routes. a team of tug boats succeeded in pulling herfree and she's been towed north for a safety inspection. dharshini david reports. for six days, it's gripped

and confounded the world, but the bottleneck sealing one of the busiest shipping lanes has been uncorked. the ever given, owned by company evergreen, is finally on the move thanks to a fleet of tug boats, diggers and an exceptionally high tide. moving the ship was never going to be easy. the iso—year—old canal is less than 300 metres wide. by contrast, the mega ship is 400 metres long, and 20 times heavier than the eiffel tower. almost 30,000 cubic metres of mud have had to be shifted, also shifting the costs. carrying 20,000 containers, the ever given is the answer to our growing shopping list. a similar number of ships go down the canal as did a0 years ago, but now they're carrying more than three times as much. around 52 go through everyday, accounting for around i2%, or £7 billion, of global trade. now, behind the ever given, there have been more than 300 vessels queueing, their cargo everything from food to medicine to livestock and cars.

they too may have more trouble on the horizon. there is a large backlog of vessels that are waiting to go through the canal from both sides, and i think even operating at full capacity, it's going to take probably several weeks to get back to normal. and in the meantime, of course, the vessels that are starting off that were due to travel through the canal at the moment will continue to be diverted. the ever given and its cargo was due to arrive in felixstowe next week, but its customers and many other still await an eta. we have six containers on the sea on the wrong side of the suez canal, and the reality, we're a fun gift business, which means our product isn't critical, but there's a lot of critical products and essentials on those vessels. but how to prevent a repeat of this disruption? analysts say the egyptian

authorities will be looking closely. it's a major artery - for the world so none of us want to see this happening. again, so anything that can be done to create a safer - environment for this i think will be looked at and dealt with in due course. - a pandemic, changes due to brexit, rising shipping costs and now this. the trade that propels jobs and profits has faced fierce headwinds. it will be awhile before it gets back on course. dharshini david, bbc news. the united states has warned it could impose steep tariffs on british exports in retaliation for the uk's digital services tax —— which has hit some of america's technology giants, including social media platforms and internet search engines. the british goverment says it wants to ensure that tech companies pay theirfair share of tax, but washington has drawn up a long list of british goods it plans to target. a long—awaited report into the origins of the coronavirus pandemic, following a world health organisation mission in china, will be released on tuesday. no china's response to the covid—i9 outbreak has

been scrutinised ever since the virus was first detected in wuhan. at the same time, beijing has been trying to take greater control of what is said about its role in the pandemic, often with questionable tactics. krassi twigg from bbc monitoring reports. the truth about the coronavirus pandemic according to china. over the past year, china has been trying to convince the world that it has handled the crisis well. in an effort to shift any blame for the outbreak, beijing launched an all—out information offensive, fighting the assumption it all started in wuhan and undermining western vaccines. state media and officials have been keen to highlight the death of people who have received pfizer shots, questioning the safety of western vaccines without basis. we have seen evidence that audiences internationally are engaging in content produced by chinese state media outlets surrounding vaccine hesitancy, surrounding concerns about the western vaccines.

these messages are in some cases quite effective because it is reinforcing doubts that people may already be having. the fears are this kind of misinformation risks damaging public health. china's determination to push its counter narrative on the crisis goes back to the origins of covid—i9. this report by the chinese state channel, cgtn suggest that the virus came not from china but from a military research base in the us. china endorsed the theory in response to us claims that the virus escaped from a lab in wuhan, as well as provocative remarks by donald trump. coronavirus, right? "kung—flu", yeah? this claim was amplified by a host of actors, state media outlets abroad in many languages. the so—called wolf warrior

diplomats taking a fiery new brand of diplomacy to twitter and the huge network of bots. china really has a wide variety of tools at its disposal, and it's pulling all of these levers at different times to try and influence international narratives. and often times, this is to protect the chinese communist pa rty�*s genesee. beijing denies its involved in a misinformation campaign and insists that the world health organization should visit other countries to investigate where the virus came from. in the meantime, china continues to portray itself as a global force for good, helping others out of the crisis. you can reach me on twitter — i'm @embleymike.

hello. monday brought us the warmest day of the year so far with temperatures in the southeast at 20.1; celsius, and things will get even warmer over the next few days. so, a lot of warm, sunny weather but not everywhere. some wet weather holding on across the northwest of scotland, really quite persistent rain there. and then later this week, from around about thursday onwards, things are turning colderfor all of us with the return of some overnight frosts as well. for the here and now, here's the weather front that's slow moving across the northwest of scotland. that's producing fuurther outbreaks of rain, we could see some localised flooding for northern and western parts of the highlands, also for the westin isles and the northern isles too. elsewhere, a dry story, quite cloudy for parts of northern ireland, southern scotland and the far north of england. but the could should thin

and break up through the day, long spells of warm sunshine further south and light winds too. temperatures up to around 23 degrees across the southeast of england. but above 20 for england and wales, up in the high teens for scotland and for northern ireland. through this evening and overnight, we are going to see that rain persisting again across the western half of scotland, but it will start to edge its way gradually a little bit further south. temperatures first thing wednesday morning won't be quite as chilly as first thing tuesday morning, so typically between 7—9 celsius. now as we head through tuesday night into wednesday, there is the weather front, which slowly during wednesday morning will start to filter its way a little bit further south. so the rain's continuing across parts of scotland through the day, very slowly, some of it nudging across northern ireland. really england and wales staying dry once again on wednesday, and with those clear, blue skies, it will be another warm day. very warm in fact for march, between 19—23 celsius once again, but things starting to turn a little bit cooler across scotland

and northern ireland too. ii or 12 celsius here and single figures across the northern half of scotland. that's down to the fact that this weather front is introducing colder air from the north, towards the end of the week, as that slips its way down towards the south, then the blue colours are going to return to the map. so this colder air moving in from an arctic direction, and that is going to feel very different as we head towards good friday and into the easter weekend as well. so certainly turning colder later this week, some wintry showers possible, but the next few days looking warm for many of us. bye— bye.

this is bbc news,

the headlines: lawyers in the us city of minneapolis have set out their opening arguments in the trial of a white former police officer accused of killing george floyd. the prosecutor replayed the full nine minutes of video showing the former officer kneeling on mr floyd's neck as he struggled to breathe. brazil's president, jair bolsonaro, has been forced into a major reshuffle of his cabinet, following the resignations of his foreign and defence ministers. the president's popularity has declined sharply, as brazil suffers a second deadly wave of the pandemic, and major delays in the vaccination programme. ships have started sailing through the suez canal again, after the ever given, a giant container vessel that had blocked the channel for almost a week, was freed. rescue tug boats honked their horns in celebration. officials say the backlog will be cleared in around three days. now on bbc news, world questions.