this is bbc news with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. eyewitnesses at derek chauvin's murder trial describe what they saw — and what they did — when the former police officer pressed his knee into george floyd's neck. that is correct, i did call the police on the police. all right, and why did you do that? because i believed i witnessed a murder. a uk police watchdog says officers acted "appropriately" and were not heavy handed at a vigil for sarah everard in south london. president bolsonaro of brazil is facing a growing crisis over his leadership after the resignations of all three commanders of the armed forces. 2,000 refugees from myanmar turned back by thailand — following airstrikes near the border

by the leaders of myanmar�*s military coup. hello and welcome if you're watching in the uk or around the world. a witness to the arrest of george floyd — whose death sparked race protests around the world — has said he believed that what he saw was a murder. donald williams was testifying on the second day of the trial of a white police officer, derek chauvin, who is accused of killing mr floyd by kneeling on his neck for more than nine minutes. 0ur north america correspondent aleem maqbool has this report. do you swear or affirm... the first full day of testimony was an emotional one. it started with the playing of an emergency call that was made by an eyewitness. he just pretty muchjust killed this

guy that wasn't resisting arrest. he had his knee on the dude's neck the whole time. donald willams is heard describing how he saw a man handcuffed and on his front not resisting arrest having his neck knelt on. so you were concerned about mr floyd losing his life? correct. two people walk in from the left... then cctv footage was shown with the officers and george floyd in the foreground, in the background, from a 17—year—old identified as darnella in the black top, whose testimony was off—camera, is seen taking her young was there anything about the scene that you didn't want your cousin to see? yes. and what was that? a man terrified, scared, begging for life. she came back to record the video that went viral around the world and others gathered too. it's been nights i've stayed up

apologising and apologising to george floyd for not doing more and not physically interacting and not saving his life. darnella's nine—year—old cousin also came back to the scene. how did it affect you? i was sad and kind of mad. and tell us why were you sad and mad? because it felt like he was stopping his breathing, i and it was kind of like hurting him. well, of course, the death of george floyd at this spot had a huge life—changing impact on so many relatives and close friends, but also now as we have heard, on the lives of those who witnessed what happened. but the question for many is will it bring out a rare conviction for a police officer and some sense of accountability? aleem maqbool, bbc news, minneapolis.

here in the uk, a review into the metropolitan police's handling of a vigil in memory of sarah everard has found officers "did not act inappropriately or in a heavy—handed manner". the police were criticised at the time after footage from the event — showing women being pinned to the ground and handcuffed — was widely shared on social media. today, the chief inspector of constabulary said metropolitan police officers had done their best to disperse the crowd peacefully, and said they had remained calm and professional when subjected to abuse. but the report did say there was insufficient communication between police commanders about changing events on the ground. june kelly has this report — a warning it contains flashing images. it was an image which went around the world. the policing of the sarah everard vigil has been described as one of the most damaging episodes in the modern history of the metropolitan police. and today's report speaks of a public relations disaster

which shook public confidence in the force. but when it comes to the tactics it used, under lockdown rules, the met "generally got it right", decalres the report. after this offical vindication, scotland yard put forward an officer on duty at clapham. the chant came across that police were in the crowd and we were filming them and the abuse started immediately after that, so, "kill the police, shame on you, arrest your own." and to me personally that i should be raped and murdered. more than one person said that to me. danya, here on the left, says she went to the vigil to pay tribute to sarah everard. she ended up handcuffed in the back of a police van and she describes today's report as disheartening. you know, when i was in the van,

i felt that i had that feeling of frustration of, "here i go again, being silenced, this doesn't matter". the report, when it came out, again was just that same feeling of being silenced, and it's extremely painful. after reviewing footage from body—worn cameras and interviewing key people, the police inspectorate has found that officers "did their best to peacefully disperse the crowd", that they remained "calm and professional when subjected to abuse", and that they "did not act in a heavy—handed manner". jada chambers said she was very vocal that night. she was arrested and handcuffed. today, she said she could see the challenges the police were facing. i agree that we should've been there, we should've laid flowers, we should've paid our respects, you know, accordingly, respectfully, silently, you know? but i don't agree with how it ended up, how it ended up being, the part i played in it, no, i don't believe it should've been that way. do you regret your

behaviour that night? yes, i do regret my behaviour that night. in the febrile atmosphere that followed the clapham vigil, some politicians called for the met commissioner, dame cressida dick, to go. the report condemns what it calls "this uninformed commentary". this was different, it said, to interventions by the home secretary who ordered today's investigation. it's important that people don't just prejudge the actions of the police by footage that was put out and aired on broadcasts without knowing the full facts. the report found mistakes including poor police communication. 0n the issue of public confidence, some women who were at the vigil say they have lost faith in the country's largest force after what they saw and experienced on clapham common. june kelly, bbc news. the heads of brazil's army, navy and air force have resigned, as presidentjair bolsonaro struggles to contain a crisis over his leadership. it comes after mr bolsanaro was forced to reshuffle

his cabinet on monday — after his foreign and defence minister quit in quick succession. i'm joined now by the bbc�*s camilla motta in sao paulo. it sounds like it's a political earthquake. unprecedented for all three leaders of the services to go in one go? it three leaders of the services to go in one no? , , three leaders of the services to go in one go?— in one go? it is. it is worth recapping _ in one go? it is. it is worth recapping a _ in one go? it is. it is worth recapping a bit _ in one go? it is. it is worth recapping a bit what - in one go? it is. it is worth - recapping a bit what happened yesterday to try to understand what is going on, because the situation is going on, because the situation is still a bit convoluted here. so yesterday, also neuropsych to his defence minister in a move that surprised many. no one really saw that coming. because the military are a strong pillar on bolsonaro's support system, he was a captain before turning to politics, so he comes from the armed forces. at one point over these past two years, the

military accounted for almost half of these 22 cabinet ministers. he was known to be a moderate voice in the highest ranks of the army. a group that seems to have been clashing with bolsonaro for a number of reasons, one of them being the paul henley of the pandemic —— poor handling. it seems the last straw was the fact that mr paulson are went to the supreme court to try to overturn a few of the partial lockdowns declared by mayors and governors over the past few weeks to try to contain this deadly covid second wave that we are going through. it seems that bolsonaro wanted the army to back him up, to publicly support them, but that didn't happen, and then the situation became unsustainable. it seems to emulate what happened with one of his political heroes, donald trump, until he left power in terms of personnel changes and crisis. is this not going to stop? 0r of personnel changes and crisis. is this not going to stop? or are there more potential who will leave?

that remains to be seen. the replacements to the three commanders that resigned today have not been announced so far. so we will still have to see who will replace them to see if there is indeed a split inside the armed forces and what that represents to the brazilian institutions and even to the resilient democracy, but that is something that we will have to wait for the next chapters to find out. 0k, for the next chapters to find out. ok, with the latest in sao paulo, thank you very much. thousands of people are fleeing across the border — from myanmar into thailand — following air strikes by the regime. most are from an ethnic group called the karen. the attacks are the latest escalation — in the increasingly violent crackdown by myanmar�*s military government — against opponents of its february takeover. more than 500 people have died since then. 0ur correspondentjonathan head reports from the border. taking a wearily familiar route that their parents and grandparents

took many times before them. ethnic karen villagers flee burmese bombing raids to seek shelter across the salween river in thailand. translation: starting on saturday, the burmese military aircraft - were flying overhead. they went round twice, then the shooting started. very loud. lots of guns shooting. after arriving earlier on the thai side of the border, kai, not her real name, received images and videos of the journey made by her family, following her to thailand to escape the bombing. translation: the burmese army is living all around us. _ we don't want this anymore. the soldiers live close by and give us trouble all the time. those wounded in the air raid were picked up by thai soldiers and taken to hospital here for treatment. i can still hear the

airstrike, said this man. i keep hearing it. and i can't sleep. but the thai authorities are being less hospitable to the rest of the refugees. they were forced to march back across the river. they included kai's family. the thais are trying to stop a trickle from becoming a flood. thailand are trying to stop a trickle from becoming a flood. the number of armed men we are seeing here tells you that this is now a very tense border with myanmar. and the people who have been coming in here, many of them injured, of course for years have known something that young activists in the cities of myanmar are now learning at first hand. that the myanmar military, farfrom defending people, wages war against them with pitiless savagery, crushing them as enemies. in what is now the world's longest civil war, thousands of karen civilians have been displaced,

beaten, raped and murdered by burmese soldiers. little surprise then that the same army is treating civilians in thailand, they are bracing themselves for a much larger wave of refugees. they have seen it before here from the war—torn karen areas of myanmar. this time, though, the refugees may come from all parts of the country. jonathan head, bbc news, on the thai—burmese border. you are watching bbc news. let's get some of the day's other news... the german chancellor angela merkel has agreed to suspend the use of the astrazeneca coronavirus vaccine for those under the age of 60 because of concerns over blood clots. it comes after germany's vaccine committee said it had received reports of 31 cases of rare blood clots in the brain, mostly in women under 60. police in tanzania have confirmed that 45 people died and 37 were injured during last week's

stampede in dar es salaam. thousands had gathered in the streets of the city and the main stadium to pay their last respects to the late presidentjohn magu—fuli who died two weeks ago. 0ne family lost six of its members in the incident. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: after schools were closed during lockdown — we take a look at new ways to imagine education after a global pandemic. the accident that happened here was of the sort that can, at worst, produce a meltdown. in this case, the precautions worked, but they didn't work quite well enough to prevent some old fears about the safety features of these stations from resurfacing.

the republic of ireland has become the first country in the world to ban smoking in the workplace. from today, anyone laying up in offices, businesses, pubs and restaurants will face a heavy fine. the president was on his way out of the washington hilton hotel where he had been addressing a trade union conference. the small crowd outside included his assailant. it has become a symbol of paris, - 100 years ago, many parisians wished it had never been built. the eiffel tower's - birthday is being marked by a re—enactment of the first assent by gustave eiffel. - this is bbc news.... let's return to our main story — the trial of a police officer accused of killing george floyd.this case is one of many, many cases involving the deaths of black people at the hands of police in the united states.

so for many families, this trial is about much more than just the death of george floyd. for example — this is eric garner — in 2014 he died while being arrested and held in a chokehold by a police officer in new york. a video of the incident taken by an onlooker was shared widely — showing mr garner repeatedly saying "i can't breathe". like george floyd's death — the footage shocked many and sparked protests around the country. but prosecutors eventually decided not to pursue charges. his mother is in minneapolis, following the trial of derek chauvin. she told our correspondent larry madowo she wanted to support the floyd family. even when i met them face—to—face, i told them, i said, even though you have a video, just like i did, don't think it's a slam dunk, because when you get in the courtroom, they're going to do everything at you to make you feel like your brother was the criminal instead of the man that murdered him.

it's interesting you say that, because philonise floyd, george floyd's brother said yesterday that this is a slam dunk. the man was kneeling on his deck on video seen around the world. you don't think it's that easy? no, it's not that easy, and it was proven in my case that they tried to blame my son for his own death because of his size. and you see how large george floyd was, my son was a large man, and they said because his heart was enlarged. they tried to blame the murder on the people who they murder. but no matter what you're saying about them, with these conditions that they had, if you didn't step on his neck, if you didn't choke my son to death, he would not have died that day. and that is what we must remember. china has warned other countries not to criticise its radical overhaul of hong kong's political system, which tightens beijing's control

over the terrritory. a foreign ministry spokeswoman said any attempt to pressure china over hong kong would fail. new measures will halve the number of directly elected seats while only candidates considered patriotic will be allowed to run. hong kong's chief executive carrie lam has been outlining the new legislation — she touched on the process by which candidates will be judged to be eligible. translation: the second area we have to work on is the candidate _ eligibility review committee. you're all very concerned about the composition of this committee. details are not specified in the annex, that is, it will have to be done by way of local legislation. i'm joined now by ramon yuen, one of the district councillors for the hong kong democratic party. just listening to carrie lam there, is this the end of the road for your

democratic dreams? {iii is this the end of the road for your democratic dreams?— is this the end of the road for your democratic dreams? of course we will fi . ht for democratic dreams? of course we will fight for democracy, _ democratic dreams? of course we will fight for democracy, for _ democratic dreams? of course we will fight for democracy, for the _ democratic dreams? of course we will fight for democracy, for the law - democratic dreams? of course we will fight for democracy, for the law of - fight for democracy, for the law of human rights, but you can see such decision by beijing is ridiculous and trembling —— crumbling democracy, because under the new scheme, only half of the legislative council will be appointed by those who are in power. actually, such decision violates commitments that are written in the basic law that they want the universal separation. this would involve changes, wanted to come to the basic law? {iii this would involve changes, wanted to come to the basic law? of course. all these decisions, _ to come to the basic law? of course. all these decisions, the _ to come to the basic law? of course. all these decisions, the basic - to come to the basic law? of course. all these decisions, the basic law- all these decisions, the basic law is the commitment of beijing, china to the hong kong people. and of course to the world, to show to the world. and an election of the shift

of executive, the commitment is set, we will have a predilection, like the universal suffrage which is clearly written in the basic law, but you can see under the current arrangement, all of our district council members who are all in the election... but council members who are all in the election- - -— election... but what can you do to challenae election... but what can you do to challenge this? _ election... but what can you do to challenge this? because - election... but what can you do to challenge this? because as - election... but what can you do to challenge this? because as you i election... but what can you do to i challenge this? because as you know from several of your members, people get arrested if you challenge them. it is a really tough time, but as long as we are in hong kong, we will speak up for a different kind of system. it is really difficult to fight for that, but i think the spirit of the hong kong people and the democratic party will stay and fight to the end. just the democratic party will stay and fight to the end.— fight to the end. just in terms of international _ fight to the end. just in terms of international pressure, - fight to the end. just in terms of international pressure, china - fight to the end. just in terms of| international pressure, china has made it very clear that there will be consequences, and what impact do

you think that that house on the international community? actually, i think that such _ international community? actually, i think that such decision _ international community? actually, i think that such decision will - international community? actually, i think that such decision will be - think that such decision will be seen by the committee how they treat their promise to their own people. will they keep their promise or break their promise, it is really clearly can be seen, and you can see the currently the district counsellor in the election committees just replaced by those people appointed by the chief executive in the governments, and this conflict of interest and this promise, i think it's really clear enough. promise, i think it's really clear enou:h. . ~ promise, i think it's really clear enou:h. ., ,, promise, i think it's really clear enou:h. . ~' , promise, i think it's really clear enou:h. . ~ , . enough. thank you very much indeed for “oininr enough. thank you very much indeed forjoining us- _ with global lockdowns and school closures in many parts of the world over the last year — designers and architects have accelerated new ways to imagine education after the pandemic. one idea is that students of the future might not need to attend school in person,

and could check in with teachers from anywhere in the world, by visiting a dedicated centre where software and online tools are easily available. in australia where the student population has been growing in recent years, education research started before coronavirus hit. i'm joined now by fiona young — an education designer in sydney, who has been working on some new ideas to turn traditional schooling on its head. thank you forjoining us. you are notjust a designer of thank you forjoining us. you are not just a designer of school buildings, education buildings, are you? it is new ideas and spaces as well. just talk us through what the benefits of this are, because many people perhaps traditionally would say, actually, physically attending a classroom and having that physical interaction with the teacher is still the best way. i interaction with the teacher is still the best way.— interaction with the teacher is still the best way. i think that's ri . ht that still the best way. i think that's

right that physical _ still the best way. i think that's right that physical interaction i still the best way. i think that'sj right that physical interaction is still the best way. i think that's l right that physical interaction is a very important part of education because education is very social, but we also know that particularly from the covid experience that students can learn and many, many different ways and thrive in different ways and thrive in different ways, and i think particularly for parents, it's shown us that students learn differently from each other. so if we look at new models of education, it is very much about enabling difference and supporting difference. 50 much about enabling difference and supporting difference.— supporting difference. so are you sa in: supporting difference. so are you saying that _ supporting difference. so are you saying that some _ supporting difference. so are you saying that some students - supporting difference. so are you i saying that some students perform better outside the classroom, and this way of post pandemic teaching is the way to cater for those people? so you have universal sort of education system which is almost tailor—made to the people who need different ways of getting into it. yes. hope and has shown that some students to perform quite differently. it's also shown that school could look very differently if we start to think of school is a much more flexible entity instead of

everyone going to the same school from nine o'clock to three o'clock each day that perhaps they could be learning in different places, whether it is at home, at school or places in between and spaces that connect much more to our cities and our communities. that connect much more to our cities and our communities.— our communities. that is interesting. _ our communities. that is interesting. so _ our communities. that is interesting. so for- our communities. that is| interesting. so for people our communities. that is - interesting. so for people who our communities. that is _ interesting. so for people who want a global reach, you can actually broaden a child's or students education significantly. just to their computer which presumably, or does that were to make risk blurring the educational experience. i think that is right, that now the classroom can be the whole world, and that we can reach out to global experts from around the world, and i think that really enhances the experience and creates my peptic experience and creates my peptic experience for students to be able to reach experts anywhere in the world. bill to reach experts anywhere in the world. �* ., , , world. all right, absolutely fascinating. _ world. all right, absolutely

fascinating. it _ world. all right, absolutely fascinating. it will - world. all right, absolutely fascinating. it will be - world. all right, absolutely - fascinating. it will be interesting to see how things develop and how things have been collapsed in terms of technology. thank you very much for speaking to us here on bbc news. just before we go, we just wanted to show you some images of spring. japan's traditional sign of spring— the cherry blossom season — has peaked at the earliest date since records began i200 ago. research by osaka university shows the 2021 season in the city of kyoto peaked on 26 march. scientists say that early flowerings in recent decades are likely to be a result of climate change. that is it. plenty more on the website, of course, if you are watching outside the uk, if you are watching outside the uk, if you are watching on the news channel here...

from me and the team, we are back soon with some headlines. if you are watching in the uk, see you tomorrow. hello. the uk saw some exceptional warmth on tuesday, and if your day ended looking something like this with a sunset with a pinkish tinge, you were not mistaken. that is saharan dust affecting the way our skies look and that is because we've pulled air all the way up from the sahara to import the warmth. it's travelled across western europe, and on tuesday, it made its way right the way into the north of scotland, that warm air. the warmest spot was at 24.5 celsius and that was at kew gardens in west london. there is the possibility on wednesday we could see a similar high, somewhere probably across central or eastern england but a little bit more cloud as possible, too. there could be the odd light shower and that could just peg the temperatures back by a degree or so, but still very warm for england and wales. further to the north though,

a front beginning to push south across scotland and northern ireland, weakening as it does so, it won't bring too much in the way of rain. it's drier for western scotland but cooler air moves in to the north and then, that weakening weather front and the cooler air continue to try and make theirjourney south as we look to thursday. basically, the front nothing more than cloud by thursday, but the colder air already starting to make itself felt out to the north and east of the uk. the high pressure will keep things pretty quiet as we head into the easter weekend. largely light winds, a lot of fine weather, but the big difference will be where you have the sunshine it won't feel anywhere near as warm as it has done on tuesday particularly if you, for example, compare aberdeen from tuesday where temperatures got up to 18 celsius. we'll be lucky to get 8 on thursday. still, 18 or 19 possible though across south wales and the south west of england. by friday, that colder air though has worked its way further westwards. we could see some quite stubborn cloud across eastern counties

of england as well and quite a chilly northerly or north—easterly breeze. i say "chilly". the temperatures, well, about where we'd expect them for the time of year. look out for a frost particularly to the north on friday night. easter weekend, it stays chilly but look at this for easter monday. it is a plunge of arctic air, raw—feeling air, strong northerly winds, and this is the weather chart at the moment for easter monday. it may change a little but that signal is pretty clear there. there is a risk of snow showers, even a good way south, across the uk at the end of the easter weekend.

this is bbc world news. the headlines. witnesses to the arrest of george floyd, a black man in the united states whose death sparked protests around the world, have been giving evidence on the second day of the trial of derek chauvin, a white police officer accused of killing him. president bolsonaro of brazil is facing a growing crisis over his leadership after the resignations of the commanders of the army, navy and air force. an official review into the policing of the london vigil held in memory of sarah everard has found that officers "did not act "inappropriately or in a heavy—handed manner". a monitoring group in myanmar says the number of people killed since last month's coup has passed 500. the assistance association for political prisoners confirmed at least 510 deaths, but warned the real figure was probably much higher.