this is bbc news — i'm tim willcox with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. eyewitnesses at derek chauvin's trial describe what they saw — and 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. president bolsonaro faces a growing crisis over his leadership in brazil — after the resignations of his armed forces commanders — and the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. germany is to suspend the use of the astrazeneca vaccine for the under sixties — after further concerns about its safety. the british police watchdog

says officers acted "appropriately" and were not heavy handed — at a vigil for sarah everard in london. and — traffic resumes in the suez canal — after the stranded container ship blocking the waterway was eventually freed. hello and welcome a witness to the arrest of george floyd — whose death sparked race protests around the world — says 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. our correspondent, aleem maqbool reports from minneapolis. 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 cousin into the shop. 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 i stopping his breathing, 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. the heads of brazil's army, navy and air force have resigned, as presidentjair bolsonaro struggles to contain a crisis over his leadership. the president was forced to reshuffle his cabinet on monday — after the foreign minister and defence minister quit in quick succession. our correspondent camilla motta in sao paulo is following the story. it is worth recapping a bit what happened yesterday to try to understand what's going on, because the situation is still a bit convoluted here. so yesterday, bolsonaro sacked his defence minister, army general, in a move that surprised many. no one really saw that coming. and this is quite important because the military are a strong pillar on bolsonaro's support system. he was an army captain before

turning to politics, so he comes from the armed forces. and at one point over these past two years, the military accounted for almost half of these 22 cabinet ministers. mr azevedo 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 poor handling of the pandemic. it seems the last straw was the fact that mr bolsanro 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 him, 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 now going to stop, or are there more potential who will leave? well, 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 brazilian democracy, but that is something that we will have to wait for the next chapters to find out. germany has announced it is restricting the oxford—astrazeneca vaccine to people over the age of 60. the decision comes after more than 30 cases of people — most of them younger women — who developed a rare blood clot in the brain after receiving the jab. around 2.7 million people have had the astrazeneca jab in germany. jenny hill has the latest details from berlin.

germany's concern focus on what are now 31 cases. these are people who for— 16 days after they received in astrazeneca jab developed a very rare form of blood clots on the brain. there have been five such cases in the uk. here in germany, nine people have died, and the vast majority of those affected were either younger or middle aged women. now, we don't know whether that's significant. it may simply be that younger women are disproportionately represented in the priority groups who have been given the astrazeneca vaccine here. angela merkel announced the decision tonight and she said this is all about trust. she didn't want to, she said, to sweep these very rare but very serious cases under the carpet. nevertheless, this does present the german chancellor with a problem. germany's vaccination roll—out is extremely slow, just 11% of the population have received a first dose. she herself acknowledged that this will further erode public confidence in the astrazeneca vaccine. that's a concern likely shared

by other governments, including, of course, the british government to tonight have set with the world health organization say. this vaccine is safe, the european medicines agency, it's worth adding, are aware of the german cases and others around the world. they are investigating them, even so, they insist the very, very low risks of taking this vaccine are far, far outweighed by the benefits. let's get some of the day's other news. the south african government has banned the sale of take— away alcohol over this weekend's easter holiday to prevent a surge in coronavirus infections. president cyril ramaphosa said alcohol had a role in encouraging negligent behaviour. bars and restaurants can still serve drinks. ajudge in new york has sentenced the brother of the honduran president juan orlando hernandez to life in prison for trafficking drugs and possessing machine guns. tony hernandez was found guilty in october 2019 of smuggling

more than 100 and eighty tonnes of cocaine into ——more than 180 tonnes of cocaine into the united states. ballots are being counted in a vote involving amazon workers in alabama. the result could establish the company's first unionised warehouse in the us. the fight is a key test for the e—commerce giant, which has faced criticism around the world over its working conditions during the pandemic. 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. 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, 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". jaida 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'tjust 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. on 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. stay with us on bbc news,

still to come: after a decade of fighting in libya comes to an end — the horrors of those years are now being exposed — we have a special report. 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 lighting 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 symbolj 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 eiffeh — this is bbc news, our main headline this hour... a witness to the arrest of george floyd has told prosecutors that he believed he saw a murder. donald williams was testifying on the second day of the trial of a police officer, derek chauvin. the george floyd case is one of many involving the deaths of black people at the hands of police in the us. 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

was shared widely — showing mr garner repeatedly saying "i can't breathe". like george floyd's death — the footage sparked shock and protests. but prosecutors eventually decided not to pursue charges. his mother is in minneapolis, following the trial of derek chauvin. she spoke to our correspondent, larry madowo. 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 the man was kneeling on his neck 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 try 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. for the first time in years, libya has a single unified government. it follows last yea r�*s ceasefire which brought an end to its civil war when the eastern forces tried to unseat the internationally recognised government. the end of fighting means the horrors of those years are now being exposed. our middle east correspondent, quentin sommerville reports from the town of tarhuna — you may find the images in his

report disturbing. in tarhunah, they are unburying the dead. here, libya's ceasefire is revealing the horror of its civil war. some of the bodies were dumped here only last year. many bound, blindfolded, and tortured. in these graves they have found men, women and children. 140 bodies and counting. a tally of the war�*s brutality carved in the desert sand. this is a town of ghosts where the dead are buried twice. today it's ismail�*s turn. this number might match his body to his family's dna. it's one of 13 burials today.

abdul has lost everything. ismail was his brother, the fourth member of his family he has brought to this cemetery. translation: they took my family from their homes. - they were just civilian. in october 2020, al—kani militia came in cars that belonged to the state. they took them away from their homes and killed them. and others are still searching for relatives who fell foul of the local militia. translation: if you | have money, you die. you get into discussion with me, you die. you don't support me, you die. you die for nothing. this is what happens when a state collapses. when militia men and warlords hold a gun to a country's head and a knife to its throat.

libya, for the first time in years, has a unified government, but the question here is, will the gunmen who committed atrocities across this country still rule here? the seven al—kani brothers, that's mohsen on the right, terrorised tarhunah. they played both sides in the civil war. they were the law here. they picked the wrong side and were run out of town. libya's had a vicious ten years. the country was split in two and extremists thrived. rapid gunfire. finally, a ceasefire was called last october. that has allowed a respite of sorts, for funerals old and new.

it's at least given the town time to recover its dead. but elsewhere in libya, the killings haven't stopped. despite a ceasefire, the men with guns haven't relinquished power and are still adding to the country's body count. quentin sommerville, bbc news, tarhuna, libya. 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. i spoke to ramon yuen, one of the district councillors for the hong kong democratic party. he described the move as a "trampling of democracy".

i asked him if this was the end of the road for me democratic hopes there. we will fight for democracy, for the law of human right, no matter if we have an election or not. but you can see such decision by beijing is ridiculous and trampling democracy, because under the new scheme, nearly half of the legislative council a0 will be appointed by beijing or those who are in power. actually, such decision violates commitments that are written in the basic law that the ultimate scheme is to have the universal suffurage in the shift. this would involve changes, wanted to come to the basic law? of course. all these decisions, the basic law is the commitment of beijing, of china to the hong kong people. and of course to the world, to show to the world. and without the election of the shift of executive, the commitment is that we will have a free election 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 what can you do to challenge this? because, as you know from several of your members, people get arrested if you challenge them. yes, 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, yeah, and fight to the end. just in terms of international pressure, i mean, china has made it very clear that there will be consequences, and what impact do you think that that has on the international community? actually, i think that such

a decision will be seen by the international community 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 current district counsellor and the election committees are just replaced by those people appointed by the chief executive in the government, and this conflict of interest and this breaking of promise, i think it's really clearly enough. traffic has resumed in the suez canal in egypt — after a stranded container ship, blocking the waterway was eventually freed. about 200 ships have made the crossing so far, and the canal authorities hope to clear the traffic jam of hundreds more within the coming days.

the bbc�*s sally nabil reports. as you can see, ships are passing through the suez canal as navigation has been resumed. congestion in the waterway is one of the biggest challenges facing authorities here at the moment. hundreds of vessels are waiting to continue theirjourney. officials here say they will be working around—the—clock to clear the trafficjam as soon as possible. the head of the suez canal authority expects the backlog to be cleared within around three days. the president has arrived here to pay tribute to the staff of the suez canal and thank them for their efforts to salvage the ever given. the ultra large vessel is undergoing safety checks at the moment. it's being inspected by a group of experts to see if any damage has been caused to its body. the blockage of the suez canal is feared to have a long—term impact on shipping schedules

around the world. an investigation is under way to try to find out why the ship has run aground in the waterway. authorities here say that these kinds of incidents are complex. they happen due to a number of reasons, notjust bad weather, but there might be human and technical errors too. but the thing is, investigations here in egypt usually take a very long time. just before we go, lovely stray from turkey— and some veternarinans who had a surprise visitor over the weekend. a stray cat walked into their clinic with a kitten in her mouth. she meowed for a while, and then the next day brought in yet another kitten. didn't know what to make of the feline, what was going on. but after an examination, they found that both kittens were suffering from eye infections. the stray cat and her

kittens were put up for adoption shortly after they were treated. if you fancy them... they are in turkey. bye—bye. 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 news. the headlines. a witness has told the trial of the white police officer accused of killing george floyd that what he saw amounted to murder. on the second day of the trial of derek chauvin, the court also heard from a teenager who filmed mr floyd being pinned down. the heads of brazil's army, navy and air force have resigned, as president bolsonaro struggles to contain a crisis over his leadership — and the coronavirus pandemic. earlier this week, mr bolsonaro was forced to reshuffle his cabinet after two ministers resigned. germany is to suspend the use of the astrazeneca vaccine for the under—60s after further concerns about its safety. 31 cases of a rare type of blood clot have been reported among more than 2.7 million vaccinations given so far. now on bbc news, hardtalk.