this is bbc news with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. the jury in trial of the former police officer charged with killing george floyd retires to consider its verdict. the case is seen as a key moment in us race relations and policing. businesses are boarded up in minneapolis in anticipation of unrest over the verdict — the state governor has called for cooperation. if we don't listen to those communities in pain and those people on the streets, many of whom were arrested for speaking a fundamental truth — that we must change or we will be right back here again. outrage as europe's richest clubs announce plans to join a new breakaway football

super league. russia's opposition leader alexei navalny is moved to a prison hospital as his health deteriorates, piling on the pressure for president putin. and mission accomplished, if only for a few moments. nasa flies a drone over the surface of mars, in yet anotherfirst for human—kind's efforts in space. hello and welcome if you're watching in the uk or around the world. security is being tightened in minneapolis asjurors begin considering their verdict in the trial of the former us police officer charged with murdering the black man george floyd last year.

derek chauvin denies causing mr floyd's death by kneeling on his neck. the defence says mr chauvin correctly followed police training, but the prosecution say his actions were disproportionate and deliberate. footage from the incident was again shown in closing arguments today, and some of it is included in nick bryant's report. it's a measure of the passions aroused by this trial that the courthouse looks more like a prison. and the presence of the national guard serves as a martial reminder of how this midwestern city has become america's most volatile fault line. put your hands up, right now. let me see your other hand. in its closing argument, the prosecution showed police body—cam footage of george floyd's arrest for a minor offence, and his reluctance at getting in the police car because he suffered from claustrophobia and anxiety.

already handcuffed, the officers took him out and forced him to the ground. i cannot breathe... "i can't breathe. " george floyd uttered these words almost 30 times. this wasn't policing. this was murder. the defendant is guilty of all three counts. all of them. and there's no excuse. then derek chauvin listened as his lawyer mounted his final defence. he argued that the officer followed his training and adhered to police procedures in a highly stressful situation... i can't breathe! ..and that george floyd's drug use and heart condition contributed to his death. the state has failed to prove| its case beyond a reasonable doubt, and therefore mr chauvin should be found _ not guilty on all counts. over this three—week trial, we've seen the emotion of friends and eyewitnesses, the testimony of medical first responders... in lay terms,

i thought he was dead. ..the rare sight of a police chief publicly condemning the actions of one of his officers. it is not part of our training and it is certainly not part of our ethics or our values. ..and the dramatic moment when derek chauvin decided not to testify. i will invoke my fifth - amendment privilege today. this has become a familiar american streetscape — shops boarded up and ready for a storm of protest. but tonight, a pause for prayer for the family of george floyd, their testament of hope thatjustice will be served. nick bryant, bbc news, minneapolis. larry madowo is in minneapolis and explained how the judge gave the jury very clear instructions. the judge told the jury not to take into account their personal biases, their feelings or the likely consequences of their verdict, and now they're sequestered, which means they have no contact with the outside world — no phones, no television — and they will be in this set—up

in this hotel until they come down with a verdict. it could take an hour or it could take a week, so we're just going to have to wait and see, but they're aware that this entire country is waiting for what they will decide. there's already a protest gathering here, as thejury deliberation just began about two hours ago, and america is already anticipating what will happen when they come down with their verdict. and tensions running high, the city braced for trouble. just talk us through, though, the certain restrictions. because even if the jury reach a verdict, it won't be announced, will it, after nightfall? that's one of the things that will happen. if they reach a verdict in the evening, they wait until the next day. we don't know how that will be taking place. we will know in the morning when they begin deliberating and when they break for deliberations at the end of the day. part of that is because of this

security operation that is called operation safety net that's here. it's a combination of local police departments, state troopers, the national guard — there's about 3,000 soldiers in the city and around — anticipating any likely violence. the city and the country is bracing for protests if people do not like what the verdict is in this case. police departments across america are cancelling leave for any officers who were taking time off, preparing, asking for extra support from the national guard, because they know that for people who have been awaiting this verdict for a long time, if it is not up to their liking, there will be people on the streets to express their displeasure. and if he were found guilty, what sort of potential sentence would accompany these charges? so the biggest charge here is second degree murder, which has up to a0 years. the other two charges are of 25 years and ten years. but even if he were to be found

guilty of all three charges, they would be concurrent charges, so the maximum prison term he would serve is a0 years. however, he is a first—time offender, and the state of minnesota has a sentencing matrix which would mean he would probably go to jail for 12 and a half years if he were to be found guilty of all three charges. however, the prosecution is asking the judge to depart from that sentencing guidelines and give him a much harsher sentence if he's found guilty. however, something else to keep in mind is when the verdict has been decided by thejury, both sides — the prosecution and the defence — will make submissions to thejudge about the sentencing they are recommending. naturally, the lawyers representing derek chauvin will be asking for a lighter sentence because he's a first—time offender and the prosecution has already said they're asking the judge to depart from that and give the harshest possible sentence, so it's not going to be when we hear the verdict that we know how long he's going to go to jail for — if he is convicted. for that, we will have to wait slightly longer. larry madowo speaking to me

from minneapolis. we've also been hearing from tim waltz, the governor of minnesota. he gave a public safety briefing at of the verdict and he also responded to the killing of 20 road daunte wright, who was also killed during a traffic stop —— 20—year—old. that rage that will be on the street regardless of what happens is channelled into a positive way, and that positive way means change. we have to have that change. we can't live like this. we cannot continue to live like this. systemic and fundamental changes will need to be made. and it needs to be started with systemic public safety reforms, some very simple truths that i think we can all agree on, let's work from there. no one should die for a simple traffic violation. there's enough smart people out there and enough agreement around that that we should be able to find some answers, because, to be very clear, if we don't find that answer, we're going to be

right back in this situation. and i'm going to continue to say it — we cannot continue, we cannot live this way. state governor tim waltz. the response was shocking and swift. i2 clubs... even the british prime minister has weighed in full stub if it goes forward, this would be the biggest shake—up in football in a generation. here is andy swiss. they're six of england's biggest clubs in one of football's biggest shake—ups. forming a new super league with some of europe's other giants could bring them even greater riches, but at what cost to the game? the new competition features england's so—called big six — arsenal, tottenham, liverpool, chelsea, manchester city and manchester united — alongside leading clubs from spain and italy. what's proposed is a midweek competition with up to 20 clubs in total and eventually

a women's league as well. why? well, the clubs are unhappy with the structure of the champions league, which liverpool won just two years ago. they all want more money and a guaranteed place at europe's top table. these clubs want greater certainty in respect of their ability to qualify for competitions, to play against each other, to generate revenues and profits, but also to take control in terms of how the game is sold from a commercial point of view. this will result in the concentration of power and money in the hands of fewer and fewer clubs. well, the american owners here at manchester united, the glazerfamily, insist the super league will open a new chapter for european football, bringing together the greatest clubs and players throughout the season, they add, will ensure world—class competition. but elsewhere in the game, these plans have been met with an anger the like of which football has rarely seen.

many believe domestic competitions will be indeed the premier league say the proposals will destroy smaller clubs' dreams of climbing to the top, as leicester famously did five years ago. competition is what football is about and it allows - leicester to win - the premier league. it is self—anointed - top clubs, don't forget, not by competitive achievement. and it undermines all- of the principles that we teach children who come into our beautiful game about howl you work hard in order to get your local- community club promoted to the next level. - so what now? well, the super league teams want to carry on playing in their domestic leagues, but uefa say their players could be banned, potentially even from the world cup, while the government have also condemned the proposals. we're going to look at everything that we can do with the football authorities to make sure that this doesn't go ahead in the way that it's currently being proposed. i don't think it is good news forfans, i don't think it is good news for football in this country. some believe this is all

a negotiating tactic from the big clubs to get more champions league money from uefa. but if it happens, for teams and supporters, football will never be the same. andy swiss, bbc news. you're watching bbc news. let's have a look at some of the other stories today. for the first time in six decades, cuba's communist party has a leader who isn't one of the castro brothers. cuba's president, miguel diaz—canel, has been chosen to succeed raul castro, who announced on friday that he was resigning. the island has not been governed by anyone other than fidel or raul castro since the cuban revolution in 1959. britain is imposing travel restrictions on india, after a huge surge in cases there. the indian government says every adult will be eligible to get a coronavirus vaccination from the start of next month. health services in parts of india have been brought to their knees.

stay with us on bbc news. still to come: celebrations at nasa as its helicopter takes off on mars — the first powered flight on another world. the stars and stripes at half—mast outside columbine high — the school sealed off, the bodies of the dead still inside. i never thought that they would actually go through with it. one of the most successful singer—songwriters of all time, the american pop star prince, has died at the age of 57. ijust couldn't believe it. i didn't believe it. he wasjust here saturday.

for millions of americans, the death of richard nixon in a new york hospital has meant conflicting emotions — a national day of mourning next wednesday sitting somehow uneasily with the abiding memories at the shame of watergate. you're watching bbc news. our latest headlines: the jury in the trial of the former police officer charged with killing george floyd retires to consider its verdict. the case is seen as a key moment in us race relations and policing. plans for 12 of europe's top football clubs to form a breakaway super league have been greeted with outrage. there's been strong condemnation of russia over recent days, with president putin coming under international pressure on several fronts. the us imposed new sanctions on russia last week, for meddling in elections,

and on monday, the eu criticised the kremlin over the build—up of troops on the ukrainian border. the us government has said the world will hold the russian government to account if the prominent opposition leader alexei navalny dies in prison. our correspondent steve rosenberg reports from krasnoyarsk, in siberia, on the growing tensions within putin's russia. where is russia going undeeradimir putin? what kind of a country is the president building? what is he thinking and planning? getting inside vladimir putin's mind is artist vasily slonov�*s job. he sees a leader determined to keep power. translation: however you mix up the pieces, russia'sjigsaw- will always show putin. he's outplayed everyone. all his opponents have

been removed, jailed, poisoned or killed. alexei navalny was poisoned and later imprisoned. the opposition leader is on hunger strike. there's growing concern about his health and growing pessimism among his supporters. injanuary, police detained igor at a pro—navalny protest. translation: we're going back to the red terror of stalin - when anyone who thought differently from the great leader was persecuted. now, people who don't support our president are seen as enemies. patriotic chimes — a sign of the times. the kremlin�*s encouraging national pride and distrust of the west. in krasnoyarsk, we're being followed... ok, there it is again, the same numberplate. . .everywhere we go. the fact that we're being

followed shows just how nervous the russian authorities are, how sensitive they are to potential criticism about what's happening here, and also how suspicious they are of the west. so one of the cars that's been following us has just pulled up here. we're going to try to have a little chat. he says he's not following us, it's just our imagination. that's not true. for ksenaya and her family, it's not the west they fear, it's russia's direction. but like most russians, they avoid politics and protests.

i think that people are afraid because if your director finds that you went there... to a protest? yeah, and maybe you were jailed, sometimes you can lose yourjob. people are just afraid. when you look into the future, what kind of a russia would you like your son to live in? i would like russia to be more free. but, you know, i don't believe that anything will change in the nearest future. but change can happen suddenly in russia. communism collapsed, and some think that a system built around one man, even a strong man, is dangerously unstable. translation: russia is heading straight for a big catastrophe. i i'm certain. it's irreversible. it's like the titanic heading for the iceberg. the overriding feeling i get about russia is uncertainty, and that's of global concern because the direction russia takes has consequences

for the whole world. steve rosenberg, bbc news, krasnoyarsk. the head of the world health organization has said that the international community has the tools to bring the coronavirus pandemic under control in a matter of months. he was referring to the huge advances in vaccination programmes. deaths rose for the fifth straight week and more than 3 million deaths have now been reported to who. it took nine months to reach i million deaths, four months to reach 2 million and three months to reach 3 million deaths. we have the tools to bring this pandemic under control in a matter of months if we apply them consistently and equitably.

nasa says a new chapter in space exploration has opened after a successful test flight of a drone on mars, calling it their "wright brothers moment." the drone, called ingenuity, was airborne for around a0 seconds. our science correspondent rebecca morelle explains. it was a flight that lasted just a0 seconds. but by hovering in the martian air, turning and then landing, nasa's ingenuity helicopter made history. applause confirmed. ingenuity has performed its first flight. and this was the moment mission control learned of the success. human beings have never flown a rotorcraft outside of our own earth's atmosphere. we don't have to say it any more. we have flown, human beings have flown a rotorcraft on another planet! and we have started it by flying at mars.

it's a huge deal for humanity. the helicopter took pictures, too. this one mid—flight capturing its own shadow below. and anotherjust before it touched down. until now, nasa had no guarantees this would work. these flights are testing cutting—edge technology. on board are solar panels and a thermostat, so the helicopter can survive temperatures down to —80 degrees. for each flight, scientists upload a plan, but ingenuity also has to make decisions by itself. high—tech cameras and sensors can spot obstacles, so it can adjust its height to avoid these. but the helicopter can also use these features as landmarks so it could navigate its way down to the ground. in the coming days, the helicopter will begin this flight is just the start. in the coming days, the helicopter will begin to fly further afield and it could transform our

view of mars. helicopters can cover more ground, can act as scout vehicles, can go into different areas that the rover can't go into. and then they can do coordinated science data. future manned missions to mars can utilise a drone helicopter. so there is a lot of opportunity. more than 100 years ago, the wright brothers made history with the first powered aircraft on earth. now a little mars helicopter has shown the same is possible on another planet, propelling us into a new era of space exploration. rebecca morelle, bbc news. earlier, i spoke with one of the men behind the success of the mission — the mechanical engineering lead of ingenuity, joshua ravich. it is actually a long time coming. the early concepts for this mission go back almost two decades. most of the team have been working seriously for five or six years now, through developing our prototypes, our engineering

models, up to ingenuity the flight unit, getting it to the surface. it is no easy task even to fly a helicopter on a rocket to another planet, let alone fly that helicopter on the planet. yeah, we have been on the surface, doing our checkouts, the last few weeks, and as of last night we answered the question, can we fly on mars? and we are very happy to say, yes, we can. the atmosphere is different there in terms of flying conditions. what are you dealing with, thinnerair, getting it off the ground, making it land back down on the surface? yes, it is extremely difficult to fly on mars. gravity is only maybe a third of what it is on earth. however, the atmospheric pressure is about i% of the atmospheric pressure on earth.

it is kind of like if you are flying at around 100,000 feet — excuse me, i use feet over here — and yeah, about three times the height of mount everest. it is critical, keeping the mass down, very critical. how are you fuelling the drone? it is actually powered by a solar panel that sits on top of the helicopter. you see the rectangle on the top, it charges the battery pack at the bottom. that not only powers our flights, it keeps us warm during the extremely cold at martian nights. it can get down to —130 celsius, quite cold. and just briefly, joshua, what is the way forward for this now and how could it be used further down the line? there's a lot of applications for any flight on any atmospheric body, so not only mars, but titan, the moon of saturn, has atmosphere, as well as venus. slightly different conditions there, but a lot of the

reservoirs are the same. as far as mars go, science, exploration into hard—to—reach exploration into ha rd—to—reach areas, exploration into hard—to—reach areas, down into ravines come up areas, down into ravines come up mountains, places you cannot go with a human rover, and as well potential scouting for the future for robotic as well as human exploration. joshua ravich. how exciting! you are watching bbc news. just a quick reminder of our main this hour. the trial of derek chauvin, the former us police officer charged with murdering the black man george floyd, has heard the closing arguments from the prosecution. the lead prosecutor, jerry blackwell, told the jury mr chauvin had continued to compress mr floyd's neck even after he'd become unconscious and first aiders had arrived to assist him. the defence argued that mr chauvin had correctly followed police training. security has been ramped up around the court building in minneapolis, with barbed wire and armed soldiers. thejury the jury has retired to

consider its verdict. full coverage here on bbc news. from me and the team, bye—bye. hello there. april showers have been in short supply. it's been a very dry month so far. and for most places, tuesday will be another dry day with some sunny spells. but across the north of the uk, we can expect some patchy rain, courtesy of a weather front — you can see it here on the chart — drifting in from the northwest, moving slowly southeastwards through the day and weakening all the while. for much of england and wales, we're starting off the day dry with some spells of sunshine, although quite misty and murky for some of these eastern coasts. and through the day, i think we'll see a gradual build—up in cloud amounts. there may even bejust the odd rogue shower into the afternoon. for scotland and northern ireland, ourfrontal system bringing cloud, outbreaks of patchy rain southwards. behind it, the skies will brighten but the winds

will strengthen, and it will be quite a chilly afternoon across the northern half of the uk. further south, we're looking at highs 15—16 celsius or so, and as we go through tuesday night and into the first part of wednesday, the remnants of that weather front will continue to sink southwards, so pushing down across england and wales, with more in the way of cloud here, the odd spot of rain, with clearer skies developing from northern ireland and scotland. some places will see a frost to start wednesday morning. so, through wednesday, that weather front will continue its journey southwards. not much left on it by this stage, just a band of cloud and the odd spot of rain, high pressure building back in behind, bringing sunnier skies for parts of scotland and northern ireland. so, our weatherfront bringing cloud southwards across england and wales. the odd spot of rain, quite misty and murky again for some of these eastern areas. could see the odd sharp shower breaking out through the day down toward the southwest, but sunnier skies for northern england, northern ireland and scotland. the highest temperatures will be where we get a bit of shelter,

down towards the south and the west, 15—16 celsius. and then as we move out of wednesday into thursday, the remnants of that weather front clear well out into the near continent, high pressure really asserts itself right on top of the british isles, so that means lots of sunshine through the day, a bit of patchy cloud here and there. highest temperatures, again, will be out west. we could get up to 15—16 celsius or so. always a little bit cooler for some of these eastern coasts. and quite breezy down towards the south of the uk. as we head through friday into the weekend, it stays predominantly dry with some spells of sunshine by day, and still the potential for some frost at night.

this is bbc news, the headlines... the jury in the trial of derek chauvin, the former police officer charged with murdering george floyd in minneapolis last may, has retired to consider its verdict. in his summing up, the judge urged the jurors to avoid any bias, and rely on the evidence. plans by six english football clubs to join a planned european super league have been met with outrage from several quarters. the british government has said it will do "whatever it takes" to prevent the move. meanwhile, the president of european football's governing body has threatened to ban players. the head of the world health organization has said the international community has the tools to bring the coronavirus pandemic under control in a matter of months provided it distributes the necessary resources fairly.

now on bbc news, it's hardtalk.