this is bbc news, i'm ben boulos with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. president biden urges congress to approve a policing reform bill, in memory of george floyd, after meeting his relatives on the first anniversary of his murder. all in all, he just wants the bill to be right and meaningful and that it holds george's legacy intact. the us secretary of state pledges aid to rebuild gaza during his visit to the region, but says israelis and palestinians must address the root cause of their conflict. world leaders call for hard—hitting sanctions against belarus after a flight was forced to divert to minsk and a dissident journalist arrested. and interest in

digital skills among the elderly doubles, as modern technology reconnects friends and family during the pandemic. president biden has urged the us congress to pass a policing reform bill quickly, in memory of george floyd. after meeting mr floyd's relatives at the white house, exactly a year after he was killed by a white policeman, mr biden said both accountability and trust were needed in the justice system. our north america correspondent, nick bryant reports from minneapolis. taking a knee in the place that george floyd was killed — a symbol of what's become a global struggle. an act of remembrance that

lasted nine minutes and 29 seconds — the duration of his murder. chanting: one, two, three, four! _ police violence no more! the march for racial justice must often seem like a never—ending journey, with milestones along the way but no endpoint in sight. chanting: george floyd, george floyd! _ that's certainly how it feels a year on from the murder of george floyd. protesters are angry they haven't seen more change. we are hunted in america just for being black, and that's not good. it's time for a change. i got a black boy, a son, a two—year—old. i shouldn't have to teach him to put his hands up when he sees the police. i'm marching because these are racially—motivated murders that this state and other states, the united states of america has committed against our people, and enough is enough. and i'm marching in solidarity with other families,

because their days of hurting our people and these racially—motivated murders are over with. policing is going to change... at a rally outside the courthouse where his murderer, derek chauvin, was found guilty, the floyd family's lawyer demanded landmark legislation. we must use this opportunity. to get the george floyd justice in policing act passed, i so we can prevent some of these unnecessary, - preventable, unjustifiable, illegal and unconstitutional killings of our people! - tonight, the family met joe biden at the white house, but congress has failed to meet today's presidential deadline for police reform to be enacted. he's not happy about it not being met, but all in all, he just wants the bill to be right and meaningful and that it holds george's legacy intact. let me hear your voice! change! _ change hasn't come fast enough for these modern—day civil—rights protesters.

black lives... ..matter! and on the first anniversary of george floyd's murder, the mantra of their movement sounds still like an anguished cry. black lives... ..matter! our correspondent barbara plett usher is in minneapolis, where commemerative events are being held. well, what we've seen already today is this street party here at george floyd square, a street festival with food and you are music and lots of activities, family—friendly activities. a we are expecting a concert to start shortly very close to us, so if you hear suddenly a blast of noise, you'll know what's going on. and then later on, a candlelit vigil will be held in commemoration of george floyd. there were some activities in another location, as well,

which the mayor attended, also george floyd's sister. and what i get very strongly from around this area anyway is that there's a strong sense of community solidarity. people who had not really being that activated before in socialjustice issues, but also just in sort of being active in the community, have been very galvanised. and there's a very positive spirit about that. there's also a much greater focus on racism nationally. you've got a different president in the white house, which is a big difference, and he has made socialjustice and racialjustice and equality a big part of his platform. so, as far as that goes, the tone and emphasis has changed in the white house as we saw with the visit there by the family members of mr floyd. but at the same time, that crucial issue of policing reform, what to do about how americans are policed, especially americans of colour, there hasn't been significant movement on that. there have been some changes made at the state level. rules, for example, say banning that neck restraint that was used on george floyd, but not that kind of root and branch reform that activists have been demanding. and that policing reform bill

is still stuck in congress, and even that, activists say, wouldn't do enough. the us secretary of state antony blinken says america will make tens of millions of dollars available to the palestinians, as it seeks to consolidate the ceasefire that ended the fighting between israel and hamas. but after talks with palestinian leaders in the west bank, mr blinken said the hamas militants in gaza shouldn't benefit from aid going to the territory. i've heard a shared recognition from all sides that steps need to be taken, work needs to be done to address the underlying conditions that helped fuel this latest conflict. the ceasefire creates space to begin to take those steps. attending to the urgent humanitarian needs of palestinians in gaza and helping rebuild is a key starting point. the united states is committed to rallying international support to that effort and doing our part.

that's why we announced additional assistance for the palestinian people today. but we all know that is not enough. as president biden has said, we believe that palestinians and israelis equally deserve to live safely and securely. antony blinken is on a three—day trip to the middle east, where he'll also visit jordan and egypt. his trip started injerusalem, where he met israel's prime minister. the secretary of state reaffirmed that the us supports israel's right to defend itself. and benjamin netanuyahu's message was this. if hamas breaks the calm and attacks israel, our response will be very powerful. and we have discussed ways of how to work together to prevent hamas rearmament with the weapons and means of aggression. antony blinken then travelled to the west bank to meet the palestinian president. here he is with mahmoud abbas in ramallah.

he leads the palestinian authority which runs the west bank. his rival hamas, controls gaza. here's mr abbas. translation: we also thank the us administration - for its commitment to a two—state solution i and the maintenance - of the status quo injerusalem and to keep the residents ofjerusalem and sheikhl jarrah in their homes. and also we thank the us - administration for its position vis—a—vis the expansion - of settlements and the actions ta ken by settlers. let s get some of the day s other news. the united states has called on the world health organisation to ensure transparency during the next phase of investigations into the origins of the coronavirus pandemic. a series of media reports in the us suggest there's growing evidence that the virus emerged from a laboratory in wuhan, rather than from animals. china has rejected the theory.

hong kong has warned it could have to throw away vast stores of coronavirus vaccines because of people's reluctance to have a jab. the slow take—up rate has been blamed on a relatively low number of infections and distrust of the government. the washington post is reporting that manhattan's district attorney has convened the grand jury that is expected to decide whether to indict former president donald trump, should prosecutors present the panel with criminal charges. it says the panel was convened recently and will sit for several months. the exiled belarussian opposition leader has joined calls for further hard—hitting sanctions to isolate the regime of president lukashenko. it follows the international outcry after the arrest of the opposition journalist roman protasevich when a passenger plane was forced to land in belarus. he had been travelling with his girlfriend sofia sapega, who was also detained. in the last few hours, she has appeared in a confession video

where she appears to be speaking under duress. at the white house earlier, the us press secretary outlined how the biden administration plans to address the situation. i will say that the president has asked his team to develop appropriate options in close coordination with the european union, our allies and other international organisations to help hold the lukashenko regime to account, including sanctions. our correspondent in sarah rainsford is in minsk, the capital of belarus, and explained what impact the international reaction is having. well, it's having one direct effect. we flew in from moscow, and that's now one of the few ways to get here, in fact. as you were mentioning there, eu airlines are cancelling flights here. the belarusian airline belavia is no longer flying to europe, and the airspace over this country is now pretty much closed, off—limits to european airlines, too. so, that's one direct change. but in terms of the political reaction here to what's

happening, well, there's been so far a pretty big shrug. belarus, the belarusian government is presenting itself essentially as a country that stepped in to save the day with that ryanair flight. they're saying that there was a real security threat on board and that the belarusian authorities offered a safe landing here in minsk. so, they're saying the fact that a very prominent wanted man, a very vocal critic of alexander lukashenko was on board that flight and then detained, well, as far as the belarusians are concerned here, that was pure coincidence. the most vocal critics, the most vocal opposition to the government here and to president alexander lukashenko is now outside the country, or if not, they're behind bars. ithink, you know, one of the really kind of clear things that i'm getting, and i've only been on the ground here again for a few hours this evening, but from people i'm speaking to already, you really get a sense, a fear here, people are nervous like they've never been before in all my visits to this country.

so, it's really changed here, the atmosphere has changed. people are telling us that they don't know who could be next. a protestor has been shot dead during clashes with police in the iraqi capital, baghdad. many hundreds had gathered to demand justice for dozens of activists killed since pro—democracy demonstrations began in iraq in 2019. the authorities have so far failed to identify and punish the killers. mark lobel reports. hundreds vent theirfury in baghdad's tahrir square at the rise of targeted assassinations in the country. translation: we returned to protest to demand - the dismissal of the central government because our previous demands to reveal the killers of our protesters have been ignored. under the banner "who killed me?" citizens hold up photographs of some of those killed in recent months and years, from human rights activists to journalists in karbala,

basra and elsewhere. protesters accuse the government of allowing known perpetrators, thought to be from iranian—backed armed groups, to roam free. after a peaceful start to this planned demonstration, protesters threw bricks and stones. the police used tear gas and live rounds. at least one protester has been killed, with several injured on both sides. iran's protest movement took off in 2019, forcing a change in prime minister, with demands for an end to foreign meddling and better public services. iraq's protest movement took off in 2019, forcing a change in prime minister, with demands for an end to foreign meddling and better public services. now there are fears these unchecked killings could continue for months in the lead up to parliamentary elections in october. some activists have fled, others want elections delayed

until the killings stop. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: what hope for change, as the us marks the first anniversary of the death of george floyd. taunting which led to scuffles, scuffles to fighting, fighting to full—scale riot, as the liverpool fans broke out of their area and into the juventus enclosure. the belgian police had lost control. the whole world will mourn the j tragic death of mr nehru today. he was the father of. the indian people from the day of independence. the oprah winfrey show comes to an end after 25 years and more than a500 episodes. the chat show has made

her one of the richest people on the planet. geri halliwell, otherwise known as ginger spice, has announced she's left the spice girls. argh, i don't believe it! she's the one with the bounce, the go, girl power. not geri, why? this is bbc news, the latest headlines. president biden has urged the us congress to pass a policing reform bill quickly, in memory of george floyd. the president met family members exactly a year after mr floyd was killed by a white policeman. civil rights activist the reverend al sharpton spent much of the day with members of the floyd family. earlier he spoke to the bbc, telling us how they handled the one—year anniversary of mr floyd's murder. a very, very trying day for them, because this

is their brother, their cousin, theirfather, so it is a mixture of their sadness and reminding them what happened, but a determination that they can have this lead to legislation on a federal level about policing. it is the belief of the family and it's the belief of those of us involved in the civil rights movements of today that the george floyd being taped and the viciousness and insensitivity of how he was killed can lead toward a george floyd justice and policing act that has been endorsed by president biden. as you stated, katie, president biden met with the family today. he called me last night. he's going to meet with civil rights leaders and he's been pushing for this bill to pass without getting in the way of the negotiations

between the republican and democratic senators, which is why he wanted a family meeting today and will meet with the civil rights leaders at a later time, probably next week. and we respect that because we want to see some legislative movement here. we're not looking just to make headlines. we've seen many cases over the last several years and they ended with the victim just remembered as a victim and a martyr. he should be remembered as the one that was the impetus for real change. he should be remembered as one that was the case that as they put the knee on his neck, it put the knee on the neck of police going unaccountable for their actions. that's how his family, that's how all of us want him to be remembered in history. more now on the situation in the middle east. palestinians have been continuing to return

to damaged homes in gaza. more than 240 palestinians, and 12 people in israel were killed during the recent fighting and many of the civilian deaths from israeli airstrikes happened on a single street — as our middle east correspondent tom bateman reports from gaza. in gaza, the car radio has stopped playing pop songs. now they are singing about people lost, about the land and jerusalem. just being alive this week means to have survived. i'm going to meet anas al—yaziji. tell me about your fiancee. what was she like? she was dreaming of becoming a dentist, she studied

hard, he tells me. i would call and she would say, not now, i have a test, he says. they were due to marry straight after the eid holiday last week. in the run—up to the wedding, on the sixth night of bombing raids in gaza, she was at home with her family on this street. she told me that her heart was beating, he says. she said she felt something bad was going to happen. then, minutes before the incident happened, i messaged her saying, where are you? she replied, i'm here. and then, bang, bang, bang, it started. i messaged her, saying, hide. but it didn't go through. then i heard that her family's building was hit. israel's warplanes had struck the street, bringing down

three apartment blocks. there was chaos, with entire families trapped in the rubble. rescue started as shelling continued, say locals. the israeli military says its aircraft targeted a tunnel system used by hamas, and that this caused buildings above it to collapse. 0ne building had been sliced in half. the front door to sami's apartment now open to a 50 foot drop. trapped with his wife and children, he posted a video to facebook, desperately calling for their rescue. meanwhile, anas had rushed to the street to join in the search. he cleared rubble with his bare hands to try to find his fiancee. we started to pull people out from under the rubble, he says. some dead, some alive. we rescued her sister, the little girl, and ahmed,

and then we got her sister who was alive but badly injured. she died after a couple of hours in the hospital. and then we pulled out my fiance's body. i visit the street as music plays from a mourning tent. the buildings contain large extended families. she was a cousin to the wife of the man who was trapped in the building sliced in half. civil defence cruise brought his family down on the ladder. he tells me it has been devastating. translation: ~ ., devastating. translation: ., , translation: what is really hurtina translation: what is really hurting me — translation: what is really hurting me now— translation: what is really hurting me now as _ translation: what is really hurting me now as much - translation: what is really hurting me now as much as l translation: what is really | hurting me now as much as the loss of my mother's family member and my neighbours is that my memories are here. now they are buried under this building. £13

they are buried under this building-— they are buried under this buildinu. g; , .,, ~ building. 43 people were killed in this street, _ building. 43 people were killed in this street, including - building. 43 people were killed in this street, including ten - in this street, including ten children. anas says the last time he saw his fiancee alive, they were talking about the house they planned to live in. for his late fiance's remaining family, there is no home to go back to. and for him now, there is no permanent future, only the almost certain knowledge of further conflict. 0fficials along india's eastern coast are ordering the evacuation of tens of thousands of people, as a cyclone approaches. the storm is classed as �*very severe', with winds of about 160 kilometres an hour. it comes a week after another cyclone hit india's west coast, causing power cuts and disruption to the country's effort to combat the spread of covid—19. charities working with older people in the uk say demand for video calling and digital services has doubled over the last year. one of those to benefit

was 79—year—old ron who was widowed at the start of the pandemic. he says learning to video chat with people was "a godsend" as the bbc�*s luxmy gopal reports. ron and jean were married for 56 years, but at the start of the pandemic, jean died of cancer. a three weeks after we got the funeral over with, lockdown came. it couldn't have come at a worse time. stuck shielding at home for months, ron faced his grief alone, until he decided to learn how to video chat. hiya, ron. hello, there. hello again. nice to see you again. to be quite honest, without me ipad, i'd have been totally lost. in my particular position, it's brilliant because i can't walk, so it's been a godsend to be able to talk to people, you know, without going out of me house. he was remotely taught digital skills by local charities in leeds. after never having touched a tablet device before last year, he's now used his to find bereavement counselling and chat to people.

at least you're not talking to faceless people. when you talk to them on the phone, you can't imagine who you're really talking to. i've got in touch with a cousin of mine in kent who i haven't spoken to for 45 years, and i've got through to her on messenger and all you do is press a camera thing and it gets you through, unbelievable. and ron's experience reflects a trend among his generation. an 0fcom study found the proportion of over—65s using video calling nearly tripled after lockdown, and the leeds branch of age uk says during the pandemic it's seen a doubling in demand for its digital support services among older people. many charities say the online influx could be beneficial in the long term for delivering services, for example to those with mobility issues or in bad weather. of course, it's not about replacing face—to—face contact, but simply offering more options. it's about giving.

people that choice. we're trying to give. people the skills and the access to the devices - and the connectivity, which are all challenges that we face. but if we can encourage people to give it a go so they can see i what it's like and to use it if they need to. _ do you think this is something you're going to continue with in the future, even after lockdown and the pandemic�*s over? no doubt about it, no doubt about it. yeah, i'll keep on using it. there's work to be done to ensure wider access to the internet and devices for the older community. but the past year of lockdown has at least encouraged more engagement. and the final thought from ron on zoom. you're never too old to learn. it's as simple as that. i mean, if i can learn, anybody can. now for the first time in three—thousand years tasmanian devils have been born in the wild on the australian mainland. seven joeys were born in a conservation area north of sydney.

it comes seven months after more than twenty of the endangered marsupials were released there in an effort to reintroduce the species. hello there. the bank holiday weekend is fast approaching, and we could all do with something a little more settled, couldn't we, to make outdoor plans. well, i can offer you certainly some drier weather over the next few days and into the weekend, and it will be warmer, too. now, just how warm, take a look at this. with the wind direction coming up from the south by the weekend, we could see temperatures peaking into the low 20s, and we've only seen that once so far this may. so, that's something to look forward to. during wednesday, however, this weather front will enhance some showers coming out of eastern scotland during the morning and sinking their way steadily south across north east england, down through the pennines, maybe into the east midlands,

although weakening somewhat. behind, we could see a few scattered, sharp showers developing. one or two odd rumbles of thunder, as well, into scotland. the best of the sunshine across wales, central and south west england, but the wind direction coming from the north, so a cool source. that means that temperatures still on the disappointing side. 12—14 degrees into the north. we could see 16—18 across parts of england and wales. so, moving towards thursday, a relatively dry start with some early morning sunshine. conditions will cloud over a little into the afternoon, but a ridge of high pressure is building keeping things largely quiet. winds light, and as a result, temperatures will be a degree or so higher, 18—19 degrees. there is a weather front for the start of friday. it's pushing in from the west, but it's a very weak affair. as it bumps into that high pressure, it will die away. so, there is the potential on friday of some light patchy rain perhaps into northern ireland, western fringes of scotland, the isle of man, let's say. and it will be quite cloudy, misty, murky, patchy mist

and fog to higher ground here. but the best chance of seeing that cloud breaking up perhaps the south east, east anglia, and temperatures will respond with highs of 20 degrees. that's going to feel very pleasant indeed. so, if you are thinking about heading to the coast for the bank holiday weekend, i don't think you'll be too disappointed. we can't rule out the risk of a few showers up into the north, but generally it'll be fine and warm. if you want something just that little bit warmer and you don't want to head towards the coast, stay inland. again, temperatures are likely to peak into the low 20s, very nice indeed. and after the miserable month of may, that will certainly be welcome news.

this is bbc news, the headlines: president biden has urged the us congress to pass a policing reform bill quickly in memory of george floyd. the president met family members exactly a year after mr floyd was killed by a white policeman. mr floyd's family have expressed disappointment that the bill has not yet been approved. the us secretary of state, antony blinken, has stressed that a two—state solution — establishing a palestinian state alongside israel — was the only option for lasting peace in the region. he was speaking after holding talks with israeli and palestinian leaders. the un human rights watchdog has demanded the immediate release of the journalist roman protasevich by the authorities in belarus. it said the manner in which he was detained — after a plane was forced to land in minsk — was "tantamount to extraordinary rendition".

now on bbc news, click. this week, we're shooting for the stars.