this is bbc news — very good to have you with us. i'm rich preston. our top stories: two, seven, zero... 22.5 years for derek chauvin, over the killing of george floyd. accountability at last, say mr floyd's supporters and family. no—one is above the law are known beneath it. a police officer is not above the law and george floyd is certainly not be needed. 159 people are still unaccounted for, after the collapse of an apartment block, near miami beach.

here in the uk, prime minister, borisjohnson accepts an apology from his health secretary, matt hancock, after pictures emerge of him kissing and embracing a colleague, in breach of covid guidance. researchers find the skull of what could be our closest relative. ajudge in the us city of minneapolis, has sentenced the former police officer, derek chauvin, to 22 and half years in jail, for the murder of george floyd. the 46 year old african american died in may last year, after chauvin knelt on his neck for more than nine minutes during an arrest. the lawyer for mr floyd's family says the sentence is "historic" and that it brings "america a step closer to healing, by delivering accountability." our correspondent, neda tow—feek is in minneapolis — and a warning, her report contains some distressing images. this courtroom has

been the scene of powerful testimony. today, it became a place of closure for the floyd family. the judge began proceedings by inviting them to speak. mr blackwell, you may proceed with input... his daughter gianna appeared first, on video. atjust seven years old, she is too young and innocent to comprehend fully what happened to her father. dad, i miss him and i love him. his brother, terrence, struggled to speak as he addressed derek chauvin directly. i wanted to know from the man himself, why? what were you thinking? what was going through your head?

when you had your knee on my brother's neck. when you knew that he posed no threat any more? those are questions that remain unanswered, since derek chauvin chose not to testify in his defence during his trial. for the first time, the public got a more intimate look into his characterfrom his mother. it has been difficult for me to hear and red what the media, public and prosecution team believe derek to be an aggressive, heartless and uncaring person. i can tell you that is far from the truth. and then, derek chauvin himself spoke. i want to give my condolences to the floyd family. thejudge said his decision was not influenced by public opinion or meant to send any messages. the sentence fork out

one, the court commits you to the custody of corrections for a period of 270 months. it is rare for the justice system to punish a police officer and it took an extraordinary series of events to get to this moment. crucially, his murder was caught on camera in chilling detail. george floyd was pinned to the ground within knee of derek chauvin for 9 minutes and 27 seconds. many time, mr floyd cried out several times, "i can't breathe. " it traumatised the community and shocked the world, prompting the biggest protests since the civil rights era. do you need a minute? the trial was so compelling that the jury delivered a unanimous guilty verdict after just 10 hours of deliberations. this outcome was in no way inevitable. still, this one sentence of this one disgraced police officer will only do so much to advance racial

inequality and the struggle of being black in america. this is the longest sentence a police officer has received in the state of minnesota and speaking outside the court after sentencing, the family so they do feel some measure of accountability.— accountability. they say they ho -e accountability. they say they hepe this _ accountability. they say they hepe this is _ accountability. they say they hope this is a _ accountability. they say they hope this is a turning - accountability. they say they hope this is a turning point l accountability. they say they | hope this is a turning point in america because they feel the activism surrounding this case would mean real change moving forward and they told those gathered here outside of the courthouse to keep fighting for justice. let's speak now to dan herbert — he's a criminal defence attorney and a former chicago police officer. thank you for being with us. before sentencing, you'd estimated derek show might get around 15 years. what is your take on the sentence, are you surprised by it? hot take on the sentence, are you surprised by it?— surprised by it? not really. i thou~ht surprised by it? not really. i thought it — surprised by it? not really. i thought it would _ surprised by it? not really. i thought it would be - surprised by it? not really. i. thought it would be anywhere from 15—25 years. i think that certainly politics entered into the decision to extend the

sentence, the recommended guidelines there were 12 .5 years. as horrible as that crime was, and it was horrible, there has to be uniformity in sentencing and it can't be influenced by the media and public ratio.— public ratio. before passing his sentence, _ public ratio. before passing his sentence, the _ public ratio. before passing his sentence, the judge - public ratio. before passing i his sentence, the judge heard his sentence, thejudge heard testament see from mr floyd's family as well as mr chauvin�*s family. what impact would it have on his sentencing? i don't think it would _ have on his sentencing? i don't think it would have _ have on his sentencing? i don't think it would have any - have on his sentencing? i don't think it would have any in - have on his sentencing? i don't think it would have any in this i think it would have any in this case. this was a case where there was a substantial amount of documents and evidence presented in pre—trial memorandum and i don't there was anything that was out of the ordinary or overly compelling all over it —— overly aggravating which changed the mind of thejudge. my changed the mind of thejudge. my guess is he had a number in mind and probably we took that break. after all, the evidence was presented, he probably didn't change from that. it can be rare for— didn't change from that. it can be rare for police _ didn't change from that. it can

be rare for police officers - be rare for police officers from the us to be convicted after incidents with the public. after incidents with the ublic. , ,, ., public. does this send a message? _ public. does this send a message? there - public. does this send a message? there is - public. does this send a message? there is no l public. does this send a - message? there is no question. it's becoming not rare but almost very common, in the last possible eczema couple of years. in this case goes a long way towards that. it sends a message, a resounding message regardless of the sentence that was handed down. police officers second biggest fear after being shot is being a defendant in a criminal case. the message is clear. certain cases become a landmark moments in americanjustice. roe cases become a landmark moments in american justice. roe the wade, brand versus the board of education. i5 wade, brand versus the board of education. , , ., , education. is this one? it is, and that— education. is this one? it is, and that is— education. is this one? it is, and that is not _ education. is this one? it is, and that is not overstating i and that is not overstating anything. the fact that case involved law enforcement can't be underscored and a lot of thatis be underscored and a lot of that is very good. some of it i don't think is that good. the

crime in our country has really gotten so much worse, and i think that a direct correlation to that is that police officers are scared to get debt to do anything other than get out of their squad cars.— their squad cars. thank you very much _ their squad cars. thank you very much for— their squad cars. thank you very much forjoining - their squad cars. thank you very much forjoining us. i officials in florida say the apartment block that collapsed in miami on thursday leaving more than 150 people missing was due to undergo extensive repairs this year. the building — which had been affected in the past by subsidence — was in the middle of a survey and repair programme required every forty years. four people are confirmed dead and a major operation is continuing to search for survivors and more bodies. our correspondent will grant is at the scene, and sent us this update. the longer this search and rescue goes on, the more harrowing it becomes. the families are doing their best to hold out hope of good news.

but the difficulty is there are no positive updates to be had so far. they are gradually losing the place. just a warning that might report does contain images of the moment of the buildings collapse itself. as the desperate search for survivors at the collapsed apartment block entered its second day, the full gravity of the situation was laid bare. the exact number of those lost in this tragic incident still isn't known, but it's clear this has the potential to be the most deadly building collapse in florida's history. the awful moment itself happened so fast, it took everything and, it is feared, everyone, with it — i2 storeys and entire lives reduced to rubble in seconds. the methodical work of the rescue teams hasn't stopped since then. they say they're still hearing occasional knocks from inside the debris and are following every lead, at one stage trying to enter the spaces between the rubble via the basement.

family members are gathered at a community centre as their unbearable wait for information goes on. magaly ramsey's mother lived on the ninth floor. it feels like the world gets to know more information before we know more information as family members. i don't live in the area, so i came here hoping to get information and i'm still waiting for that. her mother, also called magaly, is one of the oldest of those missing. the youngest was ashani patel, the one—year—old daughter ofjoint british—american citizen bhavna patel, who was pregnant, and her husband, vishal — an entire family missing. but the city will keep up the search, the mayor promised. we will continue search and rescue because we still have hope that we will find people alive. that is exactly why we're continuing, and that is why we're using our dogs and our sonar and our cameras, everything possible, to seek places

where there still may be people. as the rescue effort continues, hopes are beginning to fade. for the family members, this initial period has been one of shock and a desperate wait for information. now, though, many are beginning to face up to the possibility that they may not see their missing loved ones again. magaly is clinging on to hope of updates about her missing mother. but she's also under no illusions about what she's facing. the choices you hold onto or either that there's a miracle with god's grace, and he does have lots of miracles in store for us, or god's grace was one that she didn't feel a thing and she's in his hands and his arms right now, in a good place. will grant, bbc news, miami. let's get more on this. joining me now is mehrdad sasani, he's a professor of structural engineering at northeastern university, and he's spent his career studying the progressive collapse of structures.

it could be explosions or could be accidental because there is no report on that.— no report on that. there are re orts no report on that. there are reports this _ no report on that. there are reports this building - no report on that. there are| reports this building suffered subsidence, it is near a coastal area of miami beach. can you tell us a bit about the environmental factors that play a part in the impact they have on a building? in a part in the impact they have on a building?— on a building? in this case, even though _ on a building? in this case, even though i'm _ on a building? in this case, even though i'm not - on a building? in this case, even though i'm not a - even though i'm not a structural engineer, i've seen reports that places in that area are sinking or settling into the ground, an indication of potential foundation problems. in terms of more general environmental impact, given the 40— year lifespan of

this building, in close proximity to the ocean, and the deterioration of the building, it is a structural factor that needs to be considered. there are several— needs to be considered. there are several other _ needs to be considered. there are several other buildings - are several other buildings nearby. will there be can stroll over —— will be concern of structural integrity of those officials ascertained those officials ascertained those are safe to be inhabited at the moment?— at the moment? potentially if there are _ at the moment? potentially if there are some _ at the moment? potentially if there are some indications . at the moment? potentially if. there are some indications that there are some indications that there is similar construction, similar design, yes. but if that's not the case, the common factor would be the foundation. and finally, how will people determine what the fault was here, whether it was structural or construction? how will investigators go to work that out? , ., ., , . investigators go to work that out? ., , . ., out? one important piece of information _ out? one important piece of information is _ out? one important piece of information is existing - information is existing reports. we've got to mention

there are reports on foundation problems that are one part of. collecting the remaining structures standing, those things together, coming to play. looking at the much for stages, design, construction and inspection, over time. stages, design, construction and inspection, overtime. on the status of the building at the status of the building at the time of collapse, all those factors can come together. usually it's not only one cost. usually it's not only one cost. usually there are several factors that come together, the evidence, the records, and putting all those things together. hopefully we will find out soon what the cause is. ., , ,., find out soon what the cause is. ., ,,., ., ~ find out soon what the cause is. professor, thank you very much for _ is. professor, thank you very much forjoining _ is. professor, thank you very much forjoining us. - we will now go to a live press conference with the miami dade county mayor. the conference with the miami dade county mayor-— county mayor. the resources to -a for county mayor. the resources to

pay for this — county mayor. the resources to pay for this expensive - county mayor. the resources to pay for this expensive search i pay for this expensive search and rescue and give us access to more teams, for the rescue later, for the clearance of the rubble and the assistance for the families. as they put their lives back together. we are here, we will continue, and please stand by us, stand by us as we stand by the families, thank you. in espanol. {hi} thank you. in espanol. (no spanish — thank you. in espanol. (no spanish translation available). we will come back to that press conference when we are able to. this is bbc world news. this is bbc world news, the latest headlines: ajudge in minneapolis has sentenced the former us police officer derek chauvin to 22.5 years in prison for the murder of george floyd. emergency services continue to search for survivors following a building

collapse in miami. at least four people have been confirmed dead — more than 150 are missing. here in the uk, downing street says the british prime minister has accepted his health secretary, matt hancock's apology for breaching social distancing guidelines, after the sun newspaper published images of him and an aide kissing and embracing in the department of health. in a statement mr hancock said he'd "let people down" and is "very sorry". borisjohnson now considers the matter closed, but labour is calling on mr hancock to resign. with the latest, here's our deputy political editor vicki young. he's been telling all of us to stick to covid rules. keep doing your bit, remember the basics — hands, face, space and fresh air. but matt hancock and his adviser gina coladangelo did not take that advice.

this picture of the two of them, who are both married, was taken inside the department of health in early may. government social distancing guidance says in the workplace, people should keep two metres apart. mr hancock and ms coladangelo have been close friends since university. during the pandemic, she's accompanied the health secretary to meetings in downing street and interviews. speaking to radio 4 last year, she talked about first meeting him. we met at the student radio station, oxygen fm. i red the news and matt read the sport. i've always joked with him that he did the sport because he wasn't good enough to do the news! laughs but i think it gave him a bit of an early heads—up into aggressive questioning from journalists and hacks.

in september, she became a non—executive director on the board of the department of health, with a salary of £15,000. downing street say the appointment followed correct procedure. but labour's calling for an official investigation into whether the ministerial code of conduct has been broken. matt hancock either needs to resign or, if he's not willing to do that, then the prime minister must remove him from his post. this isn'tjust a question of, yet again, a conservative mp disobeying those rules and thinking that they only apply to the rest of us — it's a case where we've seen cronyism on cronyism. this comes after other high—profile breaches of the rules. dominic cummings, who used to be borisjohnson's top adviser, caused outrage when he travelled hundreds of miles during lockdown. and professor neil ferguson, one of the most prominent scientists advising the government, resigned after his married lover visited his home. this was mr hancock's reaction at the time. i don't understand. you're speechless?

iam. that doesn't often happen to me. i think that he took the right decision... to resign. yeah, you wouldn't have fought to keep him? it's just not... that's just not possible in these circumstances. now after his indiscretion, there has been support from ministers and downing street. i think the secretary of state has said everything he needs to say on this. he's apologised, and the prime minister is backing his secretary of state and considers the matter closed. and so far the prime minister is showing no sign of sacking him. let's get some of the day's other news. police in germany say three people have been killed by a man with a knife who attacked passers—by in the central city of wuerzburg. other people were injured, some seriously. police say they shot and wounded a suspect as they arrested him. a senior official said the man had recently spent time in a psychiatric institution. iran has rejected demands from the united nations�* nuclear watchdog, the iaea, for an immediate response to its request to extend a deal that has just expired on monitoring iranian nuclear sites.

the iaea chief rafael grossi said it was vitally important that inspectors continue to be able to collect data. iran's supreme leader ayatollah ali khamenei has received a dose of an iranian—made covid vaccine in front of cameras. he described its development as a source of national pride. earlier this year the ayatollah banned the use of british and us—made vaccines in iran, saying they couldn't be trusted. police in the indian city of mumbai have arrested ten people in connection with a coronavirus vaccine fraud, which apparently led to people being duped into paying for fake injections. the group's accused of running eight private vaccination camps. police suspect they injected people with a saline solution. us presidentjoe biden has told the afghan president ashraf ghani, on a visit to washington, that the afghan people must decide their future. but he also said us support for afghanistan would continue, despite the us military withdrawal.

the visit by ashraf ghani and his former political rival abdullah abdullah comes as taliban forces have escalated fighting in recent weeks, seizing control of dozens of districts. this was what mr biden had to say about ongoing us involvement in the country. the partnership between afghanistan and the united states is not ending. it is going to be sustained — and you know, our troops may be leaving, but support for afghanistan is not ending. in terms of support and maintenance of helping maintain their military, as well as economic and political support. speaking at a press conference following the meeting, ashraf ghani paid tribute to the thousands of americans who'd lost their lives fighting in afghanistan. asked about the us decision to withdraw militarily, he said he respected the move. the decision of the president has been taken on the basis of very significant national consultation and deliberation.

this is a sovereign us decision. we respect that decision and our course is to manage the consequences and to ensure that the people of afghanistan rise to the challenge. us intelligence agencies have released a long—awaited report on what they know, and do not know, about unidentified flying objects. the report considered over 140 reported sightings seen passing through restricted military airspace, spread across several decades. investigators said there was no evidence that the ufos involved extraterrestrial life, but their report acknowledged that many of the unexplained events involved physical objects whose presence was confirmed by data from multiple sensors. chinese researchers have discovered the skull of what they believe to be a new species of human

that they claim is our closest evolutionary relative. this report by our science correspondent, pallab ghosh. meet the dragon man. a perfectly preserved skull of what is thought to be a species of human that lived in asia around 146,000 years ago. a 3d scan shows a huge head with a brain that was about the same size as ours. but otherfeatures, such as a prominent brow ridge around the eye sockets, suggests something more primitive. i said "oh, my gosh, i can't believe that." and it is so well preserved you can see all the details. this is what researchers think he looks like. stocky and powerfully built, able to withstand the freezing temperatures of what is now north—eastern china. so, where does dragon man fit into the new human family tree? well, seven million years ago, the first humanlike creatures emerged.

they became progressively more developed, until two million years ago, our ancient ancestor homo erectus emerged. that led to our close cousins, the neanderthals and us, and we coexisted a few hundred thousand years ago. dragon man, it's claimed, is a new species that lived alongside us. not only that, it's more closely related to us. one of britain's leading experts in the field is part of the research team. after examining this replica made from resin, he believes that the dragon man is a hugely important discovery. i've been studying human evolution for the last 50 years or so and this, for me, is one of the most significant fossils that i have seen and studied in all of that time. and it really gives us a new view of human evolution, because it looks like, on our analyses, this is a sister species to homo sapiens, our own species. some experts believe that the dragon man might belong to a mysterious branch of humans called the denisovans.

all we know about them is from a handful of human fossils. the denisovans is this fascinating mystery population from the past. because we have had indications that they existed and then they found more in a jaw from tibet suggesting that that jaw may have been denisovan. now because this jaw from tibet and dragon man look like each other, now we may actually have the first face of the denisovans. these early skulls found in china have baffled scientists until now. the discovery of dragon man suggests they might represent the gradual evolution of the latest member of the human family, called the denisovans.

ajudge in minneapolis has sentenced the former us police officer derek chauvin to 22.5 years in prison for the murder of george floyd. you can reach me on twitter — i'm @richpreston. friday evening brought some quite dramatic weather for some of us, especially across parts of us, especially across parts of england. through the western side of the midlands, there was some heavy, thundery rain, was how it looked for a weather watcher in south staffordshire. to the north—east of london up into essex some really vicious thunderstorms, with reports of localised flash flooding and even reports of a tornado in east london, or at the very least some squally, gusty winds among these showers which did cause some damage. and the weather system responsible will still be quite close by as we had through this weekend. it will become slow—moving across

northern france, but from time to time will throw showers and longer spells of rain back in our direction. and we will see some showers during saturday, across england and wales particularly, from east anglia into the midlands and wales we could see some heavy, thundery one through the afternoon, walk around the north—east england, south—east scotland, some patchy rain here. top temperatures between 1a and 22 degrees. some of those heavy showers in the south will continue through saturday evening, and more persistent rain is likely to start to slide across the channel islands, and that will come into play across southern counties of england as we get into the first part of sunday. elsewhere we start sunday on a mainly dry notes, and those are for sunday morning, 9— 1a degrees. this weather system that will become very slow moving through the weekend is likely to throw a band of rain back northwards as we go through the rate —— day on sunday. there is uncertainty about how far north the rain will get but it is likely to

affect something counties of england, it may spread into south wales and parts of the midlands as well. further north it should be partly dry with some thicker cloud across the far north—west of scotland, and temperatures between 18— 22 degrees in most places. to sum up degrees in most places. to sum up for the weekend, we will see some spells of sunshine but they will be a few showers on saturday, some could be quite heavy, and the potentialfor more persistent rain in southern parts as we had through sunday. southern areas could see further rain during the week ahead, some of that rain could be quite heavy, further north it looks drier, some of the highest temperature is likely to be across scotland, up to 2a degrees.

this is bbc news, the headlines: ajudge in minneapolis has sentenced the former police officer, derek chauvin, to 22.5 years in prison for the murder of george floyd. the 46—year—old african american died last year, after chauvin knelt on his neck for more than nine minutes during an arrest. officials in florida say the apartment block that collapsed near miami on thursday leaving more than 150 people missing was due to undergo extensive repairs this year. four people are confirmed dead and a major operation is continuing to search for survivors and more bodies. borisjohnson has accepted an apology from his health secretary, after pictures emerged of him kissing and embracing a colleague, in breach of covid guidance. matt hancock says he's let people down and is very sorry after the images showed him, with gina coladangelo.

now on bbc news, click.