this is bbc news, i'm lewis vaughan jones. our top stories: two years after it tried to bann american football players from taking a knee, the nfl admits it was wrong. the "sick man of europe" — the official coronavirus death toll in britain passes 40,000. a surprise 2.5 million jobs return to the us economy, and president trump invokes george floyd's name to welcome the figures. hopefully george is looking down right now and saying there's a great thing that's happening for our country. there's a great day for him, it's a great day for everybody. the eu's brexit negotiator accuses the uk of backtracking on its commitments over a future trade deal.

hello and welcome to bbc news, thanks forjoining us if you're watching in the uk or around the world — stay with us for the latest news and analysis from here and across the globe. police in the us city of minneapolis have been banned from using chokeholds following a wave of angry protests against the death in custody of george floyd. the protests continue — let's look at the scene live in los angeles now. you can see lots of people there on the streets they are, some 12 days after the death of george floyd. on friday president trump said that every american must receive equal treatment from law enforcement, regardless of race, gender, or creed. but at the same time he is being criticised for saying

that he hopes george floyd was "looking down", and "saying this was a great day". aleem maqbool‘s report contains some content that you may find distressing. for days, the people of washington have been taking their calls for change to the white house. now, the city's mayor has approved her own — the renaming of an area on the president's doorstep black lives matter plaza. but nearby, the protests go on in the shadow of the memorial to martin luther king. some scenes of police brutality he's witnessed in recent days may have seemed disturbingly familiar. their continuing —— there continue to be staggering and disturbing incidents involving police. in buffalo, new york, a 75—year—old protester was shoved to the ground by a policeman. he's seen motionless

and bleeding from his skull. police filed past, and no—one else is allowed to go to his aid. two officers have been suspended. but it's just the latest in a torrent of apparently unjustified use of force at these protests. an assault from behind in seattle. the arrest in charleston of a man peacefully trying to reason with officers. and police in la driving into protesters, to name but a few examples. for the incident that sparked all this, three officers have now been charged with aiding and abetting murder. another‘s already been charged with murdering george floyd. minneapolis says officers will now be required to intervene if they see a colleague using unauthorised force. the president of the united states. the president's called for authorities to continue to be tough on the street, but has also talked of equality for black people. they have to receive fair treatment from law enforcement. they have to receive it. we all saw what happened last week. we can't let that happen.

hopefully george is looking down right now and saying there's a great thing that's happening for our country, there's a great day for him, it's a great day for everybody. nobody‘s ever done for the black community what president trump has done. think of it. well, it is easy to say there should be fair treatment for african—americans, but given the deep—rooted issues with racism in this country, and as we're seeing almost daily with police culture, that is of course far harder to achieve in practice. aleem maqbool, bbc news, in washington. the wave of protest against police brutality and racism has prompted the national football league, the nfl in the us, to reverse its stance against players speaking out. the commissioner of the nfl, roger goodell, said it had been wrong to stop players from peacefully protesting during the national anthem.

colin kaepernick, a player for the san francisco 49ers, started kneeling instead of standing in the summer of 2016, and other players soonjoined him. the nfl eventually ruled all players had to stand, but today in a video statement it admitted that was a mistake, and said the nfl condemned the systematic oppression of black people. it has been a difficult time for our country. in particular, black people in our country. first, my condolences to the families of george floyd, breonna taylor, ahmaud arbery and all the families affected by police brutality. we, the national football league, condemn racism and the systematic oppression of black people. we, the national football league, it we were wrong for not listening to nfl players earlier, and encourage all to speak out and peacefully protest. we, the national football league believe black lives matter. i personally

protest with you, and want to be part of the much—needed change in this country. without black players, they would be no national football league. and the protest around the country would be —— rm dramatic of the centuries of silence, inequality and oppression of black players, coaches, fans and staff. we are listening, i am listening and i will be reaching out to players who have raised their voices, and others on how we can improve and go forward for a better and more united nfl family. that was the u—turn on behalf of the league itself. several nfl clubs have run their own protest marches, including this one by the jacksonville jaguars. during the recent protests in the us,

colin kaepernick‘s gesture has been copied again and again. in minneapolis last weekend, one national guard officer and his squad troops knelt alongside protestors in a powerful gesture of reconciliation. and on friday in the canadian capital, 0ttawa, prime ministerjustin trudeau joined protestors and took the knee himself. let's return out of the uk. —— 110w let's return out of the uk. —— now to the uk. the number of people who've died after testing positive for the coronavirus in the uk has passed 40,000. britain is now only the second country in the world to reach that figure, after the united states, but the number of new infections is falling quite dramatically. with the latest, here's our health editor hugh pym. for families and friends of the bereaved, some of whom spent weeks in intensive care, there've been months of grief and emotional turmoil. my mum, she was my best friend. she was kind, funny. this is just the worst

pain in the world. i feel like without the proper protection, then more things like this and more families will lose a loved one. since the first uk death in early march, a total of 40,000 have now died after testing positive for coronavirus. the government's chief scientific adviser said keeping the death total to 20,000 or below would be a good outcome. it's now above 40,000. how do you assess that outcome given where we are now? the day that the number of deaths from coronavirus has gone over 40,000 is a time of sorrow for us all. we've got to remember that each one of these is an impact on a family that will never be the same again. and my heart goes out to them all. and it makes me redouble my determination to deal with this virus.

so, how did we get here? on 11 march, the world health organization formally declared a pandemic. that day, spanish football fans were in liverpool for a champions league football fixture. the next day, testing and tracking of new community cases was stopped, with resources focusing on hospitals. the four—day cheltenham racing festival was in full swing. on 16 march, people were told to avoid pubs and other social venues, and work from home if possible. the next day, the chief scientific adviser made this prediction. if we can get this down to numbers 20,000 and below, that's a good outcome. on 23 march, lockdown began across the uk. on 21 april, the daily death toll hit a peak, with more than 1000 deaths. since then, the overall total has climbed and now stands atjust over 40,000 deaths, though this doesn't include those in all settings where there wasn't a test.

some experts argue the government should have reacted more quickly after seeing what was happening in italy. we had two to three weeks‘ more time to get ready for this, but i think we just took it too easy, to be very frank. i think we assumed that we were different, that somehow we were going to respond in a different way, that we could cope. and then, by the time they realised they had the problem, it was too late. the uk covid—19 death toll, at around 40,000, is ahead of other european countries, with italy next on the latest reported figure atjust over 33,500, followed by france, spain and belgium. but adjusted for the size of the population, belgium has the highest death rate, at around 84 per 100,000 people, with the uk at 60, a little above spain, italy and france. there are slight differences in the way each country calculates its figures.

this virus has hit lots of very developed nations with robust healthcare systems, robust health infrastructures, and it's taken a lot of people by surprise. and i don't think the uk is alone in having been taken by surprise. i think we need to essentially wait till the end of the pandemic and then have a dissection of what happened and learn lessons from it. for now, the authorities will focus on testing as many people as possible and then tracing their contacts, seen as the best way to suppress the virus. hugh pym, bbc news. parts of europe are continuing the process of opening up even further after strict coronavirus lockdowns. in france, the government's top scientific adviser announced that the virus there is now under control, while spain and ireland are planning to ease their restrictions too. reged ahmad reports. the sumptuous rooms of france's palace of versailles. as workers prepare for the historical tourist site to open

its doors to the public once again on saturday. france's covid—19 figures are continuing to go down and the country's last restrictions on movement we re last restrictions on movement were lifted this week. health officials say the virus is now under control and will remain manageable so long as people continue to socially distance. they say any new clusters are effectively being contained by testing, quarantine and contact tracing. spain two is following close behind on easing stricter measures. from next week people in the hard hit cities of madrid and barcelona will be allowed to eat and drink inside bars and restaurants, and children can play outside at any time of day. international tourists will be allowed back into spain from july, but there are mixed reactions on the easing of rules from local residents. translation: ithink it isa residents. translation: ithink it is a bit risky. if there is an outbreak i don't know if they will be resources. translation: i think inks have been done more or less well, so

let's hope to continue this way. ireland's response to the coronavirus is seen as a success coronavirus is seen as a success story with relatively low deaths and case numbers. the irish prime minister says things have gone so well he is exhilarating plans to exit lockdown. today i can confirm that it lockdown. today i can confirm thatitis lockdown. today i can confirm that it is safe to move to phase two of the plan to reopen oui’ phase two of the plan to reopen our country, starting on monday. this has been made possible because of the considerable sacrifices that you have made to restrict the spread of the virus and protect others. those plans include from monday groups of six allowed to meet, provided social distancing is maintained. in retail stores and libraries are to reopen. spain's king and queen held a minute's silence on friday to mark the last day of the country's official mourning period. honouring the nearly 30,000 who have died from covid—19. the continued easing of restrictions on parts of europe will come with mixed

feelings, and in the shadow of those who have already lost their lives. more details are emerging of the new suspect in the madeleine mccann case, who according to german media, is now also being investigated over the disappearance of a five—year—old girl in germany. it's reported the suspect is being named as "christian b", a 43—year—old man who's believed to have been in the same area of southern portugal where three—year—old madeleine went missing while on holiday in 2007. our correspondent, gavin lee has more details. this is christian b, the man suspected of the murder of madeleine mccann. she disappeared in 2007. ten years later, german police received a tip—off from a friend of the suspect in a bar in germany. christian made comments that made them think he could be involved in madeleine's disappearance. here in praia da luz, we're told portuguese police have been making house—to—house inquiries since then. candido furtado works close

to one of the properties that was used by the suspect. translation: i think i've seen this man. at some point i saw him, not here, but in the town. he also said that police searched for madeleine's body around this land in 2014 and several times after that. translation: they searched over here. there was a ditch there, and up over that side, too. it was extensive and all over the place. two years before madeleine mccann went missing from this hotel apartment, a woman was raped in praia da luz. christian b is new remanded in custody in germany charged in connection with that case. he's also in prison for other crimes, including child sex abuse. locals here are questioning why portuguese police hadn't picked up this man with an extensive criminal past before that. in the years after madeleine mccann‘s disappearance, christian b is said to have moved several times between germany and portugal. in 2015, he owned this run—down

property in the east of germany. it's emerged today that he's previously been investigated there over the disappearance of this five—year—old german girl, named inga, who went missing from a family party. that investigation has now been reopened. the search for madeleine mccann has been unprecedented in size and scale, costing more than £11 million, with numerous suspects that have since been discounted. this seaside villages is synonymous worldwide with this unsolved, shocking case — one that's now reliant on a public appeal for help if there's to be a breakthrough. gavin lee, bbc news, praia da luz. you are watching bbc news. the headlines this hour: the us national football league has reversed its stance against players protesting by taking the knee. it's said it had been wrong to stop them doing so. the british government's official coronavirus death toll has exceeded 40,000 — only the second country in the world to surpass that number.

president trump has been commenting on the latest us jobs figures, suggesting that he believes the american economy will take off like a rocket. some economists were bracing themselves for depression—level unemployment of 20%. what they got was not quite a sigh of relief, but definitely better than expected. the american economy added some 2.5 million jobs last month, and the unemployment rate actually went down to just over 13%. let's listen to what president trump had to say on the subject. we had the most people working in the history of our country, almost 160 million people. we were never even close to that. so, we had things that we were doing so well, and then it came in. but we're going be back there. i think we're actually going to be back higher next year than ever before, and the only thing that can stop us is bad policy.

what do all these numbers mean? greg daco is the chief us economist at oxford economics and joins me from new york thanks very much for that being with us. my pleasure. what do these numbers mean? this is good news and the sign of some sort of recovery? the numbers overall brought some mixed feelings, some opposites, some scepticism and some anguish. the optimism because we did add 2.5 millionjobs in may, which was a very strong 2.5 millionjobs in may, which was a very strong report, the largest increase of all times. some scepticism because some of the increases don't really lie well with some of the initial claims, unemployment claims data that we had in the last few weeks, and the fact policy may be artificially supporting some employment, and some anguish because we're still in big, big hole. the us economy overall has lost over 20 millionjobs over the overall has lost over 20 million jobs over the last three months, and that's a deep hole from which we all take

time to re—emerge from. hole from which we all take time to re-emerge from. on that sense of realism, we've still gotan sense of realism, we've still got an unemployment rate of, what, 13% or so. put that in a bit of historical context for us— bit of historical context for us — what kind of level is that? that's the highest unemployment rate we've seen on record. now, if we go back to data that dates back to the great depression, we had unemployment rates above 20% on an annual basis, but in recent history, we haven't seen unemployment rates as high as the 13.3% reading that we saw in the month of may, so a relatively high unemployment rate. yes, it did come down but we're still about four higher than we were just a couple of months ago. the global coronavirus recession is really deep, really profound and it's going to leave a mark on the economy. we will recoup some jobs in the second half of 2020, but the second phase of the recovery in 2021 will be more hesitant and more gradual,

and we have to keep in mind that a lot of people lost their jobs. but beyond that, a lot of people saw their hours being reduced and their wages being cut, and that leaves a mark on income, family income, and that will be a key guide to how strong will be a key guide to how strong consumer will be a key guide to how strong consumer spending and recovery is. interesting, that's the kind of detail that's the kind of detail that's hidden when you look at the bare figures, isn't it? digging down into the figures, another depressing note that comes out here, the jobless rate for the black community increased? yes. we have to take this report with a little bit ofa grain this report with a little bit of a grain of salt. yes, it's very good we added 2.5 million jobs but that's only 10% of the jobs but that's only 10% of the jobs we've lost over the last three months, so it's a positive sign but there's still a ways to go. in terms of equality and a, we are still some ways away from a much better labour market. we did see the labour market delivered

some good news in terms of the overall unemployment rate falling by 1.4% to 13.3%, but the unemployment rate for blacks essentially rose 10th to 16.8%. that's not the type of news we want to see if we want toa news we want to see if we want to a more equal recovery in terms of the broader labour market. absolutely right. we will leave it there but really interesting to get your insight and the background to those numbers coming out of the us. thank you very much that, greg daco. the european union's chief brexit negotiator, michel barnier, has accused the uk of backtracking on its commitments, over future relations. however the government's chief negotiator, david frost, says the latest round of talks had been positive in tone, and the uk remained committed to a successful outcome. time is running out, with just six months to go to reach an agreement before the end of the uk's transitional arrangements with brussels. here's our poltical correspondent, alex forsyth.

remember this? it was the end of january when we left the eu. since that moment, the clocks been ticking towards the end of this year, the current timeframe to agree a new future relationship. earlier this year, negotiators from both sides held talks face to face, but it doesn't look like this any more. coronavirus means it's all online, and today, the eu said there's no significant progress, claiming the uk's backtracking on commitments made so far. round after round, our british counterparts seek to distance themselves from this common basis. we cannot and we will not accept this backtracking on the political declaration. among the key sticking points, the so—called ‘level playing field' — measures to ensure businesses on one side don't have an unfair advantage over competitors on the other — fisheries, access to markets and waters, and governance, including how any agreement

will be enforced. number 10's chief negotiator agreed today progress has been limited, but the government's still adamant it won't extend the process beyond the end of december. given the time that's passed, it's time for both sides to work together, and we're willing to accelerate that work to get that final agreement based on a vision that's been agreed, and then we can progress. boris johnson is due to meet senior eu figures this month, which some hope will give a fresh push to these talks, but uk officials have warned they don't want them to drag on to the autumn, because at some point, they say, businesses will have to prepare for no deal at the end of the year. with the economic turmoil already caused by coronavirus, some businesses have warned that could be deeply damaging. the uk and the eu say they want to avoid that and a deal is still possible, but that will take some serious compromise on both sides, and quickly. alex forsyth, bbc

news, westminster. talking to children about racism can be difficult. well, the bbc has been listening to some of the youngest americans who have joined the protests. nojustice, no peace! say it louder! no justice, no nojustice, no peace! say it louder! nojustice, no peace! say it louder! no justice, no peace! black lives matter! don'tjudge a book by its cove r, don'tjudge a book by its cover, and that's not being taken cover, and that's not being ta ken very seriously cover, and that's not being taken very seriously right now. back blacklight totally matter. i want to police brutality ended. it's not ok. you can't kill someone and get away with it. i want to tell the people it. i want to tell the people it doesn't matter what skin colour you have. someone who is, supposed to, like, protect

us, but others are killing them. like, racism isn't, like, ending. i have a white parent but it doesn't mean i won't come out here and march and stand with all of you for justice. before i go, let's dip back into the protests you can see going on right now across the us. this is los angeles, it is just coming up to 5:30 p.m., and thousands of people are out on the streets yet again. it is now 12 days since the death of george floyd on the streets of minneapolis while being held by police. these protests that started in that city have spread to cities notjust in the us but right around the world. changes are happening already with police in the us city of neapolis banned from using choke holds following the wave of angry protests. that's

it. you can reach me on twitter, i'm @lvaughanjones. i'm lewis vaughan jones i'm lewis vaughanjones and this is bbc news. well, it's certainly not going to feel like a day injune out there on saturday. and certainly not compared to what we had last week, when temperatures were in the mid to high—20s. saturday is going to be a blustery one with further showers. and low pressure is firmly in charge of our weather. you can see the clouds circling around the area of low pressure very close to scotland, and actually through the early hours, we're seeing a band of cloud and rain slipping southwards across the uk, accompanied by some pretty strong winds. it's the weather front that's linked to this low pressure, and this low pressure will hang around through most of saturday and then by sunday, it looks as though it's going to clear away. but through the early hours, we've got a band of more persistent rain stretching

from the north, moving due south. it does look as though the south of the country is actually going to wake up to some sunshine, but look how that cloud, that rain—bearing cloud slips southwards through the course of the day, so i think most of us will catch at least a little bit of rain. but the chances are that during the afternoon the skies will clear across more northern parts of the country and the sun will come out. but it's across the south, middle of the afternoon, where we'll probably have most of the cloud and the outbreaks of rain. now, the wind arrows you can see here, those are the gusts of wind, and in places they are in excess of 40 mph, perhaps even up to 50. 50 mph in gusts isjust about gale—force, and that's a strong wind for the time of the year. certainly whipping those trees around. now, the temperatures in the sunshine in the north will probably peak at around 19 degrees, for example in the lowlands of scotland. but further south, we are talking more like the low or the mid—teens, and it is going to feel nippy in those gusty winds. and the showers will continue into saturday night and the early hours of sunday, but there is an indication that

that low pressure and its weather front will drift a little bit further towards the east during the course of sunday. so, yes, sunday on the north sea coast blustery with showers, but even here, they will eventually fade a little bit later on in the day. and i think for most of us, overall, sunday is looking better, particularly the further west so, again, another fine day in glasgow. and the outlook actually shows that the weather will be stabilising itself as we go through next week. perhaps not all that sunny and not all that warm, but at least those winds will die down. that's it from me. bye— bye.

this is bbc news, the headlines: the national football league in the united states has reversed its stance against players speaking out. the commissioner of the nfl, roger goodell, said it had been wrong to stop players from peacefully protesting during the national anthem, as they did by taking the knee. president trump has welcomed a surprise set of employment figures as evidence the us economy is on its way back despite the coronavirus pandemic. 2.5 million newjobs were created in may and some sectors worst affected by the lockdown showed the strongest signs of recovery. the number of people known to have died in the uk from coronavirus has now exceeded 40,000 according to latest government figures. britain is only the second country in the world to surpass the number after the us. the toll rose by 357 on friday.