We begin in the us, where there are increasing calls to remove pro slavery confederate names and symbols in response to the Anti Racism Movement triggered by the Police Killing of george floyd but President Trump says army bases named after officers who fought for the confederacy during the civil war wont change because theyre part of the american heritage. It comes as police in the Southern State of virgina are trying to Disperse Protesters who attacked a confederate war memorial. David willis reports. They are potent symbols of a racist past, erected in honour of those is thought to keep African Americans of those is thought to keep african america ns enslaved. Now, the statues of confederate generals are being cut down and carried away as a nation incensed by the death of george floyd seeks to turn its back on the past. But the memory of slavery and segregation lives on through army bases, which bear the name of confederate offices, such as braxton bragg. There are ten of them in total and now calls are growing for those bases to be renamed. Retired Us Army GeneralDavid Petraeus who served at fort bragg is amongst those in favour of renaming the bases and within essay published in the atlantic magazine he said, the irony of training at bases named after daisy took up arms authorisation for a name change would have two come from the military and senior officials have said they may favour such a move but all ten bases are in southern and former confederate states, many who supported donald trump in 2016 and the president is radically opposed to the idea. The United States of america trained and deployed oui of america trained and deployed our heroes on these Hallowed Ground and won two world wars, he tweeted, and therefore my administration will not even consider the renaming of these magnificent and fabled military installations. The White House Press secretary said changing their names would amount to a demonstration of disrespect for the soldiers who had served at those bases. Fort bragg is known for the heroes within it that trained there and deployed from there and it is an insult to savour the men and women who left there, the last thing they before going overseas and in some cases losing their lives, to tell them what they left was inherently a racist institution because of a name. That is unacceptable because of a name. That is u na cce pta ble to because of a name. That is unacceptable to the president. The symbols of the confederacy are under growing threat. The confederate butterfly, otherwise known as the stars and bars has now been banned by nascar, the organisation that iu ns nascar, the organisation that runs stockcar racing and the leader of the house of representatives, nancy pelosi, is calling for statues representing confederate leaders to be removed from the Capitol Building in washington, dc. The landscape is changing here in the wake of george floyd in all manner of waves as america grapples with a grim legacy of its past in manner of ways. Lets get more on this with our north america correspondent david willis. David, this is such a sensitive subject in america are . A sensitive subject in deed and it was touched upon back in 2017, following violence in charlottesville, virginia and President Trump then said he did not want to see a statue of the confederate general, robert e lee taken down. And while he has reinforced that position now, following calls from various people for military bases, ten of them in total, that were named after confederate generals, places like fort hood, fort bragg and someone like fort hood, fort bragg and someone to be re named and the president saying that that will happen and were congress to pass legislation along those lines, he would veto that. I tell you what, calls are growing here for any traces of the confederacy to be removed. We had in that report from nascar, the stockcar racing organisation here, nascar is a sport very popular with white conservative. Even they are banning the confederate flag, the stars and bars, as it is known, and the speaker of the house of representatives, nancy pelosi is calling for confederate statues to be removed from the nation s capital. President trump may find himself somewhat of a lone voice on this one. As this happens, david, black lives matter protests are continuing around the us, in particular, let us take viewers live to portland, oregon, where we can see live pictures of a protest happening against police brutality. These are ongoing, arent they . They are indeed and you know what, President Trump call not that long ago for the military to be brought m, for the military to be brought in, the national guard, in fa ct, in, the national guard, in fact, in those states where there was trouble. Well, there has not been much in the way of that in recent days. We have seen largely peaceful protests but still quite large ones and the promise of civil rights leaders here is that those protests will continue through the summer and beyond, if necessary , the summer and beyond, if necessary, if that is what it ta kes necessary, if that is what it takes in order to bring about systemic change in the way policing is conducted in this country. The reverend al sharpton, a leading civil rights leader talked about another march on washington to replicate the doctor Martin Luther king, back in the 60s. The us has passed another grim milestone, with more than two million cases of covid 19 recorded and, as the country continues to grapple with the pandemic, the head americas central bank, the Federal Reserve, has said the us economy faces a long road to recovery from the damage caused by the coronavirus. Jerome powell also warned that a significant number of americans could remain unemployed even as the economy begins to revive. He said the fed would continue with measures such as holding down Interest Rates and quantitative easing, or buying assets, to increase cash flow in the economy. Ill have more on this in about 25 minutes. In the uk, a former scientific advisor to the British Government, neil ferguson, has told a Parliamentary Committee that the number of deaths from coronavirus in the uk could have been halved if the lockdown had been brought in a week earlier. The number of deaths officially recorded in the uk is now over 41,000, second only to the us. It comes as the government announced a further easing of restrictions in england. With me is our News Reporter rich preston. This is a big statement to make, isnt it . Why not to be taken lightly, from niall ferguson, formerfrom taken lightly, from niall ferguson, former from the Scientific Organisation group and emergencies to the British Government. The lockdown came on march 23, and at the time 100,000 infected every day and professor ferguson was speaking to the Uk Parliament science and technology committee. This is what he had to say. The epidemic was doubling every three four days before lockdown interventions were introduced. So, had we introduced. So, had we introduced lockdown measures a week earlier, we would have reduced the death toll by at least a half. So, while i think the measures, given what we know about and knew about this virus then, in terms of its composition, where warranted and second guessing at this point, certainly, had introduce them we would have seen fewer deaths. As we heard, many fewer deaths. As we heard, many fewer deaths. The uncomfortable fact is he said the uk has had over 41,000 deaths, the second highest death toll in the world and when you bury mind a population of only 66 million it isa population of only 66 million it is a grim figure. Hindsight isa it is a grim figure. Hindsight is a wonderful thing and scientists were saying at the time the picture was not clear at the time and we were not sure how bad the infection was spreading. And new announced about relaxing rules in england . As you said, these apply to england only, separate rules in scotland, Northern Ireland and wales, we lockdown the easing of various ways. Borisjohnson has said that from this weekend people will be able to form a support bubble if they live in our house, a single parent or in a house, a single parent or in a house on their own and that means a grandparent can stay with their grandchildren and not have to social distance or couples that have been kept apart can spend the night together. 0r apart can spend the night together. Or a single parent can link up with their own pa rent can link up with their own parent or a friend. There are 8 Million People living alone in the uk. There are more than 3 million single parent households and the Prime Minister says this is about tackling loneliness. What about the rest of the world . How do we compare to others in terms of the easing of lockdown . We allude italy is interesting, one of the first to introduce lockdown. Where the virus started to accelerate. It went into lockdown in march seven and mid may the restriction started to lift on cafes and restau ra nts started to lift on cafes and restaurants serving food on terraces and museums opening, churches opening four as well and Regional Travel restriction started to lift as well how many people go travelling further afield. Germany, smaller shops started opening in april. The National Football league started playing again in may and bigger events like festivals, they are banned until august. France, which went into lockdown in the middle of march, restrictions early may and bars and restau ra nts early may and bars and restaurants were opened in some areas with the coronavirus hit harder like paris, it was open air terraces only. Permissible, and high schools have started to go back and gatherings are allowed as long as there are no more than ten people. Thank you for the update. Lets get some of the days other news. North korea has said that the United States should not comment on inter Korean Affairs if it wants this years president ial election to go smoothly. It comes after washington said it was disappointed that pyongyang had suspended communication hotlines with seoul. Negotiations on ending the norths Nuclear Weapons programme are deadlocked despite two summits between kim jong un and donald trump. Tokyos Olympic Games will be a simplified version of the global sporting event. Thats according to the chief executive of the organising committee. 0rganisers say they are working on more than 200 ideas to simplify and reduce costs for the games. The event was supposed to start injuly, but was pushed back to next march. A work by the british graffiti artist banksy, which was cut away by thieves last year from the bataclan music hall in paris, has been found by police in an abandoned farmhouse in abruzzo, central italy. The work was stencilled on an emergency exit of the venue commemorating the victims of the 2015 islamist terror attack in paris, which had targeted the concert hall. In arctic russia, there are warnings that the operation to clean up more than 20,000 tonnes of spilled diesel could take years. The leak happened at the end of may, prompting russias president , vladimir putin, to declare a state of emergency. But so far, measures to contain the spread of the fuel have had limited success. Aruna ayenga has this report. In two weeks, the lector diesel has drifted more than ten kilometres from the start of the accident. Already reaching a nearby lake and turning the river read. It is fears that contaminated water can reach the main river, flowing directly onto the main sea going into the arctic ocean. Rooms have been brought into contain the spread but i felt com pletely contain the spread but i felt completely stop the fuel, already impacting the ecosystem. Translation our workers saw dead donkeys and today i saw a dead donkeys and today i saw a dead mask rack. If a bird lands in the fuel or a muskrat rims in it, it is condemned to death. The storage tank which housed the fuel was part of a metal works facility located the town of norilsk, one of the northernmost towns in the world, 300 kilometres above the arctic circle. President putin criticised the company, a subsidiary of a Nickel Company for its delay in reporting the accident and criminal proceedings have been launched. Three members of the staff of the powerplant three members of the staff of the powerpla nt have three members of the staff of the powerplant have been taken into custody. The Nickel Company say the measures around justifiably harsh and promised to cover the cost of the cleanup operation, thought to be around 146 million. Around 700 people are involved in the cleanup in what environmentalists say is the largest incident of its kind ever to hit the arctic. Aruna ayenga, bbc news. Stay with us on bbc news. Still to come board at work . How cardboard could be the answer to workplace worries about coronavirus. The day the british liberated the falklands. And by tonight, british troops had begun the task of disarming the enemy. In the heart of the west german capital, this was gorby mania at its height. The crowd packed to see the man who for them has raised great hopes for an end to the division of europe. It happened as the queen moved towards Horse Guards Parade for the start of trooping the colour. Gunshots the queen looks worried, but recovers quickly. As long as theyll pay to go and see me, ill get out there and kick em down the hills. What does it feel like to be the first man to go across the channel by your own power . It feels pretty neat. It feels marvellous, really. This is bbc news. The latest headlines a confederate war memorial in the city of portsmouth in virginia in the us has become the latest to be targeted by black lives matter protesters. A former government scientific advisor has told the parliament the number of british deaths from coronavirus could have been halved if the lockdown had been brought in a week earlier. The author of harry potter, jk rowling, has revealed how she experienced Domestic Abuse and Sexual Assault in an essay defending her comments on transgender issues. It comes after she was accused of transphobia following a series of controversial tweets. In a blog post, the author said incidents in her past had shaped her opinions on the need to protect girls. Nick beakes report contains some flashing images. Apart from the occasional premiers for herfilms, apart from the occasional premiers for her films, jk rowling prefers to stay out of the limelight. But now, after being accused of transphobia, she said she has to speak up and has revealed deeply personal experiences. In a long essay, she describes herfirst marriage as violent and so she suffered a very serious Sexual Assault in her 20s. She doesnt identify her attacker. It isa it is a reference to what she calls the relentless attacks on social media she has received after tweeting about the importance of biological sex. Actor Daniel Radcliffe who made his name in the harry potter films spoke out, saying transgender women are women, and hoping thatjk rowlings comments would not taint the Harry Potter Series for fans. Eddie redmayne, who stars in the harry potter spin offs, fantastic beasts, also disagreed with her. The 0scar winning actor who portrayed a tra ns 0scar winning actor who portrayed a trans woman in the film the danish girl, says it should not be questioned. This is all part of what has proved to be an often divisive discussion. Jk rowling hopes people will see why her own experience compels her to speak out on sex and gender issues. Nick beake, bbc news. In ukraine, efforts are continuing to enable newborn surrogate babies to be picked up by their biological parents. Last month, officials said that more than 100 babies had been left stranded in kyiv after coronavirus restrictions prevented parents from travelling from around the world to ukraine. But now, some of the parents have been making it to kyiv to at last claim their babies. Jonah fisher reports. It is the final leg on the long journey to parenthood for this couple. They have come all the way from argentina to ukraine to meet their baby son for the very first time. Menno was born ten weeks ago to a surrogate mother and he has been staying in a kyiv hotel room with dozens of other babies. All of them left stranded after the coronavirus closed international borders, stopping their parents from reaching them. Translation this is the closest they have got until now. A Long Distance video call with manu on his nannys lap. Fast forward three weeks, and the mountains did not move, but the mountains did not move, but the restrictions eased, and thanks to a businessman laying ona thanks to a businessman laying on a special flight, the couple are finally ready to see manu. The couple chose ukraine because it is one of the few places in the world where commercial surrogacy is legal. A baby here costs about 50,000. Congratulations. This may sound like a silly question, but has been worth it . But the surrogacy industry in ukraine is largely unregulated and happy endings arent guaranteed. Four year old bridget was conceived through the same agency as manu. Nobody is coming to get her. Born prematurely and with Serious Health problems, rigid cosmic american preference bridget pollock american pa rents bridget pollock American Parents rejected her answer is now ina parents rejected her answer is now in a orphanage. She has a difficult life. Translation it shouldnt be a case of if i like the child, i ta ke case o