US President Donald Trump has ordered the withdrawal of National Guard troops from the streets of Washington, DC.

Protesters have also taken to the streets across the world – from the UK to Spain, Italy and Australia – as demonstrations against police brutality and racism entered their 13th day. While some clashes were reported, they remained mostly peaceful.

Hundreds of mourners gathered in North Carolina on Saturday for a memorial service for Floyd, the second of three events currently planned.

Fans of BTS have matched the hugely popular South Korean boy band’s $1 million donation to Black Lives Matter after a social media campaign around the hashtag MatchAMillion.

Fans, known by the acronym ARMY (Adorable Representation MC for Youth) had given $1,007,518 as of 9:47am (00:47 GMT) on Monday, according One In An Army (OIAA) which runs fan donation campaigns.

“We’re so proud that ARMY have once again channelled their power for good and are making a real impact in the fight against anti-black racism,” OIAA said in a statement.

“We stand in solidarity with black ARMY. They’re an important part of our family. And we stand with black people everywhere. Your voices deserve to be heard.”

With New York City poised to reopen after a more than two-month coronavirus shutdown, officials lifted a curfew that was in place amid protests of police brutality and racial injustice. But they also urged that demonstrators be tested for COVID-19.

“Get a test. Get a test,” New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo told people who have been participating in rallies and marches in memory of George Floyd. “I would act as if you were exposed, and I would tell people you are interacting with, assume I am positive for the virus.”

Cuomo said the state would open 15 testing sites dedicated to protesters so they can get results quickly. His call for demonstrators to proceed carefully is similar to those made in Seattle, San Francisco and Atlanta following massive demonstrations, with free testing for protesters.

Minneapolis city councillors back plan to disband police

A majority of councillors in Minneapolis have told a rally in the city that they want to break up the city’s police department.

“It is clear that our system of policing is not keeping our communities safe,” said Lisa Bender, the council president who was among nine of the council’s 12 members who took part in the rally. “Our efforts at incremental reform have failed, period.”

Bender said she and the other council members at the rally were committed to “end policing as we know it and recreate systems that actually keep us safe.”  Council member Jeremiah Ellison promied the council would “dismantle” the police department.

UK anti-racism protests ‘subverted by thuggery’: PM Johnson

Anti-racism protests in Britain have been “subverted by thuggery”, Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said, warning those responsible would be held to account.

Tens of thousands took to the streets of London on Sunday, rallying for a second day running to condemn police brutality after the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis. As numbers dwindled, some protesters tussled with police.

Washington protesters ask black Secret Service agent to ‘take a knee’
Peaceful protesters have gathered again near the White House in the 13consecutive day of protests in the country.

In one instance, protesters implored a black US Secret Service officer to take a knee in solidarity with their demonstration against racism and brutality by law enforcement.

“I appreciate all of this. … I’m still black. You see what I’m saying? You guys are still fighting for my rights,” the unidentified officer told the protesters through a fence outside the Treasury building in Washington, in an exchange captured by Reuters TV.

“What I’m saying is, technically we just can’t do that,” he said.

Virginia officer charged in use of stun gun on black man
A white Virginia police officer was charged with assault and battery in connection with the use of a stun gun on a black man, authorities have announced.

Fairfax County police Officer Tyler Timberlake was trying to get the man into an ambulance to go to a detox centre on Friday, according to body camera video shown at a news conference late Saturday.

Timberlake is seen striking the man with a stun gun and then getting on top of him, along with the officer wearing the body camera. Once Timberlake is on top of the man, he presses the stun gun into the back of his neck and fires again.

Scuffles break out in central London
Scuffles have broken out between police and protesters in central London by the arches that effectively connect the Foreign Office and the Treasury.

Objects were thrown at police lining up at the three arches that bridges the connection just off Whitehall, which is also near the offices of Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

Many of the demonstrators, who gathered earlier Sunday outside the US embassy just south of the River Thames, have moved towards central London, where clashes also took place Saturday.

Attorney General denies Lafayette Square was cleared for Trump photo shoot
US Attorney General William Barr has defended the clearing of mostly peaceful protesters from Lafayette Square on Monday, denying it was done for President Donald Trump to have a photo shoot in front of a local church.

Barr, in an interview on CBS’s “Face the Nation” programme, insisted that, despite contradictory reports from many of those present, that protesters were “rowdy and non-compliant” and some had thrown projectiles, justifying the aggressive response.

He said the clearing was meant to increase the perimeter around the White House and was unrelated to Trump’s photo session.

Trump wanted to deploy 10,000 troops in Washington, DC, official says
US President Donald Trump told his advisors at one point this past week he wanted 10,000 troops to deploy to the Washington, DC area to halt civil unrest over the killing of a black man by Minneapolis police,a senior US official told Reuters news agency.

The account of Trump’s demand during a heated Oval Office conversation on Monday shows how close the president may have come to fulfilling his threat to deploy active duty troops, despite opposition from Pentagon leadership.

At the meeting, Defense Secretary Mark Esper, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Mark Milley, and Attorney General William Barr recommended against such a deployment, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. The meeting was “contentious,” the official added.

Al Jazeera Media Network