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Dozens of protesters have taken a knee for George Floyd during a socially-distant peaceful action in Edinburgh.

Mr Floyd died in police custody in the US after a white officer held him down by pressing a knee into his neck on 25 May, sparking international protests.

The 46-year-old could be heard pleading for air in a video filmed by onlookers.

While thousands joined a protest in London, a smaller number gathered in the Scottish capital for the event organised by Stand Up To Racism.

Read more here.

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An initiative that led to some Edinburgh city centre streets being pedestrianised during the summer has been shelved this year.

Some retailers, already worried about the impact of the lockdown, said the move had been a "disaster" for their businesses last year.

Edinburgh City Council says the initiative will not be running following the cancellation of the summer festivals that usually bring a significant increase in pedestrian numbers during August.

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The health committee returns with the health secretary's picture restored.

Earlier SNP MSP George Adam said many care home managers had expressed desperation about access to PPE.

A number of private routes failed to deliver the PPE care homes needed, in part due to increased global demand, explained the health secretary. She praised National Services Scotland for stepping in to support a sector they would not usually support.

Jeane Freeman told MSPs that care homes are expected to take steps to ensure PPE routes stand up going forward, but the government will continue to top up what they need.

Noting in some instances the price of equipment has been hiked, Ms Freeman points out the NHS is able to negotiate deals well, while there has also been "considerable progress" on domestic supply.

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An environmental summit featuring 50 industry and scientific leaders will look at how Scotland can build a sustainable recovery from the coronavirus outbreak.

The online Green Recovery Summit is being hosted by the Royal Scottish Geographical Society (RSGS) and aims to influence the Scottish Government's strategy for economic recovery after the pandemic.

Delegates including transport bosses, industrial leaders and academics are expected to discuss and prioritise considerations such as financing a green recovery and sustainable procurement.

They will then make recommendations to the Scottish government.

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Behavioural scientists from the University of Aberdeen have been awarded £325,000 to carry out a six-month investigation into lockdown behaviours.

The study is aimed at helping inform Scottish government policy on dealing with Covid-19.

It will examine whether people are adhering to guidelines, the impact the rules are having on mental and physical health, and what triggers changes.

Prof Diane Dixon said: “Transmission reducing behaviours such as social distancing and hand washing are essential to quashing the pandemic - but adherence varies as they severely disrupt normal life."

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Scottish football has "a new-found sense of optimism" following weeks of division after last season was ended because of the Covid-19 crisis, BBC Scotland has heard.

The Scottish Professional Football League has earmarked a 1 August start for its top-flight Premiership and, although the other three divisions have yet to follow, meetings of all four were held this week at which clubs discussed a range of issues.

League reconstruction, testing for Covid-19 and live streaming of matches were among the topics and one club official said: "There is definitely a new found sense of optimism, a sense of progress and a willingness to find a solution that suits everyone."

BBC Scotland has been examining what has been discussed and the remaining stumbling blocks before the sport re-starts at a professional level.

Click here to read more.

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Deaths in care homes have been higher than in hospitals since 20 April.

Labour MSP David Stewart queries whether it would be possible to "beef up" Care Inspectorate powers.

The health secretary says the body already has a number of important powers, including for example applying to have the owners of Home Farm in Skye deregistered. The Court is expected to reach a view on Home Farm later this month.

"That does not rule out the Care Inspectorate having more powers than they currently have. I've very happy to look at that in the round," she adds.

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More people have now died with coronavirus in Scotland's care homes than in the country's hospitals.

The National Records of Scotland, external (NRS) said there have been a total of 1,818 deaths linked to the virus in care homes since the outbreak began.

That is three more than the 1,815 deaths that have been recorded in hospitals.

The figures also showed the total number of people dying with the virus has fallen for a fifth week in a row.

• Read more here
• Who is dying and where?

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An extra £1.6 million in funding for groups helping Scots struggling to buy food due to the coronavirus crisis has been announced.

FareShare, a network of charity food distributors, has handed out the equivalent of 3.5 million meals since March 23 - roughly 1,440 tonnes of food.

The money comes from the Scottish government's food fund and will go towards community organisations.

It comes as Scottish food banks report an increase in need and some vulnerable customers saying they are struggling to buy supplies.

Anyone struggling can contact the national helpline on 0800 111 4000.

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The size of care homes could be a factor in how well they have dealt with coronavirus, the health secretary says.

Jeane Freeman tells the health committee: "What appears to be emerging from some of the evidence, but is by no means complete at this point, is there does some to be a distinction with sizes of care home."

She says care homes with under 30 beds seems to be handling the pandemic better.

But she adds: "I think it is difficult at this point to say why some care homes have not experienced any cases at all and others have."

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Health Secretary Jeane Freeman begins: "Both I and Scottish government have been clear on the importance of taking steps with respect both to care at home and care homes.

"That's why we issued guidance to care homes on 13 March, guidance which we have regularly updated since that time, most recently on 4 May.

"We've intervened to provide direct PPE provision from 19 March when it was clear and we were informed the previous private PPE routes were falling. Today more than 533 million items of PPE have been distributed from national NHS stock to over 1,000 locations across Scotland. On 2 April we issued PPE guidance for health and social care settings."

The health secretary goes on to highlight the recruitment portal put in place to allow NHS and social care returners to support care homes when staff were off sick, and also points to the testing regime introduced from 15 April.

She insists: "We have followed the best advice and taken the judgements we believe to be correct from the outset out this pandemic. There is undoubtedly lessons for us to learn and more work for us to do."

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Holyrood's Health Committee has begun its evidence session looking at the impact of Covid-19 on care homes.

MSPs will quiz:

• Health Secretary Jeane Freeman
• Scotland's Chief Nursing Officer Professor Fiona McQueen
• Scottish government director for mental health Donna Bell

It was confirmed on Wednesday that more people have now died with the virus in Scotland's care homes than in its hospitals.

• Read the health committee papers here, external