and it's the music industry's biggest awards night of the year — the grammys — this year it'll be a virtual ceremony in los angeles because of the pandemic. hello and welcome to bbc news. there are calls here in the uk for london's metropolitan police commissioner, dame cressida dick, to resign after firerce criticism over how her force handled a vigil in memory of sarah everard — the 33—year—old woman whose body was found in woodland days after she disappeared. police were seen scuffling with women at the event on clapham common, in south london, close to where sarah was last seen alive. some of them were handcuffed. the met has defended its actions, saying that with hundreds of people packed together, there was a risk of spreading coronavirus. but the home secretary priti patel has asked for full details about exactly what happened. simonjones has the latest and his report contains flashing images. police move in to try to break up an unofficial visual to mark the life of sarah everard, near to the spot where —— police move in to try to break up an unofficial vigil to mark the life of sarah everard, near to the spot where she was last seen. more than 1000 people had gathered. the police said it wasn't safe under lockdown restrictions. but the organisation reclaim these streets, which had cancelled its own plans by vigil, said it was deeply saddened and angered at the sight of officers manhandling women at an event against male violence. this image has made front—page news. people are angry. they are angry we were silenced, in this case, about women being silenced, and women having violence against them. the police said they repeatedly asked people to obey the law and go home, but in a tweet, the home secretary said: the mayor of london said although the police have a responsibility to enforce covid laws, the response was at times neither appropriate nor proportionate. and there are calls for the met�*s commissioner, who visited clapham on friday, to resign. the leader of the liberal democrats said cressida dick had lost the confidence of the millions of women in london. in the early hours of this morning, the police defended their actions, saying that hundreds of people had been tightly packed together, posing a very real risk of covid being spread. chanting: shame on you! part of the reason i am speaking to you tonight is because we accept that the actions of our offices have been questioned. we absolutely did not want to be in a position where enforcement action was necessary. but we were placed in this position because of the overriding need to protect people's safety. in brixton hill, reclaim these streets lit candles to claim that mark the lives of women killed by men. sarah everard was also remembered at downing street and by the labour leader. a serving police officer, wayne couzens, has been charged with her murder. he will next appear in court on tuesday. sarah's family, who describe her as bright and beautiful, are now trying to come to terms with their loss. simon jones, bbc news. 0ur reporter emily unia joins us now from clapham common in south london. we can see behind you all the flowers and people have come to pay their respects. they are laying flowers and some people are lighting candles and taking a moment to reflect on what happened to sarah everard. it was a similar situation until six o'clock yesterday afternoon. people say then things changed and people started gathering and they asked the crowds to disperse because there was no possibility of social distancing. when that happened they said they moved on asked people to go an issue thatis moved on asked people to go an issue that is when objects were thrown. 0vernight we have had situation where an increasing number of politicians have been criticising the metropolitan police handling of the metropolitan police handling of the situation. if you look at the front pages you can see an image of a woman being knelt on by a policeman and this was supposed to be a peaceful vigil highlighting male violence against women and growing calls for dame cressida dick to come out and explain what happened. we can speak now to the former met police chief superintendent — dal babu. as our reporter was seeing a bad look for the met police. how did they get it wrong, why did they get it wrong? i they get it wrong, why did they get it wron: ? ~ , it wrong? i think they did get it wronu. it wrong? i think they did get it wrong- and _ it wrong? i think they did get it wrong. and public _ it wrong? i think they did get it wrong. and public order - it wrong? i think they did get it| wrong. and public order trained it wrong? i think they did get it - wrong. and public order trained and have done many of these demonstrations as a police constable and as a gold commander where you set this strategy and then rely on a command of silver and bronze individuals who put into place your strategy. there is no intelligence as far as i can see there would be any violence. we have to remember this was a vigil, not a march and people across the country are appalled at what is happening to —— what happened to sarah everard and this was a chance for people to come together and pay respects in her memory. together and pay respects in her memo ., , , , , together and pay respects in her memo ., ,, ,, memory. jess phillips has been sa in: memory. jess phillips has been saying the _ memory. jess phillips has been saying the police _ memory. jess phillips has been saying the police got _ memory. jess phillips has been saying the police got it - memory. jess phillips has been saying the police got it wrong l memory. jess phillips has been | saying the police got it wrong at every build—up, in the days running up every build—up, in the days running up to this, not allowing this vigil to take place. iii up to this, not allowing this vigil to take place. ii i up to this, not allowing this vigil to take place-— to take place. if i was the gold commander — to take place. if i was the gold commander i _ to take place. if i was the gold commander i think— to take place. if i was the gold commander i think i _ to take place. if i was the gold commander i think i would - to take place. if i was the gold. commander i think i would have to take place. if i was the gold - commander i think i would have dealt with this in a much more sympathetic way and i think to the police are in a difficult situation with covid an defence that are happening but i think we have to understand the shock that women feel. there was a survey out yesterday saying 97% of women over 18 are harassed. two women over 18 are harassed. two women are murdered each week through domestic abuse and domestic violence and women are not safe in their homes on the streets and we need to understand the strength of feeling there and when i was borough commander i put a huge amount of resources and emphasis on domestic abuse and domestic violence and i spoke to every single new police officer saying domestic violence calls whatabout homicide reduction because we know that when women wait on average 37 times before they call the authorities so we have a real challenge and a stain on our society that we have such terrible abuse of women and it continues and we need to do something radical and different systemically across a whole range of different agencies. the met commissioner cressida dick was already facing quite a lot of pressure. no there are new course for her to resign. do you think she will have to go over this? the issues around _ will have to go over this? tue: issues around resignation will have to go over this? tte: issues around resignation as it focuses on one person and this is systemic. it is notjust about the police, it is about the cps and we haveissues police, it is about the cps and we have issues about rain which is about 1.4% and issues about how we deal with people suffering from domestic abuse and issues around the benefit system during lockdown and more issues around domestic abuse and domestic violence so i think it is unfair to focus on one person. tn is unfair to focus on one person. in terms of what happened last night, in terms of the policing of that event, do you think there will be repercussions for the met police on that? , ., ., , that? yes, we have to remember cressida dick _ that? yes, we have to remember cressida dick to _ that? yes, we have to remember cressida dick to not _ that? yes, we have to remember cressida dick to not put - that? yes, we have to remember cressida dick to not put the - that? yes, we have to remember cressida dick to not put the plan | cressida dick to not put the plan together, it would have been done by a gold commander, senior officer and then you would have had a senior officer who would have been silver so we have to ask why those decisions were made and in a lot of ways it is systemic of how the attitudes towards women, i think this is a wider problem than one individual. there has been cross—party criticism of the met�*s handling of the vigil in south london last night. 0ur political correspondent helen cattjoins me now this has become a political issue now. it has. in the last few days we have seen this outpouring of feeling from women about how it feels to be a woman walking down the street on your own and how women can feel safer on the issue of violence towards women. the home office reopened its call for evidence against the might of violence against the might of violence against women and girls and in the first 2a hours they got 20,000 calls. the reaction has been we are listening and we understand the sensitivities and we are hearing you and what we saw last night did not send that message at all and it was completely at odds with that and thatis completely at odds with that and that is why there is such a strong political reaction in such a focus on away the police chose to deal with this. jess phillips is the labour party domestic violence minister. ,., . ., ., labour party domestic violence minister. . ., ., ., minister. the police got it wrong at every single _ minister. the police got it wrong at every single time, _ minister. the police got it wrong at every single time, not _ minister. the police got it wrong at every single time, notjust - minister. the police got it wrong at every single time, notjust the - every single time, notjust the final image that we see but all day yesterday and the day before the police did not try to find a way for a peaceful protest. not a protest, actually, but are. they did not find actually, but are. they did not find a way to work with woman who are silent and saddened to go to clapham common and the police did not think before they put the boot in and at every stage made the wrong call. the police commissioner said that the police do have to observe the covid law with people and today victoria adkins said it was the right thing to do. t adkins said it was the right thing to do. . ., ., ., adkins said it was the right thing todo. . ., ., ., to do. i am not going to trespass on the conversation _ to do. i am not going to trespass on the conversation between _ to do. i am not going to trespass on the conversation between the - to do. i am not going to trespass onj the conversation between the home secretary and the police commissioner and she will be laying out your report and the home secretary will look at it and consider it carefully. this should not tire the whole policing family with these incidents. i have had the pleasure of working with police officers both as a minister but also when i used to prosecute criminals and i would not want people to think thatis and i would not want people to think that is the police response more generally to these very difficult issues. , , ., , issues. there will be questions asked of the — issues. there will be questions asked of the government - issues. there will be questions | asked of the government about issues. there will be questions - asked of the government about how the police have been put on this very difficult position of having to decide which protests are which vigil goes ahead and there will be questions asked if there should be some provision within the coronavirus legislation to allow the sort of thing and i think there will be pressure on them to explain that. this week the government is putting forward its police, crime, sentencing and courts bill which has a huge number of things to do with the criminaljustice system and one part is giving the police more powers to enforce around non—violent protest so i think that will be a backdrop is to discuss that in and probably not the one that they wanted. authorities in the republic of ireland have recommended temporarily suspending use of the astrazeneca vaccine. the advice from the national immunisation advisory committee follows a report from the norwegian medicines agency of four new cases of serious blood clotting events in adults after vaccination with the vaccine. the committee is due to meet again on sunday morning to discuss the decision. a british—iranian woman, nazanin zaghari—ratcliffe, has appeared in court, just days after she came to end of a five—year prison sentence. her lawyer says the charges involve her participating in a demonstration in front of the iranian embassy in london 12 years ago, as well as giving an interview to the bbc�*s persian service. herfamily believe she is being used as a diplomatic bargaining chip by tehran. let's speak now to our diplomatic correspondent caroline hawley. she has been following the case for years. bring it up—to—date what we know what's happening today in iran. we know that she appeared in court this morning and that her husband had asked the british embassy to accompany her and that did not happen. we know that nazanin herself is extremely stressed and nervous. it came out last week that she is suffering from serious mental health issues as a result of her ordeal in the past five years so she was extremely tense and nervous but her lawyer had said the proceedings in court were calm and he presented his defence and expressed the hope afterwards she would be acquitted because the charges are lesser charges than those for which she has already said the five year sentence. he did say that legally the court should announce its verdict in a week but that was up to the judge and there i think you have the wriggle room for the reigning authorities. richard ratcliffe has always said this is a process that is not a real court process but his wife is being held over a tank debt as a bargaining chip, a debt that iran always great is old after the 1979 revolution. —— that has been awed. ——0wed. this is been extraordinarily painful for the whole family and it is not mother's day in a so the focus of nazanin will be on the court proceedings of which is been so nervous. we have not heard from richard ratcliffe and we only have their lawyers word and we only have their lawyers word and we have heard that sometimes her own lawyer is sometimes more optimistic and later more worrying information comes out. we wait to hear what nazanin has told richard herself about what happened in court today. two protesters are reported to have been killed in myanmar, as the authorities continue their brutal attacks against people demonstrating against the military coup there. the pair were killed in separate protests, as rallies were held across the country. the biden administration says it has been trying to contact north korea since february, but there has been no response. a senior official said the white house had attempted to reach pyongyang in several different ways to try to prevent a possible escalation in tensions. the us secretary of state and defence secretary are visiting tokyo and seoul this week, where they will likely discuss the north's nuclear weapons. pyongyang's state media has yet to acknowledge joe biden as president. he's expected to release details of his policy for north korea in the coming weeks. the number of new coronavirus cases is increasing in many european countries as a third wave of the pandemic gathers momentum. this is because, as many argue, the continent isn't vaccinating its population quickly enough. and voters in two german states will choose new regional governments today — where the christian democrats have been criticised for the rising infection rates. aru na iyengar reports. germans are frustrated with the sluggish coronavirus vaccine roll—out, supply shortages, excessive bureaucracy and, in the last week, resignations within the cdu due to a facemask procurement scandal. health officials say the number of new infections went up by a third compared to a week ago. there were more than 12,500 new infections on friday. chancellor angela merkel, in power since 2005, is not seeking re—election in september. her cdu party has a battle on its hands in baden—wurttemberg and rhineland—palatinate. it will be an early test of the christian democrats' prospects of retaining power in a federal vote later this year. italy, with the second—highest total toll in europe after britain, is bringing in additional restrictions on monday. shops, restaurants and schools will close in most of the country and a national lockdown is planned for the easter weekend at the beginning of next month. poland reported more than 21,000 new cases on saturday — the biggest increase in more than three months. france hopes to exceed its target of getting 10 million people vaccinated by mid april, according to prime ministerjean castex, after the country's death toll passed 90,000 on friday. meanwhile, dutch voters head to the polls next week in a major test of a european government's coronavirus policies in 2021, with prime minister mark rutte on course to win a fourth term in office. aruna iyengar, bbc news. around two million vulnerable people will receive a text from nhs england this weekend, urging them to book their coronavirus vaccination. those with conditions such as diabetes and certain types of cancer who have not yet received a letter from their gp will be able to make an appointment via a link in the text. last year, more than 17,500 chain stores disappeared from british high streets — that's an average of 48 per day. the figures, compiled by the accountancy firm pwc, reveal the worst decline in more than a decade. there's also a warning that the full impact of the pandemic on high streets is yet to be felt. there's also a warning that the full impact of the pandemic on high streets is yet to be felt. richmond, on the edge of london, a prosperous and popular spot. but this last year, some big chains have been pulling out, leaving an awful lot of holes. the majority of the high streetjust seems to be disappearing. not only high street shops, but restaurants and coffee shops as well. shops, but restaurants well, i think it is very upsetting for the locals and we are very sorry. we now have the final tally for these closures across britain over the last year. just over 17,5000 chain stores shut. ——just over 17,500 chain stores shut. that's an average rate of 48 a day. although more than 7600 shops opened, that was not enough to fill the gaps, meaning there was a net loss of nearly 10,000 shops. that is the worst decline in more than a decade. and the shake—out is far from over. you've seen the closures of the likes of debenhams and topshop and that is really happening in 2021, so they are not even in our numbers, so i think, unfortunately, there is worse to come before it gets better. but on the positive, as we come out of covid, it does give an opportunity for people to invest and come on to our high street. this shop owner certainly hopes so. a few of our bigger chains, like this one, house of fraser, has pulled out. that was well flagged before covid. covid has exacerbated or speeded up the process. the high street is also renewing at the same time and here we are going to see a lot of new retail units and so on and the nature of retail will change. getting there, though, is painful, for so many of our high streets, and the full impact of the pandemic has yet to be felt. emma simpson, bbc news, richmond. has yet to be felt. music's biggest night of the year — has yet to be felt. the grammy awards — take place in los angeles tonight. but, because of the pandemic, it won't be the same star studded red carpet event we're used to. 0ur west coast correspondent sophie long has been speaking to some first—time british nominees who will be watching from afar. # shining through the city with a little funk and soul # so i'ma light it up like dynamite, whoa oh oh# dynamite immediately became a record—breaking song on multiple platforms for k—pop band bts. it's earned a grammy nomination for them and the london duo who wrote it. wow! we got a grammy nomination. getting a grammy nom on a song that we wrote over zoom in lockdown and the midst of a pandemic has just got to be a silver lining to any dark cloud and any terrible year, so we are just so, so happy. it wasjust like, a mad like, surreal 20 minutes of watching it and a buzz and then suddenly it was, back to real life. keep it moving. david and jessica have written hundreds of songs together and kind of knew this was a little different. we understood how huge bts were. we knew that it was their first—ever english—speaking song which was a major thing that we were like, i think this is it. and it only got more and more exciting when we saw the visual, the video and we were like this is like nothing we could ever imagine, it's just the levels of this is like nothing that we had ever worked on before. in los angeles, the stage is being set for bts to perform on sunday night, but due to the pandemic, jessica and david will be watching thousands of miles away in london. what's your grammy night going to look like? i will be watching it in bed with my girlfriend and my dog. that's as rock and roll as it is going to get. yeah, i think i'm going to be doing the same, but i'm probably going to have to set an alarm, because i think i will be in my dressing gown drinking mint tea and i think i'm gonna fall asleep by like 1:00am and that is when it comes on. they won't get to hang out with host trevor noah this time but a grammy nomination or two, in david's case, is a massive achievement and a vote of confidence in their partnership. you have had such amazing success together, are you stuck together now, do you think? she's going to be stuck to me. whoever she ends up marrying, whatever, like, i'm here. you can't get rid of me, girl. they may be missing out on the parties but that's not killing the excitement closer to home. it's absolutely pure joy from my whole family. i think if it wasn't for both of our families being so mega—supportive we actually wouldn't be able to do this job we are doing right now, we would have gave up a long, long time ago. so it's actually credit to our families' support that we have been able to be even nominated for a grammy because itjust wouldn't have got to this point without their support. the winners will be revealed in a socially distanced but star—studded ceremony. sophie long, bbc news, los angeles. good luck to all the nominees. hello there. after the wet and windy start that we had on saturday morning it was a far more pleasant start for many to the day today with some sunshine but already for the west that's not the case. we've had the rain streaming in and the clouds been gathering across the atlantic. this is yesterday's lows sweeping away. now, this is the rain for the day, already across northern ireland and into western fringes of scotland, england and wales. and that process of pushing southwards and eastwards will continue. so it might be that the north—east of scotland sees the lion's share of the dry and sunny weather. the sunshine fades, the rain arrives probably late afternoon in southern and eastern areas on that brisk wind. by that stage it may be drying up in northern ireland. temperatures are up on those of yesterday but again tempered by all the cloud and the rain and that brisk wind. now, that breeze will ease a little overnight, pushing our cloud and rain away so i think once again it is going to turn chilly, particularly in the glens, perhaps north—eastern parts of england, a touch of frost in some rural areas but by and large most towns and cities staying above freezing and certainly so in the west because we've got our next weather front coming in. it's coming into the build of pressure so gradually these weather fronts will become weaker affairs but will introduce quite a bit of cloud. and fog first thing in eastern areas potentially as the winds fall lighter but we already have our next band of cloud, patchy rain coming into northern ireland and western fringes of scotland, england and wales. driest and brightest with lightest winds and feeling pleasant in the sunshine across central and eastern areas. 11 to 13 celsius. we turn the tables by tuesday because by that stage our weather front has toppled into eastern areas and eventually being pushed out of the way on wednesday and that high pressure rules the roost. but these weather systems and these tightly packed isobars never too far away from eastern parts of england and scotland so eastern areas certainly with more cloud we think tuesday to begin the day pushing away southwards with a northerly breeze. not the warmest direction at this time of year but if you shelter from that breeze through the central lowlands and south wales it will feel quite pleasant as we appreciate the strength of the march sunshine. throughout the rest of the working week into the weekend but still looking like quite a bit of cloud. there's ever more on line. this is bbc news. the headlines... police in london are facing fierce criticism over clashes with crowds who gathered for a vigil in memory of sarah everard, whose body was found days after she disappeared. reports from iran suggest the british—iranian woman, nazanin zaghari—ratcliffe, has appeared in court to face a new allegation of anti—government propaganda, a week after her five—year sentence for spying ended. coronavirus cases increase in many european union countries as a third wave of the pandemic gathers speed. and it's the music industry's biggest awards night of the year — the grammys — this year it'll be a virtual ceremony in los angelese because of the pandemic. now on bbc news, felicity baker, who has a stammer, reveals what it is like to live with the condition. among those she talks to is michael palin, whose father stammered but never spoke about it. 0k. i've worked for bbc news for ten years as a producer, always behind the scenes, finding guests, setting up stories. i wondered if you had someone that might be available for an interview? but recently, during a chance conversation