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 will be a virtual ceremony in los angelese because of the pandemic. hello and welcome if you're watching in the uk or around the world. 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. shouting. 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 1,000 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 a vigil, said it was deeply saddened and angered by scenes of officers physically manhandling women at an event against male violence. this image has made front—page news. people are angry. they're angry that we were silenced, in this case, about women being silenced and women having violence against them. the police said they had 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 hundreds of people had been tightly packed together, posing a very real risk of covid being spread. part of the reason i'm speaking to you tonight is because we accept that the actions of our officers 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 mark the lives of women killed by men. sarah everard was remembered, too, at downing street and by the labour leader. a serving police officer, wayne couzens, has been charged with her murder. he'll next appear in court on tuesday. sarah's family, who describe her as bright and beautiful, are now trying to come to terms with her loss. simon jones, bbc news. 0ur reporter emily unia joins us now from clapham common in south london. emily, we can see all the people who have come once again this morning to pay their respects to sarah and other flowers that have been left there. ., ., , , .,, , there. yeah, absolutely. peoples kee - there. yeah, absolutely. peoples keep screaming _ there. yeah, absolutely. peoples keep screaming onto _ there. yeah, absolutely. peoples keep screaming onto clapham . there. yeah, absolutely. peoples - keep screaming onto clapham common. they are coming to the band stand behind me to lay flowers, to light candles and pay their respects. it is very calm, people are social distancing and lots of people are wearing masks and of course that was the scene yesterday afternoon up until about six o'clock in the evening, which is when police say things changed. a lot more people started developing really large numbers, they say social distancing became impossible. they asked people to leave and when they didn't they say they moved in to disperse the crowds. police say objects looks thrown and arrests were made. we know for arrests in total were made but of course this morning we are seeing images that are extremely unpleasant, you know, a police officer kneeling on a warm and's back to arrest her, handcuffing her hands behind her. —— kneeling on a woman's back to arrest her. the imagery is all wrong and clearly the metropolitan police are now coming in for a huge amount of criticism from across the political spectrum. home secretary priti patel has described images are deeply upsetting and said she was like a full report. i think we are expecting a cressida dick to come out at some point today and extreme what happened. out at some point today and extreme what happened-— out at some point today and extreme what happened. many thanks indeed. emily reporting _ what happened. many thanks indeed. emily reporting there _ what happened. many thanks indeed. emily reporting there from _ what happened. many thanks indeed. emily reporting there from clapham l emily reporting there from clapham common. there has been cross—party condemnation of the met�*s handling of the event last night. i've been getting more details from our political correspondent helen catt. this week, in the last few days, we have seen this real outpouring from women about what it is like to be a woman walking down the street on your own and how women can feel safer about the issue of violence against women. the home office reopened its call for evidence for violence against women and girls on friday evening. in the first 2a hours of that, they say they got just under 20,000 responses, so there has been a huge reaction. and there has been a huge reaction. and the political language about this, the political language about this, the political language about this, the political direction has been to say, ok, we are listening, we are listening, we understand the sensitivity, and we're hearing you, and of course what we saw last night did not that message at all and was completely at odds with that and thatis completely at odds with that and that is why you are getting such a strong political reaction why there is such a focus on the way the police chose to deal with this. so, have a listen to jess police chose to deal with this. so, have a listen tojess phillips who is labour's said a domestic violence minister. i is labour's said a domestic violence minister. ~ ,., . ., minister. i think the police got it wron: at minister. i think the police got it wrong at every _ minister. i think the police got it wrong at every single _ minister. i think the police got it wrong at every single term. - minister. i think the police got it wrong at every single term. not| minister. i think the police got it - wrong at every single term. notjust wrong at every single term. not just the final_ wrong at every single term. not just the final image that we see but all day yesterday and the day before the police _ day yesterday and the day before the police did _ day yesterday and the day before the police did not try and find a way fora _ police did not try and find a way for a peaceful protest. not a protest. _ for a peaceful protest. not a protest, actually, individual, a moment _ protest, actually, individual, a moment. they did not try and find a way to— moment. they did not try and find a way to work— moment. they did not try and find a way to work with women who are sad and angry— way to work with women who are sad and angry and upset to be able to, not even_ and angry and upset to be able to, not even gather but just go to clapham _ not even gather but just go to clapham common. there are a million ways that _ clapham common. there are a million ways that that could have been organised by the police put their foot down before they put their base in and _ foot down before they put their base in and at _ foot down before they put their base in and at every stage they made the wrong cait — in and at every stage they made the wrong call. -- in and at every stage they made the wron: call. , in and at every stage they made the wrong call-_ 0fi wrong call. -- put their boot in. of course, wrong call. -- put their boot in. of course. the — wrong call. -- put their boot in. of course, the mayor— wrong call. -- put their boot in. of course, the mayor of _ wrong call. -- put their boot in. of course, the mayor of london - wrong call. -- put their boot in. of course, the mayor of london is - wrong call. -- put their boot in. of i course, the mayor of london is khan made the point that the police do have to enforce the covid laws but from the images he had seen he thought that the response was at times either appropriate and the home secretary has asked for a full report from the metropolitan police commissioner cressida dick. today, victoria atkins, who was a home office minister, said that that was 0ffice minister, said that that was the right thing to do. if office minister, said that that was the right thing to do.— the right thing to do. if you will for: ive the right thing to do. if you will forgive me. _ the right thing to do. if you will forgive me. i— the right thing to do. if you will forgive me, i am _ the right thing to do. if you will forgive me, i am not— the right thing to do. if you will forgive me, i am not going - the right thing to do. if you will forgive me, i am not going to l forgive me, i am not going to trespass— forgive me, i am not going to trespass on the conversation at this stage _ trespass on the conversation at this stage between the whole secretary in the metropolitan commissioner. she will he _ the metropolitan commissioner. she will he laid _ the metropolitan commissioner. she will be laid out the report, the home — will be laid out the report, the home secretary will be considering it very— home secretary will be considering it very carefully and we will be seeing — it very carefully and we will be seeing it — it very carefully and we will be seeing it what happens after that. i do want _ seeing it what happens after that. i do want to— seeing it what happens after that. i do want to make the point that we shouldn't— do want to make the point that we shouldn't tell the whole policing family— shouldn't tell the whole policing family with these incidents. i have had the _ family with these incidents. i have had the pleasure of working with police _ had the pleasure of working with police officers both as a minister and also — police officers both as a minister and also actually before when i used to prosecute criminals and i wouldn't _ to prosecute criminals and i wouldn't want people to think that that is— wouldn't want people to think that that is the — wouldn't want people to think that that is the police response more generally— that is the police response more generally to these very difficult issues — generally to these very difficult issues. ., ., ., ., , issues. now, there are going to be ruestions issues. now, there are going to be questions asked _ issues. now, there are going to be questions asked of— issues. now, there are going to be questions asked of the _ issues. now, there are going to be | questions asked of the government issues. now, there are going to be i questions asked of the government to about how the police have been put in is very difficult position of having to decide which protests over which vigil is, in this place go ahead, and i think they were going to be questions asked around should there be some sort of provision within the coronavirus legislation to allow the sort of thing? i think there will be pressure on them to explain that and this all comes at the start of quite a big week for the start of quite a big week for the government, putting forward its police crime sentencing and corpse bell cup tomorrow, which covers a huge range of things to do the criminaljustice huge range of things to do the criminal justice system, huge range of things to do the criminaljustice system, one part of which, though, is about giving the police more powers to restrict or to enforce nonviolent protest. i think the backdrop to discuss that and is properly not the one they wanted. helen katz, our political respondent. authorities in the republic of ireland have recommended temporarily suspending use of the astrazeneca vaccine. while investigations are carried out into four new reports of blood clotting in patients who've received the jab in norway. let's speak to our correspondent louise cullen who's following this story. already, several of the european countries i have already suspended the use of the vaccine must listing the use of the vaccine must listing the republic of ireland?— the republic of ireland? ireland said this morning _ the republic of ireland? ireland said this morning it _ the republic of ireland? ireland said this morning it would - the republic of ireland? ireland said this morning it would be i said this morning it would be suspended vis—a—vis oxford—astrazeneca vaccine following those reports from norway. the deputy chief medical officer says it is precautionary that these reports in no way in several other countries have included what they call thrombolytic events, clots, skin bleeds and so on, and it is important to say that being around 30 of those events across europe out of 5 million europeans getting the jab, so european medicines agency, the european regulator and the world health organization have said there is no evidence to establish a link between getting the vaccine and these thrombolytic events and this has been described, as i say, is precautionary but ireland joins a list of european countries which have either suspended the vaccine also certain batches of it when investigations are being carried out as if there is a link or to establish some safety parameters. now, the national immunisation advisory committee in ireland is meeting this morning following that announcement and they should be an update later today?— update later today? thank you very much indeed- _ the number of new coronavirus cases is increasing in many european countries as a third wave of the pandemic gathers momentum. some have argued it's because eu countries are not vaccinating their populations quickly enough. meanwhile, 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 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. 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. our diplomatic correspondent caroline hawley has been following today's proceedings. we know that she appeared in court this morning. but we know that richard ratcliffe had asked the british embassy to accompany her. we know that didn't happen. we know that nazanin herself was extremely stressed and nervous. it came out last week that she is suffering from serious mental health issues as a result of her ordeal over the past five years, so she was extremely tense and nervous, but her lawyer has said that the proceedings in court were calm, that he presented his defence, and he expressed the hope afterwards that she would be acquitted because the charges are lesser charges than those for which she has already served the five—year sentence. he did say that, legally, the court should announce its verdict in a week's time but he said that was up to the judge and there, i think, you have the wiggle room for the iranian authorities. richard ratcliffe has always said this is not a real court process, that his wife is being held as a bargaining chip over a tank debt, a debt that britain owes to iran for an arms deal in the 1970s that was not fulfilled after the islamic revolution, so we don't know what will happen. the uncertainty for the family continues. an uncertainty that is especially poignant, i suppose, on mother's day. with her daughter gabriella. it is an extraordinary painful thing that she has been separated she has been separated from herfor so long. that's right, it is an extraordinary painful thing for herfamily. i understand that it is not mother's day in iran so nazanin zaghari—ratcliffe's focus will have been very, very firmly on those court proceedings today about which she was so nervous. richard ratcliffe, we haven't heard from him yet. we only have the lawyer's word and richard did tell me last night that sometimes the iranians lawyer is more optimistic and puts a more upbeat spin on things and more comes out later to worry the family, so we are waiting to hear what they have told richard today and what it may mean. we're just hearing that the foreign secretary has made a statement on her latest court appearance. he says it is unacceptable that iran has chosen to continue the case against nazanin zaghari—ratcliffe. she has been put through a cruel and disgraceful ordeal by the calculating behaviour of the iranian government and this must end. the statement from the foreign secretary goes on to say nazanin must be allowed to return to her family in the uk and we will continue to do all we can to support. so, a strongly worded secretary dominic raab calling her treatment cool and disgraceful. —— cruel and disgraceful. let's go to the us now and the latest on the case of breonna taylor — where a year on federal investigators say they've made significant progress in their probe into the killing the young black woman, shot in her home by police officers. police forced their way into her apartment during a botched drugs raid. they used a so—called �*no—knock�* arrest warrant that didn't require them to announce themselves. ms taylor's death helped trigger black lives matter protests in louisville and across the america over the excessive use of force by officers. breonna taylor's boyfriend, kenneth walker, has spoken to the bbc for the first time about what he witnesed on the night she died. our correspondent larry madowo began by asking kenneth how he feels about the support he's received. honestly, i'm a bit overwhelmed. but, i mean, it's bittersweet because, you know, as i look around and see all the love and support, you know, all the people who's here to admire breonna and just embrace our situation, i also have to think about, you know, that she's not here. you know, so it's been a tough day. but i'm out here and i really just love and appreciate everybody who loves breonna. you're wearing the t—shirt with a picture of you and her. what do people not know about her? what kind of person was breonna? man, breonna wasjust loving and caring. like, for sure, those are the two really big words i'd like to say about her. she deserves everything that these people are trying to do for her. this is... this is a nice start towards justice. even you were charged for having shot at the police that day, the charges have now been dropped. do you feel like now you can go on with the rest of your life? i mean, i have to go on with the rest of my life regardless. i don't have a choice. but, i mean, the charges being dropped, thatjust does nothing but say to me that saying that i'm not wrong that i'm not wrong but, you know, breonna taylor was murdered and somebody is responsible. the only question i have now is what's next. the only officer who was charged, brett hankison, was for endangering the lives of your neighbours, but not the death of breonna taylor. how does that make you feel? i think it makes me feel, you know, how it makes everybody else feel. it is crazy that they thought that, you know, walls or, you know, objects with no life were worth more than breonna taylor. yeah. kenneth walker beth. the us secretary of state, antony blinken, has condemned the arrests of 200 opposition politicians and activists in russia. he called for an end to the persecution of independent voices. russian police made the arrests at a hotel, where delegates were meeting to prepare for local elections. sylvia lennan—spence has this report. the weekend forum, a gathering of municipal deputies from all over the country had just begun in a moscow hotel... ..when police burst in. ilya yashin was just one of nearly 200 detained by police. they're accused of taking part in an event organised by open russia, based in the uk and banned in russia under a law against undesirable organisations and foreign interference. open russia was set up by prominent kremlin critic mikhail khodorkovsky, who owned the oil giant yukos, before he was convicted in two controversial cases and spent a decade behind bars. he now lives abroad. police say the event also broke covid prevention rules — not all participants wore facemasks. those detained are likely to face a fine or a spell in police detention. organisers say the forum was actually convened by a different group, the united democrats project. among those arrested are some of russia's most prominent opposition voices, who'd come together to talk about contesting local elections. the incident comes as authorities continue to crack down on opposition activity as elections loom. last month, alexei navalny, president vladimir putin's most prominent critic, was jailed for two—and—a—half years. his arrest sparked mass protests and a tough response from police. we call on russia for the immediate and unconditional release of mr navalny... on friday, dozens of countries called on russia to release navalny, saying actions by russia against the opposition leader were unacceptable and politically motivated. activists say laws on undesirable organisations and foreign agents are being used to suppress dissent. but russia says the laws are needed to protect its national security from outside meddling. aruna iyengar, bbc news. ——sylvia lennan—spence, bbc news. 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 two were killed in separate protests, as rallies were held across the country. it comes as the leader of a group of national legislators who've refused to accept the military coup has called for a revolution by the people. 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 out to 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 are likely to discuss north korea's nuclear weapons. pyongyang's state media has yet to even acknowledge that joe biden is now president. music's biggest night of the year — 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. our 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 for the london duo who wrote it. wow! we've got a grammy nomination. so, getting a grammy nom on a song that we wrote over zoom in lockdown and in 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, we see 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. sophie long, bbc news, los angeles. just to recap that news and nazanin zaghari—ratcliffe paving once again in court on new charges in iran we have had a statement and in the last few minutes from the foreign secretary dominic raab in the uk. foreign secretary dominic raab has said, "it is unacceptable and unjustifiable that iran has chosen to continue with this second, wholly arbitrary, case against nazanin zaghari—ratcliffe. "the iranian government has deliberately put her through a cruel and inhumane ordeal. "nazanin must be allowed to return to herfamily in the uk without further delay. "we continue to do all we can to support her." now it's time for a look at the weather with helen. 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. so yes, it may well start bright and sunny with a little bit of mist 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. not a great deal of rain on these weather systems as you can see throughout the rest of the working week into the weekend but still looking like quite a bit of cloud. there's ever more online. hello this is bbc news with ben brown. 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. authorities in the republic of ireland have recommended temporarily suspending use of the astrazeneca vaccine, after a report of four news cases of blood clotting in adults who'd received the jab. 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. now on bbc news... dateline london with shaun ley.