good evening and welcome to the bbc news at six. the actor, sir sidney poitier, whose ground—breaking films in the �*50s and �*60s, shone a light on racism and social prejudice, has died. he was 94. he was the first black man to win an oscar, and his ground—breaking work paved the way for generations of black artists. his film is reflected in america are struggling with issues of racism and prejudice at the height of the civil rights movement. his impact ultimately transcended the silver screen. lizo mzimba looks back at his life. # in the heat of the night...# sidney poitier�*s virgil tibbs, a man of authority... i'm a police officer. ..intelligence and a steely determination never to back down. the kind of qualities that defined poitier on screen and off. he made his cinema debut playing a doctor, a man of status, something almost unheard of for black performers then. and with roles like an escaped convict in the defiant ones and a struggling husband in a raisin in the sun, he tackled prejudice head on. maybe i'll get down on my black knees. all right, mr charlie. all right, mr great white father. you just give us that money and we won't come out there and dirty up your white folks' neighbourhood. the era of course meant he had a burden his white counterparts rarely had to carry. the weight of being a symbol. but he bore it with dignity. in lilies of the field, playing a travelling handyman, helping build a group of nuns a new chapel. the winner is sidney poitier. he won the academy award, the first black performer ever to receive the oscarfor a leading role. in the years that followed he became hollywood's biggest star, redefining how audiences saw black characters, with films like to sir, with love. you will call me sir or mr thackeray. the young ladies will be addressed as miss, the boys by their surnames. some of what i am was reflected in those movies. and on top of that i brought to it some of my values. so it was in a way, i was saying to the audience, this is who i am. look at me. more controversial was his role as a highly gifted usually as a highly gifted hugely successful doctor engaged to a white woman in guess who's coming to dinner. i love your daughter. there's nothing i wouldn't do to try and keep her as happy as she was the _ day i met her. some criticised it, saying the impression it gave was of an interracial relationship that was only acceptable because his character was so perfect and accomplished. it was still a huge box office hit. he also directed �*80s comedy stir crazy, the first movie from an african—american film—maker to pass the blockbuster $100 million mark in the united states. what are you doing? ladies and gentlemen, sidney poitier. and when he was well into his 80s, an honorary oscar. hollywood recognition for a star who blazed a trail for so many... they call me mr tibbs. ..and who entertained millions more. sidney poitier, one of the greats. sidney poitier, who's died at the age of 94. in the last few minutes there have been numerous tributes. the oscar—winning actress violet davies has said... oprah winfrey wrote... our correspondent sophie long is in los angeles. it is an important point to make his work was trailblazing on the screen but his impact on american culture transcended cinema.— transcended cinema. that's right, clive. not only _ transcended cinema. that's right, clive. not only was _ transcended cinema. that's right, clive. not only was he _ transcended cinema. that's right, clive. not only was he a - clive. not only was he a trailblazing actor with a landmark career full of acting, directing and producing roles but he was well aware of the power and responsibility that came with his fame and fortune. he reportedly once said he felt as if he were representing 18 million people with every move he made. he may not have chosen to represent all black men but as a sole black leading man in hollywood of his time, that ultimately became one of his most important roles. he played a huge voice for the civil rights movement and played a role in organising a march on washington in 1964 when doctor martin luther king made his i have a dream speech. before his assassination the icon set of sidney poitier he is a great man of great depth on the social concern and a man who is dedicated to human rights and freedom and that really reflected the tributes that are pouring in for him in hollywood this morning. he was, clive, a true hollywood legend.— morning. he was, clive, a true hollywood legend. sophie long live in hollywood. _ hollywood legend. sophie long live in hollywood, thank _ hollywood legend. sophie long live in hollywood, thank you. _ there's been a sharp rise in staff absences at nhs hospitals in england caused by health workers contracting covid. they were up by 41% in the week after christmas — compared to the previous week. that's more than 35,000 staff off with covid—related sickness each day on average. it means around 4% of staff at acute nhs trusts in england were off due to covid each day during the week ending 2nd january. the health secretary, sajid javid warned that the nhs is facing a "rocky few weeks ahead". our health editor hugh pym reports. reinforcements for the nhs front line. military personnel arriving at aberdeen royal infirmary. the armed forces are also supporting hospitals in other parts of the uk including london and the north of england. one reason is staff sickness caused by the rapid spread of the new variant. here at kingston hospital they're having to juggle the staff they have on each shift. in the last few weeks we've had staff leaving places like theatres and going to help in the emergency departments. luckily, this is something that's quite well rehearsed in this trust. we've also used some clerical and admin staff to support the staff on the wards. and all this as covid adds to the usual january pressures. this is the reality in many a&e units. ambulance teams waiting to hand over patients and that can cause delays getting back on the road. and moving on to the next callout. pressures in social care mean patients likejean, who are fit to leave, have to continue occupying hospital beds. it's terribly frustrating. i mean, i could be at home now. admitted i can't seem to do what i used to do but i'd be in my own environment. life would be much more pleasant. but they are overstressed here and overworked. all right, derek? yeah, fine. the nhs wants more patients like derek treated away from hospitals. he had problems after an operation but newcastle hospital's community team organised his care at home. i can't begin to say how grateful i am. | all that's been done. it's transformed everything. covid hospital admissions are rising in all the uk's nations but there are variations in england. in london, daily numbers are falling but in the north—west and north—east they're rising sharply. we're still seeing rising hospitalisations, particularly with the case rate rising in the older age groups. that is of concern. and i think we have to be honest, when we look at the nhs, it will be a rocky few weeks ahead. so, how do the expert disease modellers see things now? my hope is that we reach a peak in the next couple of weeks, and we are below where we were last january but there is that uncertainty regarding children returning to school and people returning to the workplace after the christmas and new year break and what impact that will have ultimately on cases and hospital admissions. so there is still uncertainty about what's ahead, though the nhs is sure that the strain on the front line won't ease off any time soon. hugh pym, bbc news. the government's latest coronavirus figures for the uk show there were 178,250 new infections recorded, in the latest 24—hour period. on average, 180,076 cases were reported per day in the last week. 18,454 people were in hospital with covid as of yesterday. there were 229 deaths, that's of people who died within 28 days of a positive test, which means the average number of deaths over the past seven days was 160. the total number of people who've died with covid now stands at 149,744. on vaccinations, 90.2% of people aged 12 and over have now received a first dose. and 82.8% have been double jabbed. on average, 163,058 received a booster or third vaccine dose each day in the last week, which means more than 35 million people have received their booster or third vaccine dose. the welsh government says those calling for covid restrictions to be eased, are factually wrong, and are warning "the storm of omicron" has arrived with astronomically high infection rates. defending the decision to keep covid rules in place, the first minister, mark drakeford, said england's anti—restrictions stance made it a "global outlier", as governments around the world took action to fight the latest wave of cases. our wales correspondent, hywel griffith, is in cardiff for us. strong words from mark drakeford today, hywel? yes, and it is worth remembering, clive, he is notjust first minister of wales but leader of the welsh labour party so never afraid of criticising borisjohnson�*s decisions when they differ from his own. he claimed the uk government had failed to protect people in england and was politically paralysed in decisions over restrictions, making it different of course to scotland, northern ireland and wales. when the restrictions were introduced here on boxing day that meant closing night clubs, limiting numbers on people in pubs, bars and restaurants, playing major sporting fixtures behind closed doors. but since then the covid case rate in wales has risen sharply and by some measures is now above england and scotland. one thing is for certain, those measures are likely to stay for another fortnight with mr drakeford warning that the peakis with mr drakeford warning that the peak is not expected for some 14 days and if they are extended even further there is concern that wales's home rugby internationals in february could potentially be moved over the border to england. harwell over the border to england. hywel griffith, thank — over the border to england. hywel griffith, thank you, _ over the border to england. hywel griffith, thank you, in _ over the border to england. hywel griffith, thank you, in cardiff. - novak djokovic has thanked people "around the world," for their support as he awaits a decision on his deportation from australia. the men's world number one tennis player remains in immigration detention in melbourne, ahead of the australian open, after being denied entry on wednesday. government officials say he isn't being held captive, and is free to leave any time. meanwhile, it's emerged a second player, renata voracova, from the czech republic, has also had her australian visa cancelled, and is currently being held in the same hotel. shaimaa khalil reports from melbourne. this is the immigration detention hotel where novak djokovic is being kept. adnan chopani has been here forfive months now, after being moved from another facility. i live in level two and djokovic lives in level one. that is the food we have been served every day by the canteen. we found a maggot and mould on the bread and we've been reporting it but unfortunately, there has been no action taken. outside the hotel, there was dancing and music, but also anger and frustration among novak djokovic's supporters. it's unclear if the tennis star will remain here until monday, when his legal team will challenge the cancellation of his visa. novak djokovic is waiting for a court decision on whether he'll be able to stay and compete in the australian open, or be deported. whatever happens, this has gone way beyond tennis. the world number one is now at the centre of a political and diplomatic storm. djokovic arrived on wednesday with an exemption, granted by tennis australia and the state of victoria. but the border force has revoked his visa, saying he did not meet the rules of entry. his mother dijana said on thursday that he was being kept like a prisoner. australia's home affairs minister, karen andrews, hit back, saying there was nothing stopping him from leaving. mr djokovic is not being held captive in australia. he is free to leave at any time that he chooses to do so and border force will actually facilitate that. the tennis star posted on instagram, thanking his fans around the world. another player has now had her visa cancelled. renata voracova from the czech republic is understood to be detained in the same hotel as djokovic. the australian open is one of the biggest sporting events here but it's turning into a big international embarrassment for the government. shaimaa khalil, bbc news, melbourne. the time is 6:15pm. our top story this evening — the actor, sir sidney poitier, whose pioneering films in the 50s and 60s, shone a light on racism and social prejudice, has died. he was 94. coming up, the letter that reached its destination against all the odds. coming up in sportsday on the bbc news channel — we head to cameroon to look ahead to the first major football tournament of the year, with the africa cup of nations kicking off on sunday with the hosts taking on burkina faso. a team of british cancer specialists says a new form of personalised treatment is producing promising results in adults with leukaemia. it involves reprogramming a patient�*s immune system to attack cancer cells. the teams at university college london and university college hospital say it may offer hope for patients, for whom other treatments have failed. our medical editor, fergus walsh, the story. coming out of the deep freeze — a new frontier in cancer treatment. phil has been living with leukaemia for more than 20 years. feeling ok? i'm fine, yeah. inside this bag are his own immune cells which have been genetically engineered to fight his cancer, and now drop by drop are being infused back into his body at university college hospital, london. all other cancer treatments have failed to stop his leukaemia returning. car—t is his best hope. it's a living drug inside me now. it's a medicine which lives in me and itjust replicates inside the bone marrow. every time it sees a sort of cancer cell, zap. fingers crossed? angus crossed, yeah. car—t stands for chimeric antigen receptor t—cell therapy. part of the patient�*s own immune system, there t—cells, are removed from their blood. in a laboratory, these cells are modified. a gene is added to enable them to recognise their own cancer. this army of t—cells is multiplied and then infused back into the patient. a new protein on the surface of the t—cells locks on to the cancer, earmarking it for destruction. car—t therapy is part of a revolution in cancer treatment which harnesses the power of the patient�*s own immune system to tackle their disease. there is a long way to go, but increased understanding of the genetics of cancer is delivering more and more targeted therapies with better outcomes. car—t is already available on the nhs for leukaemia patients up to the age of 25, but not for older adults because it's proved too toxic. scientists at university college london have refined car—t to reduce side effects, and after more trials hope it will be licensed for older patients. absolutely transformative. probably the biggest breakthrough in the last 20 years in _ malignant blood cancers. it'sjust an absolutel delight to be able to offer new therapies to these i patients who otherwise have no treatment options available to them. claire from hampshire had car—t therapy two years ago after standard leukaemia treatment failed. as long as everything goes ok, the biopsies come less frequent. she's still in remission. i don't think i'd be here if i hadn't had car—t. i was very, very lucky that the trial was there at the time. so if the car—t option hadn't been available i would have had a probably a finite amount of time left. in years to come, car—t may be able to treat tumours in the brain, prostate and liver, giving more cancer patients like claire and phil a brighterfuture. fergus walsh, bbc news. the attorney general says she's carefully considering whether to refer the edward colston statue case to the court of appeal as she believes the verdict is "causing confusion". four people were cleared of criminal damage at bristol crown court on wednesday. the statue of the 17th century slave trader was pulled down in 2020 and thrown into the river avon during black lives matter protests. the president of kazakhstan has ordered his security forces to use lethal force on protestors, without warning. days of unrest and mass demonstrations began this week, after a sudden rise in fuel prices. the authorities say dozens of people have been killed and hundreds injured. russian troops have arrived to support the government, and the security forces say order has largely been restored. from kazakhstan�*s largest city, almaty, our correspondent abdujalil abdurasulov, has the very latest. the army of kazakhstan is standing guard, here on the streets of almaty. after days of violence and many protesters killed, the state security forces seem to be back in control and when we came close to them, a warning not to approach is very clear. gunshot. today the president was clear that any unrest would be met with lethal force. translation:— would be met with lethal force. translation: ., , , ., translation: terrorists continue to dama . e translation: terrorists continue to damage state — translation: terrorists continue to damage state and _ translation: terrorists continue to damage state and private _ translation: terrorists continue to damage state and private property i damage state and private property and use weapons against civilians. i have given the order to shoot to kill, without warning.— kill, without warning. president toka ev kill, without warning. president tokayev portrays _ kill, without warning. president tokayev portrays the _ kill, without warning. presidentj tokayev portrays the protesters kill, without warning. president i tokayev portrays the protesters as terrorists. they say that their movement is peaceful and that authorities are triggering violence. the unrest was triggered by a sharp rise in fuel prices but the authoritarian regime is unpopular. these were the scenes on the streets yesterday. it's not clear how many people died. authorities say that dozens of protesters were killed. there's been violent clashes at night time too, here in the heart of almaty. some of the biggest clashes took place here at the former presidential residence. the buildings were burned down and you can see here all these cars were also set on fire. we can hear again the shooting, military and police officers firing into the air to warn people not to approach the square because they closed the square in order to prevent people from gathering. many people fear that the violence will drag on. along with protests, many shops were looted. translation: this 22—year—old man said that while he supports the demands of protesters, he wants looters to be stopped. it’s protesters, he wants looters to be sto ed. fl ., protesters, he wants looters to be stoned. h ., . ., protesters, he wants looters to be stoned. h ., , stopped. it's not clear yet if the violence is _ stopped. it's not clear yet if the violence is over _ stopped. it's not clear yet if the violence is over or _ stopped. it's not clear yet if the violence is over or how - stopped. it's not clear yet if the violence is over or how much i stopped. it's not clear yet if the - violence is over or how much damage has been done to the authority of kazakhstan�*s hardline leader. the labour mpjack dromey has died suddenly, aged 73. the shadow minister for immigration, who became mp for birmingham erdington since 2010. mr dromey had been married to senior labour mp harriet harman since 1982. labour leader sir keir starmer paid tribute to mr dromey, saying he was recognised for his determination to stand up for his constituents and was highly respected across parliament. mr dromey had spoken in parliament yesterday, about the settlement of afghan refugees. this is why the afghan citizens resettlement scheme and today's debate is so important. it's about standing by those who need our support at a time when, dare i say it, ourfailure has helped to put them in an intolerable position. this is also about basic decency. labour mp, jack dromey, who has died, aged 73. there are widespread calls for reform of the justice system to improve the rights of families bereaved through public tragedies, like the hillsborough disaster and the grenfell tower fire. campaigners want what's being called a �*hillsborough law,�* to allow publicly funded legal representation for bereaved families, and public servants like the police to be compelled to tell the truth at all inquiries. our north of england correspondent, judith moritz has more. # you'll never walk alone...# the hillsborough families and survivors spent 30 years fighting forjustice. now, their court days are behind them but there are renewed calls for legal change. we need to find those witnesses and prove that kevin could have been saved. this week, a drama about hillsborough mum ann williams has given that momentum. today, two former prime ministers during the campaign for a hillsborough law. i've been struck in the case of hillsborough but in other cases too, the way in which the state of its various forms tries to defend itself from blame. the very bodies that we expect to protect and support the public seek instead to protect themselves. we need that hillsborough law now. i a new legal duty of candor and that . means no cover—ups, no concealments, no closing of ranks. proper legal representation for families in the event - of a public disaster. one of the proposals is for victims to receive the same level of legal funding as the authorities they are up against, something the hillsborough families were denied for years. we're not rich people. we haven't got big fat pensions like the police get. they've got the money. they got all the help. people like us had to go to the ordinary people and go around campaigning and trying to collect money to fight a cause that was not our fault, through no fault of our own. victims of attacks and disasters including grenfell say they support the idea of a law which would force public officials to give full and truthful evidence to all forms of inquiry investigation. this memorial to the victims of the manchester arena attack opened earlier this week. and after the bombing, there was an independent review which was followed by the ongoing public inquiry. but there has been criticism that some witnesses have given different versions of evidence to the two sets of legal proceedings. campaigners for hillsborough law say it would stop that kind of thing happening. it is no longer acceptable for ranks to be closed, for victims to be blamed, for huge efforts to be made to create a false narrative. we just will not accept that any more and that is what the hillsborough law is all about changing. the government says it will respond to recommendations, including a hillsborough law, in due course. it's the bbc�*s understanding that an announcement is expected later this year. judith morris, bbc news. a letter, posted to a man in county antrim, with no surname or address on the envelope, just his first name and a 57—word biography, has amazingly managed to find its way to him. our ireland correspondent, emma vardy has the full details. "feargal, lives across the road from the spa. "his ma and da used to own it." no house number, no street name, a few things much more personal than that. the first thing i noticed was the amount of detail on the envelope and basically, my biography. "moved to waterford after he got married." despite nothing more than a short story and half a postcode, yesterday this letter found its way straight to feargal lynn. i laughed so much. right through it all, to playing guitar, through to, "friends with the fellow who owns the butchers in waterford." feargal had taken to writing letters to people over lockdown as a way to brighten the gloom. but never expected such a strange reply. the letter was from an old friend in belfast, who perhaps could have found out his address but thought this way was a bit more fun. we were talking about the pandemic, we were talking about mental health and the need to brighten the mood a bit. did she actually expect it to reach you? i think she just took a punt. "plays guitar and used to run disco in the "poker hall. " it happened to be that feargal�*s local postman was also a childhood friend. we've had some strange addresses over the years but this is the most bizarre. the first line, "feargal who lived across from the spa." the number of times we played in his front garden as wee boys, i knew right away who it was. this could give other people ideas, if they don't know an address. that would be a nightmare! and inside the letter, just a cheery hello and a recipe for coleslaw that feargal had been asking about, but it meant much more than that. so much letters these days, it's meaningless, it's financial, it's this demand and it's so nice to receive something so personal. "friends of the fellow who runs the butchers "in waterford to bt44, northern ireland." so, could letters make a comeback over e—mail in future, as something a lot more enjoyable? well, we'll keep you posted! emma vardy, bbc news. time for a look at the weather. here's tomasz schafernaker. hello, clive. still quite wintry for some of us. most of us have not seen any snow in the last few days but the further north you are, some pretty pictures of snowy scenes out there. this is the headline for the next 24 hours, frost tonight and by early morning tomorrow it is going to turn milder. notice where the blue is, this evening and early overnight. the frost is going to live once this weather system comes in from the atlantic, the milder, wetter weather coming tomorrow but heard of it, temperatures dropping temporarily like eight stone. some iciness over northern parts of the uk, maybe the south. temperatures early in the night still below