the government is to try to make developers pay billions to help fix the cladding crisis. and the hopeful new cancer treatment that reprogrammes immune systems to fight disease. and coming up in sport on the bbc news channel, the first of the fa cup third—round ties, as manchester city look to avoid a slip—up at league two swindon town. good evening. the independent panel that advises the government on vaccines says it believes a fourth dose won't be needed for the moment to protect against severe covid disease. the uk health security agency believes the evidence suggests third jabs or boosters do continue to provide high protection. the news comes after a sharp rise in staff absences at nhs hospitals in england because of health workers contracting covid. the government says the nhs faces a rocky next few weeks. here's our health editor, hugh pym. as the booster roll—out continued here in redcar, there was more positive news about its impact. a new study shows that, after three months, boosters still gave high levels of protection for older adults against severe disease caused by omicron, so officials say there is no immediate need forfourth jabs. in terms of protection against severe disease, being hospitalised, the programme has done very, very well. people aged 65 years and above have over 90% protection against being hospitalised. what do you think of the new rule to require vaccination? on a hospital visit, though, the health secretary was challenged by a doctor over mandatoryjabs for nhs staff. i would be dismissed if i don't have a vaccine. the science isn't strong enough. mrjavid said that, thanks to boosters and new drugs, the health system was in a stronger position than last year but this was a very difficult time for the nhs. we are still seeing rising hospitalisations, particularly with the case rate rising in older age groups, that is of concern, and i think we have to be honest, and when we look at the nhs, it will be a rocky few weeks ahead. there were reinforcements for the nhs, with 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 west 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 and helping in our emergency department. luckily, this is something that's quite a well rehearsed in this trust, but we've also used some clerical and admin staff to come and support the staff on the wards. and all this as covid adds to the usualjanuary 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 call—out. 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. admittedly, i can't see to do what i used to do, but i'd be in my own environment, life would be much more pleasant. but they are overstretched, they are overworked. you all right, derek? the nhs wants more patients like derek treated away from hospitals. he had problems after an operation, but newcastle hospitals' community team organised his care at home. i can't begin to say how grateful i am for all that's been done. well, it's transformed everything. there is a lot for the nhs to handle. covid admissions are falling in london but rising elsewhere. there's still uncertainty about what's ahead, though staff are 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. 18,451; 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. that 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 “19,7114. 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 people received a booster every day in the last week, which means 61% have now had three vaccine doses. hugh is here. better news on boosters, but the virus is still spreading rapidly. scott macleod. i think it will be reassuring to older adults that there is still the same protection of the three months against a serious illness that there was when they had the jabs, but it isn't the same with protection against infection. the daily reported cases, the seven—day underlying average, actually flattening off a bit across the uk, which is possibly better news than we have had in the last week also. when it comes to hospital admissions, they are falling in london, the rising in other parts of england, going up in scotland and wales and down in northern ireland. so it is a bit of a mixed picture, a little bit uncertain. one of the modellers who advises the government's expert advisory committee told me today that he was hoping that the peak in hospital admissions would be below what it was in january last year, admissions would be below what it was injanuary last year, despite the pessimistic predictions before christmas that it could be higher. but he added there is still dated that we need to get into be sure of that, and that relates to the amount of people mixing over new year, and then children coming back to schools in the last week, people coming back into work places and so on, whether thatis into work places and so on, whether that is going to stimulate another rise in infections which could change the picture again. the actor sidney poitier, whose pioneering films in the 19505 and �*60s shone a light on racism and social predjudice, has died. he was 94. he was the first black man to win an oscar for best actor, and his ground—breaking work paved the way for generations of other black artists. our correspondent lizo mzimba looks back on the life of a hollywood icon. # 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 oscar for 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. it was, in a way, i was saying to an audience, "this is who i am, look at me." more controversial was his role as a highly gifted, hugely successful doctor engaged to a white woman in guess who's coming to dinner. i love your daughter. there is nothing i wouldn't do to try to 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. 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? i'm getting bad! in his later years, he was awarded the presidential medal of freedom by barack obama, who today said sidney poitier epitomised dignity and grace. oprah winfrey paid tribute, saying, "my honour to have loved him... ..mentor, friend, brother." while denzel washington said, "he was a gentleman and opened doors for all of us that had been closed for years." those words two decades after he celebrated him at the academy awards. 40 years i've been chasing sidney. they finally give it to me, what do they do? they give it to him the same night. i'll always be following in your footsteps. there's nothing i would rather do. that same night, poitier also received 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. let's talk to our los angeles correspondent sophie long, who's in hollywood. sophie, sidney poitier�*s influence on the movie industry immense, but his legacy transcends hollywood. yeah, clive, it is hard to overstate the strength and depth of prejudice that sidney poitier overcame to go from being a tomato farmer's son who moved to new york city with $3 in his pocket to be the highest—paid actor in the world while the civil rights movement was still making headway in the united states. he changed perceptions of race, first black male star to engage the american national consciousness at a time when the prevailing image of a movie star was very much of someone white. and he was acutely aware of the power and responsibility that came with his fame and fortune. he once said he felt like he was representing 18 million people with every move he made. there has, of course, been a huge outpouring of tributes to the man who is one film critic put it did notjust to make it in hollywood but are remade hollywood, and he did it with the grace, warmth and beauty of a true hollywood legend.— grace, warmth and beauty of a true hollywood legend. sophie, thank you, sohie lona hollywood legend. sophie, thank you, 5°phie long live _ hollywood legend. sophie, thank you, sophie long live in _ hollywood legend. sophie, thank you, sophie long live in los _ hollywood legend. sophie, thank you, sophie long live in los angeles. - the president of kazakhstan has ordered his security forces to use lethal force on protestors after days of unrest following a sudden rise in fuel prices. russian troops have arrived to support his government. the us secretary of state has warned that it may be difficult to get them to leave. our correspondent abdujalil abdurasulov is in kazakhstan�*s largest city, almaty, with the 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, the warning not to approach is very clear. gunshot. today the president was clear too — any more unrest will be met with lethal force. translation: terrorists continue i to damage state and private property and use weapons against civilians. i have given the order to shoot to kill without warning. president tokayev portrays the protesters as terrorists who are sowing chaos. they say that their movement is peaceful and blame the authorities for provoking the violence. the unrest was triggered by a sharp rise in fuel prices, but this country's corrupt authoritarian regime is unpopular. some of the biggest clashes took place here at the former presidential residence and the mayor's office. the buildings were burned out, and you can see here all these cars were also set on fire. you can hear again the shots, but maybe it's the military and police officers are 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. this 22—year—old man said that while he supports the demands of protesters, he wants looters to be stopped. "it's really scary, and we feel we have no protection," this woman says. this is one of the electronic shops that was looted in almaty, and i think the looters tried to burn this place as well, because it still smells of smoke. this mass unrest is a huge blow for almaty, which is the financial of kazakhstan. —— the financial capital of kazakhstan. 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. abdujalil abdurasulov, bbc news, almaty. our correspondent steve rosenberg is in moscow. are you able to divine russia's motives in all this?— are you able to divine russia's motives in all this? well, keep in mind that what _ motives in all this? well, keep in mind that what has _ motives in all this? well, keep in mind that what has been - motives in all this? well, keep in . mind that what has been happening, much of what has been happening in kazakhstan in recent days, is enough to give vladimir putin nightmares and the images of people rising up against an autocratic government, demanding change, crowds seizing government buildings, these are the kind of thing the kremlin fears could happen in russia and doesn't really want to see happening across the border in kazakhstan, hence russia agreeing to deploy troops to come as it says, try to stabilise the situation. but i think this is about more thanjust the situation. but i think this is about more than just stabilising things. i think the kremlin sees a real opportunity here amid the chaos to try to increase its influence, not only in kazakhstan in the wider region. the deployment of troops is being presented as a peacekeeping mission of ex soviet states but most of the soldiers are russian and this sends a strong message to leaders in kazakhstan and beyond, that russia is the key regional power here, that what happens in russia's back yard is russia's business and russia will sort it out. and on that troop deployment we heard a warning to kazakhstan from the us secretary of state antony blinken, who said that history shows that once the russians are in your house sometimes it's them to leave.— are in your house sometimes it's them to leave. steve, thank you for that, steve — them to leave. steve, thank you for that, steve rosenberg _ them to leave. steve, thank you for that, steve rosenberg live - them to leave. steve, thank you for that, steve rosenberg live in - that, steve rosenberg live in moscow. let's take a look at some of the day's other top stories. in georgia in america, three men convicted of murdering a black man while he was outjogging in a predominantly white neighbourhood have been sentenced to life in prison. thejudge said he kept thinking of the fear ahmaud arbery must have felt, in the moments before he was shot, in february, 2020. a claim by the former government advisor dominic cummings of a new gathering in breach of covid restrictions in downing street will be looked at by the investigation into parties at number ten. mr cummings says he warned against the invite to "socially distanced drinks" on may 20th, 2020, but it went ahead. he denies a photo of him in the garden at number ten five days earlier amounted to a party. 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 after the statue of the 17th century slave trader was pulled down in 2020 during a black lives matter protest in bristol. 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. 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, in containers. 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 a 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 government says it expects developers to spend up to an additional £4 billion to fix the cladding crisis. at least 500,000 flat owners are unable to sell their properties because of safety issues discovered in the wake of the grenfell tower fire. the housing and communities secretary michael gove will set out the proposals next week, but newsnight�*s lewis goodall has seen the details. he is here with me. what do we know? we see in a letter secretary to the treasury simon clark to michael gove, the levelling up secretary, which lays out in detail what mr gove is going to announce next week. the big headline is around £4 billion of money will be made available to leaseholders in buildings between 11 metres and 18.5 metres to pay for dangerous cladding removal costs. that's being used because up until now the government's policy has been that only payments will be made for buildings over 18.5 metres. critics have long said that's an arbitrary figure and should be changed, so an important step forward for many leaseholders involved. but the critics will say there are a few caveats. first of all this new money will not cover non—cladding problems, of which there are legion. many have been discovered since grenfell. secondly, it's not clear what the process will be for the government to raise that money. the treasury is making clear in this letter that it will not come from the taxpayer, it must come from developers. developers historically have been very reluctant to pay for defects which they say are not their responsibility. thirdly, and most important, really important in parliament next week, the chief secretary to the treasury makes clear that if there is a shortfall that money must come from as i say, not the taxpayer, but existing departmental budgets from in the department for housing, which will hardly be ideal if we are in any situation when we have a housing shortage overall budgets are being used to pay for these problems. lewis goodall, thank you. and there'll be more details and reaction with lewis on newsnight, over on bbc two at 10.30. the labour mpjack dromey has died suddenly. he was 73. he was the shadow minister for immigration and mp for birmingham erdington from 2010, and was married to labour's harriet harman. paying tribute, sir keir starmer said he stood up for his constituents, and the former prime ministers tony blair and gordon brown also commended his work supporting others, over four decades of public service. mr dromey had spoken in parliamentjust yesterday about the resettlement of afghan refugees. this is why the afghan citizens resettlement scheme and today's debate is so important. it is about standing by those who desperately need our support at a time when, dare i say it, ourfailure has helped to put them into an intolerable position. the labour mpjack dromey, who's died at the age of 73. a team of british cancer specialists says a new form of personalised treatment is producing promising results in adults with leukaemia. the procedure, called car—t therapy, involves reprogramming a patient�*s immune system to attack cancer cells. the research at university college london and university college london hospital may offer hope for patients for whom other treatments have failed. our medical editor fergus walsh has 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? fingers crossed, yeah. car—t stands for chimeric antigen receptor t—cell therapy. part of the patient�*s own immune system, their 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. i it's just an absolute delight to be. able to offer new therapies to these 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 become 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 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 very latest progress there in cancer research. that's it. now on bbc one, time for the news where you are. have a very good night. well, friday evening was clear and quite cold with an early frost but now a weather front is sweeping across the uk and temperatures will actually be rising through the rest of the night and into the early hours of saturday morning. so, by the end of the night, it's raining heavily across western areas, mild, temporary snow across the highlands and then that frost lifting across eastern parts of the country. i think many of us on saturday morning are in for some wet and very windy weather at times. some of that rain could be torrentialfor a time. come the afternoon, it does look as if it will brighten a little bit, but it will be blustery with frequent showers, particularly out across western areas. but the rain may not clear east anglia and the southeast until after dark. here's the good news — after wet and windy early saturday, sunday is looking a lot better, much drier and brighter with lighter winds. bye— bye. this is bbc news, the headlines. one of the best known black hollywood actors of the past century, sidney poitier, has died. he was ninety four. mr poitier was the first black man to be awarded best actor at the academy awards in 1964. the security forces in kazakhstan are patrolling the streets of the biggest city, almaty, after nightfall, having apparently reasserted control following violent scenes there on wednesday and thursday. the authorities are conducting what they're calling �*anti— terrorist�* operations. three white men convicted of the murder of a black man in the us state of georgia have been sentenced to life in prison. ahmaud arbery was outjogging in 2020 when the men chased him in pick—up trucks and shot him dead.