to win the academy award for best actor, has died, at the age of 94. we take a look back at his life's work. hello and welcome to our viewers on pbs in america and around the globe. in the us, three white men who were convicted of chasing and then murdering ahmaud arbery, a black man, in the state of georgia, have been sentenced to life in prison. travis mcmichael, his father gregory, and their neighbour, roddy bryan, were convicted of felony murder. they had chased mr arbery while he was jogging, before he was shot to death. their defence had claimed they feared he was planning to commit a crime. the mcmichaels will spend life in prison without the possibility of parole, but roddy bryan will serve life, but does have the possibility of parole. here's georgia superior court judge timothy walmsley outlining some of the evidence from the trial. there's a frame where i believe ahmaud arbery, it looks to be if he's 20 yards out — that may be close — 30 yards out — it's the frame of travis mcmichael lifting the shotgun to fire at ahmaud arbery. and you watch that with context — and when i say �*context�*, after hearing the evidence in this case and thinking about a young man that had been running at that point for almost five minutes — and it is a chilling, truly disturbing scene. ahmaud's mother gave her reaction to the sentencing outside the court. first, i want to say thank you to god, who made this all possible. yes. my prayer was to get justice for ahmaud. he fought for us in the courts, he gave us a fairjudge, judge walmsley, he heard the testimonies from each — from each witness, he gave us a very good verdict, and he gave us a very good sentence. our north america correspondent, david willis, told us about reaction to the trial in the us. simon, it's amazing, isn't it, that this death actually went largely unreported for two months after it occurred. it wasn't until that very harrowing video went viral that local prosecutors actually started to take some action, and ten weeks after the death of ahmaud arbery before these three men were arrested. well, today, thejudge described it as a very harrowing and chilling incident and he held a minute's silence in recognition of the terror that he said ahmaud arbery must�*ve endured as he was being chased for five minutes by these three men in pick—up trucks. he sentenced gregory and travis mcmichael, father and son respectively, to life without the possibility of parole. the other man, william �*roddy�* bryan — that's the man who took the infamous video footage — he was sentenced to life with the possibility of parole, but he will be 82 years old before he gets to enjoy that right, if he lives that long. yeah, it's a really tragic case, david. is there a sense that change is slowly, but is taking place in america, because obviously, we've been seeing quite a few of these cases recently — high—profile racial cases like that of george floyd, and now, of course, this one — is there a sort of sense that maybe the policing system, the judicial system is changing for the better? it's an interesting question. now, ahmaud arbery�*s case is different to that of george floyd — ahmaud arbery was not killed by police officers, he was killed by people who were — who believed they had the right to act as police officers, if you like, as so—called vigilantes and, indeed, his family described the death as a modern—day lynching. they have since, i might add, expressed their delight at the sentences that have been handed out. but ahmaud arbery�*s death was all part of a sort of national reckoning, as far as racial injustice is concerned in this country, that really came to a head, of course, a few months later, following the death of george floyd at the hands of a minneapolis police officer. david willis speaking with me earlier. 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 abdu—jalil abdu—rasulov 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's 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 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 burnt 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 says that while he supports the demands of the 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 electronics 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 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. well, the us secretary of state, anthony blinken, has been talking about the deploymernt of russian troops to kazakhstan as part of the the post soviet collective security treaty organization. he had this warning for the kazakh regime over it's reliance on moscow. there are very particular drivers of what's happening in kazakhstan right now, as i said, that go to economic and political matters, and what's happening in there is different from what's happening on ukraine's borders. having said that, i think one lesson of recent history is that once russians are in your house, it's sometimes very difficult to get them to leave. antony blinken. one place closely watching events in kazakhstan is belarus. both countries are members of the russian—led collective security treaty organisation or csto which has sent peacekeeping forces to kazakhstan. speaking on state tv, belarussian president alexander lukashenko said his forces were not there to kill. translation: we are not fighting for anyone. - there is only one company of our troops — peacekeepers. we've informed the un that we would like to help kazakhstan to restore peace. we came to kazakhstan not to kill or not to fight. we are peaceful people. our servicemen are peaceful people. we need to stop the fratricidal war and we are doing exactly that. well, earlier i spoke to eugene chausovsky, an analyst with the new lines institute think tank, about the precedent set by this csto deployment. i think from russia's perspective they couldn't afford not to act. having seen these protests get out of hand quite quickly and then paired with what has happened around the region from ukraine to belarus, i think russia made the calculus that it needed to send in its troops, especially once the kazakhstan government officially requested them via the csto. and in the short term at least, has the deployment worked, do you think? it's hard to say exactly right now because a lot of the communications and internet is cut off, but i think over the past 2a hours or so it does seem like the primary objective of that deployment, which is to basically secure the strategic sites of the country, which includes military bases, government buildings and even airports in the biggest city of almaty, that was the primary reason for russia to go in, so that kazakhstan could basically address the protesters head—on, and it seems to be that they have more or less those sites under control. we'll see how that unfold in the coming days but for now it appears to be successful. we have seen some pretty dramatic pictures of the rioting and some fairly scary reports from our correspondence there of, especially overnight, machine—guns being used and gunfire sounding, do you think things will stabilise now or do you think the protests could get even worse? like i said, it is very difficult at this point because we are still early on in this crisis, and things are fast moving. but essentially, the goal of securing those sites like i mentioned has been more or less achieved, and now it is a matter of targeting what the government perceives as the most radical elements. so i think there will continue to be some demonstrations, but i think the peaceful demonstrations and things that don't truly threaten the security of the government, those could go on for quite some time, but for the more radical elements, or at least as moscow and kazakhstan call them, that will be the priority at this point. and we had a warning there from antony blinken — do you think there is reason to worry for 2500 troops, many of them russian, going into the country? well, the troops are already there. i think the concern that blinken had voiced — and some others — are worried about, is that these troops, primarily the russian—led troops, will stay there for the long—term. and here i am not so that will be the case. the mandate for those troops is to secure those sites. i don't think necessarily it is in kazakhstan�*s interest to have this prolonged russian presence, because it is quite unpopular for many people. but as long as the security situation is met, i don't think necessarily it is going to be a long—term deployment for russia, but they could always go back in. stay with us on bbc news, still to come, we remember the trail blazing black actor sidney poitier, who challenged hollywood stereotypes. the japanese people are in mourning following the death of emperor hirohito. thousands converged on the imperial palace to pay their respects when it was announced he was dead. good grief! after half a century of delighting fans around the world, charlie brown and the rest of the gang are calling it quits. the singer paul simon starts his tour of- south africa tomorrow, in spite of protests and violence - from some black activist groups. i they say international artists should continue to boycott south africa _ until majority rule is established. . around the world, people have been paying tribute to the iconic rock star david bowie, who sold 140 million albums in a career that spanned half a century. his family announced overnight that he died of cancer at the age of 69. the world's tallest skyscraper opens later today. the burj dubai has easily overtaken its nearest rivals. this is bbc world news, the latest headlines: a court in the us state of georgia has given life sentences to three white men who murdered the young black man ahmaud arbery while he was outjogging. the us questions kazakhstan�*s decision to invite in russian troops to quell unrest, saying it might be difficult to get them to leave. as coronavirus cases continue to rise across india, new movement restrictions have come into effect for people in the capital, delhi over the weekend. restaurants, markets and most shops will be closed until monday morning. russell trott reports. bharat�*s shop sells everything for the kitchen and more. but with fewer customers and takings down, he has been badly hit by the pandemic. yet, despite india's capital delhi locking down over the weekend, he remains upbeat. translation: the way corona cases are on the rise this - lockdown, the weekend curfew is a must. for the past two years, we have faced losses and we will face the same in the future. i will be happy when the amount of cases are lower and there is no lockdown. as the authorities grapple with a fresh surge in cases, partly fuelled by the fast—spreading omicron variant, most businesses here are still recovering from last year's outbreak that overwhelmed hospitals and crematoriums. but daily case numbers had, since then, stayed reasonably low — until last week. all residents besides essential workers will now be asked to stay home from friday night to monday morning. this is a big concern, big challenge. we have seen that over the last eight days, the figure has gone very high — from 10,000 cases to more than one lakh, injust eight days. so with this period, the number will be much higher in the previous weeks. more than 200,000 people died across india last spring, after a wave of delta variant infections that brought the healthcare systems to its knees. india's a81,000 known covid deaths is the world's third highest toll behind the us and brazil, but under—reporting is widespread and some studies have estimated its actual toll could be up to ten times higher. the omicron variant is expected to hit hard but with fewer cases expected to need hospital treatment, some experts warn another lockdown and its economic impact is just not worth it. russell trott, bbc news. let's get some of the day's other news: nato's secretary—general, jens stoltenberg, says russia is continuing its military build—up near ukraine, posing a real risk of a new armed conflict in europe. mr stoltenberg repeated that nato remains ready to talk to russia, but warned the allies would impose a heavy price for any further russian aggression. india has imposed a lockdown in delhi this weekend, to try to slow the spread of coronavirus. restaurants, markets and most shops will be closed until monday morning, with people only allowed to leave their homes for essential trips. austria's chancellor karl nehammer has tested positive for coronavirus. the a9—year—old, who took over as chancellor a month ago, is in self—isolation, and says he isn't showing any symptoms. he's issued a statement saying "there is no need to worry, i am fine and doing well." the us supreme court has begun hearing arguments about the legality of president biden�*s vaccinate or test mandate for large businesses. opponents say he doesn't have the authority to oppose the rule without going through congress. backers say it will save lives. a judgement is not expected several days. us presidentjoe biden, and first ladyjill biden have been visiting fire—damaged areas in colorado. they toured a residential neighbourhood in lousiville which had been largely destroyed by flames at the end of last year. the fire was driven by heavy winds on thursday 30 december. nearly 1,000 homes were lost and thousands of acres were scorched in a matter of hours. nearly 10,000 people were forced to leave their homes. mr biden said it should serve as a warning. the situation is a blinking code red for our nation. because the combination of extreme drought, the driest period from june to december ever recorded, abba recorded, unusually high winds, no snow on the ground to start, created a tinderbox. a literal tinderbox. and even though it was not your backyard, you could feel the ripple effects of what happened. the former us president, barack obama, has led tributes to the actor sir sidney poitier, who's died at the age of 94. mr obama said the star had "opened doors for a generation of actors." sidney poitier made his name in a series of ground—breaking films which challenged racial stereotypes. he was the first black man to win an oscar for best actor, and his success paved the way for generations of other black artists. our correspondent, lizo mazimba 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. sing it over. 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. hello! 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: while denzel washington said: those words two decades after he celebrated him at the academy awards. a0 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. applause. 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. cheryl boone isaacs is the founding director of the sidney poitier new american film school at arizona state university and former president of the academy of motion picture arts and sciences, best known for organising the oscars. here's how she remembers him. he was a major beacon of light that came on the scene and on the screen many decades ago, and through his life's work, whether in front of the camera behind the camera, he hasn't had a major impact on the created world. and especially for the black community and black storytellers. it is such an honour for black storytellers. it is such an honourfor me to be able black storytellers. it is such an honour for me to be able to be part of his legacy that we are going to carry into the future. he was a great man, great philosopher, a philanthropic ideas and avenues, civil rights activist, and like i said, a tremendous force in the creative world. i know we have pictures of you with sydney protea —— sidney poitier. give us some of your favourite memories of him? even physically. _ favourite memories of him? even physically. in _ favourite memories of him? even physically, in person, _ favourite memories of him? even physically, in person, he - favourite memories of him? even physically, in person, he was- physically, in person, he was so dynamic, you know, the energyjust so dynamic, you know, the energy just wafted off of so dynamic, you know, the energyjust wafted off of him. and when he would see me, certainly with others as well, but when he would see me, he would cluster his hands together and grinning from ear together and grinning from ear to ear. it would always lift you, no matter how good you might be feeling for the day. most people remember him as an actor but he was an activist, a director, he had his own production company. there was a much more to him thanjust acting. much more to him than 'ust actina. ~ , , much more to him than 'ust actina. , �* much more to him than 'ust actina. , ~ , acting. absolutely. and it is with that — acting. absolutely. and it is with that legacy _ acting. absolutely. and it is with that legacy that - acting. absolutely. and it is with that legacy that we - acting. absolutely. and it is with that legacy that we are j with that legacy that we are going to move forward and make sure that that legacy stays alive. and that we impart all the greatness of sidney poitier in future storytellers. h0??? the greatness of sidney poitier in future storytellers.— in future storytellers. how do ou in future storytellers. how do you think _ in future storytellers. how do you think his _ in future storytellers. how do you think his legacy - in future storytellers. how do you think his legacy is - in future storytellers. how do you think his legacy is left? l you think his legacy is left? obviously so many actors and actresses stand on his shoulders now?- actresses stand on his shoulders now? . , , shoulders now? that is exactly riuht. he shoulders now? that is exactly right. he paved _ shoulders now? that is exactly right. he paved the _ shoulders now? that is exactly right. he paved the way - shoulders now? that is exactly right. he paved the way for. right. he paved the way for many, filmmakers, as well as people like myself, this influence was massive, just massive. influence was massive, 'ust massive. and not least with denzel washington, who . massive. and not least with l denzel washington, who was massive. and not least with i denzel washington, who was a huge actor now, but he obviously paid tribute to him all those years ago? absolutely. we always think of the two of them, the night of the two of them, the night of the oscars, when denzel washington one and —— won his doctorfor best actor, washington one and —— won his doctor for best actor, and halle berry won the best actress, and sidney poitier received his historic honorary oscar, that was a major, major evening, and it filled my heart and i cried my eyes out. it was special. a volcano perched on top of one of ecuador�*s famous galapagos islands has erupted, producing a spectacular lava flow. the one—mile—high wolf volcano is located on isabela island, home to a rich variety of flora and fauna of the type that helped inspire charles darwin's theory of evolution following his visit in 1835. fortunately the eruption poses no threat to wildlife populations, or to humans. hello. well, earlier, the skies were clear and we had a touch of frost, even some icy patches in places after the recent wintry weather. but now, a weather front is approaching, and the first half of saturday at least will be very wet and windy. now here's the low pressure that's sweeping into the uk, here's the weather front, and this is rain—bearing cloud, so if the rain hasn't reached you already, it will do very soon. ahead of this weather front, there's some temporary snow falling across the highlands of scotland, but for many of us, it really is rain. and the rain will be heavy, it'll bring also very blustery weather by the end of the night to many western parts of the uk. and look at the temperatures — eight degrees in belfast, double figures in the south—west, just around freezing or above across eastern parts of the country. so here's that low pressure around early saturday. within it, we've got milder air. you can see the milder winds coming in from the south. behind the cold front, yes, there's slightly colder weather, but not as cold compared to what we've been having in the last few days. so, here's that wet and windy weather for the first half of saturday. later, notice that the skies clear. there will be frequent blustery showers, some will again be wintry, particularly across the highlands, but for many of us, it is rain. it will feel chilly in the wind, but notice that rain really dragging its heels around east anglia and the south—east. it may not clear the south—east until after dark, so here, it really will be an unpleasant day. come the evening, i think saturday night into sunday, things will start to dry out. here's the good news — saturday night into sunday, the weather will calm down, which means that on sunday, it will be a much better day. better — there still will be some showers around, particularly across northern areas, and in fact, we are expecting later on sunday some damp weather to move into south—western parts of england and maybe wales. but on the whole, it's a much better day, much drier and brighter for many of us, with temperatures around the average for the time of the year. so, here's the weekend summary again. you can see that wet weather earlier in the day on saturday, much better by sunday, and thereafter, it is turning milder. bye— bye. this is bbc news. the headlines: in the us, three white men who were convicted of chasing and then murdering ahmaud arbery, a black man, in the state of georgia, have been sentenced to life in prison. the case became a focus of protests by the black lives matter movement. the us have questioned kazakhstan�*s decision to seek russian military support to deal with a wave of violent unrest. russia says its deployment of troops is temporary. dozens of people have been killed during nationwide protests triggered by a rise in fuel prices. one of the best known black hollywood actors of the past century, sidney poitier, has died. he was 94. mr poitier was the first black man to be awarded best actor at the academy awards in 1964 and paved the way for a new generation of stars. now on bbc news, it's our documentary