this is bbc news, i'm lukwesa burak. the headlines at apm: more than 1500 people have been arrested in russia as police crack down on protests by supporters of the jailed opposition leader alexei navalny. one of those detained is mr navalny�*s wife, yulia, who was at a demonstration attended by thousands in moscow. senior doctors call for changes in the vaccine roll—out in the uk. they want the 12—week gap between the first and second dose of the pfizerjab to be halved. what we do need to be assured of is that people are properly protected, because if the level of protection with the second dose is compromised by a longer delay, that of course will impact on the doctors that i represent, because they are facing the virus at close quarters as they

look after patients. the leader of welsh conservatives paul davies has resigned after admitting drinking on the senedd estate, days after a pub alcohol ban was enforced. and the american broadcaster and talk show host larry king has died at the age of 87. good afternoon. police in russia have made more than a thousand arrests at protests in support of the jailed opposition leader alexei navalny, including his wife, yulia. demonstrations have been taking place across russia, including the eastern cities of vladivostok and khabarovsk. in the siberian city of yakutsk, protesters braved temperatures of —50 degrees.

mr navalny was arrested last week after he flew back to moscow from berlin, where he had been recovering from a near—fatal nerve agent attack in russia last august. on his return, he was immediately taken into custody and found guilty of violating parole conditions. he described it as a trumped—up case designed to silence him. the largest gatherings are ongoing in the capital, moscow. our diplomatic correspondent james landale reports. in the freezing cold, out they came. thousands of protesters taking to the streets to demand change. here in vladivostok, in the far east of the country, there were scuffles with police as they tried to disrupt protests the kremlin says are illegal. "putin is a thief," they shouted. "freedom to navalny." there were reports that hundreds had been arrested at rallies in up to

60 cities across the vast breadth of russia. they were out for one man, the opposition leader, alexi navalny. he may remain injail but his supporters were in full voice. translation: i'm tired. just like many russians, i'm tired. i'm 26 years old, i've lived my whole life under putin, and every year, i hear the same promises. translation: in russia, - the current authorities are doing everything they can in order to cement their power, you know, so that it will never change. but what are we for? we are for a transfer of power. more than 5000 miles to the west, many thousands gathered to protest on the streets of moscow. "russia without putin," they chanted. police detained hundreds before the protests even began. "how can you look your children

in the eyes," this man asks them. the question now is whether protesters can keep up the momentum in the days and weeks ahead in the face of the police and the bitter russian winter. let's bring you some live pictures now from moscow, where hundreds have gathered to protest. you can also see riot police there and lots of police vehicles. we understand some of those buses at the side where those arrested are taken away, searched. there have been riot police carrying back tones, charging at some of those protesters. we will find out in a short while young whether things are slowing down now. local time in moscow is 7pm, but we've recently heard that awesome allies of alexei navalny encouraging people to return

to the streets next weekend. more on that in a moment. senior doctors have called for the maximum 12—week gap between the first and second dose of the pfizer coronavirus vaccination to be halved. in a private letter to england's chief medical officer, which has been seen by the bbc, the doctors union, the bma, called the delay difficult to justify. the government argues the longer gap can saves lives by allowing more people to receive a first jab more quickly. 0ur health correspondent anna collinson reports. it's the largest vaccination programme in british history and to many, so far, it's been a success. but there are calls for the pfizer/biontech second dose to be given more quickly. the manufacturers have no data to back up the 12—week delay and some senior doctors want it reduced to six weeks. that would still allow many more people to have a first dose compared to a three—week interval, but at least it will be in keeping with international best practice guidance.

there is no other nation internationally that has adopted a 12—week delay. during yesterday's downing street briefing, england's chief medical officer said extending the gap to 12 weeks was a public health decision, a view many agree with. i totally support the decision to extend the gap between doses. i think, looking at the evidence in total, i think that is strongly supportive of that and i think, on this particular occasion, the bma has probably got it wrong. the government says the current system will be kept under review but believes it is the right thing to do. it enables people to get the first jab as quickly as possible and the high level of protection that one jab alone provides to them and then, of course, those individuals will be invited back for their second jab within 12 weeks. questions are also being asked about the more infectious variants. vaccines are still expected to be effective but early

evidence suggests it may be more deadly, though more research is needed. we can expect more reminders to stay at home and to keep our distance for weeks, maybe months to come. 0ur moscow correspondent sarah rainsford joins us. but first, with the latest figures from the uk government, and the number of deaths reported is at 1348, those are deaths within 28 days of a positive test. the previous day reported 1401. in terms of the number of people testing positive, the latest reporting shows 33,552 positive cases, that is across the united kingdom.

guernsey has gone into lockdown with immediate effect and islanders are being asked to stay at home. it follows confirmation of four new positive cases of covid—19. it is not immediately clear how the infected people contracted the virus. bbc news reporter euan duncan is in the guernsey capital, st peter port. this is our second lockdown in guernsey, of course, following in the steps of the isle of man, who performed a similar measure when they found cases of community seeding there. we were told today at the press conference, which was called very suddenly this morning, that it is three adults and one teenager who have contracted the virus. this is a bitter blow to the 63,000 residents who live here in guernsey, who've enjoyed coming out of lockdown injune 2020 and enjoyed the freedoms

that come with that. we haven't had to socially distance from each other in well over six months and ourfestive period has been undisturbed, we have been able to do things like attend nativity plays or go and see christmas lights being switched on, enjoy time with family, which we know we are lucky to do in this smalljurisdiction, which we haven't been able to do in the uk or even injersey, in largerjurisdictions closer to us. so this is going to be a bitter blow. we are now back in the island in a similar position to what we were almost a year ago, back into lockdown, and that was announced today for an indefinite period. we know we will get a review after two weeks, where we will get more information. but it is key to say that, even though this is happening, guernsey will continue to vaccinate islanders against this covid—19 virus that's going around. 0ur vaccination centre, which is due to open on monday next week, has been designed specifically

for social distancing in mind, even though, at the time it was due to open, we didn't have to socially distance here. so the government are now saying that will not affect the vaccine roll—out. they are hoping to vaccinate up to 3000 people per week here in guernsey. of course, the care home residents have already been done and front—line health workers as well, but the island does know it has been in a unique and fortunate position to have avoided the sanctions we've had in the uk for so long. we're so grateful we've been in this position but now must think hard and fast about controlling the spread of this. we don't know how many cases yet we will find, our contact tracing team are working solidly. they encountered this last night at 7pm, the government were meeting this morning at 6am and the press conference was called 12pm. we will have another one tomorrow,

we will find out more information, but until then, the island just hopes deperately that this can be contained very quickly. let's go back to those protests in russia, where many have come out in support of opposition leader, alexei navalny. 0ur moscow correspondent, sarah rainsford joins us. we were just looking through some live pictures in moscow, we can see people walking about. 0n live pictures in moscow, we can see people walking about. on a screen, it looks fairly calm, you have been out on the streets, what has it been like? ., , , out on the streets, what has it been like? , ., ,, ., out on the streets, what has it been like? ,, ., , like? the mass protests have been broken up. — like? the mass protests have been broken up, there _ like? the mass protests have been broken up, there were _ like? the mass protests have been broken up, there were a _ like? the mass protests have been broken up, there were a huge - like? the mass protests have been i broken up, there were a huge number of riot police on pushkin square and streets around. before the beginning, before the big crowd gathered, they were diving into the crowd and dragging people away and arresting them. for a couple of hours, during the main part of this

process, they then stood back but then lost patience and there were scuffles between riot police and protesters. eventually, they riot police cleared the streets but there are now groups of people wandering the streets of moscow, essentially, one of them heading towards one of the big prisons here where alexei navalny is being held. there was really no plan for this protest today, the plan was simply to come out in big numbers to send a message to the kremlin that people are angry at its treatment of alexei navalny, the fact that he was poisoned and the fact that he was poisoned and the fact that he was poisoned and the fact he was imprisoned and that he could now be facing a long prison sentence. they came out and then didn't really know what to do, so some of them have been wandering the streets, some scuffles with riot police, we have seen people throwing snowballs at the police. we have also seen pretty brutal beatings, pictures now emerging on social media. an important day, i think, in

terms of the kremlin�*s calculation, what it does now, it has mr navalny on remand, does it imprison him, just at risk further protest? it is a key calculation at the kremlin is now making. we a key calculation at the kremlin is now making-— a key calculation at the kremlin is now makin-. ~ . , ., ., , now making. we are starting to see international— now making. we are starting to see international condemnation - now making. we are starting to see international condemnation of - now making. we are starting to see international condemnation of the l international condemnation of the arrest and detention is taking place. we had the statement from the uk government. interesting line coming to us, russia allegedly accusing us deployments of publishing at the rates for those protesters to follow. —— us diplomats of publishing. we protesters to follow. -- us diplomats of publishing. we have seen this before, _ diplomats of publishing. we have seen this before, the _ diplomats of publishing. we have seen this before, the us - diplomats of publishing. we have | seen this before, the us embassy will publish information on its website for citizens, saying this is where a protest is happening, warning people about mass gatherings and where to keep away from, and then the foreign ministry here will object, saying the american embassy is promoting the protests. in russia, it is illegal to call for people to attend to an illegal

protest, and that is why lots of allies of mr navalny had been detained in the last few days, for their post on social media calling on people to take to the streets. that is part of the usual diplomatic language and diplomatic fight that is going on, but essentially, the real action is on the streets here, about the relationship between the russian people who support alexei navalny, those of those who do, and the russian authorities, who now have him on remand and facing a potential prison sentence. it's somewhere he's not been before, he has been detained by police before but he has never been sentenced to prison before, because until now, the kremlin has made the calculation thatis the kremlin has made the calculation that is too risky, that it could be a big backlash. the question is, either making a calculation now,, is it safer for then with him behind bars or not?— it safer for then with him behind bars or not? some key allies have been arrested, _ bars or not? some key allies have been arrested, one _ bars or not? some key allies have been arrested, one of—

bars or not? some key allies have been arrested, one of those - bars or not? some key allies have been arrested, one of those is - bars or not? some key allies have been arrested, one of those is a l been arrested, one of those is a lawyer and mr nirvana's wife. do we know anything about their whereabouts?— know anything about their whereabouts? ., ., ., ~ whereabouts? yulia no val ir, mr nirvana men's — whereabouts? yulia no val ir, mr nirvana men's lame's _ whereabouts? yulia no val ir, mr nirvana men's lame's wife, - whereabouts? yulia no val ir, mr nirvana men's lame's wife, has i whereabouts? yulia no val ir, mr. nirvana men's lame's wife, has been detained and that was new, she has been a prominent figure to alexei navalny�*s side at many protests in the past, the two been together for more than two decades, and she has been outspoken recently about what has happened to him, but is poisoning and treatments. she was detained as she headed to the protest but she has been released without charge. 0ther allies and supporters and members of mr navalny�*s team are facing big fines or indeed some of them are in police detention now because of their cause to join the protest, detention now because of their cause tojoin the protest, because detention now because of their cause to join the protest, because of their support for this mass day of demonstration is right across russia. ., ~' , ., the headlines on bbc news: more than 1500 people have

been arrested in russia as police crack down on protests by supporters of the jailed opposition leader alexei navalny. one of those detained is mr navalny�*s wife, yulia, who was at a demonstration attended by thousands in moscow. we understand she has now been released. senior doctors call for change in the vaccine roll—out in the uk. they want the 12—week gap between the first and second dose of the pfizerjab to be halved. sport, and for a full round up from the bbc sport centre, here's gavin. good afternoon. six wickets from james anderson and an unbeaten half century from captainjoe root have kept england in contention on day two of the second test against sri lanka. the tourists bowled the hosts out for 381 before closing

on 98—2 in galle. joe wilson reports. another day, another year, and who's grinning? england without anderson is still unthinkable. he wasn't sure about this wicket, nobody was. a review and replay before the spikes seemed to reveal the faint sound of bat on ball, the batsman trudging away. the next up was building his score for sri lanka. england's spin bowlers failed to take a single wicket, send for you—know—who. the batsman on 92, caught byjames leach. five wickets for anderson and what a way to make it six. anderson once more outstanding. but sri lanka were still going. by the time they had finished their fun, the total was 381, that is solid batting. the match perspective now depended

on england's response. wa, sibley gone for none. crikey, and now crawley. batting demands concentration, improvisation — joe root showed how. choose when to attack. batting demands concentration, improvisation — joe root showed how. choose when to attack. jonny bairstow was capable. england are starting to put pressure back on sri lanka, still 283 behind, but two yorkshiremen are showing nerve. well, anderson very much the man england have to thank for a superb spell in getting sri lanka out. his 30th test five—wicket haul. he's feeling confident that england can deliver in their batting performance on day three. it was a good effort to keep them under 400 and we know now we have to bat big, we have to bat a long time to try and win this game, but that's what you have to do. we got off to a decent start with the bat, just need a couple of guys to go big.

holders arsenal are out of the fa cup after a 1—0 defeat at southampton. a first—half own goal by gabriel, who turned in kyle walker—peters' cross was all that separated the two sides at st mary's. southampton will now face wolves in the fifth round. well, that match one of eight in the fa cup today. most into the second half on the red button you can see sheffield united against league one plymouth. 2—0 there. and west ham are 3—0 up against doncaster rovers, also of league one. at 5:30, cheltenham, of league two, are up against manchester city. that's live on bbc1. relegation—threatened aston villa picked up a precious point in a 2—2 all draw at home to reading in the women's super league. and just take a look at the conditions. the pitch covered in snow in the west midlands for the match — where villa twice came from behind. an injury time equaliser from diana silva saved the day for them.

rory mcilroy leads going into tomorrow's final round of the abu dhabi championship. the northern irishman moved clear with a superb chip in for eagle at the tenth. he's now 13—under par. tyrrell hatton is a shot further back, with fellow englishman tommy fleetwood on 11—under. elfyn evans suffered a frustrating day at the monte carlo rally, losing his lead to sebastien 0gier. the welshman saw his 7—second overnight advantage evaporate and he admitted he was far too careful during the first stage and struggled on the second. he won the last one of the day but not by enough to retake the lead from his toyota team—mate and world champion 0gier. the frenchman is now 13 seconds ahead with just four stages to go tomorrow. not super—happy with how things have gone, to be honest. ijust wasn't brave enough, really. there was the potential to do a little more, but

it's balance in these conditions. you have to do what your feelings tell you, if you start to go over, you get caught out. it is a balance and i haven't quite struck it. and ben ainslie's hopes of becoming the first british skipper to win the america's cup, have been given a major boost. his team ineos beat the italians to win their qualifying competition so they now go on to take on either italy again or the usa next month for the right to face new zealand for the one of sport's oldest trophies in march. that's all the sport for now. you can find more on all those stories, including the latest from the scottish premiership, on the bbc sport website. unbeaten rangers home to ross county, they could go 23 points clear at the top with a win. they are now 3—0 up. the leader of the welsh conservatives has resigned after an investigation found he may have broken coronavirus restrictions by drinking alcohol in the senedd tea room. the incident last month, involving four members of the welsh parliament, happened just days after pubs across wales were banned

from selling alcohol. 0ur wales political editor felicity evans gave us this update. it's been a very difficult week for the welsh conservatives, these allegations first emerged on tuesday and at that time, paul davies, the leader of the conservative group in the senedd, along with his chief whip, darren miller and a labour member of the senedd, alun davies, issued statements in which they said they had had a drink in the tearoom of the senedd, which is a licensed premises, just days after the welsh government had introduced a ban on alcohol being served in licensed premises. although they insisted they did not break coronavirus regulations, because the onus in these new rules was on the licence holder rather than any drinkers. but in that statement, they accepted that it might be perceived they hadn't observed that the spirit of these regulations,

though they insisted it was a work meeting and they had only a couple of glasses of wine. since then, pressure has built, the senedd commission has launched its own investigation. yesterday, mr davies' group said he had their unanimous support, but shortly after that, the presiding officer issued a statement in which she confirmed that four elected members had consumed alcohol on the senedd premises and she was referring the matter to the standards commissioner for further investigation. and this morning, paul davies and his chief whip, darren miller, have both announced they are standing down from their front bench positions. the bbc has been given exclusive access to the nurse—led covid wards at clacton community hospital in essex. they are experiencing high patient demand and an increasing number of patients are not surviving coronavirus. simon dedman and cameraman jamie niblock report. staff have struggled a lot

more second time round. you can see them really struggling, gasping for air, it's horrendous on our part. stressful. it's stressful for everyone. patients come in, walking in here, and they are covid—positive, and within a few days, you see them deteriorating, they're so fatigued they cannot move and then gradually we see them dying. but we still have to be there for them until the end. two months since we were on clacton hospital's covid wards, things have changed. the number of beds has doubled to 56, but still that is not enough to meet demand, they are nearly always full. wejoined this nurse again on her round. oh, look at those, lovely! no fluid in there. it's quite bad at the moment.

obviously, the whole nhs is really struggling. we have increased our bed base here recently in the last week to accommodate more patients coming in from the acute trusts to free up those acute beds for those patients who really need that additional care. covid patients are getting younger. diane from colchester is 56. she's been in hospital since before christmas. i didn't want to be resuscitated, i was so ill, and peoplejust think it's easy, it's not. i was really ill. even the doctors were worried about me, and i said, if i'm going to come out a lot worse than what i went in, i don't want to come out. they're a lot more poorly this time round, and we've also got quite a few staff off, regular, substantive staff, so we are working with a lot more agency. agency staff like deanne, who's been drafted in from her communityjob. there's lots of machines

i've never used before, i've never had to do obs in my life. it is a different experience, being out in the community. it does feel a lot busier than when we were here two months ago, it's a lot more frantic, there's a lot more energy. the staff say that they are stressed and frankly, when you look at their faces, you can tell that they are. it's paul's second day. he cleans constantly to kill covid particles to protect patients and his colleagues. i was a carer for ten years for my mum, who sadly passed away, but i've always wanted to help people, it's what i've done pretty much most of my life. so i thought, there's no better way to help people thanjoin the nhs. patients are waiting, hoping, like donald and diane, for covid to clear their bodies. as we wait and hope for covid to be gone from our communities, hospital staff are working night and day like never before, trying to save people

from this deadly disease. one of the giants of american broadcasting, larry king, has died. he was 87. larry king is best known for hosting a nightly talk show on cnn, which ran for 25 years. he was being treated in hospital after testing positive for covid—19. daniella relph looks back on his life. for more than 60 years, he interviewed everybody who was anybody. tonight, the legendary liza minnelli on marriage. would you marry again? are you nuts? oscar winners. .. start spreading the news — the legendary liza minnelli is here. ..presidents. .. tonight, a candid conversation with president george w and laura bush from the white house. do you ever think you would say, "maybe i was wrong?" the decision to remove saddam hussein was the right decision. | not friends any more! ..if you were in the public eye, you came to the court of larry king. were you with the president at times, intimately, and he would also be

conducting affairs of state? the story that he was on the phone, talking to congressmen? erm, yes. it's the witching hour, miami beach's midnight flyer programme... born in brooklyn, he rose to fame in his 20s as a discjockey in florida, here spoofing his role in this 1960s tv crime series based in miami. hey, creep! from the nation's capital, you're listening to the larry king show. by the 1970s, he was broadcasting his late—night radio show coast to coast... across the united states, this is the larry king show, coast to coast... ..preferring not to prepare too much for an interview and simply letting the conversation unfold. i like spontaneity, that's the kind of broadcaster i am. i'm coming on the air saying, "good evening, my guest tonight is..." i have no idea what that question's going to be. in the 1980s, king joined a new 24—hour tv news station, cnn, gently probing everyone from donald trump...

rumblings in the trump camp as far as the presidency. could the manhatten magnate be eyeing the white house or is he just calling a bluff? i have no intention of running for president, but i have a point to get across — we have a great country, but it's not going to be great for long if we continue to lose $200 billion a year. ..to frank sinatra. i tremble every time i walk out from the wing onto the stage l because i keep thinking to myself, "i wonder if it'll be there." - after leaving cnn, those famous braces could be seen, until recently, on larry king now. " | theygo, cut. ctit!— "what is she doing?!" his new talk show was criticised for being syndicated on a russian—sponsored tv network, rt. people don't expect you to be sitting at certain board... but with guests like 0prah, larry king proved that, even in his 80s, he still had

unrivalled pulling power. the us broadcaster and talk show host larry king, who has died at the age of 87. now it's time for a look at the weather with alina jenkins. we have got further snow for parts of north and west scotland, north and west england, into east anglia, that will clear away eastwards this evening. showers in west scotland overnight. another cold night, widespread frost, ice a risk. parts of scotland, minus eight celsius. rain, sleet and snow continues through the morning across parts of wales, south—west england, parts of northern ireland. further north wintry showers. another cold day.