this is bbc news, i'm ben brown. our top stories: police in london are facing fierce criticism over clashes with crowds who gathered for a vigil in memory of sarah everard, whose body was found days after she disappeared. will absolutely did not want to be in a position where enforcement was necessary. reports from iran suggest

the british—iranian woman, nazanin zaghari—ratcliffe, has appeared in court to face a new allegation of anti—government propaganda, a week after her five—year sentence for spying ended. coronavirus cases increase in many european union countries as a third wave of the pandemic gathers speed. and it's the music industry's biggest awards night of the year — the grammys — this year it'll be a virtual ceremony in los angelese because of the pandemic. hello and welcome to bbc news. there are calls for london's metropolitan police commissioner, dame cressida dick, to resign after firerce criticism over how her force handled a vigil in memory of sarah everard — the 33—year—old woman whose body was found in woodland days after she disappeared. police were seen scuffling, handcuffing and leading women away from the event on clapham common, close to where sarah was last seen alive. the met has defended its actions, but the home secretary priti patel has asked for a full report. simonjones has the latest and his

report contains flashing images. police move in to try to break up an unofficial visual to mark —— vigil the life of sarah everard, near to the spot where she was last seen. more than 1000 people had gathered. the police said it wasn't safe under lockdown restrictions. but the organisation reclaim these streets, which had cancelled its own plans for a vigil, said it was deeply saddened and angered at the sight of officers manhandling women at an event against male violence. this image has made front—page news. people are angry. they are angry we were silenced, in this case, about women being silenced, and women having violence against them. the police said they repeatedly asked people to obey the law

and go home, but in a tweet, the home secretary said: the mayor of london said although the police have a responsibility to enforce covid laws, the response was at times neither appropriate nor proportionate. and there are calls for the met�*s commissioner, who visited clapham on friday, to resign. the leader of the liberal democrats said cressida dick had lost the confidence of the millions of women in london. in the early hours of this morning, the police defended their actions, saying that hundreds of people had been tightly packed together, posing a very real risk of covid being spread. chanting: shame on you! part of the reason i am speaking to you tonight is because we accept that the actions of our officers have been questioned. we absolutely did not want to be in a position where enforcement action was necessary. but we were placed in this position because of the overriding need to protect people's safety.

in brixton hill, reclaim these streets lit candles to claim that mark the lives of women killed by men. sarah everard was also remembered at downing street and by the labour leader. a serving police officer, wayne couzens, has been charged with her murder. he will next appear in court on tuesday. sarah's family, who describe her as bright and beautiful, are now trying to come to terms with their loss. and simonjonesjoins us now from clapham common in south london. we can see mourners behind you, to pay their respects and so many floral tributes. a steady stream of people has been arriving through the course of the morning bringing flowers, some of them visibly upset. most of them will never have met sarah everard but they feel very touched by what has happened and many saying they feel scared by what has happened.

the met police are facing some serious questions as to what happened yesterday evening and that is why we had the very unusual sign of a senior police officer being taken out in front of the cameras at about one this morning to give some sort of expiration about what had happened. according to the met up till around six o'clock yesterday evening people were arriving very calmly, like it is this morning, but at around six o'clock people started gathering in numbers, there were species in govan from the bandstand behind me and others started coming in closer so they could hear the speeches. the police said there was no sort of social distancing so they had to act for public safety. to survey asked people to leave but some wouldn't. they say then some people started dishing and objects were thrown and at that point they started arresting people and for the rest were made. some of the people who were here at the demonstration

said people gathered because they wanted to protest against violence against women in the sea actually it was the met you would being violent toward some of the protesters here. —— actually it was the met who were being violent toward some of the protesters here. maria miller, is a conservative mp and a former women violent toward some of the protesters here. and equalities minister — shejoins me live. what is your view on that and the calls for the police commissioner to resign? i calls for the police commissioner to resi . n? ~ calls for the police commissioner to resin? ~ ,., . resign? i think the police will need to completely _ resign? i think the police will need to completely rethink _ resign? i think the police will need to completely rethink their - resign? i think the police will need to completely rethink their views l resign? i think the police will need | to completely rethink their views to issues of sexual harassment. it is clear last night there was a plan for a socially distanced vigil which could well have gone ahead and avoided the scenes you have shown.

it is completely unacceptable that women wanting to voice their concerns about the murder of sarah everard told they are not able to do this and i think the mets really need to change how they are approaching this straightaway. the met have said enforcement action was necessary, hundreds of people were packed tightly together,. the police have got a difficult line to tread here but what they will be very well aware of is the strength of feeling on this matter and allowing a socially distanced bejewelled to go ahead would have been right response. —— a socially distanced vigil would have been the right response. we need to look at social slots come stances that are intimidating and causing so much

anxiety for women notjust in london but throughout the country. how we collect data, how we enforce the laws and how people feel and how people feel about sexual harassment. in the wake of her tragic death there has been a big conversation amongst women and men as well about the safety of women on the street. what more do you think needs to be done notjust by the police but by the authorities in gender? the select committee _ the authorities in gender? tue: select committee produced the authorities in gender? tte: select committee produced a report on this with 20 recommendations two years ago. at a collection of data, making sure we have more campaigns on public transport, for people to be able to report sexual harassment such as the campaigns that have happened in london underground. holding universities to account for sexual harassment happening on the campuses in the way they do in the united states. there are many ways we could improve things for women in this country and i think now is a turning point, no it's an opportunity to do that and i think

the strength of feeling we have seen the strength of feeling we have seen the last few days shows this has to be a political priority. t5 the last few days shows this has to be a political priority.— be a political priority. is there another question _ be a political priority. is there another question for - be a political priority. is there another question for the - be a political priority. is there i another question for the criminal justice system in the uk that in terms of prosecution for sexual assaults and rapes the number of successful prosecutions is diminishing? t successful prosecutions is diminishing?— successful prosecutions is diminishina? ~ . , diminishing? i think the concern is twofold. firstly _ diminishing? i think the concern is twofold. firstly that _ diminishing? i think the concern is twofold. firstly that so _ diminishing? i think the concern is twofold. firstly that so few - diminishing? i think the concern is twofold. firstly that so few people report even serious sexual assaults and then perhaps that is linked to the fact they see the treatment of victims when they go into the juste symptom —— justice system and that so few cases come to resolution and to look at the recourse of this unacceptable form of sexual harassment towards women which is being fuelled particularly by the

way women are treated in the online social media world. a british—iranian woman, nazanin zaghari—ratcliffe, has appeared in court, just days after she came to end of a five—year prison sentence. (tx 00v)her lawyer says the charges involve her participating in a demonstration in front of the iranian embassy in london 12 years ago, as well as giving an interview to the bbc�*s persian service. herfamily believe she is being used as a diplomatic bargaining chip by tehran. the number of new coronavirus cases is increasing in many european countries as a third wave of the pandemic gathers momentum. this is because, as many argue, the continent isn't vaccinating its population quickly enough. and voters in two german states will choose new regional governments today — where the christian democrats have been criticised for the rising infection rates. aru na iyengar reports.

germans are frustrated with the sluggish coronavirus vaccine roll—out, supply shortages, excessive bureaucracy and, in the last week, resignations within the cdu due to a facemask procurement scandal. health officials say the number of new infections went up by a third compared to a week ago. there were more than 12,500 new infections on friday. chancellor angela merkel, in power since 2005, is not seeking re—election in september. her cdu party has a battle on its hands in baden—wurttemberg and rhineland—palatinate. it will be an early test of the christian democrats' prospects of retaining power in a federal vote later this year. italy, with the second—highest total toll in europe after britain, is bringing in additional restrictions on monday. shops, restaurants and schools will close in most of the country and a national lockdown is planned

for the easter weekend at the beginning of next month. poland reported more than 21,000 new cases on saturday — the biggest increase in more than three months. france hopes to exceed its target of getting 10 million people vaccinated by mid april, according to prime ministerjean castex, after the country's death toll passed 90,000 on friday. meanwhile, dutch voters head to the polls next week in a major test of a european government's coronavirus policies in 2021, with by minster mark rutte on course to win a fourth term in office. aruna iyengar, bbc news.

we now have the latest news on the case of breanna taylor. her boyfriend has spoken about how her boyfriend has spoken about how he felt on that night she died.

honestly, i'm a bit overwhelmed, but, i mean... it's bittersweet because as i look around and see all the love and support and all the people who's here to admire breonna and embrace our situation, i also have to think about how she's not here. so, it's... it's been a tough day, but i'm out here and ijust really love and appreciate everybody who loves breonna. you're wearing a t—shirt with a picture of you and her. what do people not know about her? what kind of person was breonna? man, breonna was just loving and caring, like, for sure. those are two really big words i like to say about her. she deserves everything that these people are trying to do for her. this is a nice start towards justice.

even you were tried for having shot at the police that day, but the charges have now been dropped. do you feel like now you can go on with the rest of your life? i mean, i have to go on with the rest of my life regardless. i don't have a choice, but, i mean, the charges being dropped, itjust does nothing but say to me that... they're saying that i'm not wrong, you know what i'm saying? but breonna taylor was murdered, so somebody�*s responsible. so, the only question i have now is what's next? the only officer who was charged, brett hankison, is for endangering the lives of your neighbours, but not for the death of breonna taylor. how does that make you feel? well, i think it makes me feel how it makes everybody else feel. it's crazy that they thought walls or objects with no life were worth more

than breonna taylor. yeah. police are facing fierce criticism over clashes with crowds who gathered for a vigil in memory of sarah everard, whose body was found days after she disappeared from the streets of south london. reports from iran suggest the british—iranian woman, nazanin zaghari—ratcliffe, has appeared in court to face a new allegation of anti—government propaganda, a week after her five—year sentence for spying ended. coronavirus cases increase in many european union countries as a third the us secretary of state, antony blinken, has condemned the arrests of 200 opposition politicians and activists in russia. he called for an end to the persecution of independent voices. russian police made the arrests at a hotel, where delegates were meeting to prepare for local elections.

sylvia lennan—spence has this report. the weekend forum, a gathering of municipal deputies from all over the country had just begun in a moscow hotel... ..when police burst in. ilya yashin was just one of nearly 200 detained by police. they're accused of taking part in an event organised by open russia, based in the uk and banned in russia under a law against undesirable organisations and foreign interference. 0pen russia was set up by prominent kremlin critic mikhail khodorkovsky, who owned the oil giant yukos, before he was convicted in two controversial cases and spent a decade behind bars. he now lives abroad.

police say the event also broke covid prevention rules — not all participants wore facemasks. those detained are likely to face a fine or a spell in police detention. 0rganisers say the forum was actually convened by a different group, the united democrats project. among those arrested are some of russia's most prominent opposition voices, who'd come together to talk about contesting local elections. the incident comes as authorities continue to crack down on opposition activity as elections loom. last month, alexei navalny, president vladimir putin's most prominent critic, was jailed for two and a half years. his arrest sparked mass protests and a tough response from police. on friday, dozens of countries called on russia to release navalny, saying actions

by russia against the opposition leader were unacceptable and politically motivated. activists say laws on undesirable organisations and foreign agents are being used to suppress dissent. but russia says the laws are needed to protect its national security from outside meddling. aruna iyengar, bbc news. the biden administration says it has been trying to contact north korea since february, but there has been no response. a senior official said the white house had attempted to reach pyongyang in several different ways to try to prevent a possible escalation in tensions. the us secretary of state and defence secretary are visiting tokyo and seoul this week, where they will likely discuss the north's nuclear weapons. pyongyang's state media has yet to acknowledge joe biden as president. he's expected to release details of his policy for north korea in the coming weeks. a group of mps here in britain has

warned that the army's ageing armoured vehicles are in a "deplorable" state — and are likely to be "outgunned" in any conflict. the scathing report, by the commons defence select committee, says the army has been left with tanks which are "increasingly" outdated. 0ur defence correspondent jonathan beale reports. borisjohnson says the upcoming defence review will end and era of retreat and transform britain's armed forces. but this report raises serious questions as to whether the ministry of defence can deliver on that promise. mps say the army's ageing fleet of tanks and armoured vehicles are in a "deplorable" state, outmatched and outgunned by allies, and potential adversaries. the report says the mod�*s already squandered large amounts of money — with little to show for it. the mod spent £400 million to modernise hundreds of these warrior armoured vehicles.

now, the entire programme's expected to be scrapped. mps describe it as "a woeful story of bureaucratic procrastination, military indecision, financial mismanagement and general ineptitude". i welcome any plan to modernise the army's equipment, certainly over the years, some of it's been neglected and that's long overdue. but by modernising, for example, a tank, you've got to be very careful you that don't produce a really exquisite piece of equipment, but don't necessarily have it in enough numbers or don't have enough people to crew those vehicles. the mod insists a significant increase in funding for defence will deliver an upgraded armour force to the threats of the future. but the defence review is still expected to cut the number of tanks armoured vehicles. mps say the army's armoured capabilities today are at risk of being denuded on the promise of technically advanced jam tomorrow.

last year, more than 17,500 chain stores disappeared from british high streets — that's an average of 48 per day. the figures, compiled by the accountancy firm pwc, reveal the worst decline in more than a decade. there's also a warning that the full impact of the pandemic on high streets is yet to be felt. our business correspondent emma simpson has more. richmond, on the edge of london, a prosperous and popular spot. but this last year, some big chains have been pulling out, leaving an awful lot of holes. the majority of the high streetjust seems to be disappearing. not only high street shops, but restaurants and coffee shops as well. well, i think it is very upsetting for the locals and we are very sorry. we now have the final tally for these closures across britain over the last year. just over 17,5000 chain stores shut. that's an average rate of 48 a day. although more than 7600 shops opened, that was not enough to fill the gaps,

meaning there was a net loss of nearly 10,000 shops. that is the worst decline in more than a decade. and the shake—out is far from over. you've seen the closures of the likes of debenhams and topshop and that is really happening in 2021, so they are not even in our numbers, so i think, unfortunately, there is worse to come before it gets better. but on the positive, as we come out of covid, it does give an opportunity for people to invest and come on to our high street. this shop owner certainly hopes so. a few of our bigger chains, like this one, house of fraser, has pulled out. that was well flagged before covid. covid has exacerbated or speeded up the process. the high street is also renewing at the same time and here we are going to see a lot of new retail units and so on and the nature

of retail will change. getting there, though, is painful, for so many of our high streets, and the full impact of the pandemic has yet to be felt. emma simpson, bbc news, richmond. music's biggest night of the year — the grammy awards — take place in los angeles tonight. but, because of the pandemic, it won't be the same star studded red carpet event we're used to. 0ur west coast correspondent sophie long has been speaking to some first time british nominees who will be watching from afar. # shining through the city with a little funk and soul # so i'ma light it up like dynamite, whoa oh oh# dynamite immediately became a record—breaking song on multiple platforms for k—pop band bts. it's earned a grammy nomination for them and the london duo who wrote it. wow! we got a grammy nomination. getting a grammy nom on a song that we wrote over zoom in lockdown and the midst of a pandemic hasjust

got to be a silver lining to any dark cloud and any terrible year, so we are just so, so happy. it wasjust like, a mad like, surreal 20 minutes of watching it and a buzz and then suddenly it was, back to real life. keep it moving. david and jessica have written hundreds of songs together and kind of knew this was a little different. we understood how huge bts were. we knew that it was their first—ever english—speaking song which was a major thing that we were like, i think this is it. and it only got more and more exciting when we saw the visual, the video and we were like this is like nothing we could ever imagine, it's just the levels of this is like nothing that we had is like nothing we could ever imagine, it's just the levels of this is like nothing that we had ever worked on before.

in los angeles, the stage is being set for bts to perform on sunday night, but due to the pandemic, jessica and david will be watching thousands of miles after the wet and windy start of saturday it was a more pleasant start for many with the sunshine but we have had the rain streaming n and the rain is gathering across atlantic. this is the rainforest the day across northern ireland and into western fringes of england scotland and northern ireland. it might be that the north—east of scotland sees the lion's share of the dry sunny weather. it may be drying up and northern ireland. temperatures up and those of yesterday but tempered

by all the cloud the rain and bristol went. the breeze will push the cloud and rain away and once again it will turn chilly particularly in the glans, part perhaps north—east parts of england and a touch of frost in some rural areas but by and large towns and cities staying above freezing and certainly in the west because we have our next weather front coming in. it is coming into the build of pressure so gradually these weather fronts will become weaker affairs but will introduce wicker cloud. bright and sunny with mist and fog first thing but we already have a next band of cloud, patchy rain coming into northern ireland and western fringes of scotland, england and wales. driest and brightest with latest winds and filling pleasant in the sunshine across central and eastern areas. 11 to 13 celsius. by tuesday i weather front has toppled into east areas and eventually being

pushed out of away on wednesday and high pressure rules the roost. but the weather systems and tightly packed as a power is never too far away from eastern parts of england and scotland so eastern areas with more cloud to begin tuesday pushing away southwards with a northerly breeze. not the warmest direction in this time of year but if you shelter in that breeze through the central lowlands and south wales it will feel quite pleasant as we appreciate the strength of the march sunshine. not a great deal of rain on the weather systems but still looking like quite a bit of cloud.

this is bbc news. the headlines... police in london are facing fierce criticism over clashes with crowds who gathered for a vigil in memory of sarah everard, whose body was found days after she disappeared.

reports from iran suggest the british—iranian woman, nazanin zaghari—ratcliffe, has appeared in court to face a new allegation of anti—government propaganda, a week after her five—year sentence for spying ended. coronavirus cases increase in many european union countries, as a third wave of the pandemic gathers speed. and it's the music industry's biggest awards night of the year — the grammys — this year it'll be a virtual ceremony in los angeles because of the pandemic. let's get the latest sport with jane dougall. and some sad news from the world of boxing overnight. former middleweight world champion �*marvelous' marvin hagler has died at the age of 66. hagler dominated his division from 1979, until a controversial defeat by sugar ray leonard in 1987. the american won 62 of his 67 professionalfights — 52 of those by knockout. hagler�*s most memorable win was arguably in 1985 when he beat