fergus walsh, bbc news. ever since the first reports suggesting a link between blood clots and the astrazeneca vaccine, there have been questions about what it means for the uk's vaccine programme and people's confidence in it. 0ur health editor, hugh pym, explains the potential problems and the effect they've had. lockdown is easing, the vaccination programme is going well. but today there has been a change of course, raising new questions. first, what is the risk with oxford—astrazeneca? it is lower the older you are, as the potential for serious illness with covid is weighed against possible harms from blood clots. some medication, including the contraceptive pill, also has a very small blood clot risk. anyone who has had a firstjab and four days or more after that gets severe headaches, blurred vision or certain other symptoms should contact a medical professional. a committee of europe's regulator, known as prac, drew this conclusion. we know the benefits of the astrazeneca vaccine have been establish

. 0k, fergus walsh, thank you very _ addressed this afternoon. 0k, fergus walsh, thank you very much. - addressed this afternoon. 0k, fergus walsh, thank you very much. much i walsh, thank you very much. much more detail we think will be released this afternoon. you can watch the briefing which is being led by deputy chief medical officer for england jonathan van tam at 3pm. we expect to hear from we expect to hearfrom him we expect to hear from him at 3pm this afternoon. you will be able to watch that briefing live on the bbc news channel. brazil has recorded more than 4,000 coronavirus deaths in 2a hours — a grim record for the country. the public health system has been overwhelmed by a surge in the number of cases since the beginning of the year — as paul paul adams reports. sobbing. 0vercrowded hospitals, a health system on the brink of collapse, and a population living in fear. covid's spotlight has ranged across the globe and now has brazil locked in its harsh glare. for the first time the country has recorded more than 4,000 covid—related deaths in just 24 hours. brazil's

here's the bbc medical editor fergus walsh around the time he last came on newswatch in march 2020. it's increasingly likely that we will see outbreaks of the new coronavirus centred here in the uk. france and germany have seen their cases suddenly doubled. both have warned of impending epidemics. if that happens here, expect more school closures, the postponing of sporting events and other mass gatherings. fast forward 13 months to this week when the focus has been on the decision by us authorities to pause the use of thejohnson & johnson covid vaccine. the vaccine which in europe is branded as jansen was approved in the us in late february. since then, there have been six incidents of very rare clots in the brain out of 6.8 million doses. so less than one case per million people immunised. all were women under 50, one of them died and the one is critically ill. that issue of the possible links between very rare blood clots and vaccine such as those produced byjohnson &johnson and astrazeneca is an acutely difficult one forjournalists and rouses strong emotions in the audience. som

fergus walsh, bbc news. for more on this, let's speak to dr clare gerada, who is a gp and former chair of the royal college of general practitioners. we have heard a lot of reassurances when it comes to the oxford astrazeneca vaccine, but if you are somebody in your 30s, and i'm thinking particularly may be a woman who takes the pill and is concerned, as a gp, what do you say?— who takes the pill and is concerned, as a gp, what do you say? thank you and eah, as a gp, what do you say? thank you and yeah. i— as a gp, what do you say? thank you and yeah. i am _ as a gp, what do you say? thank you and yeah. i am a _ as a gp, what do you say? thank you and yeah, i am a gp _ as a gp, what do you say? thank you and yeah, i am a gp and _ as a gp, what do you say? thank you and yeah, i am a gp and this - as a gp, what do you say? thank you and yeah, i am a gp and this is - as a gp, what do you say? thank you and yeah, i am a gp and this is my i and yeah, i am a gp and this is my bread—and—butter, trying to ex

fergus walsh, bbc news. we can now speak to drjeremy faust, an emergency—medicine physician at brigham and women's hospital in boston. thank you for your time. what do you make of this development?- do you make of this development? this is an important _ development? this is an important setback. - development? this is an important setback. i - development? this is an important setback. i am| development? this is an - important setback. i am glad the approach is to pause. because when people go to get their vaccination, they don't want questions, they want answers. we want to know exactly how many people this affects. we know it is rare but we want to know how rare it is. you used the word setback and said we will learn as much as possible, we know there is vaccine hesitancy, and it will only make people more hesitant. absolutely. we need to put everything in context. in the johnson &johnson trial, one in 2000 participants got blood clots who received the placebo. so statistically there was no difference i

walsh. the situation in brazil has gotten worse. brazil has registered a new daily record of covid—19 deaths on tuesday. the health ministry said 4,195 people died with the virus in the past 2a hours. more than 300,000 brazilians have now died since the start of the pandemi, the second highest total in the world after the united states. eduardo leite, governor of rio grande do sul. he told us the situation in brazil has been influenced by the actions of the president. what we are facing here in brazil, what we have here, it is a sad situation that is the consequence of the lack of co—ordination on the federal level by the national government. what we have here is president bolsonaro, confronting governors and mayors. and the main tool that we have, the main weapon we have to not allow the coronavirus to spread in an easy way, and the weapon is the social distancing. but we are doing our best on the state level, so, we can with the restrictions of social distancing, two degrees the cases

fergus walsh, bbc news. i spoke to the co—director of a texas children's hospital to ask what he made of the development. i ask what he made of the development.— ask what he made of the development. i think it is probably _ development. i think it is probably related - development. i think it is probably related to - development. i think it is probably related to the l probably related to the vaccine, but an extremely rare condition. the point is it is notjust condition. the point is it is not just about blood condition. the point is it is notjust about blood clots, it is a thrombosis that is a severe life—threatening condition, it looks like it is uncommon, but the reason the fda took the measure to put it on hold was to alert clinicians they should be on the lookout for similar cases and alert them that they think it could be related to the vaccine. that is very important, and also the numbers might start to go up. then they can get the real numbers and percentage. it is also to talk to the european

fergus walsh, bbc news. professorjulie leask advises the world health organization on vaccine hesitancy. she spoke to me a little earlier. this is a very challenging situation now because we do have an identified, very rare but serious adverse event. i think now it's good that people are being informed, and the communication has been happening right through the very beginning when a suspicion arose. so, that's a good thing. and in terms of what people should do about this, they should still have the vaccine, but they need to be informed and they need to have a choice of whether to have it or not. there will be people who become more hesitant because of this particular risk, and they need to have an opportunity to have a discussion with their health professional and weigh up those risks carefully because there is a risk of not vaccinating as well. well, exactly, you specialise in vaccine hesitancy, this idea of vaccine confidence potentially being dented. how do you counter that, then? there's many things we

walsh. brazil has registered a new daily record of covid—19 deaths on tuesday. the health ministry said 4,195 people died with the virus in the past 2a hours. more than 300,000 brazilians have now died since the start of the pandemic — the second highest total in the world after the united states. eduardo leite, governor of rio grande do sul, told us the situation, nationwide, has been influenced by the actions of the president. what we are facing here in brazil, what we have here, it is a sad situation that is the consequence of the lack of co—ordination in the federal level by the national government. what we have here is president bolsonaro confronting governors and mayors and the main tool that we have, the main weapon we have to not allow the coronavirus to spread in an easy way, and the weapon is the social distancing. we are doing our best on the state level, so, we can, with the restrictions of social distancing, to make, todecrease the cases of coronavirus. and we have that ri

fergus walt�*s reporting —— fergus walt�*s reporting —— fergus walsh. brazil has registered a new daily record of covid—19 deaths on tuesday. the health ministry said 4,195 people died with the virus in the past 2a hours. more than 300,00 brazilians have now died since the start of the pandemic, the second highest total in the world after the united states. the jailed russian opposition activist, alexei navalny, is reported to be suffering symptoms of respiratory illness and fever in the penal colony where he's being imprisoned. he started a hunger strike last week and his health is now worsening. supporters of mr navalny gathered outside the jail earlier today, but several were arrested. our correspondent sarah rainsford has been outside the prison and sent this report. she came to call for help for russia's most famous prisoner. dr anastasia is a close ally of alexei navalny, and he's complaining of acute pain, demanding to see a medic he can trust. i just want to speak with the chief of this prison. she walked right up to the prison gates. beyond t

fergus walsh, bbc news. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: a year after australia's devastating bushfires, some remarkable and surprising stories of recovery. ..years of hatred and rage as theyjump upon the statue... this funeral became a massive demonstration of black power, the power to influence. today is about the promise of a bright future, a day when we hope a line can be drawn under the bloody past. i think that picasso's i works were beautiful, they were intelligent and it's a sad loss to everybody - who loves art. this is bbc news, the latest headlines. president biden outlines gun control measures — as a first step towards curbing mass shootings in the united states. violence flares again in northern ireland — despite the british and irish prime ministers calling for calm. the trial of derek chauvin, accused of killing george floyd, has heard from a lung and critical care specialist. dr martin tobin said mr floyd died from a lack of oxygen while he was pinned to the pavement with a knee o

fergus walsh, bbc news. myanmar�*s ambassador to the uk has been removed from his post by the military attache in london. chaw zwar minn was told he was no longer the representative of myanmar, and locked out of the embassy. all staff were asked to leave, and police were called to stop them re—entering the embassy. mark lobel reports. locked out of the embassy he headed, kyaw zwar minn claims there has been a mini coup on the streets of london. they occupied my building. you know, i'm the ambassador of myanmar. and have you asked the foreign secretary, dominic raab, about this situation? yeah, we are waiting for their inspection. ambassador here since 2014, kyaw zwar minn won praise from britain's foreign secretary by calling for the release of myanmar�*s democratically elected leader, aung san suu kyi, who appointed him, and for restraint. a more moderate call to arms than myanmar�*s former ambassador to the un's plea for the army to be removed from power, but also one falling on deaf ears. this ost

here's the bbc medical editor fergus walsh around the time he last came on newswatch in march 2020. it's increasingly likely that we will see outbreaks of the new coronavirus centred here in the uk. france and germany have seen their cases suddenly doubled. both have warned of impending epidemics. if that happens here, expect more school closures, the postponing of sporting events and other mass gatherings. fast forward 13 months to this week when the focus has been on the decision by us authorities to pause the use of thejohnson & johnson covid vaccine. the vaccine which in europe is branded as jansen was approved in the us in late february. since then, there have been six incidents of very rare clots in the brain out of 6.8 million doses. so less than one case per million people immunised. all were women under 50, one of them died and the one is critically ill. that issue of the possible links between very rare blood clots and vaccine such as those produced byjohnson &johnson and astrazeneca is an acutely difficult one forjournalists and rouses strong emotions in the audience. som

fergus walsh, bbc news. brazil registered a new daily record of covid—19 deaths on tuesday. the health ministry said 11,195 people died with the virus in the past 2a hours. more than 300,000 brazilians have now died since the start of the pandemic, the second—highest total in the world after the united states. eduardo leite, governor of rio grande do sul, told us the situation in brazil has been influenced by the actions of the president. what we are facing here in brazil, what we have here, it is a sad situation that is the consequence of the lack of co—ordination in the federal level by the national government. what we have here is president bolsonaro confronting governors and mayors. and the main tool that we have, the main weapon we have to not allow the coronavirus to spread in an easy way, and the weapon is the social distancing. of course the president is wrong. he may not be the only person in the world that is right being against social distancing. the world recognises that the best practice, the scientists, the researchers are almost unanimous about that. but t

fergus walsh, bbc news. myanmar�*s ambassador to the uk has been removed from his post by the military attache in london. kyaw zwar minn was told he was no longer the representative of myanmar, and locked out of the embassy. all staff were asked to leave, and police were called to stop them re—entering the embassy. mark lobel reports. locked out of the embassy he headed, kyaw zwar minn claims there has been a mini coup on the streets of london. they occupied my building. you know, i'm the ambassador of myanmar. and have you asked the foreign secretary, dominic raab, about this situation? yeah, we are waiting for their inspection. ambassador here since 2014, kyaw zwar minn won praise from britain's foreign secretary by calling for the release of myanmar�*s democratically elected leader, aung san suu kyi, who appointed him, and for restraint. a more moderate call to arms than myanmar�*s former ambassador to the un's plea for the army to be removed from power, but also one falling on deaf ears. this ost

fergus walsh, bbc news. bafta has suspended the actor noel clarke just weeks after he received one of its top awards — following newspaper allegations of sexual harassment. he denies the allegations. in a statement, bafta said it made the decision "in light of the allegations of serious misconduct" in the british newspaper, the guardian. the doctor who actor was presented with the outstanding british contribution to cinema award this month. 0ur correspondent tim muffett has more. bafta has issued a statement. it says, that in the light of allegations of serious misconduct regarding noel clarke in the guardian, bafta has taken the decision to suspend his membership and the outstanding british contribution to cinema award immediately and until further notice. now, this comes following a series of allegations in the guardian concerning the actor's behaviour. noel clarke has said he denies any allegations. he has said in a statement that "in a 20 year career, i've put inclusivity and diversity at the forefront

fergus walsh, bbc news. the us presidentjoe biden is preparing to mark 100 days in office with his first speech to a joint session of congress in the next few hours. he's expected to call for major changes to the benefits system, paid for partly by reversing donald trump's tax cuts on the wealthiest americans. our north america editorjon sopel is at the white house. almost 100 days of the biden presidency now, has this been what we expected? i think we expected it to be harmer, we expected not to get the daily fireworks that we had in the translation: era -- i think fireworks that we had in the translation: era —— i think we expected it to be calmer. translation: era -- i think we expected it to be calmer. because it is an exciting _ expected it to be calmer. because it is an exciting does _ expected it to be calmer. because it is an exciting does not _ expected it to be calmer. because it is an exciting does not make - expected it to be calmer. because it is an exciting does not make it - expected it to

fergus walsh, bbc news. let's just remind you of our breaking news story. the local media who are quoting emergency services in israel say at least 38 people had been killed in a stampede that happened at a jewish festival. tens of thousands of people had gathered at the foot of mount meron in northern israel. it was to celebrate a jewish holiday. emergency services have been treating people at the same but they have found it difficult to evacuate the injured due to the dense crowds. we are continuing to monitor the situation there and of course we will bring you up—to—date with any new developments here on bbc world news. three hello. april will continue to try to make amends with a bit more rain before the month is done during friday in the form of showers that will continue into the first weekend of may and it will stay on the cool side with a risk of frost at night. and it will stay on the cool side with a risk of frost at night. and then for the bank holiday, look at this area of low pressure — a long way away but it's coming for us on monday. un

our medical editor fergus walsh reports. nearly 300 children aged 6—17 are taking part in the astrazeneca vaccine trial in england which began in february. oxford university said there had been no blood clots in the volunteers, but out of an abundance of caution, it had stopped vaccinations, pending the outcome of the safety review in adults. more than 18 million people in the uk have received the astrazeneca vaccine. the mhra said last week, there had been 30 rare cases of blood clots, including seven deaths. the prime minister, visiting an astrazeneca plant in macclesfield, once again gave his firm support for the vaccine. the best thing people should do is look at what the mhra say, our independent regulator, that's why we have them, that's why they're independent. and their advice to people is to, you know, keep going out there, get yourjab, get your second jab. as a precautionary measure, the mhra updated its advice last month to say that anyone with a headache that lasted for more than four days after receiving the a

fergus walsh, bbc news. i spoke to a doctor to of a children's hospital and asked him what he makes of these developments. it him what he makes of these developments.— him what he makes of these developments. it is probably related to — developments. it is probably related to the _ developments. it is probably related to the vaccine - developments. it is probably related to the vaccine but. developments. it is probably related to the vaccine but it| related to the vaccine but it is a rare condition. it is not simply blood clots, it is surreal thrombosis, a severe, life—threatening condition, unfortunately, it looks like —— cerebral thrombosis, fortunately it looks like a rare condition. i think it is very important that regulators are aware of cases. and once they get their arms around the real numbers and percentages. and it is also important to talk to british and european regulators to talk to overseas regulators, because it may be a common pathway, although rare for the adenovirus virus vaccine

fergus walsh, bbc news. myanmar�*s ambassador to the uk has been removed from his post by the military attache in london. kyaw zwar minn was told he was no longer the representative of myanmar and locked out of the embassy. all staff were asked to leave and police were called to stop them re—entering the embassy. mark lobel reports. locked out of the embassy he headed, kyaw zwar minn claims there has been a mini coup on the streets of london.- the streets of london. they occur>ied — the streets of london. they occur>ied my _ the streets of london. they occupied my building. - the streets of london. they occupied my building. and | the streets of london. they - occupied my building. and have ou occupied my building. and have you asked _ occupied my building. and have you asked the _ occupied my building. and have you asked the foreign - you asked the foreign secretary, dominic raab, about this situation? we secretary, dominic raab, about this situation?— this situation? we are waiting for their inspec

fergus walsh, bbc news. myanmar�*s ambassador to the uk has been removed from his post by the military attache in london. kyaw zwar minn was told he was no longer the representative of myanmar, and locked out of the embassy. all staff were asked to leave, and police were called to stop them re—entering the embassy. mark lobel reports. locked out of the embassy he headed, kyaw zwar minn claims there has been a mini coup on the streets of london. they occupied my building. you know, i'm the ambassador of myanmar. and have you asked the foreign secretary, dominic raab, about this situation? yeah, we are waiting for their inspection. ambassador here since 2014, kyaw zwar minn won praise from britain's foreign secretary by calling for the release of myanmar�*s democratically elected leader, aung san suu kyi, who appointed him and for restraint. a more moderate call to arms than myanmar�*s former ambassador to the un's plea for the army to remove from power, but also one falling on deaf ears. this ostensib

walsh. let's get some of the day's other news. president biden says the us is on track to exceed his goal of giving 200 million vaccinations in his first hundred days in office. but he warned that new variants of the virus were increasing and the country was still in a life—or—death struggle. the un has warned that about a third of the entire population of the democratic republic of congo is facing acute hunger. the world food programme and the food and agriculture 0rganization say more than 27 million congolese people are urgently in need of food. russian police have detained the doctor of the opposition activist, alexei navalny, outside the detention centre where he's serving a jail sentence. she was among 10 people arrested. the supporters are demanding that he receive proper medical treatment. mr navalny, who's on hunger strike, is said by his lawyer to be seriously ill. pro—democracy protesters in myanmar have sprayed red paint on roads and bus stops in the biggest city, yangon. t

fergus walsh, bbc news. the duke and duchess of cambridge are celebrating their tenth wedding anniversary. to mark the occassion they've released this glossy video showing the family at play. they tweeted that they were enormously grateful for the support they'd received over the last decade. time for a look at the weather — here's stav danaos. it has been a chilly day today for the time of year with a nagging cold north—easterly breeze in the morning sunshine gave way to plenty of showers, some quite heavy, but some beautiful rainbow photographs taken by some of our weather watchers during the afternoon. he can see the cloud building up through the afternoon with the showers developing, the heavy ones across north—west england, the midlands and wales. some ideas stay dry with sunny spells. those showers will eventually fade away. a few continuing across scotland into the north—east of england but with the cold air mass in place, later went and clear skies it is the perfect recipe for another chilly

fergus walsh, bbc news. we can now speak to dr peter hotez, co—director of texas children's hospital's center for vaccine development. he joins us from houston. thank you for your time, i know you are busy. what do you make of the latest developments? well, i think of the latest developments? well, ithink it of the latest developments? well, i think it probably is related to the vaccine but an extremely rare conditions. if's not simply blood clots, so evil one basis, a severe life—threatening condition. —— it's not simply. the reason they took the measure to put it on hold was to alert clinicians they should be on the lookout for other similar cases. —— to liberal thrombosis. also the numbers may start to go up when they do that. to get on the numbers of the percentage. and i think it is also to talk to the european and british regulators, the mhra and the ema, because it may be a very rare pathway for the adenovirus vector vaccines, astrazeneca oxford, johnson &johnson and oxford, johnson & john

fergus walsh, bbc news. professorjulie leask advises the world health organisation of vaccine hesitancy and joins me from sydney. good to talk to you. what would you advise people when it comes to the oxford astrazeneca vaccine?- oxford astrazeneca vaccine? yeah, this is a very _ oxford astrazeneca vaccine? yeah, this is a very challenging _ this is a very challenging situation. because we do have an identified, very rare but serious adverse events. and i think what is happening now is good, that people are being informed, and communication has been happening right from the very beginning when a suspicion was a rose. so that's a good thing. in terms of what people should do about this, they should still have the vaccine but they need to be informed and they need to have a choice of whether to have it or not —— suspicion arose. there will be people who become more hesitant because of this particular risk, and they need to have an opportunity to have a discussion with a health professional and way of those

our medical editor, fergus walsh, is here. i , was watching that briefing, plentiful use of the word caution. indeed but all the key covid indicators are looking good. despite school is being reopened in england a month ago, there has been no attempt to end cases, the number of people testing positive has fallen lly people testing positive has fallen by a third in the last seven days, deaths falling sharply, down 44% in the past week, hospital admissions down nearly a quarter in seven days. now, this is partly locked down, but increasingly immunisation. public health england has said just one doze of either the pfizer or astrazeneca jab cuts the risk among the over 80s of being hospitalised with covid by 80%. highly effective but not ioo%, so little wonder that scientists advising the government, the site committee, have said that the site committee, have said that the reopening of shops and how to hospitality should not put severe pressure on the nhs. but as restrictions are further lifted, there was modelling the epidemic th

our medical editor fergus walsh is here with me. we have heard from the politicians, from our regulator here, we have heard from the eu regulator. just put all this into context for us. i put all this into context for us. 1 think the headline here is gary put all this into context for us. i think the headline here is gary than the detail. the risk here is very small. it is not proven yet. we will need further work to work out why the astrazeneca jab seems to be causing these very rare bloods. two thirds of the gods had been in women. if we take the highest risk group, those in their 20s, women. if we take the highest risk group, those in their20s, a women. if we take the highest risk group, those in their 20s, a one in 100,000 risk of having one of these very rare clots. to put that in context, predominate their 20s, their risk of dying in a road accident is one in 100,000 every three months. i don't know any people in their 20s who wouldn't get into a car. even so, with that level of risk, they will be offered a different vaccine,

fergus walsh, bbc news. there's been an astonishing night of football at old trafford tonight as manchester united came from behind to beat roma resoundingly in their europa league semi—final. arsenal were also in action, as andy swiss reports. it might be europe's second best competition, but for manchester united the pressure was on. after four semifinal defeats in barely a year, this time roma stood in their way although not in bruno fernandes'. he puts manchester united ahead! a perfect start for united, but it didn't last. a handball against paul pogba allowing lorenzo pellegrini to level things up, and come the break roma were ahead. former manchester city striker edin dzeko certainly enjoyed that one.

fergus walsh, bbc news. before i go, our main story, israeli media has reported 38 of been killed in a stampede at eightjewish festival. this is a story we are continuing to monitor, a developing situation. stampede at a jewish festival. you can reach me on twitter — i'm @ bbckasiamadera. hello. april will continue to try to make amends with a bit more rain before the month is done during friday, in the form of showers that will continue into the first weekend of may, and it will stay on the cool side with a risk of frost at night. and then for the bank holiday — look at this area of low pressure — a long way away but it's coming for us on monday. until then, we find ourselves in the wake of low pressure. unstable air, meaning showers and the flow of air coming in from the north—east. some cool direction. temperatures below average for the time of year, and another frost out there for many, as we start the day for friday morning. rather patchy in nature, more likely in the countryside than in the tow

fergus walsh, thank you so much. finally, bbc 0ne�*s sunday night drama a line of duty has been a big ratings hit and is even got a mention in this week's prime minister's questions. but many viewers have been confused by some of the acronyms used by characters in the latest series. the fast—paced action pack show follows the work of aci2, the unit investigating corruption within the police itself. and bandies aboutjargon such as 0cg or organised crime group. and covert intelligent sores. we've always thought of ourselves on newswatch is a sort of ac 12 equivalent. here to police bbc news from the inside. but our colleagues at radio derby also saw a parallel with the work they do and made this video. radio derby told us they were inspired to make that spoof in part to dispel the myth that local radio stations take themselves too seriously. beyond that they weren't prepared to answer any questions without a lawyer present. if you'd like us to expose what you see as wrongdoing on the part of bbc news or to highligh

fergus walsh, bbc news. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: a year after australia's devastating bushfires, some remarkable and surprising stories of recovery. we'll cross live to new south wales. one of britain's richest men has been found stabbed to death at his home in dorset. sir richard sutton was a hotelier worth more than 300—million—pounds. sophie berman reports. worth more than £300 million, sir richard sutton, one of britain's richest men, found stabbed to death at his home in dorset. the 83—year—old hotelier counted london's five—star athenaeum among his property empire. last night, his body was found at his home near gillingham. a 60—year—old woman believed to be his wife was critically injured in the attack and is in a serious condition in hospital. dorset police say a vehicle linked to the incident was followed to london, where a 34—year—old man was arrested on suspicion of murder. he is believed to be known to the couple. sir richard's company paid tribute to him, sayin

fergus walsh, thank ou. a woman has described being stabbed in the neck by the man who killed two people in the fishmonger�*s hall attack in london in november 2019. jack merritt and saskia jones were stabbed by a convicted terrorist usman khan during a prisoner rehabilitation conference. giving evidence this morning at the inquests, isobel rowbotham said it felt as if khan had intended to kill her, too. our home affairs correspondent tom symonds reports. the attack within the ornate rooms of fishmonger�*s hall on the banks of the river thames was over in a few bloody minutes. this inquest will spend weeks examining those seconds in close detail. isobel rowbotham worked for the prison rehabilitation charity which helps the event where it happened. she told the inquest she saw jack merritt covered in blood, shouting that he had been stabbed. then osman he came at her across this reception room, kitchen knife in his hand, moving purposely. she said, please, no, don't. but saskia jones was fatally stabbed.

our medical editor fergus walsh reports. business as usual in north—east london. headlines about blood clots didn't put people off getting the astrazeneca vaccine. the thought of catching covid is more risky than having a blood clot. any medicine has a side effect so i wasn't unduly concerned. 79 rare blood clots have been identified out of 20 million doses of the astrazeneca vaccine. the link isn't proven but in future the under 30s will be offered a different vaccine. for nearly all age groups, the benefits of the oxford—astrazeneca vaccine far outweigh any potential harms. for people in their 60s, with the current low level of virus circulation, for every 100,000 vaccinated, ia icu admissions would be prevented. at the same time, there would be a 0.2 or one in 500,000 risk of a rare serious plot. 500,000 risk of a rare serious clot. for people in their 20s, it's a finejudgment. there, less than one icu admission would be prevented but there would be just over one serious blood clot per 100,000 immunised. if we look at a period of high virus transmission, such

fergus walsh, bbc news. the latest government figures on coronavirus show 2,166 new infections in the latest 24—hour period, which means an average of 2,299 new cases per day in the last week. and there are 1,634 people in hospital with coronavirus — the number continues to fall. 29 deaths were recorded in the last 21t hours of people who'd had a positive covid—19 test within the previous 28 days. the average number of deaths per day in the past week is 22. the total number of uk deaths is now 127,480. onto vaccinations, and a total of nearly 3a million people have now had theirfirstjab. the overall number who've had their second jab is now over 13.5 million. our top story this evening... the politicalfinance watchdog has announced an investigation into borisjohnson�*s downing street flat renovations. # everybody was kung fu fighting... and still to come, steve mcqueen's small axe series leads the bafta nominations. coming up in sportsday in the next 15 minutes on the bbc news channel... george north

our medical editor fergus walsh is here. i heard the word caution many times in a news briefing.— in a news briefing. absolutely, but the key indicators _ in a news briefing. absolutely, but the key indicators are _ in a news briefing. absolutely, but the key indicators are all— in a news briefing. absolutely, but the key indicators are all going - in a news briefing. absolutely, butj the key indicators are all going the right way. it is a month now since schools reopened in england, and yet cases have not risen. in fact, in the past seven days they have fallen by 44%. deaths continue to fall down. 44%, in the past seven days. on hospital admissions, down by nearly a quarter in a week. now, partly that is lockdown, but it is increasingly also the success of immunisation. one dose of either the pfizer or oxford astrazeneca vaccine, among the over 805, reduces their risk of being hospitalised by 80%. so, highly effective. not100% effective. so it reinforces the need for a second shot. some minutes from government 5cienti5t

fergus walsh, bbc news. so how safe is the astrazeneca vaccine if you're young? our health correspondent catherine burns has been having a look at some of the questions about the vaccine. based on the doses being given in the uk, about four in a million people have developed these clots after being given the oxford—astrazeneca vaccine. just under one in a million have died. to give context, that's about the same as your chances of dying on a 250 mile carjourney. regulators think it's riskierfor adults mile carjourney. regulators think it's riskier for adults under 30 though so, if you imagine wembley stadium packed full of 18 to 29—year—oldss who have been vaccinated, one of them would possibly need to be taken to intensive care after developing this kind of unusual blood clot. it's still a very small risk, but it's one they don't need to take because they will be offered alternative vaccines instead. once you hit your 30th birthday, you won't get a choice of vaccine. one quick thought, right now, we are mainly vaccinating the over 50s. by the time we get t

here's the bbc medical editor fergus walsh around the time he last came on newswatch in march 2020. it's increasingly likely that we will see outbreaks of the new coronavirus centred here in the uk. france and germany have seen their cases suddenly doubled. both have warned of impending epidemics. if that happens here, expect more school closures, the postponing of sporting events and other mass gatherings.

fergus walsh, bbc news. there's been an astonishing night of football at old trafford tonight as manchester united came from behind to beat roma resoundingly in their europa league semi—final. arsenal were also in action, as andy swiss reports. it might be europe's second best competition, but for manchester united the pressure was on. after four semifinal defeats in barely a year, this time roma stood in their way although not in bruno fernandes�*. he puts manchester united ahead! a perfect start for united, but it didn't last. a handball against paul pogba allowing lorenzo pellegrini to level things up, and come the break roma were ahead. former manchester city striker edin dzeko certainly enjoyed that one. united certainly didn't. but in the second half how they turned things round. edison cavani with a stunning finish and then a far simpler one. united were back in front and they eased clear. after a penalty, a paul pogba header, before the icing on the cake. mason greenwood completing a 6—2 win, t

fergus walsh, bbc news. joining me now is sir kent woods, a former chief executive of the uk's medicines and healthcare products regulatory agency. thank you very much forjoining us on bbc news today, sir kent woods. let me begin by asking where you sit in terms of the benefits and risks of the oxford astrazeneca vaccine. well, i haven't been sitting in the expert committee is reviewing these data, i am sitting in a personal capacity but it is clear from everything i have seen and read is that the risk of this thrombotic complication, blood clotting, if it is cause and effect linked to this vaccine is very much lower than the risks associated with coronavirus infection itself. we must bear in mind, too, that covid—i9 infection does carry with it a very considerable increased risk in clotting events.— considerable increased risk in clotting events. yes, let's talk about cause — clotting events. yes, let's talk about cause and _ clotting events. yes, let's talk about cause and effect. - clotting events.

fergus walsh, bbc news. the coronavirus vaccine made by the american company, moderna, will be administered in the uk for the first time today. the roll—out will begin in carmarthen in west wales. the uk has ordered 17 million doses of the vaccine, which has been shown in trials to prevent nearly all infections. it will be used alongside the pfizer and astrazeneca jabs. the welsh government has described its arrival as "another key milestone" in the fight against the virus. a comedy club has pulled out of a trial to test how venues can operate safely when lockdown ends — after receiving thousands of abusive messages. the hot water comedy club in liverpool says it was falsely linked to a scheme to test vaccine passports, leading to what it describes as a "hate campaign" on social media. a government spokesperson said they "strongly condemn" the online abuse the club received and clarified that participants in the trial would only need to provide a negative covid test — not proof of vaccination. research

our medical editor, fergus walsh, reports. an abundance of caution was cited by us health officials as the reason why they paused the use of the single—shotjohnson & johnson covid jab. the vaccine, which in europe is branded as janssen, was approved in the us in late—february. since then, there have been six incidents of very rare clots in the brain, out of 6.8 million doses so less than one case per million people immunised. all were women under 50, one of them died and one is critically ill. i think this is an unusual occurrence of a serious adverse event that you want to make sure before you go forward, you investigate it thoroughly. and that's exactly what they're doing. they're pausing, so that they can look at it more carefully. similar very rare clots have occurred with the oxford—astrazeneca jab and scientists are investigating whether this type of vaccine technology could be implicated. both of these vaccines used a disabled common cold virus called adenovirus to smuggle the gene from the coronavirus spike prote

fergus walsh, bbc news. the us will withdraw all american troops from afghistan by the 11th september this year. white house officials say presidentjoe biden will make an official announcement on wednesday. this means america will miss a may deadline for a pull—out agreed with the taliban by the trump administration. in response, the taliban has said they will not attend secunder kermani is in kabul and sent us this report on how the announcement has been recieved in afghanistan. many here will see this as a boost for the taliban despite the technically being a breach of the deadline that they have been adhered to. some in the afghan government were hoping they would adopt a more conditions —based approach to the peace process but instead that has been specifically ruled over with the september deadline. it seems unlikely that taliban want to jeopardise this withdrawal plan by launching attacks against nato forces over the coming months, but the slow pace of this so far suggests it will be very difficult

fergus walsh, there. let's talk about this with professor polly roy, chair of virology at the london school of hygiene and tropical medicine. shejoins me now. good afternoon. good afternoon. lots to talk about — good afternoon. good afternoon. lots to talk about and _ good afternoon. good afternoon. lots to talk about and i _ good afternoon. good afternoon. lots to talk about and i want _ good afternoon. good afternoon. lots to talk about and i want to _ good afternoon. good afternoon. lots to talk about and i want to speak - good afternoon. good afternoon. lots to talk about and i want to speak to i to talk about and i want to speak to you about the moderna vaccine because that is new today but can i just pick up where fergus walsh left off and talk about astrazeneca and concerns, and i say this because they could be people watching the coverage this afternoon who are heading off in ourfor their vaccination —— in an hourfor their vaccination —— in an hourfor their vaccination and might have con

walsh reports. nearly 300 children aged 6—17 are taking part in the astrazeneca vaccine trial in england which began in february. oxford university said there had been no blood clots in the volunteers but out of an abundance of caution it had stopped vaccinations, pending the outcome of the safety review in adults. more than 18 million people in the uk have received the astrazeneca vaccine. the mhra said last week there had been 30 rare cases of blood clots including seven deaths. the prime minister, visiting an astrazeneca plant in macclesfield, once again gave his firm support for the vaccine. the best thing people should do is look at what the mhra say, our independent regulator, that's why we have them, that's why they're independent. and their advice to people is to, you know, keep going out there, get yourjab, get your second jab. as a precautionary measure, the mhra updated its advice last month to say that anyone with a headache that lasted for more than four days after receiving the astra

here's our medical editor fergus walsh. an abundance of caution was cited by us health officials as the reason why they paused the use of the single—shotjohnson &johnson covid jab. the vaccine, which in europe is branded as janssen, was approved in the us in late—february. since then, there have been six incidents of very rare clots in the brain, out of 6.8 million doses. so less than one case per million people immunised. all were women under 50, one of them died and one is critically ill. i think this is an unusual occurrence of a serious adverse event that you want to make sure before you go forward, you investigate it thoroughly. and that's exactly what they're doing. they're pausing, so that they can look at it more carefully. similar very rare clots have occurred with the oxford—astrazeneca jab and scientists are investigating whether this type of vaccine technology could be implicated. 30 technology could be implicated. million doses ofjs are 30 million doses ofj&j vaccine are on the way for the uk although it

walsh has more — and just a warning, his report includes images of the operation. jake has been gradually losing his sight since birth but no longer, thanks to a ground—breaking gene therapy. i've just been able to see facial features on my own face, it's something that i never used to be able to do. jake, from county durham, has a rare inherited condition which means his central vision is largely a blur. since his right eye was treated a year ago his peripheral vision has improved. i'm in the best place i've probably been in 24 yea rs of life. last year for a lot of people was a dark and miserable year but for me it was probably the best year of my life. after a year's delay due to covid, jake has now had his other eye treated at moorfields eye hospital in london, which it's hoped may further stabilise and perhaps improve his vision. the one—off gene therapy, called luxturna, is delivered via injection. it costs £600,000 but the nhs has agreed a discounted price with the manufacturer novartis. the injection delivers working copies of a faulty gene, rpe65, int

our medical editor fergus walsh is here. there is still a real government drive to maintain confidence here at. , , . drive to maintain confidence here at. , w ., at. this is about the balance of the versus risk- _ at. this is about the balance of the versus risk. the _ at. this is about the balance of the versus risk. the older— at. this is about the balance of the versus risk. the older you - at. this is about the balance of the versus risk. the older you are - at. this is about the balance of the versus risk. the older you are the. versus risk. the older you are the more the benefits from any vaccine, and the astrazeneca vaccine, the way in. huge benefits. and very, very small risk from these serious clocks. it is a fine judgment if you get down into your 20s. there, the dangerfrom covid is much lower and part of the reason people in their 20s are getting immunised is to protect others. but the risk of a serious clot is around one in 90,000, and that is why those under 30 are going to be given the fight or moderna jabs,

fergus walsh, bbc news. a single picture sent from an american teenager to around 100 friends on social media has filed a debate in the us supreme court about free speech in the age of social media. courtney bembridge has more. brandy was 14 when she found out she did not make the varsity cheerleading squad and sent a snapchat to her friends. images on the app can only be viewed once but someone screenshot at her picture and showed one of the coaches. she was then banned from cheerleading for one year. l cheerleading for one year. i was questioning to myself cheerleading for one year. i was questioning to myself how they were able to do that if i did not say it on school. if i didn't specifically say the name of the school. what the school is _ name of the school. what the school is asking _ name of the school. what the school is asking for _ name of the school. what the school is asking for here - name of the school. what the school is asking for here is i name of the school. what the school is asking for h

fergus walsh, bbc news. in the past hour oxford university has made a statement regarding the change in advice. professor andrew pollard, director of the oxford vaccine group said... "the identification of rare cases of blood clots, which might be associated with the vaccine, shows that the safety system works, and has also allowed mhra and ema to conclude that the benefits of vaccination continue to outweigh the risks, while putting in measures to help mitigate any possible risk. "the pandemic coronavirus continues to be a huge threat to people throughout the world, and we continue with our mission to support global vaccination, not for profit, for the benefit of humanity." that statement coming in just within the past hour. ever since the first reports of blood clots being associated with the astrazeneca jab there've been questions about what it means for the uk's vaccine programme and people's attitudes to it. 0ur health editor hugh pym looks at some of the issues that have been raised. lockdown is easing