inside the car town part one of a key part investigation people in power on al-jazeera. believe the 2 stories from asia and the pacific on al-jazeera. u.s. and chinese officials are on their way to alaska for their 1st face to face talks since president joe biden came to office. a momentous and this is all just a live from doha also coming up the fight for covert 1000 vaccines the u.k. says it's rollout will slow in the coming weeks and warns the e.u. not to block exports. tanzania is set to swear in its 1st female president after

the death of covert 19 skeptic john maga fully the government says he suffered a heart failure. a call for all parties involved in the afghan talks to agree on a cease fire russia is hosting a meeting to help jumpstart negotiations which have stalled. well it's a meeting there's likely to set the tone in relations between the world's 2 largest economies in a few hours top diplomats from the u.s. and china are going to meet in alaska it's going to be their 1st face to face discussions since the by the ministration took office in january it comes just after the u.s. has sanctioned an additional $24.00 chinese and hong kong officials for what it says is beijing's continuing crackdown on political freedoms in the territory. our white house correspondent kelly holcomb is joining us live from washington d.c. it's well known that there's

a very large rift between beijing and washington at the moment what can we expect from these talks well these are initial talks when we can expect that there may not be a resolution to a lot of these thorny issues there is in fact a long list of contentious issues that the united states is going into this meeting to discuss among some of the issues with respect to where rights for the united states is planning to take him over here i'm going to interrupt you there because we're going to go to a news conference which is being given arms to dawn by europe's medicine regulators they're releasing their findings discussing the astra zeneca covert 19 vaccine several countries have suspended the salts because of safety concerns your pain medicine agency is giving that conference now let's listen in committee proc and i'm also very pleased to introduce to you dr peter the head of analytics a.t.m.a. who can provide additional information about the agency's scientific procedures if

needed before we start i want to explain how we plan to run this press briefing piece note that your microphone is disabled by default for the duration of the press briefing he refers to a short remarks by mrs cook and dr straus and after that people have about half an hour for questions once the question and answer session. he's raise your hand in bed if you want to ask a question to raise your hand you will have to click on the i can next to your name in the list effect to supply. but never give you the floor you printed on your screen to on you just sense you would appreciate if you could turn on your camera and you are asking a question today's briefing is being broadcast and europe by satellite the footage can be used 3 of tchotchke my own media. you would find the respective billings in the invite sent yesterday i'm now handing over to mrs cook mrs cook

please. thank you yes and good afternoon ladies and gentlemen and thank you for joining this precious phrase raping our expert committee on the safety of medicines the pharmacovigilance and risk assessment committee has now come to a conclusion on the review of cases of blood clots in people vaccinated with astra zeneca scope it 19 vaccine the committee has come to a clear scientific conclusion this is a safe and effective vaccine its benefits in protecting people from covert 19 with the associated risks of death and hospitalized patients outweigh the possible risks the committee also concluded that the vaccine is not associated with an increase in the overall risk of throw a ball like a bench our blood clots now during the investigation under a few we began to see a small number of cases of rare and unusual but very serious crossing disorders and

this then triggered a more focused review based on the evidence available and after days of in-depth analysis of lab results clinical reports autopsy reports and further information from the clinical trials we still cannot rule out definitively a link between these cases and the vaccine what the committee has there for recommended is to raise awareness of these possible risks making sure that they are included in the product information drawing attention to these possible rare conditions and providing information to health care professionals and vaccinated people will help to spot and mitigate any possible side effects. we're also launching additional investigations to understand more about these rare cases and we're contacting targeted observational studies overseas about

7000000 people have now been vaccinated in the you with the astra zeneca vaccine and 11000000 have been vaccination in the u.k. in the u.k. and there i think creasing use of this vaccine in other countries. it remains very important that all side effects are closely monitored and report it so that we can evaluate them and see if there's any need to update the information and warnings of pipe possible rate risks dr strides will explain the committee's evaluation more detail but i want to reiterate that our scientific position is that is that this boxing is a safe and effective option to protect citizens against covert 19 it demonstrated that at least 60 percent efficacy in clinical trials in preventing coronavirus of the disease and in fact the real. evidence suggests that the effectiveness could be even higher than that we're very much aware that some member states have paused

boxen nations waiting for him a outcome of of a review but given that houses of people in the e.u. die every day and in fact over 2500 for reported one day last week it's really was crucial for him a to review properly and currently all the available evidence so we made this review our highest priority on our experts have worked intensively to analyze in great detail all the data available. we have mobilized european experts in the field of trumbo says blood disorders to investigate and we work closely with other health authorities across the world including with the you case and. the scientific conclusions adopted today provide member states with the information they need to take an informed decision regarding the use of the astra zeneca vaccine in their care and their vaccination campaigns before i hand over to dr strives i would like

to highlight that a situation like the one we have just seen here is not unexpected when you vaccinate millions of people it's inevitable that rare are serious if instances or in the system will occur in the in the time immediately following backs nation our road in the e.u. regulators system is to rocky detect these incidents on investigate whether there may be a link to the vaccine or whether they are a result the result of an assist which occurred by chance close in time to the vaccination we are committed to ensure that any new suspected address reactions are rapidly investigated to support decisions based on science which can then support competence and vaccines which is so important in dealing with that stepin fetchit stating pandemic that we are facing and we remain fully mobilized to to ensure our

public health through today's conclusion help us to continue in the fight against the spend time make by raising awareness and providing up to date information as we can as we have analyzed. and us as it becomes available so that so that citizens across europe are informed about what they need to do thank you very much. thank you very much ms cook and now i hand over to dr straus dr stress peace . thank you very much mary agnes and could afternoon through it shrunk a feature and risk assessment committee truck that i chair has looked in create detail at the cases of blood clots reported after vaccination discovered 916 astra zeneca. as soon as these concerns arose last week the committee started a comprehensive review of all the available evidence and working around the clock

making use of all the resources at our disposal i want to thank the colleagues from the belgium team that has let his assessments and work side by side with colleagues from national competent authorities and the european medicines agency as well as scientific experts in blood disorders we are asked to provide advice in the assistance or you're watching our visitor will be bringing you live coverage of the european medicines agency giving a press conference on the their findings into the astra zeneca virus misses m.r. cook was speaking earlier on executive director of the agency saying this is a safe and effective vaccine the benefits outweigh the possible risks she also said there was no link to the throne balik events which had been recorded in several countries though those reports of rare blood clots which had occurred amongst certain or

a few members of the public who had been given the astra zeneca virus astra zeneca covered the 19 vaccination should say the mccain is joining us live from berlin dominic this is fairly unequivocal isn't that. fairly unequivocal and in one context fairly unsurprising rob because earlier in the week emma cook was saying substantially what we just heard there saying that in the view of the e m a pending the review we've just heard from that that they believe that this was a safe and effective vaccine well now we have the outcome of that review now we have certainty from the point of view of the most senior regulatory body of vaccines medicines in the e.u. that it is safe it's effective it can be given to the many millions of people who've been waiting to receive a national center vaccination remember that in certain member states it's been

suspended so here in germany specifically here in the capital city in berlin 2 of the 6 mass vaccination centers have been closed for the last few days with the astra zeneca vaccine sitting on the shelves inside the vaccination centers because of the suspension now we hear wait to hear from the german federal health minister to see if he is going to allow that the astra zeneca vaccine once more to be administered but it would seem likely given the fact that the regulator is now saying that having rigorously examine the evidence presented to them that they do not believe that this leads to a greater risk of blood clots and it was interesting if you look into the numbers that emma cook was talking about the fact that 11000000 people in the united kingdom not part of the e.u. but 11000000 people in the united kingdom and 7000000 in the e.u. have received this vaccination 18000000 doses have been given and we're talking

about scores of blood clots on a ratio astronomical in one sense or infinitesimal rather the risk that an individual receiving a masters in a vaccine would go on to develop a blood clot the interesting thing is the reason that this is become so such a burning issue is. it were is because several member states had reported this incidence of blood clots here in germany just today just this morning the health ministry was revising upward of the number of cases that had been reported to it and it said that it was now 13 not 7 and that there have been 3 deaths amongst the 13 people will clearly the health ministry may well be reassured now that the european regulator the agency has poured over the details has investigated and has come out with what it has done we now wait not just here in germany but we now wait to see what course of action the many member states will pursue given the fact

that it was the french the italians the germans and many other member states who in concert with each other earlier this week announced the suspension of the administration of astra zeneca will they as quickly announce a resumption that remains to be seen it's one thing isn't to try to give reassurances to to health officials as you're talking about but another thing of course is we're building public trust in a vaccine which has been been very much up to the fore as astra zeneca covered in a covered $1000.00 vaccine has talk us through what the impact is going to be however on the european rollout of the vaccine given that the yemeni has now given this approval does this mean that the european union countries are are given the restrictions and given the limitations and concerns that you're talking about might at least be able to get back ahead of the wave if you like of infections that are going across europe at the moment. well the one thing to

remember is that just yesterday in brussels a sort of underlying president of the european commission flanked by 2 other commissioners who have responsibility in this area was going through the detail of the consignments that they have arranged the e.u. has arranged of of the many different vaccines that have been ordered by the e.u. to supply to the member states over the course of this calendar year and of course are sort of on the line addressed her dismay her disappointment at the shortfall in the number of astra zeneca doses but then said well the e.u. has plans has made deals for many many tens of millions of doses with the other vaccine providers so there was a sense of reassurance from the e.u. that come what may they have plans to make up for the shortfall remember that shortfall is because of astra zeneca nothing to do with its safety or of with its efficacy but to do with the fact that the company concerned failed to provide the

amount of doses which it had said originally which it had committed to in writing to provide to the e.u. and it had to revise down twice the amount of doses that it was going to provide to the e.u. not just in the 1st quarter of this year which obviously expires in the course of the next 10 days or so but also in the 2nd quarter by the 1st half of the year so from the e.u.'s perspective they've pursued other options they have acquired many other doses millions of doses from the other manufacturers and they place much faith also in the johnson and johnson one shot vaccine that was announced and which they hope very much to be adding to their arsenal to combat coded 19 here in germany we know that certain big cities have already said to people who are expecting an astronomical vaccine that in the short period of suspension that they would make up the shortfall with other vaccines. but as i say here in germany we

await to hear what the health minister will say about what this means this decision means that should come quite soon tony thanks very much indeed that still mccain talking to us from berlin about the european regulators who have just given a press conference with regards to the astra zeneca vaccine saying they regard it as a safe and effective vaccine now britain is warning of a significant reduction in vaccine supplies by the end of this month the health secretary says the vaccine rollout is still on track but deliverance have been slowed because of supply chain problems the government's previously expressed disappointment after the european union threatened to limit exports of covert 1000 vaccines to the u.k. ok let's take you back to our other top story that meeting between the u.s. and chinese top diplomat set to take place in just a few hours white house correspondent kimberly hawkers joining us again live from washington d.c.

kimberly thank you for your patience thanks for staying with us but you were talking us through what we could expect from this meeting which is going to be a fairly difficult one is not. difficult and unlikely to resolve a lot of the thorny issues that the united states is heading into this meeting with in terms of agenda items and human rights is really the top of the list but the subsections are numerous the crackdown on democracy in hong kong a big concern of the united states the persecution the attorney meant of chinese weekers weaker muslims and also the rise in aggression towards taiwan these are some of the issues that are expected to be discussed by the national security adviser as well as the secretary of state we know that going into this that the white house has told us this will be a very forthright conversation in order to try and manage what the united states sees as china's problematic behavior carry trade was

a key part of course of the breakdown essentially of relations between china and the trumpet ministration how much attention is going to be paid to that in these talks. well in many ways it's going to be used as a bit of leverage because of course we know that the united states is going to rather the chinese are going to this meeting with the united states with the hope that there can be a bit of a reset of relations now that there's been a change in administration no secret that donald trump's methods in terms of trying to resolve some of the differences between china and the united states were highly criticized that tit for tat trade war certainly ask elated and caused a number of issues between the 2 nations and of course we saw a lot of tariffs being put in place the chinese would like to see removed that hasn't happened yet under joe biden we know that there is an eagerness on the part of chinese for that to happen but the issue for the united states for the biden

ministration is to try and resolve some of these human rights issues with that in mind so there seems to be with respect to the biden ministration versus donald trump and agreement in the end state and some of those goals and sort of trying to make america 1st but certainly the sort of bluster that came along with it is something that the by the administration is not going to be participating in so there are going to be some very firm messages but i think what we can take away from this is that it will be done in a diplomatic way but again very forceful on the perspective of the united states in trying to resolve some of these issues and the other big thing we should take away from this is there are unlikely to be any major concessions coming out of this meeting as it really is the 1st face to face meeting for these officials sitting down to talk that's a reuters correspondent kimberly holcomb talking to us from washington d.c. you can really thank you. senior members of the taliban and afghanistan's government are meeting in moscow in an effort to restart stalled peace negotiations

russia the u.s. china and pakistan of cold on those taking part in the talks to discuss an immediate cease fire american troops to withdraw from afghanistan on may 1st but president biden says it won't be easy to meet that deadline or sell an. associate at the school of oriental and african studies she says the meeting is a necessary step to help end the conflict in afghanistan. i'll hold this that's that i think with the sentiment because afghanistan has been in this war for 40 years although 40 years the people who are in are all mainly people who have been involved throughout your guidance and killing people in congress things of unions in assassinations from aid to say they have to be made responsible for rape as the grouse forced it upon this patient as regional and global economics so all we appreciate anything he's

a means to end this conflict in progress reason the moscow. bend some think that it's to bring them together but they think and from moscow is still really at this into the voice of the afghan people who are crime victims on this who are going to get the war that has never been and exult far and mind you the 3 countries plus former united states russia and china. are not the only players at there is saudi there is on there and other countries in their clothes and or brother regions that have a stake and they have people in afghanistan they have proxies and those processes are responsible for this never ending wars so the complexity of the afghan conflict is like this that never ends and in reality it is thoughts by afghans that this is not owned by. president biden likened his russian counterpart to

a kilo vladimir putin has responded saying it takes one to know what they say is began one by been accused of ordering the poisoning of opposition leader alexina vali biden also said moscow will pay a price for election meddling on behalf of former president donald trump russia has recalled its ambassador from washington. tuns in is opposition is calling for a quick succession of power after the death of president john ma go fully official say the 61 year old suffered heart failure but opposition leaders suspect he was sick with covert 19 vice president assad. is set to become tanzania's 1st female leader. reports. thank you for the word go the last time john pomfret megaphone he was seen in public he was carrying out official duties and not wearing a mask not long into his 2nd term in office he suddenly vanished from public sight after 3 weeks of speculation came the announcement from vice president sami on

state television. where we lost our leader president of the republic of tanzania the owner john paul. he parted this life from heart complications in hospital in dar es salaam rumors had been swirling that mag of foully had sought treatment for covert 19 largely fed by opposition leader to lease to and kenyan media the government denied the reports and arrested at least 4 people who speculated about his health on social media. when you were told his government no one wears a mask including me it proves that there is no corona virus and god loves this nation president maggie foully was more than a coronavirus skeptic his government stop sharing data with the world health organization last year and declared tanzania covert free divine intervention the official tally still stands at $509.00 cases and $21.00 deaths all these months later he displayed

a disregard for health advice focusing on prayer and local remedies while also claiming the vaccines were dangerous this true condemnation from the w.h.o. and the roman catholic church. cova denial had turned into policy for a nation of 60000000 what we have that the ministry has no plans to receive vaccines for kind of a 1000 which are already in use in other countries. the w.h.o. has repeatedly asked the government to adopt preventative measures such as wearing face masks to start reporting cases and to share data foreign embassies began warning of a significant increase in the number of coded 1000 cases that could overwhelm tanzania's limited hospital capacity in late february maggie farley finally began to change his tone warming to the idea of wearing locally made face masks that was just days before a shocking press conference from his finance minister philip pungo which was called to address rumors that he had died of corona virus. tanzania has refused to join the kovacs program which has delivered millions of doses to $22.00 african

countries it will be up to some e.s.l. haasan to decide whether it remains an outlier when it comes to protecting its population and that of neighboring countries and al-jazeera. demonstrators including police officers have stormed several police stations in haiti's capital they freed 4 officers who've been arrested overnight alleged coup attempts last month so hot out reports. a common sight in haiti's capital port au prince. protesters angry at the political economic and health crisis gripping the nation. roadblocks and other disruptions have been an almost daily occurrence this year the sights of uniformed police joining the demonstrations is more in recent. months to hide their identities they stormed several police stations on wednesday setting one of them on fire and releasing full colleagues from police cells they'd been accused of an alleged coup attempt against president

of and then moyes last month a claim they do know. 'd that the come on we've been suffering for a long time we took our destiny and we're telling the haitian people that they are free today or never yet that's why we support the release of the police detained we're also here to tell the president he has to admit that he can no longer run this country according to the article $13042.00 his mandate is finished. the police officers belong to a group they formed called fountain 5 a noise that calls on the resignation of the national police general they're also demanding the release of the bodies of 5 officers killed in a botched raid on a new terrorist gang a week ago. we're blocking the roads we're dropping our weapons and we're not going to work at the police stations so we send a clear message to the director of police and the prime minister to go and get the bodies of the killed offices. haiti is the poorest country in the americas gang

kidnappings rapes and murders all rule on the rise and i'm arrest has been growing . for we cannot live in a society work violence is wreaking havoc and they are using this violence as a method against us. critics say the government does not provide the police with enough resources to tackle gang crime the opposition coalition democratic and pop in the sector is accuse president noise of colluding with g 9 a powerful gang alliance formed last year by a former police officer keep certain areas of the capital under control and accusation the president denies some wednesday a state of emergency was declared for one month in some areas of port au prince. and just. a statement more of the service is being held for south africa's zulu king who is sort of thing he was buried at a private ceremony earlier on thursday which was attended by close family members who died last week at the age of 72 not to be in hospital for weeks to treat

diabetes being in his presence was a rare privilege he always exuded warmth wisdom and love for the people of south africa and our entire continent. his majesty was a champion for development and progress. he was a great visionary and had deep inside us on how best to develop our country. and his people. he advocated for better health outcomes among his people leading from the front in the fight against hiv aids and tb and fundamental as at the memorial in goma. goodwills when a teen is memorial service has begun but in the palace grounds like sides zubari is to have gathered they say they're here to praise the king they feel see the oil and

they are upset that they're not part of proceedings within the palace grounds resumed arias have made their way to the front of the candidates police have prevented them from going through the race. and it wasn't part of the morning. of the ritual that they want to put an end to the number needed to praise him and to be an. example tell us what you're going to. put out and you have kept them that they're gathering on the side of the gates will continue to the rituals but many of them once a get through to the ballot. this is all to say that these are the top stories europe's madsen's regulator has ruled the astra zeneca vaccine is safe and effective the agency found no evidence of a higher risk of blood clots and people who.