welcome to bbc news, my name's mike embley, our top stories: a decade of conflict in syria, we revisit aleppo and hear the testimony of those whose lives were torn apart by war. the eu's medical regulator remains convinced astrazeneca's vaccine is safe, despite more countries suspending roll—out of the covid jab. the benefits of the astrazeneca vaccine in preventing covid—19 with its associated risk of hospitalisation and death outweigh the risk of the side—effect. brazil marks a record number of covid deaths, as medics in several cities call for a national lockdown. in a world first, uber drivers in the uk will be classed

as workers, not self—employed, with big implications for global employment rights. hello to you. we start with harrowing testimony, from one community in syria, one of the many shattered by the conflict which started a decade ago this week. it began when tens of thousands took to the streets, calling for change. the government tried to crush the protests and the country descended into civil war. united nations estimates more than 250,000 people have died in the conflict, although the true number could be much higher. at least 6.2 million syrians have been forced from their homes, another 5.7 million have left the country. now, a decade on, after all the bloodshed, president bashar

al—assad is still in power. among the victims of the war are at least 25,000 children. thousands of schools have been attacked. in aleppo in 2013, iqra school was bombed by a fighterjet. some children were killed instantly, others later died of their injuries. a bbc team was filming nearby when the attack happened. cameraman darren conway has returned to aleppo, to meet survivors and relatives. we must warn you that darren�*s report has scenes of terrible injury and suffering which some viewers may find distressing. anniversaries are all about memories but, for 0mar, they are full of pain. mohammed assi's scars act as a constant reminder. and siam kambari will always be remembered by her father.

0mar, mohammed and siam, all went to iqra school, in the aleppo countryside. 0n the 26th of august, 2013, the syrian regime dropped an incendiary bomb on their school courtyard. 11 were killed. many more were left with horrific burns. nearby was a children's hospital. i was there filming for the bbc that day when the injured, with clothes and skin hanging off them, started to arrive. 0mar received burns to 65% of his body and has had 25 operations, so far. he is never without the discomfort of his injuries or the pain of his loss. here is 0mar arriving at the hospital. he was 17. and this is his younger

brother, mohammed. he is 15. this is 0mar�*s last memory of his little brother — the shot that i filmed of them walking into the hospital together. mohammed misto died eight days later. 0mar has left syria and is trying to move on with his life but what of his classmates left behind? this is mohammed assi. he suffered 85% burns.

mohammed lives in idlib but he dreams of leaving syria, too, so he can pursue the career he craves and get the surgery that he so desperately needs. for 24—year—old mohammed, the future is not bright. —— for 23—year—old mohammed, the future is not bright.

in a decade of conflict, almost 25,000 children have been killed and thousands of schools destroyed. the syrian regime denies targeting civilians. radwan is determined to make sure that his children get the education they deserve but imagine how hard it is for him to send his sons to school, when this happened to his daughter. siam was sat in her maths class in iqra school when the blast ripped through the window.

siam's injuries were so severe that she was rushed to hospital in turkey. her body was broken. her voice was weak but her message to the world that day was strong. siam died one month after begging the world to stop the suffering in syria. that was almost eight years ago now. no—one knows the risks of sending their children to school here more than siam's father.

the grief and loss in aleppo, that special report by darren conway, and we'll have more on the decade of syria's war, withjeremy bowen and quentin sommerville, in the days ahead. sweden and latvia are the latest eu member states to suspend use of the oxford—astrazeneca vaccine, over concerns about possible side—effects such blood clots. in france, where covid cases are soaring, prime ministerjean castex has said he would be happy to take the vaccine once it's proved to be safe. that could come as soon as thursday when the full results of an investigation by the european medical agency will be available. more details from our medical editor fergus walsh. this vaccine saves lives, of that there is no doubt. and yet in the middle

of a pandemic, with thousands dying every day in europe from covid... germany, france, italy, more than a dozen eu countries have temporarily suspended using the astrazeneca jab. why? the concern is blood clots. astrazeneca says there have been 37 incidents of blood clots in the uk and eu, but that is following 17 millionjabs. in germany, seven rare clots in the brain and three deaths have been recorded. the european medicines agency is investigating each case, but says the overall rate of clots is no higher than you would expect in the general population. at present, there is no indication that vaccination has caused these conditions. they have not come up in the clinical trials and they are not listed as known or expected side effects with this vaccine. germany's health ministry said it won't be responsible to keep using the astrazeneca vaccine

without a re—evaluation, but the eu safety regulator says the suspension is unnecessary. we are still firmly convinced that the benefits of the astrazeneca vaccine in preventing covid—19, with its associated risks of hospitalisation and death, outweigh the risk of these side effects. take up of covid vaccines here is among the highest in the world. and scientists hope public confidence will not be undermined. i think it's very important that people don't worry at the moment, i mean this, this is being sorted out, it's being looked into, but at the moment, there doesn't appear to be any signal that would make us feel concerned about risk of clotting. i would be much more worried about not being vaccinated than being vaccinated. the european medicines agency also publish its safety review on thursday. if it gives the astrazeneca jab the all clear, france has said

it will start reusing it immediately. but the fear is the pause may increase vaccine hesitancy, and that alone could cost lives. fergus walsh, bbc news. health authorities in brazil's largest city, sao paulo, are calling for the country's new health minister to impose a national lockdown as the country saw a record number of deaths due to coronavirus tuesday. nearly 3,000 deaths were recorded in the country as brazil's health system struggles to fight the pandemic. the largest city sao paulo is particulalry affected. the area reported 679 deaths tuesday while across the country nearly 84,000 people became infected. now all of this is taking place while the country's fourth health minister since the start of the pandemic, had his first day in office. marcelo queiroga is the president of the brazilian cardiology society. he has spoken in favour

of vaccinations and has asked brazilians to wear masks and wash their hands. but he said he would respect president jair bolsonaro�*s opposition to lockdowns. here's a little of what he told reporters during a news conference. translation: i am aware of the ureat translation: i am aware of the great responsibility _ translation: i am aware of the great responsibility that - translation: i am aware of the great responsibility that i - great responsibility that i have. that alone i wont to any magic and i wont solve the problems of public health that we have but i'm sure i'll have the help of the brazilians. it is necessary to combine the effort against the pandemic the preservation of economic activity. preservation of economic activi . . , preservation of economic activi. . �*, activity. that is brazil's new health minister, _ activity. that is brazil's new health minister, the - activity. that is brazil's new health minister, the fourth | health minister, the fourth since the start of the pandemic. joining me now from florianopolis is independent multimedia journalist michael fox. good to talk to you, i guess many people will be thinking this man may be an improvement on the last health minister who i think was an army officer, what are the expectations? i5 what are the expectations? i3 definitely an improvement. the man before was an army officer who had no health experience

before becoming health minister, so it is a step up. as you said this man is the president of brazil's cardiology association, that is huge. he has supported science, he has supported vaccines, like you said, so there are big expectations because that is really what the brazilian government and brazilian people want to focus on is this question of vaccines, at the same time there are still many questions. he said just today that he is going to defer to president montanaro's territories. we're going to see how things roll out in the weeks. —— bolsonaro. it how things roll out in the weeks. -- bolsonaro. it seems the attitude — weeks. -- bolsonaro. it seems the attitude is _ weeks. -- bolsonaro. it seems the attitude is that _ weeks. -- bolsonaro. it seems the attitude is that the - weeks. -- bolsonaro. it seems the attitude is that the risks i the attitude is that the risks from lockdown a more severe than the risks of the pandemic. is that all the case and one of the consequences of that? he has been _ the consequences of that? he: has been saying that since the very beginning and continues to

repeat it. a couple of months ago he was lashing out at governors, there are several cities and sao paulo that have instituted a strict lockdown as cases are spiking which is a bit of a shock as areas are not interested in doing this lockdown measure so he is keeping that same tone but he has lower the level of antagonism for the moment. we saw him with a mask last week signing a law to expedite the purchase of vaccines into effect, so he is lowering the antagonism a little bit and trying to focus on this vaccination campaign. 50 trying to focus on this vaccination campaign. so you exect vaccination campaign. so you expect from _ vaccination campaign. so you expect from this _ vaccination campaign. so you expect from this new - vaccination campaign. so you | expect from this new minister vaccination campaign. so you i expect from this new minister a little more push behind vaccinations, a little more pressure for people to wear masks but not actually much change. as far as we can tell, would brazilians brazilians generally feel about this? we know right — generally feel about this? - know right now, according to the latest polls, 49% of brazilians are very concerned about this current moment of spiking coronavirus around the

country particularly because of this p1 variant from the amazon which has two times the viral load and is spreading around the country. in the south, 80% of that current cases are that emma's variant so that is extremely concerning. we know that bolsonaro only has 18% of the population's support and 61% of the country are adamantly against bolsonaro and his policies around the pandemic, so i think he is seeing those figures and trying to shift a little bit. 0verall, bolsonaro is setting the tone and that's what this health minister is gonna come in to do. he would not have been brought on if he wasn't willing to follow the line of bolsonaro's direction. very interesting _ bolsonaro's direction. very interesting to _ bolsonaro's direction. very interesting to hear- bolsonaro's direction. very interesting to hear from i bolsonaro's direction. very l interesting to hear from you, thank you. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: realistic, attractive, but artificial. the next breed of robots which could be

indistinguishable from their human creators. hi chris today we have closed the book on apartheid, and that chapter. more than 3,000 subway passengers were affected. nausea, bleeding, headaches and a dimming of vision, all of this caused by an apparently organised attack. the trophy itself is on the pedestal in the middle of the cabinet here. this was an international trophy and we understand now the search for it has become an international search. above all, this was a triumph of the christian democrats i of the west, after- reunification as quickly as possible, and that's. what the voters wanted.

this is bbc news, the latest headlines: the bbc revisits aleppo, after a decade of conflict in syria, we hear the harrowing testimony of those whose lives were torn apart by war. the eu's medical regulator remains convinced astrazeneca's vaccine is safe, despite more countries suspending roll— out of the covid jab. police in the us state of georgia are investigating if three shootings at spas are connected. two people were killed at a massage parlour in a suburb of bento, and others

in the state capital of selves. police say the four atlanta women victims appeared to be asian. according to local media, a suspect caught on video surveillance has been arrested in connection with the first shooting.— first shooting. nothing is auoin first shooting. nothing is going to _ first shooting. nothing is going to be _ first shooting. nothing is going to be ruled - first shooting. nothing is going to be ruled out, i first shooting. nothing is i going to be ruled out, there will be a multiple homicide investigation, so wherever the evidence leads us, that is where we will go.- evidence leads us, that is where we will go. that is the latest from _ where we will go. that is the latest from the _ where we will go. that is the latest from the cherokee - where we will go. that is the . latest from the cherokee county sheriff �*s office. from wednesday more than 70,000 uber drivers across the uk will be classified as workers instead of being self employed. it's a far—reaching change , following a ruling in the uk supreme court, which gives the drivers the right to holiday pay, a pension and the minimum wage. the ruling could have huge implications for the so—called gig economy. 0ur transport correspondent caroline davies has the story. it was the company that shook up the system, but today the system seems to have caught up with uber. after last month's verdict

by the supreme court, it's announced that from tomorrow, all of its drivers will be classed as workers. foryears, politicians and unions have said that you have been playing fast and loose with employment rights. does this not prove that they were right all along? i think the situation for employment in the uk has been ambiguous for some time. you've taken advantage of those ambiguities, haven't you? we have worked as hard as we can to try and provide drivers with a good way of earning, the flexibility that they want and the protections that they have. but we can now go further than we've gone before because of the clarity that the supreme court ruling brings us. drivers will still be able to work when and where they want, and the company's minimum wage only applies once a driver accepts a ride. are passengers going to see their fares rise, because this will be

costly to you? we are not expecting to rise prices and we want to remain price competitive. so will this come out of the driver's income instead? where is that money going to come from? 0ur expectation is that we can grow the business by treating drivers well, bringing drivers onto the platform, and also by growing with cities as they unlock. i wish they had done this five few years ago, i wish they had listened then, but they are listening now, and this is a tremendous victory for people in this country. this decision could have big implications across the gig economy. uber is probably the most well—known and the biggest player in the gig economy and others will be looking closely at this and thinking, after six years of litigation, uber had to give in to the inevitable and agree that their drivers were workers, so we probably need to do the same. this move is a fundamental change, one which will be closely watched around the world.

caroline davies, bbc news. let's get some of the day's other news. a declassified us intelligence report has concluded that russia tried to undermine joe biden's campaign to become president. it says moscow's methods included undermining confidence in the voting system but that there was no evidence of vote tampering. some media reports suggest washington is expected to impose sanctions on moscow as soon as next week because of the allegations reports from niger say more than fifty people have been killed during attacks near the border with mali. in one incident, gunmen shot passengers on a bus before setting it alight. an islamist insurgency has spread across the sahel in recent years. tiger woods has left hospital and is recovering at home — three weeks after his car crash. the 45—year—old golfer broke both legs in the accident in california last month. 0n twitter woods thanked his medical team as well as his fans for their well wishes and assured everyone he was working on getting

stronger every day. after four years of donald trump's "america first" foreign policy, the biden administration says it wants to rebuild trust with traditional allies. in that spirit, president biden's secretary of state antony blinken and his secretary of defense lloyd austin visited japan and are now heading to south korea to discuss among other issues how to handle north korea's nuclear ambitions. mr blinken will also meet with his chinese counterpart in alaska on thursday on his way back to the united states. earlier i asked ankit panda, stanton senior fellow at the carnegie endowment for international peace what he expects from a biden administration and its handling of north korea. right now, the north koreans, like the biden administration, are focused inwards. the two countries are dealing with the pandemic

north koraa, leadership is clear they are worried about the economy, fixing their internal affairs first but that's not to say their nuclear weapons programmes don't remain a concern. meanwhile the united states is conducting a policy review, realy looking up and down at us north korea policy, and that review should be completed by the middle of next month, but certainly in seoul, secretary blinken and secretary austin will be discussing with south korean counterparts how the two countries can move forward in dealing with the north korean problem. mr blinken is very experienced. have you seen hints of what to expect? at the summit, there are on the top of the agenda will be the us—south korea alliance. after several years of acrimonious cost—sharing talks under the trump administration, the two sides have come to agree on a final figure of south korea's contributions to the us military presence and that expected to be announced and it will be a good moment for the two countries to really reset the alliance and put behind them a few years of bad blood, so to speak. apart from that, a focus on the

pandemic, north korea certainly and behind closed doors, certainly conversations about china and how south korea may or may not be in the coming years. are we one step closer to walking, talking robots indistinguishable from their human creators? designers in russia are using polymers and 3d printing to make human attributes on our next breed of androids that could be used in shopping centres, museums or care homes — notjust realistic — but attractive. mark lobel takes a look. widget with an eye to the future, 3d modelling and sculptor pyotr uses art to sculpture robots. i sculptor pyotr uses art to sculpture robots.- sculptor pyotr uses art to sculpture robots. i plan to make a modelling - sculpture robots. i plan to make a modelling centre | sculpture robots. i plan to - make a modelling centre where we make eyes, skin and teeth for our robots in this rapidly developing market. this for our robots in this rapidly developing market.- for our robots in this rapidly developing market. this lab in the far east and russian - the far east and russian city of vladivostok is developing a

prototype of a mail humanoid robot. mass production is scheduled to start by the end of the year, eventually these robots are intended to have a full body and legs and be able to move. : ,, ~ :, to move. translation: right now we su -l to move. translation: right now we snooty robots — to move. translation: right now we supply robots to _ to move. translation: right now we supply robots to the _ we supply robots to the government centres in moscow and various universities. there is also a large and promising market in the united states, and universities are also interested, and we've signed some contract.— interested, and we've signed some contract. some fear a time when robots _ some contract. some fear a time when robots overtake _ some contract. some fear a time when robots overtake humans. l when robots overtake humans. this combination of art and technology may hasten the day. right now, they are doing well to be getting haircuts, quite frankly, with so many of us humans in lockdown. but if one day the mask does slip, perhaps they will at least consult us with that very human of sayings, that imitation is indeed the sincerest form of flattery.

don't have nightmares, was as they say. that's it for now. hello. tuesday brought us a very mild day across the uk. in fact, for wales and scotland, it was the warmest day of the year so far, and widely, we had temperatures in the mid to high teens. this is how we ended the day in north somerset. the warmeest spot was in worchestershired where temperatures gotjust shy of 18 celsius. now, it won't be quite as mild as we look through the course of wednesday, but another largely dry settled day for many of us. there will be some spells of sunshine around on wednesday, still a few spots of showery rain, mainly for parts of eastern england.

high—pressure is dominating our weather at the moment, but we have got a couple of weather fronts that will be working their way south down the north sea over the next couple of days. so, for wednesday morning, then, we start off on a chilly note, some mist and some4 fog patches possible for parts of midlands, perhaps wales as well. through the day, the cloud will thicken bringing a few splashes of rain, particularly for parts of east anglia, the southeast, but there could be a few showers towards the east midlands as well. now, these northerly winds in the east are blowing over fairly cold sea surface temperatures, only about 6 celsius in the north sea at the moment. so where you are exposed to that wind coming off the chilly sea, temperatures only about 9—10 celsius around that east coast, but away from the east coast, most of us up to about 111—15 celsius. so, anotherfairly mild day. fast forward into thursday, a fairly similar story once again, quite cloudy skies, but there will be some

sunshine breaking through. and again, it's across parts of eastern england that we we'll have a few showers. those fairly cool northerly winds keeping temperatures here around 9—10 celsius, but elsewhere, 13—14 celsius you can see those blue colours just pushing in across parts as we look towards the end of the week, a change in wind direction draws that colder air in across really the southeastern third of the uk. but elsewhere, we have still got a fair amount of cloud, quite a lot of dry weather, we could see temperatures about 13 degrees for the likes of glasgow, but for norwich, stuck at only around about 8 celsius. and it's going to be a southeast—northwest split into the weekend too, where you are exposed to that northerly breeze, it's going to feel quite chilly for the likes of dover, for instance, but it's looking mild or towards the northwest with highs of around 11 celsius. bye for now.

this is bbc news, the headlines: the world health organisation has urged african governments not to lose faith in the astrazeneca vaccine, after more than a dozen european nations suspended theirjab roll—out, over a blood—clot, health scare. the eu's medical regulator says they remain convinced the vaccine is safe. health authorities in several of brazil's larger cities are calling for the country's new health minister to impose a national lockdown after the country reached a record number of deaths due to coronavirus. the country's largest city sao paulo has reported almost 700 deaths in the past 2a hours. the ride hailing service, uber, says its drivers in the uk will now be treated as workers, rather than self—employed contractors, after the supreme court ruled they were entitled to greater benefits. thejudgment is expected to have significant implications for employment rights, within the so—called gig economy.