welcome to bbc news — i'm mike embley. our top stories: the eu's medical regulator remains "convinced" astrazeneca's vaccine is safe — despite more countries suspending roll— out of the covid jab. 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. and — israeli resarchers unveil the find of a lifetime — dozens of dead sea scroll fragments, that are shedding new light on the history of human—kind.

welcome to our viewers on pbs in america and around the globe in europe where covid deaths are rising regulators have repeated the advice that the risks of the disease are so grave that it wants all countries to carry on using the astra zeneca vaccine. but sweden and latvia are the latest to pause using it, over concerns about possible side—effects such blood clots. the european medicines agency has already said there is �*no indication�* that this vaccine could be the culprit. in france, prime minister jean castex has said he would be happy to take it once it's been "green lighted" that could come as soon as thursday when the full results of the investigation by the ema 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 i7 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—i9, 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. 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. (pres)let�*s bring you some live pictures now let's bring you some live pictures now from pyeongtaek in, south korea — where us secretary of defense, lloyd austin, is arriving at osan air base in south korea for meetings with his counterpart to discuss bilateral and global issues.

christopher hill was us assistant secretary of state for east asian and pacific affairs from 2005 to 2009 and a former ambassador to south korea. he's in new york. what are your expectations from these meetings? i think sequence is very important in diplomacy and the fact that they are sitting down, allies that have their own issues with china and certainly have to look out over north korea, think it has been very important and think it has been very importantand did think it has been very important and did make sure that we check our signals because this meeting coming up with the chinese in alaska is going to be very important and that's why it is very necessary

to sit down and consult and they think we are off to a very good start. they think we are off to a very good start-— good start. even “ust talking is good start. even 'ust talking is important. _ good start. even just talking is important. what - good start. even just talking is important. what do - good start. even just talking is important. what do you . is important. what do you expect in terms of actual results. there are a lot of issues right now with china and the us is not facing the alarm. many countries in europe have had these issues and there is concern about how china is behaving in its neighbourhood so there are nuances and differences of how countries look at this so i think it is very important to sit down and make sure we don't have any signals crossed we have a situation where we seem to be saying different things and in the case of north korea going initiative shopping and finding something better so again very

important how to read what north korea is doing and not doing at the moment and how significant is it that we're hearing more from the leader's sister? there was speculation a few months ago that she was being pulled back but she seems to be front and centre and sometimes they seem to prefer to have things come from her rather than the leader so we have to take those things that she says seriously and certainly the view of what the moody's and right now the north koreans are clearly in their usual feisty mood and they have no intention of backing off so all the more reason to be sitting down and figuring out what we're going to do about this. unprecedented thins to do about this. unprecedented things happened _ to do about this. unprecedented things happened during - to do about this. unprecedented things happened during mr - things happened during mr

trump's time but were not sure how much of that was progress. that is very true. you have to give him credit for trying i'm not sure that staying at the head of state level, i don't think he was the perfect person to negotiate so the idea of getting the north korean attention was very important but i'm not sure they made much progress on this in one of the problems was they could not follow this up with meetings so usually have a working level meetings nec that there is something that needs to be done in the head of state and the trump administration seems to have done that upside down with predictable results. thank you very much. thank you very much. 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 3000 deaths

were recorded in the country as brazil's health system struggles to fight the pandemic. the country's largest city sao paulo is particulalry affected. the area reported 679 deaths tuesday... while across the country nearly 84 thousand people became infected. a curfew is in effect in sao paulo to curb the spread of the virus in the city. cases are driven up by a more contagiuous variant. all of this comes as president bolsonaro appointed his fourth health minister since the start of the pandemic, and i asked independentjournalist michael fox what brazilians are hoping to expect from this new new health minister. it is definitely an improvement so it is a step up and as you said this man is the president of brazil's cardiology association and that is huge. he has supported science and vaccines, like you said so there are big expectations because that is really why the brazilian government now, the

brazilian government now, the brazilian people want to focus on this question of vaccines. there are many many questions. he said yesterday that he is going to defer to the president. he said hisjob is not the policies, so that is a little concerning but we'll see how things roll out in the coming weeks. the presidents policy seems to be that the risks are more severe than the risks are more severe than the risks to the pandemic is that still the case and what are the consequences of that? he has been saying that from the very beginning and a few weeks ago he was lashing out at governors again who are instituting lockdown some we have several cities that have instituted as great lockdown which is a bit of a shock because cities are not interested in doing this lockdown measure so he is keeping that same tone but he has lowered antagonism a little bit. we saw him last week

trying to expedite the purchase of vaccines. he is lowering the antagonism a little bit and focusing on this vaccination campaign. let's bring you some breaking news now....police in the us state of georgia are investigating shootings at three different spas on tuesday that left at least eight people dead. law enforcement officials say that 4 people were killed at a massage parlour in acworth, a suburb of atlanta, and four more at two spas in the state capital itself. police said the four atlanta victims were women local media say the suspect is a 21 —year—old man, who has been taken into custody. this is what the local police enforcement officer has to say about the shootings. the suspect was identified as robert aaron long, 21 years old. lives in unincorporated cherokee county. he is currently in custody. we have been communicating with them. we understand they did

a manoeuvre on him and took him into custody. as far as we know, without incident. so the suspect who we believe committed these crimes here today in cherokee county, is in custody in crisp county. and we certainly appreciate the media's assistance, the public�*s assistance, from crisp county and all the other law enforcement people that are here, helping with this incident. we are still gathering information. the suspect has been named as 21—year—old robert aaron long, who lives in cherokee county. he is now in custody in crisp county. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: realistic — attractive but artifical — the next breed of robots that could be indistinguishable from their human creators.

today we have closed the book on apartheid and that chapter... cheering and applause 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 was on the pedestal in the middle of the cabinet here. this was an international trophy and we understand now that the search for it has become an international search. above all, this was a chance

for the christian democratsl of the west, offering i reunification as quickly as possible, and that's. what the voters wanted. this is bbc world news, our main headline: the eu's medical regulator remains "convinced" astrazeneca's vaccine is safe — despite more countries suspending roll— out of the covid jab. brazil marks a record number of covid deaths — as medics in several cities call for a national lockdown. the united states is facing the highest number of migrants at its southern border with mexico for 20 years. that's according to homeland security secretary alejandro mayorkas. the growing crisis has meant thousands of unaccompanied children are being kept in government—run detention facilities that critics say are inhumane. three years ago president trump

faced outrage over the conditions inside border facilities holding children. journalists have so far been barred from visiting the detention centres. as of march 14, us customs and border patrol agents were housing 4,200 children in detention centres. that's a 31% jump from a week earlier. in that time, the number of children being kept over the three—day limit more than doubled. after 72 hours, children are supposed be taken to refugee shelters, which are better equipped, with play areas, classrooms and counselling services. let's speak to us immigration lawyer rebecca kitson who has works with immigrant families along the border and and unaccompanied children. can you give us a sense of what sort of age the children are and why they are there? in general, the primary age group of children that come to the border tend to be teenage

children. 70% of the kids who come to the border are teenagers. and typically their reasons for coming into the united states involve rampant u nited states involve ra m pa nt poverty united states involve rampant poverty and violence that we see, the primary source of these children is the northern triangle countries of el salvador, guatemala and honduras.— salvador, guatemala and honduras. m . ., , honduras. difficult conditions at home- _ honduras. difficult conditions at home. teenager _ honduras. difficult conditions at home. teenager covers - honduras. difficult conditions at home. teenager covers a l at home. teenager covers a broad spectrum. 15—18 perhaps? it is possible for them to travel unaccompanied but still pretty tough and to turn up in a country where you perhaps know nobody.— a country where you perhaps know nobody. absolutely. they are incredibly _ know nobody. absolutely. they are incredibly challenging - are incredibly challenging circumstances for anyone and even children who are 15—18 are still children and these journeys are very difficult even for adults so these children had been too often unspeakable challenges along these journeys, fighting cartels in mexico and lots of different horrors about the

way. different horrors about the wa . ~ . , different horrors about the way. what is the calculation by the parents — way. what is the calculation by the parents that _ way. what is the calculation by the parents that they - the parents that they themselves, the adults may not get through but the children probably will?— probably will? there was a chance at _ probably will? there was a chance at least _ probably will? there was a chance at least a _ probably will? there was a chance at least a better i probably will? there was a l chance at least a better life? is that how it works? yes. you know, parents will have to come to this decision, it is incredibly difficult decision. parents in these countries at the same as parents anywhere. if they reach the decision whether going to send their children on such a difficult journey it is really because they believe that they have no other choice and this is the only way that they can potentially save the life of their children so, you know, children being able to make it to the united states, there is still the title 42 restrictions in place because of the pandemic so children will be allowed in where families and single adults are not.- allowed in where families and single adults are not. what you sa to single adults are not. what you say to the _ single adults are not. what you say to the republican - single adults are not. what you| say to the republican argument which we heard from kevin mccarthy at the border in texas just the day, that this is the crisis of mr biden's making. he siml crisis of mr biden's making. he: simply should not have let the

men? this is an issue that we have been seen throughout successive administrations so apart from, you know, the 0bama administration dealt with surges along the border miss of the same thing under the trump administration and even under the most restrictive policies, evenin the most restrictive policies, even in light of family separation we saw a significant increase in may 2019, synthesis and long antecedent, deep—seated problem that we have seen in these countries, accelerated by the pandemic and national disasters in these countries. the push factors are incredibly strong but i don't think we can pinpoint two months of the new administration has been the sole reason these children are fleeing to the united states. 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. for years, 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. this will be costly to you? we are not expecting to rise prices and we want to remain price competitive. this will come out of the driver's income instead? 0ur expectation is that we can grow the business by treating drivers well and bringing drivers onto the platform, and also by growing with cities as they unlock. don't you think that workers want to know that they're going to get a minimum wage for the amount of hours that they are out trying to get work, notjust the amount of hours that they happen to be able to pick up a ride? ithink we... a driver in london will earn on average now £17 an hour, and a driver outside of london... but only if they pick up a ride?

so i'm a private hire driver in london, and actually, i wish they had done this a few years ago, but this is a tremendous victory for people in this country. it could have big implications for the gig economy. they are one of the biggest players in the gig economy and others will be looking closely at this and thinking, after six years of litigation, they had to give in to the inevitable and agree that their drivers were workers, so they will need to do the same. it's a discovery even indiana jones would be proud of. fragments of a biblical scroll and other relics have been found in desert caves in israel. the dozens of pieces of parchment were written in greek, withjust the name of god appearing in hebrew. they contain verses from the books of zechariah and nahum, from the hebrew bible. with more, here's david campanale. deep in thejudean desert, close to the dead sea are caves once used by second century jewish rebels. they'd gone into hiding fighting a failed revolt against roman rule. barely accessible except by abseiling down to them, thousands died here.

but hidden with them were biblical treasures the like of which israel has not seen in over half a century. that is until now. israeli archaeologists working to prevent caves in the area from being looted, filmed the moment of their discovery. wow! amazing, amazing one says, three lines, this is exciting. they'd found ancient verses from the books of the prophets zechariah and nahum in the hebrew bible. likely written down in the centuries either side of the birth of christ, the israeli authorities said the scriptures were of immeasurable worth for humanity. for the first time in over 60 years we have fragments of a biblical book that were discovered in our archaeological excavation. it's important to us because this is the first time when such fragments are found in an excavation and brought straight

here to our laboratory. the parchment had been written in greek. the language adopted after the conquest ofjudea by alexander the great. the name of god though exclusively appears in hebrew. written at a time when the dues were returning from babylonian captivity, zechariah writes of what's to come from the rebuilding of the temple and jerusalem to a coming messianic king. so the book of zechariah has two figures, our priest and a king who work together to bring about a new holy state. therefore it's a very important book which is quoted in the new testament. searches of the cliffs and caves in thejudean desert have yielded a treasure trove of finds over decades. the archaeologists involved say they hope to keep going with the hope of more discoveries to come. david campanale, bbc news.

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. with an eye to the future, 3d modeller, sculptor and designer petr chegodaev uses art to humanise robots. translation: i plan to make a 3d modelling centre, - where we developed artificial skin, eyes and teeth for our. hyperrealistic robots, in this rapidly developing market. this lab, in the far eastern russian city of vladivostok, is developing a prototype of a male humanoid robot called alexia. 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.

right now we supply robots to the government centresl in moscow and various - russian medical universities. there is also a large i and promising market in the united states, - where universities are also interested, and we have already signed some contracts. - some fear a time 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 console us with that very human of sayings, that imitation is indeed the sincerest form of flattery. mark lobel, bbc news. 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. 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 once again on thursday. now, as we look towards the end of the week, we have that high—pressure still out towards the west with the winds rotating.

they're going to start to come in from a northeasterly direction. you can see those blue colours just pushing in across parts of southern and eastern england, so a bit of a change 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.

you're watching 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 after a 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 worldwide. now it's time for panorama. tonight on panorama: the gold rush, as britain's health workers ran short of ppe... we were so scared of this virus. if there was no ppe then what? ..£12.5 billion worth of contracts were awarded, some to people with friends in high places. you were ten times more likely to be awarded a contract if you had been in that high priority lane than if you hadn't. big profits were there to be made. that's an awful lot of money.

yeah, it's a very large contract.