this is bbc news. i'm kasia madera with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. regulators say the benefits of the astrazeneca covid vaccine outweigh the small risk of blood clots, but the uk will offer alternative jabs to young adults. this is a change in clinical advice for the under—30s. it will require some changes in the way that the national health service operationalises the vaccine roll—out programme. uk ministers announce a new fund to help hong kong citizens to re—settle, and activist nathan law is granted asylum in britain when i recognised i was wanted under_

when i recognised i was wanted under the — when i recognised i was wanted under the national security law, _ under the national security law, i_ under the national security law, i realised it was impossible for me to go back to hong _ impossible for me to go back to hong kong, so i stayed in london _ hong kong, so i stayed in london and applied for the asylum _ at the trial of the former police officer derek chauvin, the prosecution reverses part of its evidence over words uttered by george floyd as he lay pinned to the ground. myanmar�*s ambassador to london is locked out of his embassy, apparently because of his opposition to the military coup. and a team of scientists says there's strong evidence of the existence of a new force of nature. hello and welcome to the programme. eu health ministers have failed to agree on common guidance for use of the astrazeneca vaccine, after the bloc�*s medical regulator said blood clots should be listed as a �*very rare�* side effect of the shot.

however, the european medical agency stressed that the benefits of the vaccine outweigh the risks. in the uk, officials now plan to offer alternatives to astra zeneca for people under the age of 30, to astrazeneca for people under the age of 30, following their own review. our medical editor fergus walsh has more. turn up, get yourjab. the message remains the same. but in future, for the first time, the covid vaccine you receive will depend on your age. that's because evidence is emerging of a link between the oxford—astrazeneca vaccine and very rare blood clots. the uk regulator, the mhra, said up to the end of march, there have been 79 cases of rare clots with low platelets following a first dose of the astrazeneca vaccine. 19 people have died. that's out of 20 million who received the jab. that's one rare clot in every 250,000 vaccinations.

these monitoring systems are now detecting a potential side effect of the covid—i9 vaccine astrazeneca in an extremely small number of people. the evidence is firming up. the balance of benefits and known risks of the vaccine is still very favourable for the vast majority of people. very few adults under 30 have died from covid, so that changes the risk—benefit balance from getting a vaccine. it's thought younger adults are at higher risk from clots after the astrazeneca jab, about one in every 100,000 doses. so, they will be offered a different vaccine when their time comes. are you worried that this change of course might damage vaccine confidence, especially in the young? these are really carefully considered decisions, and it remains vitally important that people

who are called back for their second dose come for it, and it remains vitally important that all adults in the uk come forward for vaccination when they are offered it. there was no vaccine hesitancy in birmingham among those who were getting the astrazeneca jab. i think the positives outweigh the negatives so, for me, it wasn't really a question of if i was going to have it or not. well, you can get blood clots anytime, it doesn't have to be the vaccine. i'm not bothered at all. i'm very pleased i've had the second one. the european medicines agency has come to the same conclusion — there is a possible link between the astrazeneca vaccine and very rare blood clots, mostly in women under 60. several eu countries had already restricted the astrazeneca vaccine to older adults — france to those over 55, germany to those over 60. scientists who analyse risk say

this change of course should not put people off getting a vaccine. this vaccine is extraordinarily effective and it would be - tragic if this led to distrust| of this vaccine, even worse if it was for vaccinesi in general for, covid because it has been shown to be amazingly effective. _ it's saved thousands of lives already. - both conservatives and labour urged people to get vaccinated. the prime minister believes the lifting of restrictions should not be disrupted. i don't see any reason at this stage at allto think we need stage at all to think we need to deviate from the road map, and we are also very secure about our supply. it's thought covid vaccines have already prevented 6000 deaths in the uk, and they remain the key to ending lockdown and returning life to something like normal. 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 can do, and i think one of the most important things is to communicate frequently, notjust with the public, but with health care professionals who are going to be advising the public. there are going to be many detailed and nuanced questions that come up about this particular issue, and people will be wondering, "should i have the vaccine if i have this condition or that condition?" and so, our regulators and vaccine experts need to be assessing those issues and giving health professionals advice as soon as possible. secondly, we need to make sure that people are informed about all the risks and benefits of any vaccine with very good consent processes so they have

an opportunity to know what they want to know. of course, not everybody wants to know about serious risks, but there will be people who do. and those processes need to enable people to take the time to have a little discussion with their health professional if they need to, and of course, the information needs to be able to reach broad audiences with all sorts of levels of literacy, numeracy and health literacy. australia's federal government has asked the nation's medical and vaccine regulators to urgently look into findings of a possible link between the astrazeneca vaccine and rare blood—clotting issues. a huge proportion of australia's vaccination roll—out plan is reliant on the astrazeneca jab, which is currently the only locally produced—vaccine. locally produced vaccine. both sets of regulators are due to meet again on thursday, with the aim of providing advice to the country's meeting of state and federal leaders on friday.

the coutry�*s chief medical officer has acknowledged that the european medicines agency's findings could hurt confidence in the vaccine. in other news... the us state department says america is prepared to remove sanctions against tehran that are inconsistent with the iran nuclear deal. the two sides are holding indirect talks in vienna, as diplomats try to bring them back into compliance with the 2015 accord. the british prime minister says he's deeply concerned by further scenes of violence in northern ireland. crowds in a unionist area of belfast have set a hijacked bus on fire and attacked police with stones. the stormont assembly is set to be recalled tomorrow morning for an emergency debate following days of violence. king abdullah ofjordan has spoken for the first time about an alleged plot to destabilise the country, involving his half—brother prince hamza. in a statement, he said sedition had been nipped in the bud and the former crown prince was now under his "protection".

prince hamza earlier denied being part of any conspiracy, though he criticised corruption and misrule injordan. police in los angeles say excessive speed was the primary cause of a car crash involving tiger woods in february. they say the golfer was travelling at speeds of up to 87 miles an hour — that's1a0 kilometres an hour — at the time of the accident. the hong kong democracy activist nathan law says he has been granted asylum in britain after fleeing the territory following the introduction of sweeping chinese security laws. the 27—year—old former hong kong lawmaker and activist fled to the uk injuly following the passing of the national security legislation. nathan law wrote on twitter that he had been granted asylum after several interviews over a period of four months. separately, the uk government has announced a special fund to help the thousands of hong kong

citizens expected to move to britain using a special visa. ministers have promised a $59 million support package — that's £113 million — for immigrants who move to the uk from hong kong. 12 "welcome hubs" are being established to help provide access to housing, education and employment. the uk government has revealed 27,000 people have applied to come to britain. were demand to continue at this rate, arrivals would easily overtake official estimates. here's ministered robert jenrick on that support package. we think that most of those who choose to come to the uk will in fact be people who will contribute a great deal to the united kingdom, will be professionals or will set up businesses or will want to make a real success of theirtime here. but if they struggle, then we're here to support them, and that means local councils being there to provide them with housing, with the benefit system standing behind them and with all the support the state can offer to make sure no one gets

into difficult times. the hong kong democracy activist nathan law says he has been granted asylum in britain after fleeing the territory following the introduction of sweeping chinese security laws. he gave me his reaction to the news earlier. when i recognised that i am being wanted under the national security law, i realised that it's impossible for me to go back to hong kong, so i stayed in london and applied for the asylum application. and for now, i'm glad that i'm granted and i'm here to continue my efficacy work in safe environment. work in a safe environment. and so, the recognition that the national security law, you're wanted under it, just talk us through... realistically and logically, that means it's a very serious law and people are afraid of it in hong kong. yeah, under the national security law, if you say something that the chinese communist party doesn't like or they see it as breaching the national security — for

example, if you try to... ..about the protest, you are likely to be submitted under the law and you could face up to life imprisonment or be extradited back to china. so, this is a political charge. it's basically a speech crime. therefore, a lot of hong kong people feel like their freedom are being quashed under the law. and i wonder how this makes you feel given your position now, having been granted asylum in britain, and what this means for other people in hong kong who potentially would like to get that, and in light of what the uk government has promised, this £113 million uk support package for immigrants. so, we have been seeing protesters in hong kong fleeing out of the city. many of them actually don't have a bno passport like me, so they had to apply for asylum. and i

think i could set up a reference for the government to look up to these applications and try to facilitate them so that protesters in hong kong can be free from the threat of the chinese communist party and have a safe spot to thrive. nathan law speaking to me a little earlier. stay with us on bbc news. still to come... re—thinking the forces of physics. a team of scientists say there may be a new force ..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... regulators say the benefits of the astrazeneca covid vaccine outweigh the small risk of blood clots, but the uk is to offer alternative jabs to young adults. uk ministers announce a new fund to help hong kong

citizens to re—settle as the uk grants asylum to the activist nathan law. to the situation in myanmar now, and the country'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. the ambassador had previously called for the release of aung san suu kyi. lawyers representing myanmar�*s ousted civilian government have submitted evidence to the united nations that accuses the military of carrying out extrajudicial killings and torture since it took power in february. they say they have received hundreds of thousands of pieces of evidence, including on the deaths of prisoners in custody and the disproportionate use of force against peaceful protesters. robert volterra is a partner

at the firm representing myanmar�*s civilian government. i asked him what these documents contain. they contain very sad evidence of terrible, awful armed attacks on innocent civilians. it's quite breathtaking in the zist it's quite breathtaking in the 21st century. this archive has been collected by the parliamentary committee that is the civilian government and represents the state of myanmar. and there have been more than 250,000 communications to our law firm and to this parliamentary committee containing thousands and thousands of pieces of evidence, videos, written statements by e—mail, photographs showing exactly what you described — torture, adduction, judicial killing,

bodies with horrible things done to them and be done to them. by the military. 50. done to them and be done to them. by the military. so, the foreian them. by the military. so, the foreign minister— them. by the military. so, the foreign minister of— them. by the military. so, the foreign minister of myanmar, | them. by the military. so, the l foreign minister of myanmar, of the civilian government, will be making this presentation to the un security council on friday. what will she be asking for and realistically, what can be done given that this has been going on since the beginning of february and whatever happens with the military regime, they don't tend to listen to sanctions or they're not interested in internationalfriendships? international friendships? well, those are all excellent questions, and it's an evolving situation. we were engaged by the civilian government to advise and represent them and all these international law matters. you're actually right, the foreign minister, her excellency, has been invited by the security council of the united nations to make a presentation to them. i can't say precisely what she is going to say. she is certainly going

to say. she is certainly going to reiterate the point of evidence that are contained in this enormous archive, and i had some discussions at the instructions of the civilian government today with the relevant un human rights body of the human rights council, with which the civilian government is engaging in a dialogue and will be handing over copies of all this evidence for them and other un bodies and agencies involved in human rights and war crimes and so on to investigate and categorise and preserve, if nothing else. i imagine that consistent with policies that i've been seeing in the public domain and things in which my firm are being instructed, the foreign minister of myanmar, the civilian foreign minister, will be asking the united nations to remain proactive, to take more action than it is now. the chief prosecution investigator at the trial of a former us policeman over the death of george floyd, has

reversed part of his evidence. james reyerson initially accepted under cross—examination that mr floyd could be heard on footage from the scene saying "i ate too many drugs". but after viewing the clip again, he argued that mr floyd had actually said "i ain't done no drugs". here's james reyerson being cross examined. did you attempt to understand and hear what various parties were saying at various times? yes. , , ., ., ~ were saying at various times? yes. , ., ~ yes. did you ever hear mr floyd sa "1 yes. did you ever hear mr floyd say "i ate _ yes. did you ever hear mr floyd say "i ate too — yes. did you ever hear mr floyd say "i ate too many _ yes. did you ever hear mr floyd say "i ate too many drugs. - yes. did you ever hear mr floyd say "i ate too many drugs. " - say "i ate too many drugs. " no. i say "i ate too many drugs. " no. . �* ., say "i ate too many drugs. " no. ., �* ., ., , say "i ate too many drugs. " no-_ didl no. i ain't on no drugs! did ou no. i ain't on no drugs! did you hear— no. i ain't on no drugs! did you hear that? _ no. i ain't on no drugs! did you hear that? did - no. i ain't on no drugs! did you hear that? did it - no. i ain't on no drugs! didl you hear that? did it appear that mr floyd said he ate too many drugs?— to further explain the significance of the testimony,

here's our correspondent larry madowo, who is in minneapolis covering the trial. what is going on there is sergeant reyerson was the lead agent investigating this case. 50 agents of the bureau of criminal apprehension �*s. they are arguing over this small clip and the arrest video of george floyd the defence is trying to say george floyd said he ate too many drugs. to clean up he ate too many drugs. to clean up that testimony, sergeant reyerson said now here's george floyd saying "i ain't on no drugs," which directly contradicts what the defence was trying to say in the original clips. because the defence's entire argument is that george floyd died from a drug overdose and underlying health problems of. £31

drug overdose and underlying health problems of. of course, that's really. — health problems of. of course, that's really, really _ health problems of. of course, that's really, really important i that's really, really important point and extremely sensitive in what has been an incredibly harrowing case so far. absolutely. and the defence was having a good day trying to score points and poke holes in the testimony of the people we are today, especially people who were directly involved in the investigation. they started to lose points, that was one of them. the last being the jury heard today was from a chemist who tested drugs found in george floyd's var. —— car. six months later, when they did another investigation of the car, they found some drugs which were tested. they found extremely low levels of fe nta nyl a nd extremely low levels of fenta nyl and meth, extremely low levels of fentanyl and meth, which is part of the defence's case that he had drugs in his death. now, the last thing the jurors are todayis the last thing the jurors are

today is there was about 1% of fentanyl mac and 2.9% of meth, which is very low. pakistani rights groups have accused prime minister imran khan of being a "rape apologist" after he blamed a rise in sexual assault cases on how women dress. during a television interview, the former cricketer advised women to cover up to prevent temptation. mr khan added that there are "consequences" in any society where vulgarity is on the rise. an international team of scientists working on a project at the particle accelerator near chicago say they have found "strong evidence" for the existence of a new force of nature. they've discovered that sub—atomic particles don't behave in a way predicted by current theories of physics. the uk funders of the research say that science is "on the precipice of a new era of physics". 0ur science correspondent, pallab ghosh, has more.

the theories of modern physics have given scientists a new understanding of how the universe works. but the current ideas aren't able to solve some of the biggest scientific puzzles, such as how the universe as we know it came into existence. now, scientists at fermi lab, a particle accelerator just outside chicago, have got a result that might take us a big step forward in answering those questions. they've been accelerating particles inside this giant ring close to the speed of light, and they found that they might be behaving in a way that can't be explained by the current theory of physics at the subatomic level. we found that the interaction of a muon, which is a heavy electron with a magnetic field is not in agreement with our current best theory of physics, and clearly that's very exciting, because it potentially points to a future of new laws, new particles and new forces in physics which we haven't seen to date.

you have heard of electrons, well, there are similar particles called muons which are much heavier and spin like tops. in the experiment, they were made to wobble using magnets. the current theory suggests they should wobble at a certain rate — instead, they wobbled faster. this might be caused by a mystery force that in turn is created by another yet to be discovered particle. evidence for the fifth force has been growing. just two weeks ago, researchers at the large hadron collider just outside geneva had a similar result. the race is really on now to try and get one of these experiments to really get the proof that this really is something new. they will take more data and make more measurements and hopefully show evidence that these effects are real. these very early results aren't definitive yet, but they are generating a lot of excitement about the prospect of a giant leap forward in our understanding of the universe. pallab ghosh, bbc news.

i don't have any time to ask you questions. thanks for watching. bye—bye. hello there. it was a cold, frosty start on wednesday with some early sunshine, but the cloud arrived as we went through the day, and we closed out wednesday with quite a lot of cloud around acting like a blanket through the night. so, temperatures not falling quite as far. and in actual fact, the wind direction changing for thursday to more of a westerly, and that's going to drive something a little less cold across the country with the darker blues, the colder airjust being pushed out of the way for one day at least. also got some rain arriving with this area of low pressure. the wettest and the windiest of the weather always going to be into the far northwest for thursday. so, quite a lot of rain around, the wind strengthening here. thicker cloud along west facing coasts of wales and southwest england will always bring the risk of the odd spot or two of light rain. sheltered eastern areas faring

best in terms of drier, brighter weather, but not that much in the way of sunshine. a breezy day — the strongest of the winds always going to be where the heaviest of the rain is. 6—8 degrees generally under the rain, but we will see temperatures widely into double digits. slightly less cold for thursday afternoon. now, our weatherfront continues to push its way steadily south. that's where we'll see the cloud across england and wales, so temperatures to start off on friday holding up above freezing, but behind the cold front, the wind direction changing once again and those temperatures falling away. we will see a frost returning in sheltered rural areas, and, yes, with that northerly wind continuing to drive in more wintry showers across the far north of scotland. the frontal system sinks its way into central and southern england and wales. here, we mightjust see double figures, but behind it, drier, colder, sunny spells and scattered wintry showers are set to continue. now, as the cold front eases away and we move into saturday, this little fellow causing one or two problems. there's the potential

across southern england, maybe as far north as east anglia seeing some rain. still subject to question, so you'll need to keep watching the forecast. further north and west, it's a case of sunny spells and scattered wintry showers once again. it's going to be a cold day whether you're in the sunshine and wintry showers or whether you're under the cloud and rain. and that theme is set to continue for sunday as well. no signs of any significant warmth arriving over the next few days to come. take care.

this is bbc news. the headlines: the uk's medicines regulator, says the oxford astrazeneca vaccine is �*safe'. but under—30s will be offered an alternative covid jab — due to further evidence linking the jab to rare blood clots. the european medicines agency says blood clots should be listed as a very rare side effect. the british government says it will provide targeted help to the hundreds of thousands of hong kong citizens expected to move to the uk using a special visa. the chinese government has introduced a security law there which restricts longstanding democratic freedoms. at the murder trial of the former police officer, derek chauvin — the prosecution has reversed part of its evidence over the words uttered by george floyd. after initially accepting mr floyd had said "i ate too many drugs" — they now believe he actually said "i ain't done no drugs.

now on bbc news, it's hardtalk with stephen sackur.