a very warm welcome to bbc news with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. my name is mike embley. 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 rollout programme. myanmar�*s ambassador to london is locked out of his embassy, apparently because of his opposition to the military coup. 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.

and a team of scientists says there's strong evidence of the existence of a new force of nature. hello to you. 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 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—19 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 vaccines in generalfor, 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 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 6,000 deaths in the uk, and they remain the key to ending lockdown and returning life to something like normal. fergus walsh, bbc news. myanmar�*s ambassador to the uk has been removed from his post by the military attache in london. kyaw zwar minn was told he was no longer the representative of myanmar and locked out of the embassy. all staff were asked to leave and police were called to stop them re—entering the embassy. mark lobel reports. locked out of the embassy he headed, kyaw zwar minn claims

there has been a mini coup on the streets of london.- the streets of london. they occur>ied — the streets of london. they occur>ied my _ the streets of london. they occupied my building. - the streets of london. they occupied my building. and | the streets of london. they - occupied my building. and have ou occupied my building. and have you asked _ occupied my building. and have you asked the _ occupied my building. and have you asked the foreign - you asked the foreign secretary, dominic raab, about this situation? we secretary, dominic raab, about this situation?— this situation? we are waiting for their inspection. _ for their inspection. ambassador his is 2014, kyaw zwar minn won praise from britain's foreign secretary by calling for the release of myanmar�*s democratically elected leader aung san suu kyi who appointed him and for restraint, a more moderate call to arms than myanmar�*s former ambassador to the un's plea for the army to remove from power, but also one falling on deaf ears. this ostensibly his punishment for speaking out and possibly a warning to others around the world. police were called following protests around the embassy following reports is military attache had locked the ambassador and staff out of the building. it is the latest at five myanmar�*s

ruthless military since their february the first coup sparking protests across the country. with over 570 deaths, including dozens of children so far, the army's behaviour is now being documented by lawyers on behalf of the civilian government and being handed to the un. it’s government and being handed to the un. �* , government and being handed to the un. 3 , ., the un. it's quite breathtaking in the 21st _ the un. it's quite breathtaking in the 21st century _ the un. it's quite breathtaking in the 21st century there - the un. it's quite breathtaking in the 21st century there have l in the 21st century there have been more than 202,000 communications to our law firm and to the parliamentary committee, containing torture, abduction, extrajudicial killing, bodies with horrible things done to them and being done to them by the military. as the stand—off in london continued, its uk ambassador, at least until wednesday, sat in his car waiting to be let back in, having refused an earlier summons back to his country from the military after his earlier criticisms of them.

the uk foreign office say they're seeking file —— further information about the incident, in touch with the myanmar regime, and hope for a calm resolution to the situation. mark lobel, bbc news. kyaw winjoins me now from london. he is the executive director of the burma human rights network. good to talk to you. this effectively extends the military coup to london, doesn't it? what do you make of it? �* . ., , doesn't it? what do you make of it? ~ . . , , doesn't it? what do you make of it? a . , , , doesn't it? what do you make of it? ._ , it? actually, this is a slapping _ it? actually, this is a slapping on - it? actually, this is a slapping on our - it? actually, this is a| slapping on our face, it? actually, this is a i slapping on our face, in it? actually, this is a - slapping on our face, in the slapping on ourface, in the middle of london, and on our soil. this is totally unacceptable. i think of course we have to speak at some level to a civilised way to understand this military regime, that the vicious military regime to tell them that this is london, this is uk. so we urge the uk government, we use every

possible way that this is not the right thing to do. because these actions _ the right thing to do. because these actions are _ the right thing to do. because these actions are clearly - these actions are clearly disrespecting the ambassador but the host country and some kind of challenge is really to the uk. do you think the uk will actually take action? i have a confidence that it is time to show the muscle, right, because this is on our soil. i mean, something is the limit but they have crossed the limit so we have to tell them that it's not going to be business as usual, the way they are killing every day in burma and showing their ruthlessness and the same practice they are doing on our soil in uk, that is not going to be accepted. you make the point of what the military is doing every day in myanmar itself, it is very likely they think even over here they can act with impunity, isn't it? absolutely. and ou impunity, isn't it? absolutely. and you see — impunity, isn't it? absolutely. and you see the _ impunity, isn't it? absolutely. and you see the way - impunity, isn't it? absolutely. and you see the way they - impunity, isn't it? absolutely. | and you see the way they have kicked out, the same way they overthrew the democratically elected government in burma and the same way they... we have

some problems with the ambassador as well. we have been asking him to clearly declare, tojoin the been asking him to clearly declare, to join the ctm movement, but he has been trying to play both sides. but at this stage the most important thing is he is recognised as an ambassador here and should be protected by all the international law. you will know. — all the international law. you will know, of _ all the international law. you will know, of course, - all the international law. you will know, of course, lawyers representing the ousted civilian government have assembled evidence that they say shows the military is guilty of extrajudicial killings and torture since the coup, they are submitting that to the un to be considered by the un on thursday. what chance of meaningful action on that given what we have seen from china and russia on the security council? i china and russia on the security council? i think this is a situation, _ security council? i think this is a situation, situation. - is a situation, situation. burma is like syria. the situation is now, the military

is not going to stop the killing spree, even the seven years old child has been shot dead on herfather�*s lap. so the amount of brutality and cruelty is not going to stop soon. so the international community, today or tomorrow, has to do something. 0nly has to do something. only problem with china and russia here is they are very much one—sided. just looking at their own benefit. and only their own benefit. and only their interest. you know, russia just crazily looking to sell their weapons and china is blind to just looking back on looking at their interests. so every day people have been shot dead on the street every day and more than 600 people have already been killed. thousands of people have beenjailed. so the situation is not that easy inside burma, because burma, remember that burma is surrounded by the ethnic arms

group. and it is going to explode. it is going to full—blown civil war, it is going to happen in burma. kyaw win, executive director of the burma human rights network. thank you. the chief prosecution investigator at the trial of the former us policeman derek chauvin 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". no. j

did you hear that? yes, i did. did you hear that? yes, i did. did it appear— did you hear that? yes, i did. did it appear that _ did you hear that? yes, i did. did it appear that mr - did you hear that? yes, i did. did it appear that mr floyd i did it appear that mr floyd said "i ate too many drugs"? yes, it did. to further explain the significance of the testimony, here's our correspondent larry madowo, who is in minneapolis covering the trial. he was the lead investigator in this case. there were 15 agents of the bureau of apprehension, the investigative body here in the state of minnesota. they are arguing over this small clip in the arrest video of george floyd that defence is trying to say that defence is trying to say that george floyd tells the officers arresting him that he ate too many drugs. the prosecution came back to redirect and clean up that testimony and they got sergeant ray is on to say that with the proper context what he now his george floyd saying is "a ain't you know drugs", which directly contradicts what the defence was trying to say in the original clip. the defence was mcintyre argument is that george floyd died from a drug

overdose and underlying health problems. 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 of nature in the world. 25 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. welcome back. very glad to have you with us on bbc news. 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. myanmar�*s ambassador to london is locked out of his embassy, apparently because of his opposition to the military coup. in brazil, a more contagious variant of the virus drives a new surge in cases. hospitals are overcrowded and the health system

is on the brink of collapse in many areas. more than 330,000 people have died with covid in brazil — a number exceeded only by the united states. 0ur science editor david shukman has more details. even at night, the graveyards in brazil are busy, so huge are the losses from covid. and although the rate of deaths, given the size of the population, is not quite as bad as in the uk or italy, things are getting worse. at most hospitals, the beds are full, and people know that it's not even worth trying to get one. we are dealing with the lack of supplies and lack of beds, intensive care beds. so we are in full capacity, in any moment we will have this collapse. it's the president, jair bolsonaro, who is getting the blame.

right from the start, he's played down the virus, and he keeps blocking local authorities from taking any action, so the disease is now out of control. and the big worry is a new variant, known as p1, which has now spread fast. the result is this depressing picture of the rapid rise in the number of coronavirus deaths in brazil, with more than 4,000 in the last 24 hours. behind much of this is that p1 variant, which, compared to others, is more transmissible and it seems to affect more younger people, though it is thought that the vaccines should still be effective against it. in any event, the variant has spread to most of south america, including uruguay, peru and bolivia, which has just closed its border with brazil. and it's got further — british columbia is dealing with hundreds of cases, and there are far smaller numbers as far afield as japan, turkey, the uk and many other countries.

this nuclear reaction out of control, like, is the way i define brazil now, it's a biological fukushima. we are basically generating variants that can spread not only throughout brazil and south america, but can spread throughout the planet. and although vaccines are being given in brazil, they've reached only 8% of people. and that matters, even to countries that have done far better. if we continue to vaccinate only certain people in certain countries while allowing the virus to continue to spread unchecked in other parts of the world, the new variants will emerge in these parts of the world, against which our current vaccines and treatments may no longer work. we're not in that position just now, but it's the future. the fear is that when brazil or any country fails to bring infections down, the more chances there are for the virus to mutate, so the vaccine producers are already having to think ahead.

david shukman, bbc news. let's talk about a scandal shaking up us politics now. florida congressman matt gaetz — an unwavering supporter of former president trump — is being investigated by the department ofjustice for allegedly having a sexual relationship with a 17—year—old girl and paying for her to cross state lines. the new york times has also reported that mr gaetz asked the trump white house for a blanket pardon for any crimes he may have committed. earlier today, mr trump came out denying the congressman had asked him fora pardon, in one of his shortest statements yet. he also said that it must �*be remembered that he has totally denied the accusations against him." matt gaetz denies all allegations against him. gary fineout is a reporter with politico, in florida, who has covered matt gatez for many years. i know you know matt gaetz and florida. there is a sense that he does not have that many friends or support, even mr trump's statement seems quite warm. how is this playing out in florida? topline

in florida ? topline republicans, in florida? topline republicans, people like rhonda santos, who is friends with matt gaetz and was an ally of his, he is kind of staying out of it, as have other top republicans like senator marco rubio. but when i have had conversations with people in mr gaetz was a congressional district, in the western part of our state, showing the border with the state of alabama, there are a lot of people who are either flat out not believing it, they think it is �*fake news', to use that expression, orsaying is �*fake news', to use that expression, or saying there are not enough details, so for now we will hope — we will wait and see. you know, part of it is this is all kind of unwinding in the time of great polarisation in this nation at a time when there are certain voters who do not trust the media. there is a bit of that going on right now.- going on right now. talking about that _ going on right now. talking about that phrase, - going on right now. talking about that phrase, 'fake i going on right now. talking i

about that phrase, 'fake news', it is one mr trump has used rather often, he has held back on matt gaetz, what do you make of that? ~ ., , of that? well, there have been some people — of that? well, there have been i some people suggesting maybe he wanted him to come to his defence, some of his advises saying, may be, no, you shouldn't do that. he has been a tireless defender of mr trump. time and time again he spoke out against the impeachment, he has sided with him on anything regarding coronavirus and all that. so it is interesting that mr trump has stayed out of the fray. yeah, i think it is noticed. a lot of topline republicans are kind of in a wait and see moment, in which they are not all rushing to his defence. what does that mean, i don't know. the thing is, we have had

a lot of scandals with politicians in this country of the years where there is a lot of media attention, there is a lot of information that is really stand then they somehow managed to hang on. i think we have seen that with a couple of other governors here in this country and other politicians, so, i mean, you know, clearly matt gaetz has come up with a strategy, he is going to deny everything, and he is continuing to keep somewhat of a public profile, even if it is not as high—profile as he once was. gary, thank you very much for that. 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 subatomic particles don't behave in a way predicted by current theories of physics. the uk funders of the research say 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 acceleratorjust 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've found 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've 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. scientists believe that there are four fundamental forces of nature — one for gravity, another for electricity and two nuclear forces which control the behaviour of atoms. together, they explain the way the world works, but in recent years, astronomers began noticing things in space that can't be explained by the four forces, such as galaxies spinning faster than they should. and they can't explain why the stars and planets and everything on them, including us, exist at all. the new result suggests there might be a fifth force, which could explain some of these mysteries. i think it's quite mind—boggling, and they have the potential to turn

physics on its head. we have a number of mysteries that remain unsolved, and this could give us the key answers to solve these mysteries. 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. 0n on that bombshell, we have to go. much more news on the bbc website and our twitter feed is. thank you for watching.

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 are not falling quite as far. and in actual fact, the wind direction changing to thursday do more of a westerly, and that's going to dry something a little less cold across the country with the darker blues, the cold air, just 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 windiest of the weather always going to be the fire north—west the thursday. ——in the far north—west for thursday. south—west england will always bring the odd spot

or two of light rain. sheltered eastern areas, the best chance for drier, brighter weather. a busy day, the strongest of the winds i was going to be where the heaviest of the rain is. 6-8 the heaviest of the rain is. 6—8 generally underthe the heaviest of the rain is. 6—8 generally under the rain but we will see temperatures widely into double digits, likely less cold than thursday afternoon. 0ur weather front continues to push its way steadily south, that is where we will see the cloud across england and wales, so temperatures to start off on friday holding up above freezing, but i am the cold front, the wind direction changing once again in this temperatures following away. we will see a frost returning in sheltered, ruralareas, will see a frost returning in sheltered, rural areas, and, yes, with that northerly wind continuing to dry in more wintry showers across the far north of scotland. the frontal system sinks its way into central and southern ranges and wales here we mayjust be double figures but behind it, drier, coldersunny spells double figures but behind it, drier, colder sunny spells and wintry showers are set to continue. as the cold front is is away and we move into

saturday, this little fellow causing one or two problems with the potential across southern england, maybe as far north as east anglia seeing some rain. still subject to question. further north, some scattered wintry showers once again. it will be cold, whether you are in the sunshine or 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 is saying the oxford astrazeneca but under—30s will now be offered an alternative covid jab because of more evidence linking the jab to rare blood clots. the european medicines agency has said any blood clots should be listed as a very rare side effect. myanmar�*s ambassador to the uk says his embassy in london has been taken over by the burmese military and he's been locked out. kyaw zwar minn, who opposed the military takeover in his country in february, described it as a kind of coup in the middle of london. in minneapolis, at the murder trial of 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."

it has just