welcome to bbc news, my name is mike embley. our top stories: 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. myanmar�*s ambassador to london is locked out of his embassy, apparently because of his opposition to the military coup. indirect talks between washington and tehran continue in vienna. the us says it's prepared to remove sanctions, as both sides try to salvage the iran nuclear deal. president biden�*s administation says it's restoring almost a quarter of a million dollars of aid to the palestinains, which was slashed during donald trump's presidency. ordinary palestinians, not just refugees, ordinary palestinians, notjust refugees, often feel helplessly

caught up in international titles of power. now, they are hoping that this announcement is about more than money. it's about a fresh start with washington. and, a team of scientists says there's strong evidence of the existence of a new force of nature. european health ministers have failed to agree on common guidance for use of the astrazeneca vaccine. the eu's medical regulator has said blood clots should be listed as a �*very rare�* side effect of the shot, but the european medical agency stressed that the benefits of the vaccine outweigh the risks. in the uk, officials have done their own review, and now plan to offer alternatives to astrazeneca for people under the age of 30. our medical editor fergus walsh has the story. 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 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. chaw 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. they occupied my building. you know, i'm the ambassador of myanmar. and have you asked the foreign secretary, dominic raab, about this situation? yeah, we are waiting for their inspection. ambassador here since 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 be removed from power, but also one falling on deaf ears. this ostensibly his punishment for speaking out and perhaps a warning to others around the world. police were called following protests outside the embassy following reports is military attache had locked the ambassador and staff out of the building. it's the latest act by myanmar�*s ruthless military since their1 february

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 quite breathtaking in the 21st century. there have been more than 250,000 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 further information about the incident, are in touch with the myanmar regime, and hope for a calm and prompt resolution to the situation. mark lobel, bbc news. kyar win is the executive director of the burma human rights network based in london. he says it's time the uk government took action. this is totally unacceptable. i think, of course, we have to speak at some level to a civilised way to explain this military regime, that the vicious military regime to tell them that this not burma, this is london, this is uk. so we urge the uk government, to use every possible way that this is not the right thing to do. yes, because these actions are clearly disrespecting the ambassador but the host country and some kind of challenge is really to the uk. do you expect 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 that's not going to be business as usual, the way they are killing every day basis in burma and showing their ruthlessness and the same practice they are doing on our soil in uk, that's not going to be accepted. the us state department says america is prepared to remove sanctions on iran, in order to resume compliance with the iran nuclear deal. talks are taking place in vienna on rescuing the deal that was initially struck in 2015. former president donald trump pulled out of the deal in 2018. diplomats have said the aim is to reach an agreement within two months. dr assal rad is a senior research fellow at the national iranian american council. she says there is an impetus to want to come back to the deal. well, we already have a deal, right, so that's one thing to keep in mind is that,

aside from the united states, every other party to the 2015 jcpoa are still a party to the deal, including iran. and so that's why you see these direct talks with everyone except the united states. but, of course, without us co—operation the deal has been very, very difficult to sustain. so there is reason to be hopeful knowing that on both the iranian state under the remaining administration and now in the us under the biden administration there is an impetus to want to come back to the deal. yes. the state of iran's economy suggest they would like sanctions to be lifted. there are plenty out there, in terms of domestic politics, benefiting away from a kind of cold war with the united states and, with elections coming up, that could get complicated. that's why this window of opportunity is so important. elections are coming up injune and iran. under this administration, the remaining administration, they realistically admit patient on the talk with united states, diplomacy, and on this deal. this is the perfect of opportunity for the united, keeping in mind that how this negotiation goes,

how the us actually react to lifting sanctions will have an impact on the election itself. so we can't predict 100% what is going to happen an election in iran, and the same way you predicted anywhere else. in terms of having a diverse political opinion within iran, and there is a minority that would be against diplomacy, say the same thing in the united states, but there are strong majorities that show they actually do want a return to the deal. talking of the united states, whatever can be achieved is not necessarily, surely, an easy sell for mr biden back in washington. there are plenty and congress to agree with mr trump that it is a bad deal all round. well, in terms of the american populace, this deal is highly popular among trump and biden supporters. in a recent poll, 84% of biden voters supported direct negotiations with iran

supported it and 53% of trump voters supported the same thing. there is consensus that they do not want any more adventures in the middle east, we want to and this was, and we want to resolve this particular issue which the american population sees as a threat, through diplomatic channels. 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". our 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. 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. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: we find out about rap therapy, and how its helping uk school children.

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. 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. myanmar�*s ambassador to london is locked out of his embassy, apparently because of his opposition to the military coup. the us state department plans to give around $150 million to the palestinians, restoring some of the aid that was cut off by the trump administration. most of the funds will go to the un agency for palestinian refugees. the decision is part of a deliberate effort to repair us ties with the palestinians that all but collapsed under president trump. our middle east correspondent, yolande knell, reports. hanadi grew up on the streets in aida refugee camp.

now, she's responsible for repairing them. but three years ago, herjob at the un refugee agency got much harder, when the trump administration slashed aid. she's relieved the us is reversing course. everyone used to get such great and generous support coming from the us, and when we heard about this cut, it was a real shock for us, because many, many of the basic service were cut. thousands took to the streets in gaza to protest in 2018, fearing an end for support for unrwa meant and end to support for them as refugees. their fate is one of the key issues in the palestinians' conflict with israel. originally, unrwa was set up to take care of hundreds of thousands of palestinians displaced by the 19118 arab—israeli war. over 70 years later,

many of their descendants still live in camps. the agency provides all services for over 5.5 million people in the occupied west bank, gaza, and across the middle east. israel is its main critic. it believes aid given to unrwa would be better off given to other humanitarian organisations. the perpetuation of the dream of bringing the descendants refugees back to jaffa is what sustains this conflict, unrwa is part of the problem, not part of the solution. president biden�*s shown he's ready to drop parts of his predecessor's middle east policy, which palestinians saw as biased toward israel. but their leaders are having to act, too. they've called their first general election in 15 years. all of a sudden, out of the blue, it all became possible. and that happened, basically after biden was elected. and i feel that part of the pressure that is being applied to the palestinian

leadership today is the need for — to renew its political legitimacy. it's thought that the us could take further steps after the vote. ordinary palestinians, notjust refugees, often feel helplessly caught up in international tussles of power. now they're hoping that this announcement is about more than money, it's about a fresh start with washington. yolande knell, bbc news, bethlehem. let's talk for a moment about a scandal shaking up us politics. florida congessman 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. well, 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 asked him what the reaction among florida republicans is to this. top line republicans, people like ron de 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, 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. gary, talking about that phrase, �*fake news', it is one mr trump has used rather often, he has rather held back on matt gaetz, what do you make of that? well, there have been some rumblings suggesting maybe he wanted him to come to his defence, some of his advisors saying, 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 everything, regarding coronavirus and all that. so it is interesting that mr trump has stayed out of the fray. saying, idid saying, i did not discuss a pardon with him.

yeah, i think it is noticeable. 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 released and then they somehow manage 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 he is not as high—profile as he once was. let's get some of the day's other news. in minneapolis, at the murder trial of derek chauvin, a crucial piece of evidence has been retracted by the chief investigator in the case. the former police officer's defence team has claimed george floyd died from drugs he'd taken, not from derek chauvin kneeling on his neck, and that mr floyd had said he had "ate too many drugs. "now the chief investigator has

told the court he believes mr floyd actually said: "i ain't done no drugs". the british government has again suspended funding for the aid agency oxfam because fresh allegations of misconduct involving staff working in the democratic republic of the congo. two members of staff were suspended following allegations of bullying and sexual exploitation. oxfam says it has launched an investigation. people protesting against a far—right political rally have clashed with police in spain's capital, madrid. anti—facist demonstrators scuffled with riot police, throwing bricks and bottles while police charged to disperse the crowd. nearby, far—right supporters attended a vox political rally. local media say at least 13 people were injured. now, music as therapy is a pretty well established idea. so, why not rap music? one musician from south london, bhishma asare, known

as �*proph', is running workshops to help young people affected by mental health problems or who've been exposed to gang crime, drugs, alcohol abuse and violence. jamie moreland went to hear more. # my name is bhishma # ifounded rap therapy # becoming more creative by pushing out your energy # onto paper, with pen, helping the younger generation be creative again this is rap therapy, workshops teaching people how to express themselves through music. ultimately, what we want to do is strengthen their mental health and we want them to express themselves positively and prevent social tragedies. so, death, jail, mental health institutes... the sessions encourage children to rap about their lives and give them the confidence to perform. # i'm happy because of the way i smile # everybody knows i am a grown—up child # i rap my raps in front of you all... if you feel like something's deeply affecting you, you can rap about that. we talked about how you should be positive, notjust _ to ourselves, but -

towards others as well. bhishma decided to start the project after noticing links between mental health and crime in his community. there's people i know that have been stabbed, there's people i know who have lost their lives to knife crime. but ultimately, if you have an alternative form to express yourself, then maybe you might stay on the right path, maybe you might not fall into that lifestyle. some of our children, they might have a bit of behavioural challenges, but they come to rap therapy and it changes completely, because they've got something to look forward to, they've got someone that believes in them. so it changes the way they see themselves and their environment. # if you write what you feel on a page, anger, frustration, in a really cool way # without people thinking you're lame # then rap therapy is definitely the way. there is much more on all the news any time for you on the bbc website, also on our twitter feeds. bbc website, also on our twitterfeeds. thank bbc website, also on our twitter feeds. thank you very much 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 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 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 far north—west for thursday. so, quite a lot of rain around, the wind strengthening here. and thicker cloud along west—facing coasts of wales and south—west england will always bring the risk of the odd spot or two of light rain. sheltered eastern areas, the very 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, coldersunny 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 with the potential across southern england, maybe as far north as east anglia, seeing some rain. still subject to question, there, 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—305 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 myanmar�*s ambassador to the uk says his embassy in london has been taken over by the burmese military and he's been locked kyaw zwar minn, who opposed february's military takeover in myanmar, says he's been the victim of a kind of coup in the middle of london. indirect talks between washington and tehran have continued in vienna. the us state department has said america is prepared to remove sanctions on iran, in order to resume compliance with the 2015 iran nuclear deal. president trump pulled the us out of the agreement in 2018.

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