present a hoax is. crazy. this is. from 2 announcements one message the u.k. and the european union say there may be a link between the astra zeneca corona virus vaccine and blood clots the head of the european medicines agency and its british counterpart today both said clotting is a potential side effects though they continue to say the benefits of the vaccine still outweigh the risks also coming up tonight brazil records its highest ever daily

death toll from cope with 19 more than 4000 deaths within the last 24 hours why has the bomb proof so dead leaves. and life in prison turkey has found dozens of harsh sentences to former top ranking army officers accused of plotting the 2016 failed. plus would you volunteer to live in a cave for over a month in france more than a dozen people have signed up to do just that we'll find out why. viewers are joining us on p.b.s. in the united states and to all of you around the world welcome we start with a setback for the world's most widely used coronavirus vaccine the european medicines agency and its british counterpart today announced there is a possible link between the astra zeneca vaccine and blood clotting in the brain

the regulators described the condition as a very rare side effect but depending on where you live and depending on how old you are the advice tonight is not to take the astra zeneca. trying to put to rest any concerns 1st of all i want to start by stating that our safety committee the pharmacovigilance and risk assessment committee of the european medicines agency has confirmed that the benefits of the astra zeneca vaccine in preventing cope with 19 overall outweigh the risks of side effects. the european union's drug regulator the european medicines agency says after a safety assessment of the astra zeneca vaccine they are still encouraging people to get it that's despite finding a $169.00 cases of a rare brain blood clot after 34000000 doses the agency says while no clear link has been found they believe the clots are caused by any means response as

a result the regulator will be listing the clots as a rare side effect of the astra zeneca vaccine this vaccine has proven to be highly effective it preventive severe defeated hospitalized patients and it is saving lives vaccination is extremely important in helping us in the fight against cope at 19 and we need to use the back scenes we have to protect us from the devastating effects to miami it comes as u.k. authorities recommend that the astra zeneca vaccine should not be given to adults under 30 where possible but again they stress the continued use of the vaccine our review has reinforced the risk of this respect its side effect remains extremely small. the drug maker itself says the bottom line of the regulators findings is that the astra zeneca vaccine offers a high level of protection against coated 19. all right joining me now is dr chris

smith he is a viral a just he's also a presenter of the naked science is pod cast he joins me tonight from cambridge in england dr smith it's good to have you on the program so we know what the regulators think in the u.k. and the european union what does this mean for the continued vaccination rollout in the u.k. . but just to explain what's going on here we've got a virus corona virus which is not an equal opportunities virus it really varies in terms of its impact across the age spectrum so at the top end of the age spectrum the oldest people the impact is really significant the risk is really high if you catch the virus you have a very high likelihood of becoming severely on well you have a high likelihood relatively speaking of actually being so on while you might die you've got to counterbalance that of the other end of the age spectrum where people may not even know they've caught the virus it's really trivial as an infection goes

in that particular age group and if you have a vaccine which across that age range has a very very trivial side effect rate which this is a very trivial rate it's very very low indeed up against a very high risk at the top end of the age spectrum then that's a tiny number and it's a risk very much worth taking but where it gets difficult is down at the bottom end of the age spectrum where if you've got a risk of dying of coronavirus of perhaps 100000000 which is roughly what it is and you've got a drug or a vaccine which is producing a side effects that could cost you your life with a rate of about one in a 1000000 you're basically taking the same risk save a life as you are so potentially coronavirus so you can see what the difficulty is and that's why they've taken the step they have to say it's unsafe because relatively speaking it's very safe but at the same time in younger people where the risk is very very different they're taking this more cautionary approach it's not going to have a big impact on the vaccination in the u.k.

is it because as i understand it the under 30 age group has not begun being vaccinated in mass in the u.k. is that correct. that is absolutely right what the j.c. the this is the joint committee on vaccination and immunization they're an independent body who were last year they were tasked with the job of drawing up a priority pecking order who should be vaccinated in what order and they did that based really on who were the people most vulnerable here with the the highest risk individuals and the government have been working their way down that list which broadly follows age because age is the biggest risk factor and it means that most of the people who've received most of the vaccine so far are people over the age of 40 and in fact over the age of 50 but there are some exceptions there are a few people in the 20 to 29 year old group because included in the risk list are people who are caring for people who are at risk people who are health care workers

for example or people who are extremely clinically vulnerable themselves so there have been people who have had the vaccine and that's how we know that the risk of side effects in them remains also extremely low like it does in the older groups but because they have more to lose from having the vaccine than someone who is much older that's why they're taking this cautionary approach where you know that we're talking about public health. perception are very important here the astra zeneca coronavirus vaccine was designed and people had hoped that it would be the workhorse in the vaccination efforts across the globe do you think that has been dashed now by what we've seen today as well as in the past couple of weeks. i think it may have been dented but not dashed this remains a very powerful agent and a very powerful weapon in our fight against corona virus one has to remain cognizant of the fact that we're talking about really tiny risks indeed the rate at

which these sorts of blood clots we're talking about cerebral v. in the sinus from both is a very special and very rare form of blood clotting around the brain this happens at the rate of about 5 people in every 1000000 per year now we are picking up that side effect in these astra zeneca vaccine 80 people at the rate of about one in a 1000000 people so in fact your lower likelihood of having one of these blood clots if you have the vaccine than just a random person in the population so it really is very very trivial this impacts and i think what will happen now is that people will appraise the risk the message will settle and people will say well actually yes in fact the risk is very low but the risk over it remains ever present at least at the moment and we have a very powerful weapon our disposal here let's use it dr chris smith joining us tonight from cambridge in england dr smith we appreciate your time in your insights tonight thank you leisure. brazil's coded 19 crisis is getting worse by the day the country has reported

a record daily death toll bringing total deaths in the country to nearly 340000 the situation could get even worse brazil has just recorded its 1st confirmed case of another highly contagious corona virus very. more bad news for brazil over 4000 covert 1000 related deaths within 24 hours another sad record patients are dying inside and outside of hospital it's well they have to wait for treatment for scarce ventilators and frustration is growing. seeping through everything they had to properly prepared for the scenario from the beginning when the same thing wouldn't be happening again they should have prevented it from the beginning and it would have been better but now it's not your problem i just want to know. i've already lost relatives to the coronavirus i think the politicians should be more united. you know. for months president paul sonera

has opposed strict measures to curb the virus and slam state leaders who imposed tight restrictions even his own covert 1000 and texan did not change his approach to the pandemic with few nationwide measures in place p. one new variant of the virus emerged and was able to spread quickly in brazil making it the epicenter of the pandemic again where the p one has the potential to low effectiveness of some vaccine still needs to be determined brazil also just recorded its 1st confirmed case of the highly contagious corona virus variant 1st discovered in south africa yesterday his voice joel forecasts by some epidemy a logical institutes show that probably before july 1st brazil will surpass the half a 1000000 mark of covert 19 deaths rapidly approaching. the total number of deaths of the united states the country that had the highest absolute number of deaths. i

learned when jim morris assumed the almost obscene use brazil has been slow to vaccinate on wednesday the pan american health organization said the country needs access to more covert 1000 vaccines and called on other countries around the world to help. well i'm joined tonight by an italian pasternak intel palo she's a microbiologist and author and president of the question of science institute it's good to have you on the program i mean the numbers are really really bad right now in brazil what is driving the high number of deaths right now. thank you for having me on the show and really it's really worrisome here in brazil i think what drives the numbers it's a mixture effect has aids 1st of all the even ability of the federal government to implement count preventive measures from the start so we have

a denial is the government that has been denying the severity of the pandemic and the need to implement restriction measures so we haven't really done that in a good enough federal way in a national way and these has has really curbed all our individual efforts to try to implement mask where remain and social distancing because when the federal government themselves speaks against mosque where even social distancing it it makes the will of mayors and governors and state governors very difficult and only audit then we are very slow to vaccinate because we don't have access to that many vaccines and and again because the federal government really didn't do their homework and they didn't purchase vaccines in and out that would be required for our population mispresent you describe yourself on twitter as trying to promote science and rational thinking over nonsense is that how you would describe the government spend dimmick policy at the moment simply nonsense unfortunately

yes it's full of nonsense they government speaks against preventive measures that are used wold widen our comfort zone by science and promotes miracle cures a lot like hydroxy claro even make teen drugs that are no use to prevent all treat covert 19 so even as there is a lot of nonsense going on promoted by the federal government themselves how concerned are you tonight of bell the discovery of these cells african variant in brazil. it was bound to happen variance are bound to emerge in every everywhere and even with that even without travelling it's about evolutionary conversion so we have we are going to have lots of the saying you take actions arising in different parts of the world good stats part of the file to virus evolution so it's a bound to happen that and we knew that this was coming and the more the virus

circulates the law mutations we're going to see all right to tell you pasternak with the question of science institute himself hello mr president we appreciate your time and your insights and all the best to you when the folks in brazil thank you thank you so much we're here in germany chancellor angela merkel is calling for a short tough national walked on to slow a 3rd wave of covert 19 it's part of an effort to forge a more coherent strategy to address the crisis lately germany's state governors have taken differing approaches to pandemic rules some are backing continued shutdowns while others are taking steps to lift some restrictions preparing the tear is a big step towards a melody for this german restaurant owner but he remains cautious and she even with what we decided to do this today even if only a few people use it but then we get a feeling for how it works and what we have to pay attention to on tuesday the

german state of silence started easing lockdown measures as part of a model experiment. gyms cinemas and outdoor dining areas had restaurants reopened to customers who are able to provide a negative rapid coronavirus test presidents have mixed feelings about it. i'm looking forward to going out for coffee again somehow we have missed it in recent times it brings a bit of normality here lou i would have preferred to wait another week to open restaurants to see would really came out of the incidence values after. some experts are critical of the move particularly due to the fast spreading british variant of the virus. when the numbers are rising sharply and now it is by no means the right time to open up politicians are also calling for action is criticism of the country's handling of the crisis mounts germany's federal

system transfers considerable wealth already to the states including over key areas like health and rule enforcement. each of the 16 states can decide its own rules some have decided against curfews and are going ahead with reopening measures calls for a unified approach a growing. i'll be very honest if we do this together it will also have a very big effect otherwise once again there will be patchwork agreement that no one will understand that some states will open up and others will be forced to take other missions is germany struggles to contain a 3rd wave of the coronavirus it's still searching for a cohesive strategy. argues that down some of the other stories that are making headlines around the world in me and more local media reports that at least 11 civilians have been killed in the northwestern town of cali it's where some residents had used homemade hunting rifles in their attempts to resist the military

if the deaths are confirmed it will be one of the highest single day death tolls outside the country's 2 largest cities yang gone and mental. jordan's king abdullah has broken his silence over a public rift in the royal family and told the nation that the worst political crisis in decades is now over it was sparked by an alleged plot involving his half brother the king statement said that recent events and calls him shock pain and anger the european commission has hit out at an apparent sexist snub by turkey's president or one commission president or so from the law and was left standing without a chair yesterday. for talks with european council president charles we show the moment has been dubbed so for gates on social media. a turkish court has handed down life sentences to dozens of former soldiers for their involvement in the 2016 failed coup attempt against government

a total of 497 defendants had been on trial since 2017 for attempting to seize the military headquarters and it's expected to be one of the last mass trials linked to the failed coup. the 1st judgments were handed down just an hour into proceedings while many high ranking offices received life sentences some soldiers were cleared of all charges only to prosecutions lawyers commented publicly. even now with still getting wind of people who want to stage crews beats prosecution should be a lesson to them that the offenders have been given the hottest possible sentences under our legal framework if we still have the death penalty they would have been given that you don't want them in there with a heavy police presence at the court building in ankara with drones hovering above none of the relatives or law is that the accused wanted to be interviewed.

in the night of the 15th to the 16th of july 26th seen part of the military tried to overthrow the government of president red chip typo to one. anchor says u.s. based cleric. was behind the move. since the attempted coup tens of thousands of people have been arrested and more than 100000 civil servants dismissed dozens of cases still ongoing. the detailed written verdicts of wednesday's court proceedings are still being completed let's go now to our correspondent dorian jones he is in istanbul covering the story for us tonight good evening to you dorian you know we have seen a lot of these large scale trials following the 2016 coup or what was the focus of this one. well this trial focused on the presidential guard of which is in the leaks unit that has that is droll is to protect president and

they played a very key role in the failed coup attempt and this the hearings and this trial was all about that role they played taking over the general staff headquarters in ankara and also the public broadcaster where the declaration of a military takeover was announced by the presenter was forced at gunpoint to make that announcement very dramatic events and the trial focused mainly on those key events very severe sentences 6 receives the maximum penalty of aggravated life sentence meaning they will be in solitary confinement with no chance of parole 32 others receive life sentences and another 116 years in jail but significantly the many of the conscripts on trial most of them were acquitted and there has been great criticism the fact that conscripts have received very severe sentences that in previous trials and they were men who were just for said to be there without a choice during we understand that this is going to be the last mass trial in prosecution connected with the ones crackdown are we looking at court proceedings

winding down now. well this has been a massive legal procedure over nearly 400 cases have been held 2 and a half 1000 life sentences have been issued is something unprecedented legal proceedings nearly 300000 people have been detained in the ongoing crackdown and on top of the legal proceedings you also see major purges within the civil servants over 150000 people have lost their jobs and men and of become pariahs in society on able to find work and recently an academic was killed in a factory as if the only job he could find was to be removed from office so this has been a major ongoing crackdown but it does appear now that much of the proceedings are slowly starting to wind up and yet we know that people are still being arrested in connection with the night of that filled coup attempt is president or why is he using that failed coup still as an excuse to target his opponents.

will have to realize that there was a pretty much broad consensus across the political divide after the failed coup attempt people did sign off on to their belief that they yes it was a chain you in a coup where nearly 20150 people lost their lives but and also they bought into the fact that this islamic preacher fit to look good and who lives in the united states his followers were behind it but as we've seen this ongoing crackdown which shows no signs of ending in many ways every week we see more arrests and to taint has the growing charges that one is using this as a way of cramping down on people's to sent an opposition or did abuse dorian jones with the latest tonight from istanbul dorian thank you here's a look now at some of the other stories that we're following around the world greenland's main opposition party has won an early parliamentary election the left wing community of the people secured more than a 3rd of the vote victory will probably mean the end of an international mining

project the arctic island has substantial deposits of rare earth elements as well as uranium. nepal is experiencing its worst wildfires in almost a decade blazes have been raging across forest in the himalayas and monitoring site ring air quality in the capital katmandu as the worst in the world and international flights have been delayed as thick smoke blink it's the city. space x. has launched its falcon 9 rocket into space with 60 of its star elite satellites on board this flight is likely to be the last space x. mission before the crew to launch later this month crew 2 will take 4 astronauts to the international space station. amnesty international has told the w. news that it's reviewing its controversial decision to strip russian activists alexina volley of his prisoner of conscious status the designation was removed back in february amid accusations that involved he had advocated hatred in the past

activists have accused amnesty of falling for a criminal smear campaign the review was announced as the human rights group also said that not only is incarceration may be slowly killing him. and despite this review the head of amnesty is calling for in of all these immediate release amnesty international has initiated as it's been made public a process of review of the decisions he tweeted the made that the the outcome of that process really not being made public when there are when it's finished which should be anytime soon but the key is a penis is yet is independent of the idiosyncrasies of an organisation such as on the student to national and the fact is as an organisation we can been equally so and excited the moment as we would. 2 months ago even needs to be freed even needs to be freed immediately a needs to be protected against torture and he needs to receive medical care was

the head of amnesty international speaking with us earlier on march 14th 15 people in a cave in france this right here and they have not emerged since but don't worry they want to be there they're willing participants in an experiment researching the effects of isolation with no notion of time on the human body and mind. spending 40 days in a cave may seem extreme but so is the goal of this experiment to find out what happens when people live in an environment without any indication of the passage of time. or home to didn't pick and i have breakfast and then someone goes to have their meal or even their dinner and you ask yourself am i right but this notion of time doesn't exist any more i have said existed prior. without sunlight clocks and calendars to keep track of time project participants have observed that day's sports cycles as they call them do not go by at the same rate for everyone the

secret cycles are expanding for some and shortening for others some people are in their sick cycle while others are in there. the cycles are filled with activities like cooking. pedaling to keep the electricity running. or climbing deeper into the cave to fetch water for the group life underground isn't easy aside from the lack of sunlight the cave dwellers lived with the cold temperatures and high humidity before going to sleep they attach sensors that allow researchers above ground to monitor their vital signs it's not very comfortable but we'll get used to it. even experts don't know what to expect from the experiments. of us who will each of them look after themselves and live independently encountering others by chance and exchanging a few words or will they set up a community that we don't know. or fit in with. the experiment is

set to last until april 24th but volunteers are free to leith at any time. our here's a reminder of the top story that we're following this hour the european medicines agency has said that there is a possible link between us president has coronavirus vaccine and a rare blood clotting condition but it insists the seans been a visit outweigh the risks britain says it will now offer alternative jabs to adults under the age of 30. after a short break i'll be back to take you through the day tonight to trust to take the astra zeneca vaccine will be right back.

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learn english town from. the south it's simple mind on your mobile and free. t w z e learning course speak german maybe see. where the real power resides. i come from the looks of people in fact more than the beat in the future but not this democracy to me that's one reason why i'm passionate about people and the aspirations i make and sends. the tribune to put this right here in our name after the for the for any foreigner and i remember thinking at that time if the burning building for work anything could happen if people come together and unite for a full. 300 the news that often confronted her situation with more concrete means is the constant i see despite my chops to confront her as he does on policies and

development to put the spotlight on issues that matter more congo food security oppression nationalization. and not have going to cheat so much more needs to be john and i think people have to be a concrete solutions my name is a mcclatchy one and i walk into jail. it is a major blow to corona virus vaccination efforts today regulators in both the european union and the u.k. said there may be links between the astra zeneca vaccine and rare blood clots in the brain depending on where you live and how old you are the advice tonight is choose a different shot well tonight the astra zeneca back seemed it was designed to be easy inexpensive the world's vaccine more course instead safety worries maybe

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