if that worrying situation and people believe that if the foreign troops leave the country there will be a civil war that's on the side of. the mob over. much of the anger here is directed at the taliban which nato forces had hoped to beat into submission. instead the islamist group now controls large areas of the country. either hostile myname our demand to the taliban is to come and make peace with the afghans and government absolutely. but many here are also pointing the finger at nato troops who've been on afghan soil for almost 20 years. before troops came here we didn't have any problems with their lives if the u.s. military pulls out people will be able to unite again and see peace restored you know a. peace though looks alone way off afghanistan's security situation is dire many like teacher parvana as

a money now fear things will only get worse. if afghanistan at the crossroads where we can speak now to merriam sawfish she is an international relations advisor and experts on afghanistan thank you for your time at miss sofie you've had some time to digest the news what does that would draw of international troops before peace settlement has been reached with taliban mean for the afghan people and specifically the afghan women. the withdrawal of u.s. troops. surprisingly without any conditions is one that has instilled a clear amongst the people of afghanistan because it was rolled without a peace deal or even a comprehensive moving a forward on these talks would likely lead to increased violence and one president at levels across the country higher civilian casualties casualties amongst afghan national security forces which are already and a very alarming rate further erosion of the kabul government and political and

ethnic mentation across the country is what are some of the the scenarios that the that the people of afghanistan are fearing could an 8 from this withdraw without a deal and without any conditions with no strings attached now we understand secretary say to antony blinken is in afghanistan today trying almost to reassure the leadership and the people of afghanistan that the relationship is just changing what did she make of what he had to say were you reassured. well the relationship is certainly going to change however the reassurances from secretary of state. at the present moment doesn't come with any sort of concrete measures or concrete bearing ts we've already seen aid built civilian aid and financial support for the afghan national security forces which have declined over the last few years and they've already declined compared to last year and the national security forces

which are on the frontlines of the of not only the the fight against the insurgency but also on the front lines of the global war on terrorism really require the support and so we're not seeing anything concretely be to show us or give us a sure and that this new chapter is going to bring about. more positive or improved scenarios for the country as it stands now with the americans and the international community exiting afghanistan would you advocate for engaging with the tala by i think that the people of ghana stand something that we have been able to note and our various consultations with civil society organizations is the only path that they deem require to resolve these 4 decades of conflict so a political settlement sitting down continuing to talk is something that the people

of afghanistan would like to see happen however when when this happens without any pressure any condition any leverage is that they doubt whether. those talks could lead to a sustainable peace civil society organizations has continuously stated that they will only accept a peace process in afghanistan that reflects their aspirations one that reflects the dumb and if that doesn't happen then the peace process and the of intervention well agreement would not likely be accepted or and then of course not sustainable ram safiya international relations advisor and an expert on. the policy thank you very much greatly appreciated. let's get you caught up now on some of the other stories making headlines around the world. demonstrators have paid tribute to the hundreds of people killed during unrest following the in mars military takeover in february this comes after security forces arrested one of the main leaders of the

campaign against military rule and after the army opened fire on protesting health workers in mandalay. u.s. president biden's administration has announced a new round of sanctions against russia including the expulsion of 10 russian diplomats this is in response to alleged interference in last year's presidential election and the hacking of u.s. government agencies russia's foreign ministry meanwhile condemned these actions saying a response is inevitable. and germany and the u.s. are backing calls for russia to halt its troop buildup along the border with ukraine kiev says moscow and send thousands of soldiers to the frontier there are fears now that the 7 year conflict between russia and ukraine could flare up again . doctors without borders has declared brazil's response to the pen demick a humanitarian catastrophe made worse by political mismanagement brazil currently

has the world's highest number of daily deaths from covert 19 the country's health care system is overwhelmed with many intensive care units nearly full to capacity soaring infection rates sir being driven by the highly contagious p one virus variant the new strain is causing international concern earlier this week france suspended all flights to and from brazil in a bid to prevent a variance spread while millions of people in latin america's biggest country are struggling now to put food on the table as a covert 1000 alberich weeks havoc on the economy. fairly gomez starts her day early she gets up at around 4 am worried about having enough food for her 4 children to have breakfast. i wake up with the feeling of being in agony i jump out of bed in the 1st thing i do is stand guard i'm alive i look at my

children and think to myself today i'll bring home some food for them i leave the house early to fetch bread there are days when i can't manage to bring them any but they run out of the night. lives in a for valor of around 100000 people in sao paolo here and across brazil unemployment hit a record high last year this community association helps people living in marginalized areas to find work. we had an 84 percent increase in demand for employment after the government's imagine c. 8 ended and the number of people seeking our help tripled because so many people didn't have any support anymore and it. up. in december government aid of around $84.00 euros a month was cut making an already difficult situation for many much worse the number of people living on less than 36 years more than doubled many families

stopped cooking with gas and started using firewood 27000000 brazilians live in extreme poverty renate tardelli has been researching the fatherless for 20 years. thanks noel do you pull the data shows that the poorer you are the higher the rates of infection. the more on the periphery the person finds themselves the higher the death rate from coronavirus. brazil has added 2000000 more people to the marginalised areas in the past year it's not ethical that brazilians have to choose between going hungry or getting the virus it's an ethical. no way that you can use . for i don't live in the home of sylvia de hayes us she's a cook and the only one still to have a job but it's just one day a week she used to cook in other people's homes but they let her go for fear of

infection. that this pandemic is difficult that's going to leave all of us starving and that's apart from all the damage it does to your health look at this q we're all in the same boat. back of the melba. with a shortage of vaccines and hospitals overwhelmed it's hard to see a way forward for people in the lowest social groups who are trapped by both poverty and disease russian track and field athletes have been given the green light to compete at this summer's tokyo olympics as neutral athletes russian competitors who meet these strict anti doping criteria to participate will do so under a neutral flag and in supposedly neutral clothing russian athletics has been in crisis is 2015 when his federation was suspended for repeated state sponsored doping scandals. and sabrina's the good news now for you the

entire heritage berlin seeing has been ordered into isolation following 3 positive covert 1900 at the club head coach pal paul dar day his assistant coach and striker back you are quarantined at home after testing positive for the virus the rest of the squad and staff have been ordered to isolate together until april 28th they are only allowed to leave their common quarters for training and matches. well how can you capture the emotion and drama of a year like 2020 in a single photograph the judges of the world press photo awards have selected this one image that you see right here behind me they see tells the story of an unforgettable year it was taken by a danish photographer at the trees the power of the human touch. the many aspects

of the coronavirus pandemic top photographers around the world captured their impressions of exhausted caregivers people dying alone social distancing and loneliness. the winning photograph shows an 85 year old woman receiving her 1st hug after 5 months isolation and her son paulo nursing home through a plastic curtain which happens to resemble an angel's wings. she didn't is the jury viewed this photograph as one of the pandemics few positive images this picture suggests vulnerability loss grief and death but above all survival and. brazil has been especially hard hit by the pandemic 350000 people have already died there nursing homes were closed down for months to protect residents. and the split of a 2nd that we see the images we feel. how it must be good that all the persons get

a sense of. what unites us the jury looks through nearly 75000 images but disposable surgical mask even made its way into the winning photo in the nature category. like paintings next up is your business update with my colleague stay tuned for that unless you can at the top of the hour. the fate of against the coronavirus pandemic. has the rate of infection been developing what does the latest research say. information and context around a virus update. on t w. i knew you know years and years we can hear you and how the last 2

years german chancellor will bring you an angle a makeover as you've never had to have surprise yourself with what is possible who is magical really what moves and. who talks to people who follows her along the way i admire those and critics alike now as the world's most powerful woman shaping how they can diagnose the metals last stop. the. vaccines are turning the tide but they're not without risks especially for women they've been re cases of blood clotting even fatal ones leading some governments to slow down back to the nations we have now today show them to continue all the action rollout without astra zeneca but each delay puts more lives are brisk as the

corona virus spreads it's a balancing act between speed and caution in the fight against covert 19. the risk of dying from cold it is much higher than getting a blood clot from a vaccine but even more concerning is a new report from oxford university that shows catching the corona virus puts you at even more risk of a deadly blood clot in a moment we'll talk to a vaccine scientist at johns hopkins university 1st this report. astra zeneca. vaccine has hardly been out of the headlines since last december in till now it's been instrumental in the success of the u.k.'s vaccination program but from now on its use there will be restricted to those over 30 years of age there have been worries in the european union about its effectiveness and potential side. germany initially restricted its use to under 60 five's now berlin is recommending it

purely for over sixty's those worries were compounded by several cases of a rare thrombosis type following astra zeneca vaccinations some of them fatal. the european medicines agency in amsterdam felt it was time to take a stance on the job its director stressing that the benefits of the antiviral agent far outweigh any risks. this vaccine has proven to be highly effective if it prevents if severe to see some hospitalized patients and he is saving life so vaccination is extremely important in helping us in the fight against scope at 90 and we need to use that back scenes we have to protect us from the devastating effects scientists have been investigating the reports and circumstances of the throne both seize britain's medicines and health care regulator agency says 20000000 doses of the astra zeneca vaccine had been at ministered by the end of march with $79.00 cases of thrombosis later reported 19 of which were fatal

the cause is thought to be a rare immune reaction most of them presented some 2 weeks after inoculation there are no apparent risk groups such as age or sex several countries like germany france and canada have tightened restrictions on the use of astra zeneca as covert 19 vaccine others have suspended it totally waiting for the e.m.a.'s verdict it has now recommended the continued unrestricted use of the astra zeneca jab regardless of any rare cases of thrombosis. so mixed messages there about vaccine safety to impact this let's bring in coastal kolaches a vaccine scientist an infectious disease physician at johns hopkins university in baltimore maryland. so let's start with astra zeneca as as we heard that's been given for more than half the adults in britain and is credited with saving tens of thousands of lives i gladly take it but authorities here in germany and other

countries are blocking its use and offering no timely alternative isn't that in itself putting people's lives in danger. so when you have a pandemic that's out of control and we have let the curve it maintain pandemic then any facts then you have to weigh the risks and benefits of any available preventive such as a vaccine or treatment and for the astra zeneca vaccine it has been shown to have saved millions of lives already and so the the potential benefits might outweigh any risks now there are some very serious risks associated with it in very very rare circumstances and i think i think each country but also each individual needs to be able to weigh that risk benefit equation for themselves to decide whether or not they're willing to take that best

for the potential for the protection against the virus when you have a vaccine that's available and that's not being used people can die and that's something that each each government and each person needs to weigh and this isn't only a problem with astra zeneca we've now got johnson and johnson 6000000 immunized in the united states and yet it's on hold because 6 people may have had side effects isn't one in a 1000000 an acceptable risk level during times like these. so i think that the equation in the united states it's a little bit different because we vaccinated so many of our high risk individuals are ready and we have 2 other approved vaccines that are that are more available than johnson and johnson vaccine even is and i and i think where is europe has been gathering information about the astra zeneca vaccine for several weeks we are just starting to learn about any potential risks associated with johnson and johnson vaccine and so i think the pas is to gather that information to truly understand

what that risk is is it one in a 1000000 or is there something higher is it even associate is the class that we saw it with in those and fortunate women associated with it and so i think the. the pas is appropriate while we gather that information and make a decision about the risk benefits but i think in places where there is the virus is increasing in terms of the transmission and there is no alternative vaccine that it should be seriously considered to use this vaccine while bag data is being gathered. in the u.s. the calculus is a little bit different because we do have to upturn it in fact don't seem to have that same risk the strange thing though is that and this is what will get many people especially women worried about this is that those people affected by clotting were women in a certain age group and it's been a similar profile for astra zeneca as well so why is it being blocked for everyone

or everyone under 60 or so. i am that is probably due to a logistics and programatic issues but also because while we're gathering that information we need to understand better what that risk is and who truly is at risk while the majority of people who have been affected so far seem to be women there were men in europe who have had this unusual rare blood clot hammon and there was one man in the trial in the united states who had this and usual but clyde occur and so we need to gather that information and understand the process better and who truly is at risk to be able to. maybe target the vaccine to people who are at lower risk but you know it's interesting that you see it because there is a lot of adverse events from vaccines that seem to particularly affect women and especially women in their reproductive years and that's probably because our

hormones are different then in the premium post reproductive period and also from men and that may put us that let me rest at an advantage or a benefit but they may also put us at. some increased risk from the adverse events if you look at the anaphylaxis cases that are happening after the m.r.i. in a vaccines in the united states a vast majority of them are happening in women as well. so there's just there's a difference in the biology between men and women that we're just are you stand can go as far as saying that vector back seeings could be the problem in terms of the that's been seen exactly. for terms of adverse events in terms of clotting and or adverse events so each fact scene is going to have it it's. different adverse events he tried seem to have form has different

kinds of adverse events that happen and so for the better vaccines especially for astra zeneca potentially fatal for johnson and johnson as well it looks like clotting may be an increased risk factor. that we didn't see with the m r n a vaccines and in the united states over 100000000 people have now been vaccinated with at when added to m.r.i. in a vaccines without the same sort of signal that we've seen with the with the with the at with the at the various factions but this nest hasn't necessarily been seen with other ad know various facts scenes in the past so we need to better understand what is happening and i think that this pause allows scientists and researchers to really dig deep into each of these cases to better understand what's happening and also to understand the mechanisms a little bit better and it's been fantastic having you on the show explain to us

what all this means because a lot of johns hopkins university thank you very much for being on the show today. you very much take care whatever the risks vaccines are here to stay for now more on that from derek williams. will we only have to be vaccinated once or will we need regular booster shots. once again the straightforward answer is we don't know yet but a lot of experts do think it's very likely that even fully vaccinated people will need booster shots in the future there are a couple of different reasons why that might become necessary the 1st involves the fact that the vaccines we're using now have been approved for emergency use because they were safe and the vast majority of people have gotten them and also extremely effective at least in the short term but we still don't know how long that

effectiveness on average will last don't forget it's been under a year since the very 1st subjects and trials received their 1st shots but based on what we know about naturally acquired immunity to the disease and what we know about other coronaviruses the general expectation among immunologists appears to be that most vaccinated people will remain largely immune to cope at 19 for at least 6 months and likely retain at least some immunity for a year or 2 assuming the virus doesn't mutate faster than we think however nearly all the experts i've read now also say that down the line variants of sars tovey 2 will change enough that we'll have to modify current vaccines at some point so

the companies that make them are already in trials looking at possible ways to prolonging vaccine induced immunity and a lot of those trials will involve giving test subjects booster shots of tweets vaccines. from williams i've been fizzling thanks for watching stay safe and see your games for.

the future. are you ready for some great news i'm christine wonderland i am at the micro geo with the browning de wus africa the show that tackles the issues shaping up possibly now with more time to off on an in-depth look on all of the transduction talk to you what's making the hittites and what's behind the way on the streets to

give you an end of reporters on the inside. w. news africa every friday on g.w. . every journey begins with the 1st step and every language with the 1st word american eagle. rico is in germany to learn german and why not come with help. simple online on your mobile. d w e learning course nikos fake german for me to see. the faces. coming up today a preview of the meeting between the leaders of japan and the united states. should do for friday it comes in the backdrop of rising tensions with china how do the u.s. and japan plan to counter the threats plus. a shortage of vaccines. across

the country.