>> welcome to live in paris, world news and analysis "france 24." from from -- the fourth vaccine to get a green light in brussels. international pressure for ethiopia to pull out of province . a special report with allegations of war crimes and a humanitarian crisis. aung san suu kyi is facing allegation she took $600,000 in illegal payments. these are the strongest charges

yet, and again, there is no evidence. just astern denial from her party. this is live from paris. -- ♪ >> thank you very much for being with us. we start with news of the cover 19 pandemic and what is being reported as a promising development for europe. that you approve the johnson & johnson vaccine. as well as being a single shot vaccine, it's stored at higher temperatures, making it easier to distribute. reporter: newly approved by the european union, the vaccine

produced by the pharmaceutical subsidiary of johnson & johnson, some scientists in the united states say it could prove to be a miracle solution as they help -- is i speed up their campaigns with just a single injection being effective. >> it marks another key step toward ensuring that all citizens can access safe and effective vaccinations as soon as possible. reporter: the other major -- major vantages it is far easier to store than the others on offer. while the vaccine will make logistics simpler for european governments, some are concerned about the effectiveness of the inoculation. the pfizer vaccine has proved to be 95% effective, followed closely by moderna at 94%. this one is 66% effecve, which still puts it ahead of the astrazeneca which is 60%.

>> it's really important for us to prevent severe cases that uld require ruscitation. as it stands, the effectiveness is over 80% effective against serious cases. the jensen vaccine has already begun being administered in the united states, speeding up the u.s. vaccination campaign by 20%. johnson & johnson has told the european union it is facing supply issues and may not deliver as much in the second quarter. mark: we have a virologist from the university of lancaster in the northwest of england, a place i know extremely well. always a pleasure to have you on our program. the ee you has approved the johnson & johnson vaccine. in your opinion, how big a development is this? >> mark, thank you very much for

having me. think a major challenge the ee you has been facing so far is supply of the vaccine. it is a good addition. as the report indicated, i think this is one of the vaccines that was tested by the time new variants were emerging. this is one of the few solutions that could be offered to countries like south africa where astrazeneca did not completely fail. mark: so it's easy to store and supply, and because of that this 66% effectiveness, for you that isn't a problem? >> i don't really think it is a problem. i think its efficacy against the

severe forms of the vaccine -- of the virus are high. you compare those single-dose efficacy compared tothers it isn't really any different. with this one, i think it is matching with the single-dose of other vaccines. mark: that sounds promising. it's just over a year since we first spoke on this program. the worry was the covid-19 pent -- becoming a pandemic. i think you were the first to say that on air anywhere. so being the first who predicted it, do you see now and end in sight? do you think we are now in the beginning of the end and is there a light at the end of that long tunnel? >> thank you for remembering that stement

i think what we have seen so far is that the overall discrepancies for the control, the testing, certainly out of the whole scenario we still have so much to do. for me, at this moment, the most important thing is that we can vaccinate the world in a relatively short time and do what we have to do. if it carries on evolving, that is problem that we probably don't have the solution for. mark: going back to the actual supply and availability of the vaccine, i know the united states is in the process of stockpiling to immunize america first. that's kind of a donald trump

phrase which joe biden has borrowed for this particular issue. is there more than ever now a danger that vaccines are becoming almost political tools? >> i think it is, and we do know this verse does not respect borders. putting it into perspective, a variant was first isolated in the u.k. back in october, and now about 65% of infections in france belong to this new variant. we should not expect that -- until the whole world is vaccinated we should not declare victory. most of the developing countries

have alrdy started vaccinating , still more than 100 countries in the world have not yet received a single dose, so we can't really claim a victory until the infection is cleared from the rest of the world. mark: i'll ask your opinion about the astrazeneca vcine, which certain states within europe have decided to stop using, denmark, norway, basically deciding after cases of patients who've had the vaccination having blood clots afterwards. the european medical agency saying basically there is no proof, and the benefits outweigh the possible risk. i'm just wondering where you stand on the astrazeneca issue. >> you can certainly ask that. at the moment we have 30 cases of blood clot on top of the 5 administered in that you.een

that means one in 166,000 people. that isn't really that different than regular blood clots that can be observed in healthy people. the political procedure we already have in place, if there'any concern, independent committees will sit. certainly something to watch in the coming days. mark: thanks for joining us from the university of lancaster in the northwest of england. a pleasure to speak to you. the johnson & johnson vaccine coming forth. next, disturbing trends in the covid-19 pandemic in brazil. for the past seven days, brazil recorded the world's highest covid-19 death toll.

270,000 deaths is the grand total so far. it's behind the united states in terms of human tragedy. >> long line snake around this sao paulo hospital, despite a partial lockdown imposed last week in brazil's biggest city, more than 80% of its icu beds are occupied. the situation seen in 25 of 27 state capitals. health officials are once again sounding the alarm. >> we are concerned about the situation in brazil. it provides a sober reminder of the strength of resurgence. areas hit hard by the virus in the past are still vulnerable to infection today. >> behind the recent surge, a new variant known as p1 which first became dominant in january d has since swept across the country. more contagious, preliminary

studies also suggest it's capable of re-infecting people who had previously recovered from covid-19. some cities and states have imposed localized restrictions. many hospitals are at a breaking point, but the brazilian president refuses to implement nationwide measures to help individuals. >> lockdown policies adopt in the past were only intended to give hospitals more time to review equipment. >> meanwhile, the government has come under fire for its sluggish vaccination campaign. only 4% of the population has received its first shot. the virus has killed more than 200-7000 people in brazil, the second highest death toll in the world after the u.s. mark: easy is -- ethiopia's

government face mounting pressure to withdraw troops from an northern region. criticism for the conduct of government troops. some saying ethnic cleansing is happening in parts of tigray. >> for the first time they're using the term ethnic cleansing. america's top diplomat adds there must be full accountability. >> we have forces from an adjoining region there. they need to come out. a force that will not abuse the human rights of people or commit actives -- acts of enic cleansing. that has to stop. >> ethiopia's national foreign

ministry has not responded to our request for comment. both ethiopia and eritrea have already dismissed previous accusations of atrocities. amnesty international and the united nations have alleged war crimes. and then there are the victims themselves. >> after three days, i crawled out of the forest where they left me by the main road and people found me and helped me. in our village, many women were raped, including a priest swipe. >> a military operation was launched last november against local government of tigray. thousands of displaced people are still crowding camps in ethiopia and neighboring sudan. the u.s. secretary of state also

demanded an independent investigation. mark: the myanmar government alleged that deposed leader aung san suu kyi had accepted illegal payments. saying she accepted $600,000 as well as 11 kilograms of gold. amnesty international is accusing the military of tactics against peaceful demonstrators. adding to the charges already leveled against him, the ousted leader aung san suu kyi now faces accusations of accepting illegal payments of $600,000 and more than 11 kilograms of gold while in government. they are the strongest allegations made by the military since it overthrew myanmar's top leaders on october 1. they all remain on house arrest. meanwhile protests against the

junta -- continued on thursday. >> we protest peacefully, but they crack down us violently. it's ok, the more the crackdown violently, the stronger the revolution is. we've decided we will continue and we will win. >> around 2000 have been detained. amnesty international accuses the army and said millie killings amounted to executions. a spokesman said on thursday security forces were disciplined and only used force when necessary, adding that the unrest should be of no concern to the international community, though condemnation from around the world continues to mount. mark: john kerry has been

talking to france 24. he spoke at length with the french president on wednesday. john kerry spoke to our green editor today. >> his job requires him not to sit around and wait for it, it's to help create it. it has now created something that addresses this challenge, and we will do it in a way that is not republican or democr or liberal or conservative. we will do it based on the science and on practical steps that can work for us as a country and for the world. we have to do better than we are doing today. can we? absolutely. can we do it in time? that's the test. we obviously feel a deep responsibility to try to make sure we do.

mark: my seat is booked to watch it. time for business. president biden has signed into law the first major piece of legislation of his presidency, that huge covid stimulus plan. how many zeros in a trillion? i don't know. >> it was brought forward so 24 hours after the house of representatives stated it gave the final green light, the american rescue plan is now law. it does include an extension of more generous employment benefits, money for state and local governments, school and vaccination programs, as well as $1400 stimulus checks, which could begin reaching taxpayers as early as this weekend.

listen to the president speaking in the oval office earlier. >> this historic legislation is about rebuilding the backbone of this country. it's to give the people who built this country a fighting chance. >> unemployment benefits that had been due to expire this we can cover 11 million people. they are not usually eligible for jobless benefits in the u.s. but have been put out of work by the pandemic. more than 20 million people in total are still depending on some form of unemployment benefits in the u.s.. 710,000 new claims were reported across the country, still more than three times the weekly average before the pandemic hit. it does suggest that rate of payoffs -- is slowing.

a strong session for wall street, the nasdaq closed up over 2.5%. shares of tesla rose nearly 5%. apple, facebook, and alphabet increasing by about 3%. major european indices close higher as well. stocks in paris and milan outperforming as the you -- european central bank the same. australia has unveiled a 775 million euro package to support its tourism industry. projected to last well into the follow this your. the government is hoping to encourage more domestic travel. >> a lifeline for australia's

struggling tourism industry. the governor announced a financial package to help boost local travel and keep the sector afloat until the return of foreign tourists. >> to keep people in their jobs, we've got to put planes in the air and tourists on the ground. >> in a bid to boost domestic tourism, include subsidies for australians, allowing them to travel at half price. another measure provides low-interest loans for small operators and tourism companies. last but not least, the plan includes financial support for the countries to biggest airlines, virgin australia and qantas airways. both companies have been forced to slash thousands of fights and ground most of their fleets, this was to help them stay in business until international

borders reopen. >> it's probably not going to happen until the end of october. the great thing about this package is it gets us ready. >> a central pillar of australia's economy, tourism generates more than 3% of gdp and employs around 5% of the country's workforce. with international borders close for the pasture, the sector has been relying on government support and a rise in domestic travel to return as it awaits the return of foreign visitors. >> strict custom controls have been due to begin in july on goods being imported from the european union into the u.k.. it will extend a lighter approach for six additional

months. flexibility is only one way. the ee has been forcing its new regulations on goods since the start of the year. france has been under a 6:00 p.m.-6:00 a.m. curfew since january in an effort to contain the spread of covid-19. this week parties in the eastern country -- it's left some accusing the government of discrimination against those who don't have daytime office hours. >> this bakery normally lifts it shutters that 3:30 a.m. where it can greet hungry workers from the factory next door. but the past week, it has been forced to change its opening time to 6:00 a.m. to comply with the national curfew. >> for workers in a neighboring

plant that start at 4:30 am, the new opening times have been hard to swallow. frustrated with the change, the unions have now decided to step in. meanwhile, the bakery says in the past week alone they've lost more than 100 customers a day. this local politician wants a solution to be found as soon as possible. they are watching the situation closely. they will offer alternatives in the coming week.

mark: they deserve all the help they can get. thank you very much, kate. let's bring another report before we leave you. paying tribute to a french archaeologist who revealed the face of the buddha to the rest of the western world. a chance to revisit the history in afghanistan, more than 20 years after the destruction to those statues. >> 15 breathtaking panoramic images. >>he project started back in 2016. >> it makes the details very

sharp. it brings back an emotional recollection. >> a cultural crossroads lying on the ancient silk road. two giant buddha statue sculpted into the cliffs themselves once served as a reminder of this golden age. >> it was revealed to the west in 1923 by a french archaeologist. he established a cultural bridge

that endures to this day. >> it was brought back to the museum of asian arts. we have a duty to remember them. >> 20 years after the taliban reduced the giant statues to rubble, artifacts these giant hands are all that's left to remind us of the past. >> it was the first assassination of the century. it was september 11 when the twin towers, 20 aspects of the number 11. >> since then, whether it be

timbuktu, cultural destruction has increasingly become a weapon of war. mark: the news continues live from paris. stay with us.

03/11/21 03/11/21 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from new york, this is democracy now! >> many of the covid deaths coulhave been avoided if there were a government who did their job. this country is disorganized and falling apart because it has no government. amy: as brazil's covid death toll soars, former brazilian president luiz inácio lula da