anchor: you are watching france 24. i am julia kim. italy announces tough new restrictions for most of the country after a fresh surge in coronavirus cases. rome and milan the latest cities to be declared red zones. the benefits outweigh the risks. that is the message from leading health bodies on concerns over the astrazeneca vaccine. it comes as a growing number of countries suspend their rollout of the jab. standing up to china. the united states, australia,

japan, and india hold their first joint summit to counter beijing's influence in the indus pacific -- indo pacific region. ♪ we begin in italy, where most of the country is headed for a partial lockdown from lunday -- from monday amid a fresh wave of infections fueled by new variance. rome, milan, and surrounding regions have been designated red zones, red being the maximum level in the country's system of covid restrictions. as mario reports, schools, restaurants, shops, and museums are expected to close from monday. mario: one year ago, italy was at the center of the coronavirus outbreak. now, a weary public is set to go back under a partial lockdown.

most schools, restaurants, shops, and museums are being forced to shut down as of monday, with rome, milan, and more than half of the nation's population living in so-called red zones. prime minister mario draghi said wave of covid-19 cases, with infections up 10% this week from last week. mr. draghi: on the basis of scientific evidence, the government has today adopted restrictive measures we have judged to be appropriate and proportionate. these measures are necessary to avoid a deterioration that would make even more stringent measures inevitable. mario: the new measures mean residents must stay home except for work, health, or emergency reasons. draghi assured italians the national vaccination campaign would forge ahead, dispelng health concerns related to the astrazeneca shot, as a growing

number of countries have faulted its use over worries about blood clots. the town of frosione has been under a full lockdown since the start of the week. residents are at the end of their rope. >> we are tired and demoralized. we cannot work. we do not have anything. >> i will do what they say, but i am not happy about it. mario: on top of the reinforced measures, the government has announced a nationwide log down for easter weekend, from april 3 through april 5. non-essential shops will be shuttered across the country, and the majority of italians will have to stay at home. julia: the world health organization insists there is no reason to stop using the astrazeneca vaccine for the concerns it was potentially linked to blood clots. that opinion echoed by the european medicines agency, which says its benefits outweigh the risks. thailand has become the latest

to suspend the vaccine's rollout, with a growing list of countries that includes denmark, iceland, and bulgaria. claire rush has the story. claire: an empty chair where thailand's prime minister was supposed to be vaccinated. he planned live broadcast event now canceled, after bangkok decided to delay its rollout of the astrazeneca jab. >> we received information from the news agencies that in eope few countries have suspended the injection. claire: thailand joining several european countries in pausing astrazeneca injections. a domino effect triggered by isolated reports of recipients developing blood clots. the european medicines agency has stressed there is no evidence the job because these conditions. it maintains the vaccine's benefits outweigh the risk. the ema did say product

information for the astrazeneca vaccine should be updated to include severe allergic reactions or anaphylaxis as a side effect. this, based on a review of 41 reports of such reactions, identified among 5 million people who received it in the u.k. such allergic reactions are a rare but recognized side effect to numerous vaccines, and are already included in the ma's oduct information for the pfizer andodernityobs. this bite some european countries hitting the pause button over blood clot concerns, others, such as france, are continuing to administer the shots. >> out of 5 million europeans, only 30 people have developed blood clots. claire: the role that suspensions are another blow to astrazeneca's vaccine, which suffered from initial doubts in certain countries over its efficacy in people over 65. although those age restrictions have since been lifted, the

hesitancy remains, with many available doses going unused. julia: the number of confirmed coronavirus cases in france has topped 4 million this friday, the sixth highest number in the world. 25,229 new infections were reported, with 223 deaths in the past 24 hours. that brings the total number of people who have lost their lives to the virus to just over 90,000. meanwhile, the french prime minister has described the covid-19 situation in the paris region as extremely tense. je castex said authorities are ready to impose new measures, but once again the capital has escaped a localized lockdown. in other news, the city of minneapolis will pay $27 million to settle a lawsuit from the family of george floyd over his death in police custody. the case sparked massive nationwide protests over racial neinjustice and police brutality

in the u.s. jury selection is in progress for the trial of derek chauvin, a white policeman who knelt on floyd's duri his arrest. it's here now from the family's employee. >> nothing will ever wipe out the floyd family's aching loss. but this settlement and the respect it shows the family will allow healing to begin. it will help to heal the city of minneapolis in the minds and hearts of black and white people who still suffer anxiety and nightmares and post-traumatic stress from watching the eight minutes and 46 seconds of george floyd tortured and killed at the hands of those who were supposed to protect and serve them. julia: our reporter has the latest from washington. reporter: as the attorney for

the family insisted on, it is a record for a pretrial settlement in a police shooting. $27 million, just to give you an idea for context about some other police shooting settlements -- remember the name of breonna taylor, the ent who was shot by police in her own apartment back in 2020. her family got $12 million from the city of louisville, kentucky. even in minneapolis, the previous record was about $20 million. that was paid by the city of minneapolis to the family of an australian woman who was shot and killed by a police officer. actually, that case, the shooting that happened in 2017, does have a lot to do with the derek chauvin trial, which is currently ongoing. in that case, the police officer who shot that woman is actually

put on trial and had the third-degree murder charge that we have been talking about that was just reinstated for derek chauvin. that was because of the previous case from 2017. those two cases kind of going together. really insisting on the powerful message, the big payout, big settlement from the city. it is the message that black lives matter. the optics of it are very important. you are currently seeing a press conference from those attorneys for the george floyd family, coming on stage together with speak together.cityouncil to this settlement is really of a peace between the community and the city of minneapolis. the question is what it will have as a consequence on the actual trial of the former police, derek chauvin. some are saying the defense might try to use this pretrial

settlement to say jurors cannot be impartial. they will get to see the pretrial settlement and that could change their minds or could paint the way they see the case. julia: he was president joe biden hosted his first multilatal summit this friday, ringing together the so-called quad nations. the united states, australia, japan, and india are working together to confront the pandemic, but there is a greater interest at play -- standing up to china's dominance in the indo pacific. reporter: created in the wake of the devastating earthquake and tsunami in the indian ocean in 2004, the quad group of nations worked on helping the nation recover, and has since evolved into an informal alliance between the united states, australia, india, and japan. the nation's leaders, meeting officially for the first time, share interests in trade, but it is also a partnership to assert

democratic values in the indo pacific and stand up to china's influence in the region. hosting his first multilateral summit as president, joe biden did not mention china by name, but the implication was clear. pres. biden: a free and open indo pacific is essential to each of our futures, our countries. the united states is committed to working with you, our partners, and all our allies in the region to achieve stability. reporter: just last month, the biden administration said the u.s. relationship with china is the world's biggest geopolitical test of the century, a view that differs little from his president, donald trump. it is also a shared value among the quad. over the past year, china has engaged in deadly clashes with india in the himalayas, stepped up activity in islands administered by japan, and imposed bands on australian products such as barley and timber. china continues to establish its

dominance, with military bases in the indo pacific. and its belt and road initiative to dominate global trade markets. australian p.m. scott morrison said china should not be concerned about the quad talks, but china's state run global times newspaper resized the summit as a u.s. plot against beijing. julia: joining us tonight to give us his analysis is steve saying from the school of african and oriental studies in london. thank you for joining us tonight. tell us, what is the significance of this alliance? do you think the quad block will be able to take on china and its influence in the region? steve: well, it is important that democracies share their values and extend on those values together. in a sense, the quad is dng that. whether they will be containing china, i think that is a different issue.

intending to contain china is at the moment much too big to be contained anyway, but there is no contest by the democracies, for china to be supportive, china may get the edge. julia: how do you think china will respond to this -called ad block? steve: i don't think china is going to be very proactively responding to the quad, just like that. it wants to get japan not to sign too closely with australia and india. china is havin some kind of issues. and of course with the united states, china is competing very directly. china is putting on a charm offensive with japan. julia: is that working? is japan responsive to china's

charm offensive? steve: japan is responding -- is responding with eyes wide open. japan is concerned about the way but then japan also does not want to get into a situation of direct confrontations with china , whether on its own or with its allies. julia: what do you think china's strategy is in the indo pacific region, and particularly in hong kong? steve: in terms of the indo pacific, the chinese don't really look at it in terms of thindo pacific. we s it as part of the initiative that h a dimension that goes into the into pacific. they also then looked at the

asia-pacific situations in a different light. over hong kong, china isimply going to tighten its control. they will not tolerate any kind of democratic development in hong kong, nor any effective opposition being mounted anywhere in hong kong. julia: just going back to what you were saying in my first question, you said the alliance is more of a symbolic alliance, standing up for democratic values in the region. what it takes to cantrol china's influence in the indo pacific -- steve: what i hear is that they are not able to work effectively together wit china as the competitor.

india is a very imperfect democracy at the moment, moving more in the direction of some form of defective democracy under modi. any of the other democracies would like to see. so that is a difficult issue for them to do. what they really need is a much wider alliance of democracies than the quad, which simply it is useful for them to be coordinating their policies toward china in order to send clear signals to china that china would not seem to expect to have its way in the region. julia: we will have to leave it there. thank you for joining us from london, from the china institute.

it is time now for business. we are joined by catherine bennett in the studio tonight. you are starting with the news that the u.k.'s economy shrunk at the start of this year. catherine: that is right, the economy contracted by 2.9% in january and is down 9% from figures a year ago. that may sou bad but economists are breathing a sigh of relief. experts have predicted significantly more of a fall in gdp. the somewhat positive data was overshadowed by the news that exports to the e.u. plunged after brexit. exports to the e.u. fell by 5.6 billion pounds in january, with exports of food and live animals the hardest hit, falling 63%. reporter: it has been over three months since the e.u. walked away from the single market and customs union, and trade between the two took a big hit in

january. exports to the block plunged by over 20%, while exports from the e.u. to the u.k. suffered a decline of nearly 30%. it is the biggest fall since records began and experts say brexit is the culprit. >> the significant slope in experts of goods to the e.u., particularly compared to non-e.u. trade, isn't ominous indication of the damage being done to post brexit trade in the e.u. by the current border disruption. reporter: british goods are now subject to customs rules and checks before they arrive on european soil. it is causing major headaches for businesses. there are severe delays on both sides of the english channel. the government remains positive about post brexit life. they say the trade was due to accommodation of factors including covid lockdowns and stockpiling ahead of the deadline. the flow of goods suffered a painful blow in 2021.

-- 2021, trade has been back to normal levels since the start of february. catherine: tim berners-lee, the man credited with inventing the internet, has warned about a growing digital divide. the world wide web foundation published a letter friday, saying third of young people globally do not have access to the internet. they think internet access should be recognized as a basic right. they are calling on world leaders to invest in universal broadband. the letter explains that having more people online pushes up a country's gdp, and universal broadband in the developing world would result in $8.7 trillion of direct economic benefit. berners-lee closes the letter by saying the world cannot afford not to do it. julia: let's take a look at global markets at the end of the week. indexes in europe ended the week mixed. london's ftse gained 0.3% off a drop in the pound, despite

negative economic data. the cap current -- cac 40 was down. over on wall street, the dow jones has jumped 290 points at the close, to close at an all-time high, up just under 1%. the s&p 500 made a slight gain just before the close, up 0.1 percent, while the nasdaq continued its losing streak, ending down over 1% after tech stocks led. on friday, and approval of a $246 million loan from the world bank. the money should allow the country to start giving cash handouts to around 250,000 families who have been suffering from an unprecedented economic crisis. today, lebanon's local currency hit a new record low on the black market, sparking protests. france has tried to lead efforts to resolve lebanon's political

and economic crisis, by urging politicians to enact reforms. france's foreign minister said yesterday that time was running out. >> [speaking french] 4 catherine: finally, a review f diversity on the boards of the top 100 ftse companies has revealed that a fifth of them like any ethnic minority representation. the london stock exchange, jd

sports, and british airlines owner are some of the companies with no ethnic diversity on their boards. this comes after a report in february said there were no black executives in the top three roles at any of britain's 100 biggest companies for the first time since 2014. julia: so still a lot to go before we can get ethnic for presentation on boards. catherine: encouraging that at least they are taking stock of this. julia: well, at least. that is catherine bennett with business. it is time for focus. we have been covering unrest in myanmar since the military seized power in a coup at the start of last month. since then, more than 70 protesters have been killed and 2000 have been detained. in today's report, we cross into thailand. there, exiled burmese citizens have created resistance and support networks. this report is by dda quinn. -- didier quinn.

reporter: we are in a small town on the thai side of the border. the burmese here know that the country's lockdown imposed by the military junta -- they are able to speak more freely on this side of the border. >> we do not want a coup. the army should leave. reporter: the burmese here flash the three finger support, which has become a symbol of asian pro-democracy protests. >> we are going to win this time. reporter: all along the border and in the market, the burmese migrants are angry and united, like never before. >> all the burmese people here, everyone contributes from their pockets and send the money to myanmar. reporter: they provide

logistical and digital support. the association of former burmese political prisoners is running low profile operations hidden from junta spies. this organization identifies human rights violations on the other side of the break. they have just received a video of violent -- viont promilitary gangs. >> there is an anti-facebook demonstration. >> the army has to be driven out of the system. in the coming months, things willnly get worse. there will be more violence and arrests of protesters. >> thanks to new technology, we can show many things. this was impossible in 1988. it is a great opportunity for us. we can get closer to victory this time. reporter: 1988 would change the

course of burmese history and announce all same sushi to the world. -- big thanks uchi -- and would announce aung san su chi to the world. he served a prison sentence and is back in action, helping current protesters. >> we, the former political prisoners, are collecting signatures from all the burmese immigrants. we will send them to international human rights organizations. the only sentence the generals deserve is a rope, and i want to be the one to hang them. reporter: in these border villages, there is another group actively supporting the protesters. the east burmese ethnic community of 5 million have been persecuted for decades.

many regularly cross over to thailand to get treatment in this dispensary run for 30 years by this caring woman. >> just after covid. we had three boys, two girls. almost 750,000 population. actually for peace and democracy you need to protect human rights, and then try together to assist the military and empower people. there is tension -- reporter: there is tension between the army and the ethnic support of the protesters. despite a cease-fire in 2011, the burmese army's acts of violence never really stopped.

since the coup, they have even intensified, leading to an increase in refugees. an american evangelical ngo has been secretly operating in the region since 1997, helping this partly christian community. they are currently in the heart of inaccessible jungles. we managed to reach them via satellite connection. >> the very first thing we saw before we got to the village was kids hiding in the jungle. the army started shelling. they shot them in the back, the back of the head. they are attacking the civilians, men, women, children, babies, villages, shooting at them. they kill them. reporter: the impact of the pro-democracy movement and army crackdown has been felt not only in yangon and other big burmese cities, also across the country. in this small school, most of the peoples are burmese.

these children and their teacher are anxious about the events on the other side of the break. >> i am calling my home. today, i did not connect with my family. i worry a bit. >> i want to help the protesters. >> i and my aung san suu kyi. -- i admire aung san suu kyi. she is a strong, hard-working woman, and she takes care of her people. in the future, i would like to become like her. reporter: a stark message for the generals. the roots of resistance are strong. julia: more news of next. stay

03/12/21 03/12/21 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from new york, this is democracy now! pres. biden: i'm announcing all states, tribes, territories to make all adults, people 18nd older, eligible to be vaccinated no later than may 1. amy: in his first primetime address, president biden vows to accelerate the vaccination effort and bring more normalcy to the country by july 4th.