>> it's 9:00 p.m. in the french capital. this is "live from paris," and here are the headlines. the eu tightens controls on vexing exports in the name of reciprocity. it could limit shamans to the u.k.--shipments to the u.k. germany reverses restrictions. chancellor angela merkel drops plans for a five-a lockdown and apologizes for creating confusion. and myanmar's military releases hundreds of anti-coup protesters and observers. a seven-year-old girl is buried after being killed by soldiers

in her own home. >> let's start with the eu's plans for tougher restrictions on covid vaccine exports. the bloc wants to assess the destination country's needs before greenlining shims. commission says no specific country or company is the target of the new rules. brussels has been locked in a dispute with u.k.-based astrazeneca. the vaccine maker has fallen short of its targets for europe whilst maintaining steady deliveries to the u.k. here is prime minister boris johnson speaking earlier. prime min. johnson: i don't think that blockades of either vaccines or of medicines, ingredients for vaccines, are

long-term damage done by blockades can be very considerable. yena: for more on this story i spoke to our brussels correspondent. he tells us more about the new proposals and how they could have an effect on european-made shipments to the u.k. reporter: this is basically just a very significant expansion of the existg export restctions, because up until now, the existing mechanism allowed to the eu to block a to export had intimate itsying delivery schedule commitments to the eu--had met its delivery schedule commits to eu. this expands that. in addition, the eu could block an export even if --if the delivery is going to a country that produces vaccines but does not export them. in other words, the u.s. and the u.k. at present a really, really dangerous sigil -- that presents

a really, really dangerous situation for the u.k. astrazeneca is way below what it committed to the eu, it has only met one third of the dosage delivery commitments for the first quarter, set to meet less than half for the second quarter. pfizer and moderna are meeting their delivery commitments fine. so existing mechanism would have only allowed astrazeneca shipments, which could not have harmed the u.k.'s rollout very much, but with pfizer, it is a different story. we know that 10 million doses of pfizer vaccines went from the eu to the u.k. just in the six weeks between january 31 and march 17. that is about two thirds of the jabs given during that period. if the eu were to act on this and ban experts of pfizer to the u.k., it would throw the u.k.'s vaccination program into a tailspin. there are calculations made that it would delay vaccination rollouts by two months in the

u.k. and it could endanger people who are waiting for their second shots, because the u.k. has this outlier delayed second dose strategy where they were not giving pfizer vaccines and the four weeks recommend it, they were waiting for 12 weeks. that period for most people who are vaccinated is just coming up now. boris johnson surely knows this. this is a dangerous situation for him to be in, and so the u.k. government is tonight negotiating with the eu commission to reach a deal, a deal by which they would agree to share vaccine access in a way that the eu consers to be reciprocal, and then the eu would back off of this threat blocking those pfizer doses. we have had no agreement reached tonight for that deal. we are waiting for tomorrow. my understanding is that this deal needs to be reached before the start of that eu leaders summit tomorrow afternoon in order to make sure that those leaders don't go ahead and give the green light for a blanket

ban on exporting vaccine doses to the u.k. yena: amid the rows over vaccine deliveries, a mystery batch of 29 million astrazeneca doses was found in italy. the french government has reacted furiously. >> as you know, a stock of nearly 30 million doses was identified during an inspection that we set up. this is in the contract so that when laboratory to less our production problems, we can mobilize inspections. a stock of nearly 35 million doses was identified near rome and was sequestered only with the aim and ensuring that the commitments made by the laboratory to the european union were kept. the european union will not be the butt of a vaccination joke. yena: any idea who the huge batch is for? dave: wdon't really know. there is a remkable back-and-forth about this during the day today. the italian media was saying that those doses were destined for the.k., than astrazeneca

and the u.k. government came out and said no, they are not for the u.k., half of them are for developing countries in the covax program and the other half are for eu countries. i offered skepticism from people in brussels about whether that really was her they were intended for. in any event, no matter what the origin intention was, it is for sure that those doses are not going to the u.k. now attention will turn to the plant in the netherlands which the eu thought was part of their supply chain -- that is what they were told by astrazeneca -- but now it appears that the u.k. thinks that the doses made in the netherlands belong to the u.k. and are part of the supposed u.k.-first contractor they have with astrazeneca. and it may be the subject of these negotiations that are happening right now that the u.k. would offer to relinquish any claims it ink that has over these doses meet at the plant in exchange for the eu backing off of its threat to ban

pfizer exports. what this whole episode today with the italian client has shown--italian plant has shown is how much trust has bken down between the eu governments and astrazeneca. they don't trust the company, they don't trust what it says, they are angry about the lack of deliveries this comes at the same time that astrazeneca is having problems with u.s. government with an expert panel there coming out with an extraordinarily rebuke against astrazeneca yesterday about fudging the outcome of trials -- not that the trial data was wrong, but that they were using out of date trial information to promote itself, still trying to states.roval in the united the u.s. has still not approved astrazeneca. this is just a continued saga in a horrible back-and-forth betwn the company and the eu governments, and this relationship does not seem to be getting bter anytime soon,

even if the u.k. government and the eu can come to some kind of peace agreement in the vaccine wars, the bad blood between eu governments and astrazeneca is going to remain. yena: just over a day after announcing a lockdown, german chancellor angela merkel has scrapped the idea. critics argued that the plans were drawn up too quickly, some saying they would have done little to fight the current third wave whilst having a negative effect on businesses. reporter: angela merkel heading to the podium armed with an important message. after much toing and froing, the german chancellor is walking back from her plan to impose a hard lockdown during the easter holiday, and she is taking full responsibility for causing confusion. chancellor merkel: it is important to say this here -- above all, it must be corrected. and this needs to happen as soon as possible. at the same time, i'm aware that

this whole business has created even more uncertainty. i deeply regret it, and i ask forgiveness. reporter: the announcement comes after a lineup of debates among regional leaders. some had said the latest restrictions were inconsistent, given that germans can travel the holiday destinations but not within their own country. germans, for their part, are equally skeptical. >> i'm usually in team careful, but now i can't really blame anyone for asking themselves what is going on. >> the school board doesn't know what is going on. they aren't giving any information about their measures and what is happening on thursday. reporter: merkel has been embroiled in this crisis as germany is into election campaign mode in six months, and her legacy hangs in the balance. yena: another national lockdown is on the horizon in belgium. the government there has

announced that schools will close and residents will have limited access to businesses once again. the prime minister pointed to the increasing number of covid cases as the reason behind the latest measures. in just a week, confirmed cases spiked 40%. the new rules are set to be enforced as of saturday. a french cabinet minister has been hospitalized with covid-19 on the same day another was discharged. labor's minister left the hospital while culture's roselyn bachelot entered another. she is in stable condition but doctors recommended she be placed several days for . reporter: culture minister roselyne bachelot in hospital for covid-19 according to members of her staff, she is in

stable condition but will be monitored by doctors over the coming days for the minister had increased her face-to-face meetings but always wore a mask. roselyne bachelot isn't the only minister to contract the virus. recently labor minister elisabeth borne left the hospital after recovering from covid-19. since the pandemic broke numerous ministers including the french finance minister have had coronavirus, andt the end of 2020, president emmanual macron himself tested positive. so far, only two members of the french cabinet have received vaccinations, including the prime minister and health minister. some are now asking if members of the government should be given priority for inoculations, since they come into contact with numerous people per day. yena: to myanmar next. the ministry has released hundreds of anti-coup protesters and observers. an associated press journalist was among those who were freed. the releases came after soldiers

killed a seven-year-old girl during a home rate. -- home raid. the funeral took place today. reporter: joy at the gates of this prison in the end gone -- yangon as relatives waited anxiously to be reunited with their loved ones freed by the junta. among them, a photographer for the news agency associated press. he was arrested during the military's brutal crackdown of anti-coup protests. experts say at least 2000 people have been detained since demonstrations began in february. >> thanks to all those who worked so hard for my release. i'm upset because there are some people inside. i hope they can get out as soon as possible. reporter: the gesture by the military has done little to appease protesters. demonstrators continue to explore new ways to show their anger. after weeks of vionce in anmar's capital, the streets

were quiet wednesday. this as thousands heated calls from anti-coup activists to stage assignment strike. -- a silent strike. >> i'm not goingut anywhere and i won't do anything that disturbs the silent strike. we will prevail in our revolution. this belief strengthens us and makes us united. reporter: somber mood was also felt in mandalay come as the city continues to mourn the death of a seven-year-old girl who was shot by security forces while she sat on her father's lap. at least 20 children have been killed in the crackdown. >> i feel so sad. i hope no kids have to die like this. reporter: myanmar's