quentin sommerville, bbc news. hit with new american sanctions now us intelligence agencies have reported that russia's president vladimir putin probably authorised attempts to influence last year's us election in favour of donald trump. president biden has said mr putin will pay a price. he also told the american network abc he thinks the russian leader is "a killer". we had a long talk, he and i. i know him relatively well. and the conversation started off, i said, "i know you, and you know me." "if i establish this occurred, then be prepared." you said you know he doesn't have a soul? i did say that to him, yes. and his response was, "we understand one another." russia has withdrawn its ambassador from washington for consultations about future ties with the us. the intelligence report found moscow spread "misleading or unsubsta ntiated" allegations aboutjoe biden during the presidential campaign, with the aim of undermining the broader election process. the report also accuses iran of trying to weaken support fo

quentin sommerville, bbc news, tarhuna, libya.f the astrazeneca coronavirus vaccine for those under the age of 60. the decision comes after more than 30 people developed a rare blood clot in the brain after receiving the jab. around 2.7 million people have had the astrazeneca vaccine in germany. the move, agreed with the 16 federal states, follows the recommendation of the independent vaccine committee. translation: the recommendation of the vaccine commission is based on the fact that in recent week specialists have noted very rare but very serious cases of thrombosis in people vaccinated with astrazeneca. these are findings that neither the vaccine commission nor we can ignore. that is why the federal government and the regional states have decided to follow the recommendation of the commission. canada has also decided to pause use of the astrazeneca vaccine in people under the age of 55. i spoke just now to drjoss reimer, who's the medical lead on manitoba's vaccine taskforce and one of the main health officials behind that dec

quentin sommerville, bbc news, tarhuna, libya.ystem, which tightens beijing's control over the terrritory. a foreign ministry spokeswoman said any attempt to pressure china over hong kong would fail. new measures will halve the number of directly elected seats while only candidates considered patriotic will be allowed to run. i spoke to ramon yuen, one of the district councillors for the hong kong democratic party. he described the move as a "trampling of democracy". i asked him if this was the end of the road for me democratic hopes there. we will fight for democracy, for the law of human right, no matter if we have an election or not. but you can see such decision by beijing is ridiculous and trampling democracy, because under the new scheme, nearly half of the legislative council a0 will be appointed by beijing or those who are in power. actually, such decision violates commitments that are written in the basic law that the ultimate scheme is to have the universal suffurage in the shift. this would involve changes, wanted to co

quentin sommerville, bbc news, tarhuna, libya.er the age of 60. the decision comes after more than 30 people developed a rare blood clot in the brain after receiving the jab. around 2.7 million people have had the astrazeneca vaccine in germany. jenny hill has the latest details from berlin. germany concerns focus around what i now 31 cases. these are cases that 4—16 days after they received an astrazeneca jab developed a very rare form a blood clot on the brain. there have been five such cases in uk. here in germany nine people have died. and the vast majority of those affected were either or middle—aged women. now, we don't know whether that's significant. it mayjust be that younger women are disproportionately recognised in the —— represented. angela merkel announced the decision tonight. she said this is all about trust. she didn't want, she said, to sweep these very rare, very serious cases under the carpet. nevertheless, this does present the german chancellor with a problem. germany's vaccination rollout is extremely slow,

quentin sommerville, bbc news, tarhuna, libya. who attended the funeral of former ira leader bobby storey lastjune. it has been one of the most controversial events of the coronavirus pandemic in northern ireland. the senior republican's funeral saw crowds of more than 2,000 people in the streets at a time when strict rules limited public gatherings. labour is demanding what it's calling a "full, transparent and thorough investigation" into the former prime minister david cameron's dealings with the businessman lex greensill, and his financial services company, greensill capital, which collapsed earlier this month. the business secretary kwasi kwarteng defended mr cameron today, saying he did not think he had done "anything wrong." all three heads of the armed forces in brazil have resigned together in protest at what they see as an attempt by president bolsonaro to exert undue control over the military. it comes amid a growing political crisis in brazil after mr bolsonaro was forced to reshuffle his cabinet after his foreign mini

report by darren conway and we'll have more on the decade of syria's warwithjeremy bowen and quentin sommervilleen and latvia are the latest eu member states to suspend use of the oxford—astrazeneca vaccine following concerns about possible side—effects like blood clots. in france, where cases are soaring, prime minister jean castex says he would be happy to take the vaccine once it's proved to be safe. that could come as soon as thursday when the full results of an investigation by the european medical agency will be available. but the agency has already said today there's no indication that the astrazeneca vaccine causes blood clots. 0ur medical editor, fergus walsh, has more details. this vaccine saves lives, of that there is no doubt. and, yet, in the middle of a pandemic, with thousands dying every day in europe from covid... germany, france, italy, more than a dozen eu countries have temporarily suspended using the astrazeneca jab. why? the concern is blood clots. astrazeneca says there have been 37 incidents of blood clots in the uk and eu, but that is following 17 millionjabs. in germany

report by darren conway, and we'll have more on the decade of syria's war withjeremy bowen and quentin sommervillefor more analysis, you can watch panorama: syria's schools under attack, on the bbc news channel this weekend and on the bbc iplayer. the duke of edinburgh is back home at windsor castle tonight, having left hospital this morning after a month—long stay. prince philip, who's 99, has been treated for an unspecified infection and a heart condition. his stay coincided with the controversial interview given by the duke and duchess of sussex, when allegations of racism and a lack of mental health support were levelled at the royal family. 0ur royal correspondent nicholas witchell reports. shielded by a screen, a patient, evidently in a wheelchair, was brought out from the king edward vii hospital to a waiting vehicle. moments later, the vehicle left with the duke of edinburgh safely aboard. as the car drove away, photographers caught sight of him sitting in the rear of the vehicle. little has been said by the palace about the reasons for his hospital stay other than he had been suffering fr

quentin sommerville, bbc news.ty over stocks of covid vaccines is causing growing tension between the uk and the european union. with around 25 million british citizens vaccinated, the uk authorities have warned that there'll be a significant reduction in vaccines available next month, urging providers not to take new appointments for april. meanwhile, the eu says it might need to impose export limits on vaccines from european factories. 0ur brussels correspondent nick beake has more. in prague, in paris, and once again in bergamo, northern italy, covid patients gasping for air. the nightmare prospect of a third wave in europe is now real. the continent is also facing a vaccination crisis. it's not getting the doses it ordered, and today a warning the eu would do everything needed to get its fair share. all options are on the table. we are in the crisis of the century and i am not ruling out anything for now, because we have to make sure that europeans are vaccinated as soon as possible. officials in brussels have

quentin sommerville, bbc news. let's get some of the day's other news.homicide, over a mass shooting at three spa and massage pa rlours. six of those who died were asian women. the suspect has denied having a racial motive. the creative head of the tokyo olympics has resigned, after making a derogatory comment about a female japanese entertainer. hiroshi sasaki, who was in charge of the opening and closing ceremonies, has admitted making remarks about the entertainer naomi watanabe. last month, the formerjapanese prime minister yoshiro mori stepped down from his role as president of the tokyo 2020 organising committee after saying women talk too much. campaigners for marriage equality injapan have welcomed a district court ruling that the legal ban on same—sex marriage is unconstitutional. lawyers for the six plaintiffs in the case called it revolutionary. though homosexual sex has been legal injapan since 1880, same—sex couples are often banned from mutual hospital visits and find they cannot rent flats. a rare species of bird in australia has become so

quentin sommerville, bbc news. people to collect evidence of atrocities by the military authorities, as fears of escalating violence increases ahead of a major holiday next week. the military seized control in a coup at the beginning of february — and could ramp up its crackdown on protesters ahead of armed forces day on march 27. the ten—member association of southeast asian nations or asean has already called on both sides to come to the negotiating table, amid fears that continuing instability could pose a threat to the organisation. let's talk to assistant professor yongwook ryu, from the lee kuan yew school of public policy at the national university of singapore. it is an incredibly difficult situation. we know that any sanctions from the unseem to full on deaf ears when it comes to the regime. —— from the un label seem to fall on deaf ears. asean should talk to both parties, which it has begun doing. because there is an interest in both parties, a range of possible outcomes that both parties can be happy wit

report by darren conway, and we'll have more on the decade of syria's war, withjeremy bowen and quentin sommervilled latvia are the latest eu member states to suspend use of the oxford—astrazeneca vaccine, over concerns about possible side—effects such blood clots. in france, where covid cases are soaring, prime ministerjean castex has said he would be happy to take the vaccine once it's proved to be safe. that could come as soon as thursday when the full results of an investigation by the european medical agency will be available. more details from our medical editor fergus walsh. this vaccine saves lives, of that there is no doubt. and yet in the middle of a pandemic, with thousands dying every day in europe from covid... germany, france, italy, more than a dozen eu countries have temporarily suspended using the astrazeneca jab. why? the concern is blood clots. astrazeneca says there have been 37 incidents of blood clots in the uk and eu, but that is following 17 millionjabs. in germany, seven rare clots in the brain and three deaths have been recorded. the european medicines agency is investigat

quentin sommerville, bbc news. the suffering of syria's children after ten years of war.ramme: a green light for astrazeneca. after some european countries paused the roll—out, eu regulators give the vaccine a clean bill of health. three weeks of mourning has been declared in tanzania to mark the death of presidentjohn magufuli, who's died at the age of 61. officials say mr magufuli died from heart disease, but there've been suggestions that he'd been suffering from coronavirus, which he was known to be sceptical of. zuhura yunus has more in dar es salaam. for the last two weeks, john pombe magufuli, it's almost like he disappeared. nobody knew where he was, stirring rumours about his health within the country of tanzania and outside tanzania. he is the first president to die in power. and less than five months ago, he was elected to be the president of tanzania, which was his last term and the second term. there have been very mixed feelings aboutjohn pombe magufuli. it is not stated yet when he's going to be buried, but it has officially been announced that the country

report by darren conway, and we'll have more on the decade of syria's war, withjeremy bowen and quentin sommervillelic health institution in brazil, fiocruz, is reporting that the country is experiencing the collapse of its hospitals and health service — the biggest in the country's history. brazil reported a record number of deaths from coronavirus on tuesday. researchers say covid— 19 units in almost all 27 27 nearly 3000 deaths were recorded in the last 2a hours. the country's largest city sao paulo is particulalry affected. the area reported 679 deaths tuesday. while across the country nearly 84 thousand people became infected. now all of this is taking place while brazil will have its fourth health minister since the start of the pandemic. marcelo queiroga is the president of the brazilian cardiology society. he has spoken in favour of vaccinations and has asked brazilians to wear masks and wash their hands. but he stressed he would follow presidentjair bolsonaro�*s lead. the health ministry executes the government's policy. michael fox is an independent journalist based in brazil. i asked him

quentin sommerville, bbc news.test of our special reports, looking back at the conflict in syria over the last ten years. england's care regulator, the care quality commission, in a report to be published tomorrow, is expected to raise serious concerns about the use of do not resuscitate orders during the pandemic. families and charities say the orders, which can deny people potentially life—saving care, have been wrongly placed on elderly and disabled people over the past year at unprecedented rates. our social affairs correspondent michael buchanan has been hearing the experiences of one family. she wasjust... she was just lovely, in every sense. sonya, son to herfamily, was defined by much more than her schizophrenia and learning disabilities. son had an absolute zest for life, loved being with her family. always smiling, always laughing. when the 58—year—old went to hospital last april, her lifelong conditions influenced her care. initially admitted with a fever and respiratory problems, she tested positive for

quentin sommerville, bbc news, tarhuna, libya. by a number of prominent co—figures including actor sandy newtons urging back seen protection to protect themselves and those they care for. his appeal backed by the nhs is also been turned into a short film. dear mums and dads. grandparents, aunties.— grandparents, aunties. uncles. brothers sisters. _ grandparents, aunties. uncles. brothers sisters. sons. - grandparents, aunties. uncles. i brothers sisters. sons. daughters. cousins. we love you. we know we do not say it often enough. sometimes we have disagreements, like families do. whenever we are, we love you, and we know you love as. and we want to see you again. covid—19 has kept as a part for too long. i we want to hug you, celebrate with you, worship with you, play video games with you, so that we can see the look on your face when we beat you. to do all that we need to take the covid—19 jab. all of us in this together. earlier i spoke to "bridgerton " actress adjoa andoh who features in that film. she explained why she took p