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South Africa’s health regulator has recommended that the government lift the pause on administering drugmaker Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 vaccine, given that certain conditions are met.

“These conditions include, but are not limited to, strengthened screening and monitoring of participants who are at high risk of a blood clotting disorder,” the South African Health Products Regulatory Authority (SAHPRA) said on Saturday.

“In addition, measures are to be implemented to ensure the safe management of any participants who develop vaccine-induced thrombosis and thrombocytopenia (VITT),” the statement added.

SAHPRA said on Wednesday that it had recently reviewed data from Johnson & Johnson’s local research study immunising healthcare workers and found no significant safety concerns.

Reuters report that South Africa suspended the rollout of the J&J vaccine in the “implementation study” on Tuesday, after health agencies in the United States recommended pausing its use because of rare cases of blood clots in six people inoculated with it, out of some seven million people who have received the shot in the country.

A US panel will meet again next week to discuss whether the pause on the use of the vaccine should continue after delaying a vote on the matter earlier this week.

Attorneys in the trial of a former Minneapolis police officer charged with killing George Floyd are set to make their closing arguments Monday, each side seeking to distil three weeks of testimony to persuade jurors to deliver their view of the right verdict.

For prosecutors, Derek Chauvin recklessly squeezed the life from Floyd as he and two other officers pinned him to the street for 9 minutes, 29 seconds outside a corner market, despite Floyd’s repeated cries that he couldn’t breathe — actions they say warrant conviction not just for manslaughter but also on two murder counts.

For the defence, Floyd, who was Black, put himself at risk by swallowing fentanyl and methamphetamine, then resisted officers trying to arrest him — factors that compounded his vulnerability to a diseased heart and raise sufficient doubt that Chauvin, who is white, should be acquitted.

Each side, according to AFP, will pull key testimony to support their narrative for what killed Floyd in a case that roiled America 11 months ago and continues to resonate. The anonymous jury will later deliver verdicts in a courthouse surrounded by concrete barriers and razor wire, in an anxious city heavily fortified by National Guard members and just days after fresh outrage erupted over the police killing of a 20-year-old Black man in a nearby suburb.

The attorneys aren’t limited by time, though legal experts say overlong arguments risk losing jurors’ attention and may be less effective. Prosecutors Steve Schleicher and Jerry Blackwell will share the closing, with Schleicher leading off and Blackwell coming on for the last-word rebuttal of defence attorney Eric Nelson’s closing.

Chauvin, 45, is charged with second-degree murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter. Experts expect Schleicher to walk jurors through the elements of the charges. All three require the jury to conclude that Chauvin’s actions were a “substantial causal factor” in Floyd’s death — and that his use of force was unreasonable.

Schleicher can remind jurors of key testimony from a myriad prosecution medical experts who testified that Floyd died of asphyxiation caused by being pinned to the pavement. He and Blackwell can point to plentiful testimony from use-of-force experts who said Chauvin’s actions were clearly improper, as well as Minneapolis Police Department officials saying they were outside his training.

Video played a huge role at trial, both in buttressing the expert testimony and in driving home the emotional impact of Floyd’s anguish and death. Prosecutors can re-play video during their closings, and experts say they expect it.

Guilty verdicts must be unanimous, which means Nelson needs to raise doubt in the minds of just a single juror on the various counts. His closing is certain to return to the themes of his cross-examination of prosecution witnesses and the brief defence case he mounted.

Nelson is sure to highlight how the county medical examiner, Dr Andrew Baker did not conclude that Floyd died of asphyxia — putting him at odds with the prosecution’s medical experts, even though Baker did call Floyd’s death a homicide and testify that he believes Floyd’s heart gave out in part due to being pinned to the ground.

Nelson is also certain to remind the jury of Floyd’s drug use, perhaps with the same language he frequently used during the testimony phase — with questions that emphasized words such as “illicit.” Despite the long duration of Floyd’s restraint, he’s likely to again portray Chauvin’s use of force as dictated by “fluid” and “dynamic” factors that shouldn’t be second-guessed, including the prospect that Chauvin was distracted by a threatening group of bystanders.

Nelson is also likely to question perhaps the strongest single part of the state’s case — the video of Floyd’s arrest, including bystander Darnella Frazier’s video that largely established public perceptions of events. Nelson argued that camera angles can be deceptive, and used other views to suggest to jurors that Chauvin’s knee wasn’t on Floyd’s neck at all times.

“If I was Nelson, I’d do a lot of things, because a lot of things need to be done,” Joe Friedberg, a local defence attorney not involved in the case, said. “He’s in desperate trouble here.”

Fourteen jurors heard testimony, two of the alternates. If Judge Peter Cahill follows the usual practice of dismissing the last two chosen as alternates, the 12 who will deliberate will include six white and six Black or multiracial jurors.

Second-degree murder requires prosecutors to prove Chauvin intended to harm Floyd. Third-degree murder requires proof that Chauvin’s actions were “eminently dangerous” and done with indifference to the loss of life. Second-degree manslaughter requires jurors to believe that he caused Floyd’s death through negligence and consciously took the chance of causing severe injury or death.

Each count carries a different maximum sentence: 40 years for second-degree unintentional murder, 25 years for third-degree murder, and 10 years for second-degree manslaughter. Sentencing guidelines call for far less time, including 12 1/2 years on either murder count.

Tottenham fired Jose Mourinho on Monday after only 17 months in charge, and just as he was preparing to coach the club in the League Cup final.

Mourinho was hired in November 2019 to replace Mauricio Pochettino, who unexpectedly led the London club to the Champions League final before the team collapsed the following season.

Mourinho failed to get Tottenham back into the Champions League and has overseen another collapse this season. The team was in first place in December but a run of poor results has seen it fall to seventh place.

“Jose and his coaching staff have been with us through some of our most challenging times as a club,” Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy said. “Jose is a true professional who showed enormous resilience during the pandemic. On a personal level, I have enjoyed working with him and regret that things have not worked out as we both had envisaged. He will always be welcome here and we should like to thank him and his coaching staff for their contribution.”

Mourinho’s exit comes two days before a Premier League game against Southampton and with the League Cup final on Sunday against Manchester City. Tottenham, which hasn’t won a trophy since the 2008 League Cup, said youth coach Ryan Mason had been put in charge of training.

It is Mourinho’s shortest spell at a club since breaking into the big time with Porto in 2004.

Disgruntlement over his tactics and methods have resurfaced in recent months, with Tottenham slipping out of the Champions League places and getting eliminated from the Europa League in the round of 16 after a surprising 3-0 loss at Dinamo Zagreb.

Tottenham is five points behind fourth-place West Ham, which occupies the final Champions League qualification place. The club has won only one of its last five games.

The two teams above Tottenham — Chelsea and Liverpool — have games in hand.

Tottenham now heads into the League Cup final against City at Wembley Stadium without a manager and probably without its best player, with Harry Kane having hobbled off late in the 2-2 draw at Everton in the Premier League on Friday. That was Mourinho’s last game in charge.

The Biden administration on Thursday announced the expulsion of 10 Russian diplomats and sanctions against dozens of people and companies as it moved to hold the Kremlin accountable for interference in last year’s presidential election and the hacking of federal agencies.

The sanctions, as reports by AFP, also target Moscow’s ability to borrow money by prohibiting U.S. financial institutions from buying Russian bonds directly from Russian institutions.

The actions, foreshadowed for weeks by the administration, represent the first retaliatory measures announced against the Kremlin for the hack, familiarly known as the SolarWinds breach. In that intrusion, Russian hackers are believed to have infected widely used software with malicious code, enabling them to access the networks of at least nine agencies in what the U.S. officials believe was an intelligence-gathering operation aimed at mining government secrets.

Besides that hack, U.S. officials last month alleged that Russian President Vladimir Putin authorized influence operations to help Donald Trump in his unsuccessful bid for reelection as president, though there’s no evidence Russia or anyone else changed votes or manipulated the outcome.

Russia swiftly denounced the actions and warned of retaliation.

The measures announced Thursday include sanctions on six Russian companies that support the country’s cyber activities, in addition to sanctions on 32 individuals and entities accused of attempting to interfere in last year’s presidential election, including by spreading disinformation. The U.S. also sanctioned eight people and entities tied to Russia’s occupation of Crimea.

The 10 diplomats being expelled include representatives of Russian intelligence services, the Biden administration said.

Other measures are expected as well, though the administration is not likely to announce them. Officials have been advising that their response to Russia would be in ways both seen and unseen.

“These actions are intended to hold Russia to account for its reckless actions. We will act firmly in response to Russian actions that cause harm to us or our allies and partners,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement.

But, he added, “Where possible, the United States will also seek opportunities for cooperation with Russia, with the goal of building a more stable and predictable relationship consistent with U.S. interests.”

The White House also said Biden was using diplomatic, military and intelligence channels to respond to reports that Russia encouraged the Taliban to attack U.S. and allied troops in Afghanistan based on the “best assessments” of the intelligence community.

Reports of alleged “bounties” surfaced last year, with the Trump administration coming under fire for not raising the issue directly with Russia. The White House did not publicly confirm the reports. “The safety and well-being of U.S. military personnel, and that of our allies and partners, is an absolute priority of the United States,” the White House said Thursday.

After the sanctions were announced, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova warned that “such aggressive behaviour will undoubtedly trigger a resolute retaliation.”

“Washington should realize that it will have to pay a price for the degradation of the bilateral ties,” Zakharova said, adding that “the responsibility for that will fully lie with the United States.”

She said the ministry has summoned the U.S. ambassador for a “hard conversation,” but wouldn’t immediately say what action Russia will take.

The sanctions send a clear retributive message to Russia and are aimed at serving as a deterrent. But they are certain to exacerbate an already tense relationship between the U.S. and Russia.

President Joe Biden told Putin this week in their second call to “de-escalate tensions” following a Russian military buildup on Ukraine’s border, and said the U.S. would “act firmly in defence of its national interests” regarding Russian intrusions and election interference.

In a television interview last month, Biden replied “I do” when asked if he thought Putin was a “killer.” He said the days of the U.S. “rolling over” to Putin were done. Putin later recalled his ambassador to the U.S. and pointed at the U.S. history of slavery and slaughtering Native Americans and the atomic bombing of Japan in World War II.

It remained unclear whether the U.S. actions would actually result in changed behaviour, especially since past measures by the U.S. have failed to bring an end to Russian hacking. The Obama administration expelled diplomats from the U.S. in 2016 in response to interference in that year’s presidential election. And though Trump was often reluctant to criticize Putin, his administration also expelled diplomats in 2018 for Russia’s alleged poisoning of an ex-intelligence officer in Britain.

U.S. officials are still grappling with the aftereffects of the SolarWinds intrusion, which affected agencies including the Treasury, Justice, Energy and Homeland Security departments, and are still assessing what information may have been stolen. The breach exposed vulnerabilities in the supply chain as well as weaknesses in the federal government’s own cyber defences.

The actions would represent the second major round of sanctions imposed by the Biden administration against Russia. Last month, The U.S. sanctioned seven mid-level and senior Russian officials, along with more than a dozen government entities, over a nearly fatal nerve-agent attack on opposition leader Alexei Navalny and his subsequent jailing.

A Canadian lawmaker left red-cheeked after appearing stark naked on a House of Commons Zoom conference call has apologized to his colleagues.

William Amos, a Liberal MP, was caught covering his nether regions with a mobile phone and in a state of nature between the flags of Quebec and Canada when his laptop camera turned on during the virtual session.

“I made a really unfortunate mistake today & obviously, I’m embarrassed by it,” the 46-year-old tweeted late Wednesday after the incident in his office was made public.

“My camera was accidentally left on as I changed into work clothes after going for a jog. I sincerely apologize to all my colleagues in the House. It was an honest mistake + it won’t happen again.”

The Quebec MP, according to AFP, did not address the virtual session, which was in the questioning period at the time, but he would have been in breach of the House of Commons guidebook if he had chosen to do so while in a state of undress.

Under the section ‘Rules of Order and Decorum’, no dress code is required to set it on a debate, but male speakers “must be wearing contemporary business attire” such as jackets, shirts and ties.

His mishap was only shown on an internal House of Commons feed, leaving the Canadian public initially unaware that one of their representatives had turned up in his birthday suit.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who leads Amos’ Liberal party is yet to comment on the incident.

But opposition party whip Claude DeBellefeuille raised the accidental flash in the cam as a point of order, reminding lawmakers they must cover themselves at all times.

“It may be necessary to remind the members, especially the male ones, that a tie and jacket are obligatory, but so are a shirt, boxer shorts or pants,” she said in French, according to the Canadian Press.

“We have seen that the member is in great physical shape, but I think members should be reminded to be careful and control the camera well.”

The French embassy in Pakistan has advised all French nationals and companies to temporarily leave the country, after violent protests by a far-right party that has accused French President Emmanuel Macron of committing “blasphemy”.

A French embassy official, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed the development to Al Jazeera on Thursday.

“I confirm that, due to the situation in Pakistan, we have advised the French citizens and companies to leave the country temporarily,” the official said.

A second French official said that while the embassy in the Pakistani capital Islamabad would remain open, some staff would also be leaving the country.

The AFP news agency, based in France, quoted an email sent to French citizens in Pakistan advising them to leave.

“Due to the serious threats to French interests in Pakistan, French nationals and French companies are advised to temporarily leave the country,” the embassy said in the email, AFP reported.

“The departures will be carried out by existing commercial airlines.”

Pakistan’s foreign ministry did not immediately respond to Al Jazeera’s request for comment regarding Thursday’s developments.

Anti-France sentiment has been at the centre of the far-right Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) party’s messaging since it held protests last November against comments by Macron that were deemed by many, including Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan, to be “encouraging Islamophobia”.

Those protests were quelled after the TLP reached an agreement with the Pakistani government to put the question of expelling the French ambassador, boycotting all French goods and taking other steps before Parliament.

This week, however, violent protests broke out across the country when the government arrested TLP chief Saad Rizvi in what appeared to be a preemptive move ahead of the expiry of a TLP-issued April 20 deadline for the expulsion of the French envoy.

At least two policemen have been killed and hundreds of policemen and protesters were wounded in clashes at the nationwide demonstrations.

Large rallies were held in Karachi, Pakistan’s largest city, the eastern city of Lahore, near the capital Islamabad, and elsewhere.

Major intercity highways and roads were closed for much of Monday and Tuesday as the protests and clashes continued. Police fired water cannon, tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse the protesters in some areas.

On Wednesday, interior minister Sheikh Rasheed said the government had cleared most protests and was moving to ban the TLP under anti-terrorism legislation.

The November protests followed Macron’s support for the right to republish cartoons depicting Prophet Muhammad, considered “blasphemous” by many Muslims.

The caricatures in question are also viewed by many as Islamophobic, as they often link the faith to “terrorism”.

Blasphemy is a sensitive subject in Pakistan, where insulting Islam’s prophet, holy book or other religious personages are crimes that can carry the death penalty.

Increasingly, blasphemy allegations have led to violence by mobs or targeted attacks, with at least 78 people killed in such violence since 1990, according to an Al Jazeera tally.

In the latest such incident, Taqi Shah, a religious scholar belonging to the minority Shia Muslim sect was axed to death in the town of Jhang in March after being accused of committing “blasphemy”.

The UN says it will need at least $82 million to feed and provide basic necessities to thousands displaced by an ongoing insurgency in Mozambique.

The World Food Programme, the UN’s specialised agency for food, said it is facing a task of providing basic food aid to more than 950,000 people mostly in the northern Mozambique’s Cabo Delgado Province.

WFP spokesperson Tomson Phiri said the agency expected the number to soar as militants continue targeting villages.

“Families and individuals have had to abandon their belongings and livelihoods and flee for safety,” he said at a press conference streamed live on Tuesday evening.

The UN International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) said it was currently caring for more than 200 displaced children whose parents could not be found.

“We are likely to face a long-lasting humanitarian crisis,” Manuel Fontaine, UNICEF’s director of emergencies, told the same briefing in Geneva.

Tens of thousands more are still displaced within Palma district or are on the move, the UN’s Humanitarian Coordination Agency (OCHA) said on Monday.

The UN appeal happens in a time when the Southern African country government is also seeking support.

On Monday, the Mozambique government said it needs at least $78.9 million (Meticais 7 billion) for a plan to manage displaced people from Cabo Delgado attacks.

According to the National Institute of Disasters Management (INGD) head Ms Luísa Meque, who addressed journalists during a meeting with government officials and partners in Cabo Delgado’s capital Pemba, the amount would help to improve conditions for food, shelter and education.

Pemba has been the main destination for populations fleeing the armed attacks since 2017. It currently hosts almost twice its capacity.

Islamic State-linked militants launched attacks on the northeastern coastal town of Palma on March 24, ransacked buildings and beheaded civilians. Thousands of people fled into the surrounding forest and the attack has seen a surge in the number of refugees fleeing the violence in the area.

Known locally as Al-Shabaab but with no relation to the Somali group of the same name, the militants in Cabo Delgado have launched a series of brazen raids on towns and villages in an apparent bid to establish an Islamic caliphate.

It is not clear how many civilians were killed but according to the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) violence has killed over 2,600 people, at least half of them civilians, and displaced close to 700,000.

The attack forced close to 10,000 people to flee, the UNHRC adds.

“The idea is also encouraging small income-generating activities for displaced populations”, she added.

The government has already secured $6.7 million (Meticais 600 million) for the implementation of a plan, which integrates several strategic actions to assist the affected people, Ms. Meque also said.

A top official from the World Health Organization says Europe has surpassed 1 million deaths from COVID-19 and the situation remains “serious,” with about 1.6 million new cases reported each week in the region.

Overall, a tally by Johns Hopkins University shows nearly 3 million deaths have been linked to COVID-19 worldwide — with the Americas hardest hit, followed by Europe. The United States, Brazil and Mexico have reported the highest number of deaths, collectively at more than 1.1 million.

Addressing recent concerns about vaccines, AFP reports that Dr. Hans Kluge also said the risk of people suffering blood clots is far higher for people with COVID-19 than people who receive AstraZeneca’s coronavirus vaccine.

Speaking to reporters during a visit to Greece, Kluge did point to “early signs that transmission may be slowing across several countries” and cited “declining incidence” among the oldest people.

He said the proportion of COVID-19 deaths among people over 80, who have been prioritized for vaccines, had dropped to nearly 30% — the lowest level in the pandemic.

“For now, the risk of suffering blood clots is much higher for someone with COVID-19 than for someone who has taken the AstraZeneca vaccine,” he said.

“Let there be no doubt about it, the AstraZeneca vaccine is effective in reducing COVID-19 hospitalization and preventing deaths,” he added, saying WHO recommends its use for all eligible adults.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken made an unannounced visit to Afghanistan on Thursday to sell Afghan leaders and a wary public on President Joe Biden’s decision to withdraw all American troops from the country and end America’s longest-running war.

Blinken was meeting with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, chief executive Abdullah Abdullah, and civic figures, a day after Biden announced that the remaining 2,500 U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan would be coming home by the 20th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks that led to the U.S. invasion.

AFP reports that his trip also came after NATO immediately followed suit, saying its roughly 7,000 non-American forces in Afghanistan would be departing within a few months, ending the foreign military presence that had been a fact of life for a generation of Afghans already reeling from more than 40 years of conflict.

Blinken sought to reassure the Afghan leadership that the withdrawal did not mean an end to the U.S.-Afghan relationship.

“I wanted to demonstrate with my visit the ongoing commitment of the United States to the Islamic Republic and the people of Afghanistan,” Blinken told Ghani as they met at the presidential palace in Kabul. “The partnership is changing, but the partnership itself is enduring.”

“We respect the decision and are adjusting our priorities,” Ghani told Blinken, expressing gratitude for the sacrifices of US troops.

Blinken arrived in the Afghan capital from Brussels where he and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin briefed NATO officials on the move and NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg announced the alliance would also be leaving.

The Taliban’s spokesman Zabihullah Mujahed warned Wednesday that “problems will be compounded,” if the U.S. misses a May 1 deadline for withdrawal set during the Trump administration. The insurgent movement has yet to respond to Biden’s surprise announcement that the pullout would only start on that date.

Biden, Blinken, Austin and Stoltenberg have all sought to put a brave face on the pullout, maintaining that the U.S.- and NATO-led missions to Afghanistan had achieved their goal of decimating Osama bin Laden’s al-Qaida network that launched the 9/11 attacks and clearing the country of terrorist elements that could use Afghan soil to plot similar strikes.

However, that argument has faced pushback from some U.S, lawmakers and human rights advocates who say the withdrawal will result in the loss of freedoms that Afghans enjoyed after the Taliban was ousted from power in late 2001.

Later, in a meeting with Abdullah, Blinken repeated the message, saying that “we have a new chapter, but it is a new chapter that we’re writing together.”

“We are grateful to your people, your country, your administration,” Abdullah said.

Despite billions of U.S. dollars in aid, Afghanistan 20 years on has a poverty rate of 52 per cent according to World Bank figures. That means more than half of Afghanistan’s 36 million people live on less than $1.90 a day. Afghanistan is also considered one of the worst countries in the world to be a woman according to the Georgetown Institute for Women Peace and Security.

For many Afghans, the past two decades have been disappointing, as corruption has overtaken successive governments and powerful warlords have amassed wealth and loyal militias who are well-armed. Many Afghans fear worsening chaos even more once America leaves.

Peace talks between the Taliban and the Afghan government are at a stalemate but are supposed to resume later this month in Istanbul.

Under an agreement signed between the Trump administration and the Taliban last year, the U.S. was to have completed its military withdrawal by May 1. Although Biden is blowing through that deadline, angering the Taliban leadership, his plan calls for the pull-out to begin on May 1. The NATO withdrawal will commence the same day.

“It is time to end America’s longest war,” Biden said in an announcement in Washington on Tuesday, but he added that the U.S. will “not conduct a hasty rush to the exit.”

“We cannot continue the cycle of extending or expanding our military presence in Afghanistan hoping to create the ideal conditions for our withdrawal, expecting a different result,” said Biden, who delivered his address from the White House Treaty Room, the same location where President George W. Bush announced the start of the war. “I am now the fourth United States president to preside over an American troop presence in Afghanistan. Two Republicans. Two Democrats. I will not pass this responsibility to a fifth.”

Biden, along with Blinken and Austin in Brussels, vowed that the U.S. would remain committed to Afghanistan’s people and development.

“Bringing our troops home does not mean ending our relationship with Afghanistan or our support for the country,” Blinken said. “Our support, our engagement and our determination remain.”

Austin also said that the U.S. military, after withdrawing from Afghanistan, will keep counterterrorism “capabilities” in the region to keep pressure on extremist groups operating within Afghanistan. Asked for details, he declined to elaborate on where those U.S. forces would be positioned or in what numbers.

Somalia’s Health ministry has rolled out doses of Sinopharm vaccine donated by China to boost the war against Covid-19 pandemic in the Horn of the African nation.

The country’s deputy minister of health Ahmed Hussein on Wednesday received his first dose of the Sinopharm vaccine in Mogadishu.  Mr Hussein said his country was grateful to China for the support in the fight against Covid-19 in Somalia.

The rollout of the jabs at a hospital in Mogadishu, according to Xinhua News Agency, comes after the Horn of the African nation on April 11 received a batch of Sinopharm vaccine.

The country rolled out its mass vaccination on March 16, having received vaccines through the COVAX facility. The ministry of health said it is giving priority to the frontline health workers, essential service providers and the elderly.

The country had reported 12,406 cases, including 5,222 recoveries and 618 deaths, as of April 11.