about two weeks prior to his death. >> yes. >> george floyd's girlfriend breaks down in court as lawyers zero when on his drug use. ♪ hello you are watching al jazeera live from london. also coming up, fighting the south african variant. pfizer says vaccine is 100% effective against strain that

had scientists most concerned. just another day as myanmar marks two months since the coup. argentina pays tribute to the controversial composer who revolutionized tango and divided the musical world. the first few days of the trial over the death of george floyd have been packed with emotional testimony and harrowing footage. the court has just wrapped up thursday's proceedings where george floyd's girlfriend was among those who spoke for the first time. she told the court about their struggles with drug addiction. prosecutors say her testimony will humanize him and portray

him as more than a statistic. attorneys for derek chauvin site drug use could be a factor in the death. >> is it your belief that mr. floyd started using again about two weeks prior to his death? >> i noticed a change in his behavior, yes. >> that's when you noticed the changes in his behavior. you describe some of those changes in his behavior in that timeframe. >> yes. >> you recall telling the f that there would be times that he would be up and bouncing around then times that he would be unintelligible? >> i don't recall that. >> would you disagree if i said that that's in the transcript. >> george floyd's girlfriend there.

derek smith was one of the first paramedics on the scene. he testified that he was unable to find a pulse when he checked george floyd's vital signs on arrival. >> in a living person, there should be a pulse. i did not feel one. i suspected this patient to be dead. >> at the moment you are checking for the pulse, are the officers still positioned on top of mr. floyd? >> yes. >> we are live in minneapolis following the trial. it was an interesting day. you had some very emotional parts, the most emotional one was george floyd's girlfriend. then, maybe some drier testimony but they put together the picture of what was happening as the first responders went to the scene. what was the main take away from you for today. i think there were two main

takeaways that were key particularly for the prosecution. number one was the paramedics. they arrived on scene. the first paramedics on scene. you heard a clip of one a minute ago. they said that when they arrived on scene, george floyd was not breathing. that he had no pulse. that he was not alive. then, they went on to say that when they arrived, derek chauvin still had his knee on george floyd's neck. while he was not alive. that nobody was trying to administer any sort of health -- help to george floyd. that was a key part of the testimony today. it lays to rest any possible defense argument that may be george floyd was still alive and he died later at the hospital.

that is clearly not the case and that was very clear today in the testimony. i think that was a major take away. second, the testimony from and you are seeing right now excuse me the family of george floyd coming out of the courtroom. excuse me, this is some lawyers for the family and also george floyd's brother in the blue suit. how do you feel the trial went today? ok, they did not respond when i asked them how the trial went today. that was george floyd's brother. he is one of two family members in the courtroom throughout all of this trial so far. as i was saying, the second big take away from today was aew police sergeant who is now retired who was essentially george floyd's supervisor i'm

sorry derek chauvin's supervisor on the day that george floyd died. he admitted in testimony that the use of force tactic that derek chauvin was using was inappropriate. that you only put a knee on the suspects neck until they are handcuffed and until they are fully restrained. then, you no longer use that tactic. george floyd was handcuffed even before he was put face down on the cement and he was clearly seven minutes into the nine minute video, he was clearly fully restrained. he was dead and had no pulse for multiple minutes. derek chauvin still had his knee on george floyd's neck. the fact that the police commander admitted that was not following police proper protocols was an important take away from today's testimony as well.

>> we also heard a lot of testimony from george floyd's girlfriend about drug use and how they both made use of drugs. that is undoubtedly going to play a huge part in the evidence of the trial, especially the defense. >> yes it is. there are two things that the defense is putting everything on for this trial. number one is the defense is saying that derek chauvin was under threat from a rowdy crowd that was gathering. that's why he needed to keep george floyd down for so long. the biggest thing that the defense has to convince the jury of is that george floyd died of drug greece. -- droid of drug use. that is the main argument here. that's why this started to come

up in the trial and it's going to come up multiple times again. particularly when the defense starts to prevent -- present its case in full and calling witnesses. you started to see that and it was brought up by a osecution witness. george floyd's girlfriend. because the prosecution wants to bring it up. they want to deal with this straightaway and they want to take on this issue of drug use straightaway and they are basically trying to humanize drug -- george floyd. a man who suffered from pain and had prescription drugs then had a hard time getting off of it. as we were basically saying so many people around the world struggle with drug use, so that's why the prosecution was bringing it into the trial to humanize george floyd and deal with the issue of drugs straightaway. the prosecution clearly and unequivocally says it was not drugs that led to george floyd's

death at all. they are very clear on that. they say it was more than nine minutes of derek chauvin's knee cutting off the blood circulation to george floyd. the defense clearly has defined some sort of way to get the client off and they said in opening statements, they will continue to press the issue of george floyd's drug use and drugs that were found in his system at the time of his death. >> thank you. ♪ there is positive news on fighting the coronavirus pandemic. new research on the pfizer vaccine giving encouraging results. the latest research shows the jab is 100% effective against the south african variant of the virus. it is from a relatively small

sample of eight people. it is also 91% effective against all covid-19 variants. that is according to pfizer figures dating back to the first shots six months ago. a study in the u.k. found 98% of people under the age of 80 have a strong immune response to the jab which should protect against all variants. the vaccine is being rolled out in 70 nations worldwide. we are at the white house. pfizer was the first vaccine to get the ok and now it seems to be one of the strongest ones. that's great news. >> it is great news. the other vaccine is going to go into similar trials. up until now, we thought that he gave you protection for three months after you are fully vaccinated. now, they are saying six months.

that makes a huge difference. if you're talking about a company or schools reopening or governments trying to figure out what the next six month are going to look like, if it had only been three months than all enough, then vaccine production would have to ramp up for a booster which is what the companies have been working on. now, experts are saying we know it's good for six months. likely it will be good for longer. that gives scientists more time to figure out what kind of boosters they will have to come up with and for how long. when people have to get the jab again. the bigger deal is probably that it is effective against the south african variant. that has been the concern from the biden administration that the variants were going to outpace the vaccine. they are doing pretty well at vaccines, but this is a tricky virus. we know that the new variants are or contagious, you get sicker, you're more likely to die. all of this looks to be, i know it's weird to say it, but there

is good news. there really is good news. >> generally good news about the u.s. vaccination campaign, which is speeding up. what's the latest on the ground? >> it really depends on what city you live in, what county or state you live in. the trump administration set up a plan where they send all of the doses to the states and the states can your out how to distribute them. there's a lot of states, some are doing better than others. many states where people are saying they don't want to get the vaccine. there's more availability. other states you still have people 65 and up on the list what he ready to get it. it really depends on where you live. we know they are ramping up vaccination efforts. they had a bit of a set up they believe 15 million doses of the j&j vaccine that was supposed to be in the supply line ran into an issue with

cross-contamination and baltimore, maryland. that might delay some j&j vaccines but right now, we are seeing between 2 million to 3 million per day going into people's arms. at that rate, it appears that the biden administration is going to meet its goal of 200 million jobs by his first 100 days in office. >> that was the latest from washington, d.c. when it comes to covid, it is not good news everywhere. india is expanding its vaccination program to everyone over the age of 45 as it struggles to stop searching infections. tens of thousands of people got their job on the first day of the biggest push yet against the virus. vaccines were restricted to people over the age of 60 and others with serious health conditions. the government wants to inoculate 300 million people by the end of july. authorities reported more than

72,000 cases on thursday, the highest spike in six months. india is home to the largest vaccine maker which has put a temporary hold on exports of the astrazeneca vaccine. the program depends on those doses to inoculate poorer countries. africa's top health official has warned that if the delay continues, the result would be catastrophic. >> it would definitely impact the ability to continuously vaccinate people. the first wave of vaccines came in from astrazeneca. the delay continues, i only hope that it is a delight not abandon because that would be catastrophic.

then, meeting the vaccination schedule becomes problematic. >> europe's vaccination campaign is unacceptably slow according to the bho senior official for the region. only 10% of people in europe have received the first jab and only 4% have been given both doses. he says continued delays could prolong the pandemic. and april fools prank in brussels has violated coronavirus restrictions. around 40,000 people turned up after a joke party was promoted on social media. antiriot police used a tear gas and a water cannon to disperse a crowd. revelers were told that to pop stars would perform. belgium recently entered the third down with groups limited to just four people meeting outside.

slovakia has a new government after a scandal over a secret deal to buy russia's vaccine doses brought down the previous administration. crisis paralyzed one of the eu's hardest hit countries. ♪ >> swearing in a new government hoping to turn the page on a terrible year for slovakia's ruling coalition. the president praised the coalition for reaching an agreement in four weeks. >> the real fulfillment of the success of your agreements will be if this government continues to take steps to help the country and its citizens. >> we have learned a lot and we have also learned a lot from mistakes. i hope we will be stable and trusting and there will be cohesion between us. renewal of slovakia continues.

>> she was previously the finance minister and deputy prime minister. his was the first european government to collapse because of how it is handled the covid-19 pandemic. disputes over leadership boiled over last month. the prime minister had ordered shipments of the sputnik v vaccine without consulting his political partners. >> in the next two months, we will receive more than one million vaccines meaning it will be for half a million people. >> the move prompted two parties in the coalition and for people to demand that he resign. he had only led one year ago with an anticorruption agenda. since covid-19 arrived, slovakia has had an unenviable record with a population of 5.5 million, it is registered 10,000 deaths.

one of the highest per capita rates in the world. in recent weeks, it is seen infection rates fall. the new government will@ help t can concentrate on driving down cases and hospitalizations. >> still had, back together again. more than 1000 people are reunited with anxious relatives after escaping a battle in northern mozambique. boris johnson's most senior black advisor quits after a day of count -- report that says the u.k. is not institutionally racist. ♪ >> the weather is fair for much of australia. we have a couple of areas of low

pressure to watch out for. another system lurking in the coral sea. that area of high pressure will bring in somewhat whether. -- what whether. we could see somewhat whether for a time coming and. notice the circulation coming into the far northwest. otherwise, it is dry and sunny. 30 celsius in melbourne. not too bad in new zealand. auckland touching 22 degrees celsius. tin tokyo high-pressure is in charge. 19 there for tokyo on friday.

showers in central and east part of china. the korean peninsula turning wet. warm and dry for japan. ♪ >> be the hero the world needs right now. wash your hands.

♪ >> it's time for a reminder of the top stories. the trial of derek chauvin, a former police officer charged with murdering george floyd has wrapped up after another day of testimony. george floyd's girlfriend told the court about their addiction to painkillers. pfizer biontech says it's vaccine is highly effective against south african variant of covid-19. myanmar has deposed the civilian leader can be jailed for up to 14 years. it has been two months since the government was overthrown in a coup and protesters have shared

images of their demonstrations online nearly every day. the junta is moving to cut off internet services. >> with tears of blood into it on their faces, protesters warned those killed were demonstrating against the coup. they marked two months since the paragraph that plunged myanmar into crisis. >> we are sad for our protesters who are fighting the military, but we will never give up. >> the legal team of the deposed leader announced that she has been charged with violating the colonial era official secrets act. she has been detained since february 1 and has been charged with two other accounts and charged with bribery. this is now spilling outside the borders. myanmar military fighter jets attacked ethnic army held areas near the border.

that sent thousands of civilians across the border into thailand seeking safety and medical attention. it prompted the strongest reaction yet from the thai government. >> troubled by the reports of more casualties among the myanmar people. duri this past weekend, we renew our call for the utmost restraint, de-escalation of situations, and to violence, and further release of detainees. >> some of the ethnic army groups have denounced the coup throwing support behind the protesters and have called for an increase in attacks on the man -- military. the u.n. envoy has warned of the civil war if the situation does not improve. some feel that not only is there a civil war in myanmar but on two fronts, the streets and the ethnic territories. >> what we are in now is a situation of two civil wars.

one which is two years -- two months old. the military started it when they staged a coup. it is a civil war with the entire country. then the second civil war just been going on for seven decades against the ethnic organizations. >> as protesters burn copies of the 2008 constitution they gave deep powers to the military, a parallel government has been set up by deposed members of parliament. they have called for a federal democracy that would include the ethnic armed groups. >> ship carrying 1200 people who fled last week's rebel attack in mozambique has arrived. desperate family members have been waiting outside the court to be reunited with those who managed to flee the town. it was stormed by hundreds of armed rebels killing thousands

of people. mozambique's military is battling to retake the town. >> i don't know about my son. i don't know where he is. i haven't been able to eat for a week. >> i am so tired. it was seven days in the bushes. i am so tired. we crossed paths several times with the bandits. the situation is really bad. many are dead. >> government have killed at least 30 people in ethiopia. villagers who witnessed the attack say the victims were ethnic -- they blame on unarmed group for the assault. the british prime minister's most senior black advisor has quit the day after a review on racism in the country. the government commissioned and

independent investigation during the black lives matter movement last year. the study said the u.k. is not institutionally racist and is a good example for other countries. downing street insists the departure has nothing to do with the report. >> this is very interesting piece of work. i'm not going to say the government will agree with everything in it, but it has some original and stimulating work that i think people need to read and to consider. there are serious issues that our society faces to do with racism that we need to address. adwe have to do more to fix it. need to understand the severity of the problem. we are going to be looking at all the ideas they put forward and we will be making a response. >> and argentinian tango

musician divided opinion when he was alive. now 19 years after his death, he is credited with revolutionizing tango. concerts showcasing his music are taking place across the capital to mark his birth. >> this is one of the most famous tango songs worldwide. it was written in 1959 to bid farewell to his father. argentina is celebrating 100 years of his birth with a series of concerts and shows invoice aris. -- in when sra's. his wife says this is the first

time the city's pay tribute to his music. cliques in the beginning, he was at war with the city. don't forget that tango is from the city alongside uruguay. he wanted to revolutionize music. he wanted people to know that there is more than three by four. in the beginning, he was more respected in europe than argentina. people look at europe and saw him. parks >> you seems and theaters are putting his life on display. >> his arrangements were criticized by traditional tango musicians. some accused him of killing tango. he incorporated elements of jazz and classical music and created the new music that is known around the globe. he was born in argentina but his

father moved to new york city. he never stopped playing. he wrote over 900 songs and dared to take tango to a new level. sw■■ooooóo2