this is bbc news. the headlines at eight. a pledge that every adult in the uk will be offered their first dose of coronavirus vaccine by the end ofjuly — a month ahead of schedule. it is because of the success of the vaccine roll—out that we are able to do that and it will have an impact on how quickly we will be able to return to normal which is what everybody wants to see. borisjohnson meets ministers and scientific advisers to put the final touches to plans to bring england out of lockdown. a pioneering breakthough for children needing a heart transplant — a machine that keeps hearts beating outside the body for up to 12 hours. it is transplanting patients that otherwise would not get an organ and

this is the real beauty of this machine. in tennis, world number one novak djokovic wins a ninth australian open title with a comfortable victory over daniil medvedev. good evening and welcome to bbc news. the prime minister has promised all adults in the uk will now be offered their first dose of a coronavirus vaccine by the end ofjuly, ahead of the original estimate of sometime in the autumn. borisjohnson says the new target will allow more vulnerable people to be protected "sooner," and would help ease lockdown restrictions across the country. more details are expected on a possible relaxation of the rules in england tomorrow. so far more than 330,000 people have had theirfirst dose of one of the approved covid—19 vaccines in the latest 2a hour

period taking the total to over 17.5 million people. that's around 1 in 3 of all adults in the uk. the labour party has welcomed the new vaccine targets, but called on the government to prioritise people, based on theirjobs. 0ur political correspondent, helen catt, has the latest. it's a tiny bottle that could have a big impact. more than 17 million people in the uk have now had theirfirst dose of the vaccine. they now have some protection against covid—19. and it's been announced we'll all be offered a vaccine sooner than thought. everyone over 50, and all adults with underlying health conditions, will be able to get their first dose by the middle of april, two weeks earlier than planned. every adult in the uk will be offered a first jab by the end ofjuly. critical, of course, is that as many people as possible are vaccinated because the more who are vaccinated, the more individuals are protected, and the more society as a whole is protected.

in england, the prime minister promised that this lockdown would be different because the vaccine offered a path out. so does this brighter news bring hope for lifting the restrictions soon? there are signs the numbers in hospital are falling much more sharply than they were in the first wave and there's further analysis to be done on that. but, clearly, the level is still far too high, that's what the prime minister will be sending out a road map. we can't lift the measures right now but we can see that direction of travel. the road map has been finalised and will go to cabinet for approval tomorrow. for now, only a handful of senior ministers and scientists know exactly what's in it. downing street has said top priority is getting all children back into schools. it's expected the road map will confirm that is happening on march the 8th. teaching unions are concerned and would prefer a phased return but the labour leader wants to see all children back, too. ideally, the 8th of march.

we'll have to see where the data is, where the science is, _ but that is what we will be working towards. i if that means more testing, if that means nightingale . classrooms or other measures, let's do that _ beyond schools, downing street says the absolute priority in england is allowing families and friends to start meeting again. for most of us, the government is looking to the outdoors for social contact. that's likely to start with a tweak to the rule on exercising with one other person to allow meeting to socialise, too. but care home residents will be allowed regular indoor visits from one named person from the 8th of march. tomorrow's road map will signal another step towards starting the end of lockdown in england. wales, scotland and northern ireland will set out their own routes. but the progress of the vaccine roll—out continues to provide a backdrop of hope right across the uk. there'll be more from helen in a moment,

but as we've been hearing the government says it wants to focus on "data rather than dates" in deciding whether to ease the lockdown in england. the latest figures show there were 9,834 new infections recorded in the latest 24—hour period, with an average of 11,062 new cases recorded per day in the last week. there have been 215 deaths recorded, of people who died within 28 days of a positive covid test, meaning on average, 488 deaths were announced every day in the past week. that takes the total to 120,580. the government's vaccine programme offers protection against the two most commonly found variants in the uk, but it's unclear how they work against the south african mutation of covid—19.

a single case of that strain has been confirmed in brentwood in essex, and surge testing is now being expanded there. our health correspondent sophie hutchinson has more. so, what is a safe way out of lockdown? it seems to rely on a mix of high vaccination numbers and low rates of infection. the government stressed any reopening will be based on data, not dates, and scientists say data about the nhs is likely to be key. almost half of our hospitalisations are in the under—70s, so if we eased off very rapidly now we would get another surge in hospitalisations, so we have to ease very gradually, otherwise we will put the health service under pressure again, and we will get a surge in hospitalisations, and indeed deaths. so far, 17.5 million people have had a first dose of a coronavirus vaccine in the uk. the new, accelerated plan means, by the 15th of april, jabs will be rolled out to everyone,

aged over 50, and younger people with underlying health conditions, and by the end ofjuly, all adults in the uk should have been offered one dose of the vaccine. it's hoped, by lowering the number of infected people, the vaccination programme will reduce the chance of new variants emerging. brentwood in essex is the latest place where residents will undergo testing, after a case of the south africa variant was discovered there. we do think that the measures that we've taken, both the enhanced contact tracing, really clamping down when you see one of these, and the measures at the border, are reducing those new variants here. but there's been real concern about the increased infectiousness of the new variants. we mustn't relax. vaccination, while stopping. or preventing severe disease, i we are not entirely sure whether it| stops transmission, so we still need a lot of restrictive measures to not only bring down cases, _ but to make sure . that they stay down.

in israel, almost half of the population has now received a vaccine, and society is opening up. early data, which is not definitive, suggests transmission may have fallen there. if true, it could be a game—changer in the fight against the coronavirus. sophie hutchinson, bbc news. 0ur political correspondent helen catt told me politicans have a series of judgement calls to make. they have got the advice from the scientists but what they have to weigh up as firstly, how do they control the virus and that is more than just looking at the number vaccinated. they will take into account other bits of data in terms of how to control the virus. but they also have to balance that against the economic cost and social cost of keeping these restrictions in place for any length of time, and they have to balance those which is why it comes down to the politicians

to decide what kind of balance and when can you start to open things up. the success of the vaccine programme so far has really raised the stakes on this that they have to get this road map right in england and even ministers admit they have not got everything right in this pandemic and there is a real sense that this is one they do really need to get right. we that this is one they do really need to get right-— to get right. we are in a strange situation in _ to get right. we are in a strange situation in a _ to get right. we are in a strange situation in a sense _ to get right. we are in a strange situation in a sense because - to get right. we are in a strange i situation in a sense because there are four governments effectively in united kingdom. the uk government which on this domestic question is responsible for the lockdown in england, administrations in wales, scotland and northern ireland going at their own pace but all going from the same scientific advice and that must create tensions in itself. it doesn't we have seen throughout the pandemic each nation goes according to the speed they believe is best for their area and we have seen that resulting in different rules. the most obvious example at the moment to school reopening so in scotland, northern ireland and wales some

pupils are going back from tomorrow but going in a phased return over several weeks. we don't exactly know what will be on the road map for england tomorrow but all the indications are that they want a wholesale return on its march of all school children so not a phased return so that is a clear difference of where they are taking different approaches despite the same scientific advice behind it all but thatis scientific advice behind it all but that is because it is up to the politicians to decide what is the level of risk they are comfortable with, what do they think will be the best way forward to hit that balance between social damage and restricting the virus. 50 between social damage and restricting the virus.- between social damage and restricting the virus. so in the end it is a judgment — restricting the virus. so in the end it is a judgment call? _ restricting the virus. so in the end it is a judgment call? absolutely, | restricting the virus. so in the end | it is a judgment call? absolutely, a 'udument it is a judgment call? absolutely, a judgment call _ it is a judgment call? absolutely, a judgment call for _ it is a judgment call? absolutely, a judgment call for politicians - it is a judgment call? absolutely, a judgment call for politicians to - judgment call for politicians to make and when they are keen to get right, and in england so far what we have heard from government as they are airing on the side of caution, so tomorrow will be a big day for england and you will get this plan for how we leave lockdown but it sounds like an terms of things changing significantly on a daily basis it sounds like it will be some

weeks off. the prime minister will set out england's roadmap out of lockdown in the house of common's tomorrow afternoon. borisjohnson will also be leading tomorrow's downing street coronavirus briefing. we'll have full coverage on the bbc news channel from seven o'clock tomorrow evening. and we'll find out how this story — and many others — are covered in tomorrow's front pages at 10:30 and 11:30 this evening in the papers — our guestsjoining me tonight are the personal finance commentator, anne ashworth & the sun's chief sport reporter, martin lipton. do stay with us on bbc news for that. matt hancock has insisted that transparency about coronavirus—related contracts is "completely second order" to saving lives. he was responding to a high court judgement which ruled his department had acted unlawfully in failing to disclose on time details of deals to purchase items such as personal

protective equipment. the government is meant to publish contracts worth more ido i do beg your pardon for that. very rude of me. the government is meant to publish contracts worth more than £120,000 within 30—days of it being awarded. mr hancock told the bbc�*s andrew marr that ministers made the right decision in order to help hospitals during the height of the pandemic. the technical issue is that we were 'ust the technical issue is that we were just over_ the technical issue is that we were just over a — the technical issue is that we were just over a fortnight late on average _ just over a fortnight late on average with the publication of those — average with the publication of those things and the reason for that is the _ those things and the reason for that is the reason i back my team at 100% on. is the reason i back my team at100% on they— is the reason i back my team at 100% on. they were totally focused on saving _ on. they were totally focused on saving lives. just remember back, andrew _ saving lives. just remember back, andrew |— saving lives. just remember back, andrew. ~' ., saving lives. just remember back, andrew. ~ ., , ., ., andrew. i know the situation was stressful. the _ andrew. i know the situation was stressful. the situation _

andrew. i know the situation was stressful. the situation was - andrew. i know the situation was stressful. the situation was that l andrew. i know the situation was i stressful. the situation was that we were very tight _ stressful. the situation was that we were very tight on _ stressful. the situation was that we were very tight on ppe _ stressful. the situation was that we were very tight on ppe and - were very tight on ppe and thankfully thanks to the incredible work of— thankfully thanks to the incredible work of my team we didn't have a nationai— work of my team we didn't have a national shortage of ppe and that is because _ national shortage of ppe and that is because they spent all of their time buying _ because they spent all of their time buying life—saving equipment and some _ buying life—saving equipment and some of— buying life—saving equipment and some of this was a little bit late. matt— some of this was a little bit late. matt hancock speaking to andrew marr this morning. a four—year—old girl and two adults have died in a house fire in exeter. three other children, who were in the house, are in a stable condition in hospital. duncan sleightholme reports. behind these blackened windows, three members of a family have lost their lives. a bunch of flowers placed outside this home in tribute to those who have died. forensic officers and detectives looking for evidence to work out how this tragedy has happened. the emergency services were called in the early hours of this morning. a 28—year—old woman, a 29—year—old man and a four—year—old girl have died. three other children are being treated in hospital — two boys, aged four and nine, and a seven—year—old girl. it's a huge tragedy

for all involved. the family, those who knew the family, the broader community here in exeter, as well, all of whom will be greatly affected by this. throughout the day, specialist fire investigators have been working with police and forensic officers to gather evidence about how this fire started. cordons are likely to remain in place around the house in clayton road near st david station for the next couple of days as the investigation continues. we don't know, at this stage, exactly what's happened. we have people working at the scene really hard to try to establish exactly what's happened. but, as i said, we don't think there's any third—party involvement and we're not looking for anybody else at this stage in connection with the fire. the next of kin of those who have died had been informed. the police say the three children in hospital are in a stable condition and are expected to be transferred to bristol children's hospital for further treatment. duncan sleightholme, bbc spotlight, exeter. a major incident has been declared in manchester after a large—scale fire broke out

at a three—storey warehouse. these pictures were taken by a nearby resident in denton — as around 125 firefighters were sent to the scene. the m67 was closed between junctions one and two because of the large ploom of smoke. the public have been advised to avoid the area. we will of course bring you more on that if there are further developments. two teenage boys have been arrested on suspicion of kidnap, after a car was stolen in birmingham, with the owner's two children inside. a police armed response unit took part in the search before forcing the car to a halt on the a38 bristol road. it had been spotted going the wrong way down a dual carriageway. both the children inside — aged two and four — were unharmed. the duke of edinburgh is preparing to spend a sixth night in a london hospital. he was visited yesterday by his son, the prince of wales. prince charles spent around half

an hour at the king edward the 7th hospital, before returning to his highgrove home in gloucestershire. prince philip, who's 99, was admitted to hospital on tuesday on the advice of his doctor after feeling unwell. the headlines on bbc news. a pledge that every adult in the uk will be offered their first dose of coronavirus vaccine by the end ofjuly — a month ahead of schedule. borisjohnson meets ministers and scientific advisers to put the final touches to plans to bring england out of lockdown. a pioneering breakthough for children needing a heart transplant, which helps reduce waiting list times. and more on that story. the uk has introduced a new heart transplant technique

for children that reanimates a donor heart outside the body and can even repair any damage sustained by the organ during death. this programme, a collaboration between the royal papworth and great 0rmond street hospitals, significantly increased the number of such life—saving operations carried out in the uk last year. our health correspondent anna collinson has this report just a year ago, one of these sisters had a failing heart and was put on an urgent transplant list. nice wave! freya heddington was warned she may have to wait up to two years. but thanks to a new programme it was just eight weeks. and within months she could start doing the things she loved most. i'm ecstatic that i got such an amazing gift of a heart. but it's also upsetting to know that someone also died. a donor's family must be consented before surgery, as this training simulation shows. until a year ago, almost all paediatric heart transplants came from patients who had suffered brain death. their heart may beat but they will never wake up. life support is withdrawn and

the heart is stopped and retrieved. but this new programme uses hearts which have been allowed to cease beating on their own after life support is withdrawn. as soon as this happens, the heart begins to deteriorate. by using this machine demonstrated here using red dye at the royal papworth hospital, doctors can effectively restart it and repair the damage. you would have the heart sitting with the connector at the top, the aorta. these tubes move blood through the heart which keeps it healthy for up to 12 hours, giving surgeons much more time to carry out checks, and even transport it to other locations. this organ care system is now used by adult cardiac transplant centres across the uk. but 12 months ago, the team here in cambridge joined forces with great 0rmond street hospital to extend their world—leading service to children, and despite the pressures of the pandemic, treated six patients in 2020.

in the adult world, we double the amount of heart transplantation and we reduce the waiting time period. and we had to do exactly the same thing for the paediatric recipients at the same time for both populations to reduce the mortality in the waiting list. and this is what we achieved. 0nce retrieved, the hearts are delivered to great 0rmond street hospital for transplantation. children normally have to wait around two and a half times longer than adults for a new heart. for many of our transplant patients now, they are so sick that they have to wait in the hospital for their transplants, sometimes for six months, perhaps even over a year. so not only is it reducing wait times but it is transplanting patients that otherwise would not get an organ. freya's family will never forget what they've been through, or the people and the machine that saved her life. it will always be there i in the back of our minds. but, you know, we know now she's got a lovely healthy heart _ and her future's bright.

seven people have been killed after a nigerian airforce plane crashed while approaching the runway at abuja airport. this eyewitness described what she saw. for us, it is very painful. because when the plane just landed, wham, once i heard wham, when i heard wham, ijust see it explode with fire and smoke together. at first, i could not go there. later, when i get here, i saw the dead body on the ground. our correspondent in abuja, ishaq khalid, gave us more details about the crash. what we have so far is that seven people were on board the military aircraft. all of them have died. the authorities are saying the aircraft developed an engine problem on its way to the central city of minna after its take—off from this airport in the capital, abuja. then it returned. on its return at the airport, it hit the runway and then

burst into flames. witnesses say that it hovered before crashing and there was a loud sound there after the crash and then the aircraft actually went into flames. so the authorities are investigating, they are now pointing at a technical problem. but the weather here is also quite hazy, there is some sort of fog but they are not mentioning the weather at the moment but possibly maybe one of the things that they are going to consider in their investigations. a funeral has taken place in myanmar for a young woman who has become a national symbol of resistance to miltary rule. the military overthrew the elected government earlier this month. mya thwate thwate khaing died on friday after being shot during a protest against the coup. a hearse carrying her coffin was driven through the capital naypyidaw. thousands lined the streets to honour her, some making the three—fingered salutes used by demonstrators. across myanmar, protesters have

taken to the streets again despite the previous day being the worst violence yet in weeks of protests. two demonstrators were killed in mandalay after police opened fire. the united nations, the united states, britain and france have strongly condemned the use of force by the authorities. myanmar�*s ministry of foreign affairs insists the authorities are exercising restraint. the funeral service was held in the capital, naypyidaw, for mya thwe thwe khaing, who was the first confirmed death from the anti—coup movement, after she was shot in the head last week and died on friday. the funeral was, so far, peaceful, despite thousands of mourners and supporters turn up and show their solidarity. in the meanwhile, the military regime arrest more people, including a famous actor, called lu min, who was among the celebrities calling

for all civil servants to take part in nationwide civil disobedience movement. he was charged with incitement against the regime. now, nearly 600 people have been already arrested or charged, or sentenced under this regime, according to local rights groups. however, there is no sign of dying down in anti—coup movement, and protester called for nationwide strikes on monday. some of the largest retail outlets already declared a temporary shutdown tomorrow, and huge protests are expected again. this is nyein chan aye, bbc news, yangon. israel has eased many of its covid lockdown restrictions. nearly half of the country's population has received at least one dose of the vaccine. gyms, hotels and tourist attractions are re—opening, but entry will only be allowed to those with a green pass, which shows they've either had the jab or the virus.

nickjohnson reports. beer to persuade some. pizza to persuade others. israel's programme at getting covid jabs in arms continues at pace. the country has the highest vaccination rate in the world, more than 49% of people have had at least one dose. it's all part of the national effort to break free from this new normal. shops and restaurants closed, an economy at risk, people's lives on hold. after a steep resurgence in covid infections, the country entered its third lockdown just after christmas. but health officials say progress in their vaccination programme is now starting to make a difference in the number of infections, allowing the country to begin reopening its economy. studies in israel showed that the pfizer vaccine is 95.8% effective in preventing

hospitalisations and death. from today, shops, libraries and tourist attractions are able to reopen, but social distancing and masks will still be required. we do need to hurry up and get everyone on board the vaccination programme because with all of those variants rising their heads, we could be facing, you know, other setbacks in the future and we need to really, you know, hurry up with community immunity. but in order to be allowed into shops, museums and libraries, israelis will have to download a so—called green badge to carry around as proof of inoculation. announcing the scheme last night, prime minister benjamin netanyahu urged israelis to use the pass as a way of getting their lives back. "please use it", he said. "it's for you." as israel begins to ease restrictions, it is hoped the country's so—far successful vaccination programme of work

as a blueprint for other countries hoping to begin their own journeys out of lockdown. nickjohnson, bbc news. the united arab emirates has sent 20,000 covid—19 sputnik v vaccines to the gaza strip. the russian—made vaccines arrived in gaza via the rafah border crossing with egypt. health officials in gaza said they would begin vaccination tomorrow, with priority for medical workers and those with chronic diseases. a new report, backed by the archbishop of canterbury, says that the church of england should use its extensive land holdings to help ease the housing crisis. the study recommends that the billion—pound anglican property portfolio be used for environmental and social benefits, alongside economic ones. harry farley reports. in gloucester, like so many other parts of the country, the realities of the housing crisis bite. according to a new report from the archbishop of canterbury,

this is not simply a political problem, but a moral and spiritual one, too. which says to the church, very bluntly, and to everyone else, that if we are going to solve the crisis, there must be sacrifice. people have to give something up. we're talking about more than 10,000 houses, not tomorrow, but over a 20—year period. this report says we have got to have a vision for housing, if we're going to solve the crisis, that is like our vision for the nhs. the church of england is one of the country's largest landowners, from acres of farmland to inner—city areas like here, in gloucester. the challenge in this report is, can that land be better used to help solve the housing crisis that's leaving millions in unstable, unsatisfactory and, in some cases unsafe, accommodation? this whole area used to be the old vicarage. where the car park is now

was orchards and ponds and gardens. in the parish of st paul and st stephens, an old eight—bedroom vicarage has now been redeveloped into affordable housing and flats for young people at risk of homelessness. but projects like this mean the church misses out on vital revenue if the flats had been sold at full price. i think it looks like actually not putting our security in finances, but actually doing what we've been asked to do, which is proclaim the good news of jesus christ into... so the church is losing money? ..the community. well, it's perhaps not about losing money, it's about not holding onto it for, um... ..different purposes. 19—year—old chelsea is one of the young people housed here. there was a lot of trauma about when i was young, | so that created a bad - mental health for me now, and now i am free. i see myself as free. i've got this little . catchphrase of 2019 opened my mind, 2020 was me

being free, and 2021 _ is my making of my future. so it's going to be good. but there are some who fear this could mean a loss of part of this country's history and heritage. we're not talking about church buildings here, or vicarages, or cutting back on clergy. no, this is about land, in some cases, we've owned for over 1,000 years. we're not withdrawing, we're going onto what we should be doing to love our neighbour as well as love god. and use land that can be used for development, that's not protected land, in order to create affordable housing in wonderful communities. this place has saved me _ in lots of different ways, you know. i've got my own place now. i'm free, i'm ok, i'm looking forward to my future. - so, it has! harry farley, bbc news, gloucester. now it's time for a look at the weather with nick. hello.

very mixed weather fortunes coming up in the week ahead. very wet in some areas, dry, very mild in others. and, well, of course, we've got used to the rain coming back. the weather has turned milder, so it has been that mild, wet weather week. and look at this temperature anomaly map here. look at the very mild colours, so temperatures well above average for a time, particularly around midweek, before easing off later. but yet again, with the mild air, there's rain on the way. not evenly distributed across the uk. parts of eastern england staying dry. but the green colours across some portions of scotland bringing a renewed risk of flooding, with rain totals going above 100 millimetres in some spots. from an area of low pressure which brings in a waving weather front here for tuesday and wednesday, just sitting across many of the same areas. not just scotland, but northern ireland, wales, western parts of england seeing a bit of rain. but particularly for northern ireland and scotland. but if you avoid that weather front and stay dry, that's where we'll get that very mild air coming in, though all parts are going to be mild. now, we're already dealing with a bit of rain in parts of england and wales,

and will be through the evening and night.