tonight at 10:00 — the biggest single step on the road back to normality, says the prime minister as england's covid restrictions are further eased next week. from monday, you'll be able to socialise indoors again both in pubs and restaurants and at home — and groups of up to 30 can meet outdoors. this unlocking amounts to a very considerable step on the road back to normality, and i am confident that we will be able to go further. no more masks for secondary school children — they won't have to wear them from next week. for the first time since march last year, no deaths have been announced in england in the past 2a hours. and no deaths were recorded in scotland or northern ireland. also tonight...

rockets fired from gaza at jerusalem, as violence escalates between palestinians and israelis after days of clashes. still crippled — america's biggest fuel pipeline has been shut since friday after a cyber attack that's thought to have originated in russia. the young minke whale stranded in the thames has had to be put down — vets say it was too weak to survive on its own. and hopes fade that wembley could stage the champions league final. after travel to turkey was banned, now portugal is set to host the all—english final. and coming up in the sport, on the bbc news channel... is this the goal that sends fulham back down to the championship? we'll have more on the basement battle from craven cottage. good evening. the government today confirmed that

from next monday people in england can socialise indoors, visit galleries, theatres and cinemas again, go on holiday and even hug loved ones and friends. the prime minister called it a considerable step on the road back to normality. as restrictions are eased further, pubs and restaurants will be allowed to serve people inside. indoor venues like cinemas and soft play centres will reopen, as well as hotels. for the first time in over a year we will actually be allowed to hug each other — though we're being told to do it cautiously. six people or two households will be able to meet indoors and stay overnight. 0utdoors, the rule of six is scrapped and people will be able to meet in groups of up to 30. some foreign travel will be allowed without quarantine to a small number of countries. and pupils in secondary schools will no longer need to wear face masks. more easing of restrictions in scotland and wales is expected to be confirmed later this week, and in northern ireland

in the coming weeks. 0ur health editor hugh pym reports. remember this? scenes from life before the pandemic. busy bars, restaurants and cinemas. from next monday in england, something similar is set to return to people's every day lives. this pub in liverpool has had to brave poor weather to serve customers in recent days. so next week's opening up indoors will come not a minute too soon. so many people that i know that actually opened for a week or two and just decided no, we're going to leave it and we will go back to the 17th. so i think there is huge anticipation because this does feel like it's the first main step of the road back to normality. the prime minister stressed the importance of the next move. this unlocking amounts to a very considerable step on the road back to normality and i'm confident that we will be able to go further. is it possible that you might even

bring forward thejune the 21st date for the final stage of the road map and the lifting of all legal restrictions? i think it's very important that we should proceed cautiously. but as i have said many times now, hopefully irreversibly. and the secret of the success that we have had so far i think has been that we have been guided by the data. and we've given time to see the effect of each successive stage on the road map. the official uk covid threat level has been moved down from four to three for the first time since september. so what does the data behind all this actually show? the office for national statistics survey of people in the community with the virus showed a sharp increase up until early january, then a steady fall which continued in march and april, even after schools reopened and there was some easing of restrictions. that is mirrored by daily covid

hospital admissions, which peaked at more than 4000 injanuary and then fell right back after lockdown and the impact of the vaccine were allowed. continued progress of the vaccination programme was a key test. in essex, a vaccine bus is travelling round the county. is this your first vaccination? designed by the local nhs team working with ford, here it has been deployed at a sports and leisure centre run by the local muslim community. in general, we are hitting the target that we need to hit in terms of cohorts and age groups. but i think the added facet that the van brings is that we are getting to those pockets of the community who may be afraid or don't have the means to access normal health care services. always make sure that your masks are on indoors. face coverings will no longer be required in schools in england as part of the next stage of the road map. the thinking behind this and the other measures is learning to live with the virus when case numbers are low. though local restrictions could be imposed if there

are serious outbreaks. an extended reopening of indoor hospitality in wales and scotland is planned for next monday. in northern ireland, a week later. further details are expected soon. in all parts of the uk, officials will closely watch the data, including any further increase in new variants. but right now, plans seem to be on track. hugh pym, bbc news. for the first time since march last year the government has reported no coronavirus deaths in england. there were also no deaths recorded today in scotland and northern ireland. wales has reported four. in the past 2a hours, 2,357 new covid infections were recorded. more than 35 million people have now had their first dose of a vaccine. that's over two thirds of the uk's adult population. more than 17.5 million people have had

both jabs, so more than a third of all adults are now fully vaccinated. let's get more with our medical editor fergus walsh. millions editor fergus walsh. of people now vaccinated, and millions of people now vaccinated, and we have new figures on the amount of protection that the vaccines give you?— vaccines give you? yes, new, real-world — vaccines give you? yes, new, real-world evidence. - vaccines give you? yes, new, real-world evidence. early i vaccines give you? yes, new, - real-world evidence. early analysis real—world evidence. early analysis from public health england suggests two doses of the pfizer—biontech vaccine reduces your risk of dying from covid by 97%. extraordinary figure. now, the astrazeneca jab was rolled out later, so we don't have that data yet. but we know that one dose of either vaccine cuts your risk of dying by 80%. and vaccines cut the risk of transmission, so if you do still get infected, you are much less likely to pass it on and you are protecting others. all of that means that vaccines can increasingly be relied upon to control coronavirus, rather than social restrictions. having said all that, the immunisation programme is going very well, but it is not complete. a third of adults, mostly

those under 40, have yet to have one dose of vaccine, and they play a big role in transmission. and second doses will be crucial. coronavirus is not going to go away. it will continue to cause deaths and pose a health threat. but barring some terrible mutated variant, it should never again risk overwhelming the nhs. so, the epidemic here is coming under control, but the pandemic is still raging. and that is why it is more important than ever that vaccine doses are distributed globally. more than 20 people — including nine children — are reported to have been killed in israeli air strikes on gaza, after dozens of rockets were fired from the territory towards jerusalem and other cities. the deaths came on a day of escalating violence between palestinians and israeli security forces who have clashed daily at the al—aqsa compound injerusalem since friday. the past few days have

seen the worst violence injerusalem for years, with more than 300 palestinians wounded in confrontations with israeli police. 0ur middle east correspondent yolande knell is in jerusalem for us tonight. in the last hour, rockets are still being fired from gaza into southern israel. hamas ren tv says that 200 rockets had been fired in the past few hours. israelis are still very shocked by the sirens they heard during the day, and in gaza the streets are empty as people fear what happens next. 0ur blood is a cheap price for jerusalem, shouts this bereaved gaza grandmother. while this woman, who lost four children, can only weep.

the casualties, mounting, after israeli air strikes. translation: this evening. _ israeli air strikes. translation: this evening, jerusalem - israeli air strikes. translation: this evening, jerusalem day, - israeli air strikes. translation: i this evening, jerusalem day, gaza's terrorist organisations crossed a red line and attacked us with rockets on the outskirts of jerusalem. israel will react very forcefully. jerusalem. israel will react very forcefull . , jerusalem. israel will react very forcefully-— forcefully. his response to a barraue forcefully. his response to a barrage of— forcefully. his response to a barrage of rockets _ forcefully. his response to a barrage of rockets fired - forcefully. his response to a barrage of rockets fired by l barrage of rockets fired by palestinian militants. israelis ran for cover when one reached jerusalem for cover when one reached jerusalem for the first time in years. while angry palestinians cheered. tensions were simmering on this holiday, when israelis mark the capture of east jerusalem over 50 years ago. there is a party atmosphere, as israelis gather from across the country to head down towards the western wall. for them, this is a big day of celebration. forthe for them, this is a big day of

celebration. for the palestinians, this march as a provocation. why am i here? because we are not going to let anyone win of when they are going to threaten us and try to stop us from being here and celebrate and dance. it is unbelievable. earlier, inside al—aqsa mosque, ramadan worship had quickly turned into violence. stun grenades and stones on this site, sacred to muslims and jews. here, there was frustration at damascus gate as police stopped jews from entering. tonight, the al—aqsa compound was literally ablaze. the israeli celebrations continued. the fire was put out. what has flared up here may be harder to extinguish.

the worst violence in jerusalem the worst violence injerusalem for years, what has the international response been?— years, what has the international response been? years, what has the international resonse been? . , , response been? there have been calls from the international _ response been? there have been calls from the international community - response been? there have been calls from the international community for. from the international community for calm and restraint for weeks now. because this has been a very tense month of ramadan, and it started with israeli police blocking off one of the popular gathering points at the entrance to the old city, where palestinians like to go and evening. then there had been nightly clashes in this eastjerusalem neighbourhood, where palestinian families have been facing eviction to make way forjewish settlers. israel did take some steps, like delaying a key court hearing in the case, to try to lower the tensions. but it really appears it was too late. the us secretary of state has now condemned the rocket fire. he has called on all sides to take practical steps to try to de—escalate this very dangerous situation. we are getting a very similar message from the uk and from others as well. similar message from the uk and from others as well-—

others as well. yolande knell, jerusalem. — others as well. yolande knell, jerusalem, thank _ others as well. yolande knell, jerusalem, thank you. - sir keir starmer has told his new shadow cabinet that he takes responsibility for labour's poor performance in last week's elections. the labour leader is under pressure over the way he handled his cabinet reshuffle, with many questioning his decision to sack his campaign co—ordinator, angela rayner. here's our political correspondent iain watson. tensions at the top of the labour party have often been a feature of its history, and now the current leader and his deputy have had a serious stand—off. when keir starmer stripped angela rayner of her responsibility for campaigning, she and her supporters put up a fight. the mayor of greater manchester had criticised keir starmer but is now calling for the infighting to stop. labour's got to stop this sort of internal focus, the civil war between those on the left and right of the party. from my point of view, that's absolutely pointless and destructive. those close to the top of the party can't agree on what happened here during tense negotiations this weekend.

allies of angela rayner said she turned down the shadow health secretary's job. those close to keir starmer said he openly explored a range of options, but she did emerge with more influence over the party's policies and direction. at the moment, it feels like there's a very uneasy truce at the top of the labour party. allies of angela rayner are claiming she has been strengthened by this weekend's stand—off. so, by implication, keir starmer has been weakened. and they are accusing the labour leader of failing to set out a vision to win back voters that the party has lost. is this reshuffle a new start for labour? the labour leader has promised to accelerate changes in his party. the first major casualty in the reshuffle of his top team was anneliese dodds, removed as shadow chancellor. i'm really sorry, i'm not answering any questions. sorry about that. rachel reeves replaces her. she's closer to the politics of tony blair and gordon brown. talking of which, labour's last prime minister has been advising the current party leader, and he says keir starmer should keep calm and carry on.

keir�*s got to be be given the time, power and resources to be able to get on with bringing forward new policies that will never be the same as 1997, cannot be the same as 2019, but he has got to bring forward and will bring forward new policies to change britain. the labour mp tracy brabin was elected mayor of west yorkshire, but her success masks a potential problem. there will now have to be a by—election in her seat of batley and spen, and another electoral test for keir starmer. in westminster, preparations are under way for tomorrow's queen's speech, when borisjohnson�*s new programme for government will be unveiled. he's been planting his flag in what used to be labour territory. the task for keir starmer�*s shadow cabinet is to try to regain some ground. iain�*s in westminster. so what are we expecting from tomorrow's queen's speech? it is going to be scaled back

socially distance queen's speech but in terms of substance what the government wants to do is cast forward to the post—pandemic recovery and plans to level up the country. that includes more help for those industrial and post—industrial areas that the conservatives will billing for the first time in 2019 so need training and schemes to help to 50% of people that do not go to university and also new planning laws so the affordability and supply of housing can be increased. but some of his own mps are worrying that this will mean less safety for local people over local developments. electoralfraud is also an issue but labour say measures like introducing idea at polling stations would interfere with democratic participation. and the prime minister said he would fix

the prime minister said he would fix the problem of social care almost two years ago and i'm told it will be mentioned tomorrow in the queen's speech but the detailed plans that labour are looking for, we will have to wait a bit longer for that. meanwhile former pm gordon brown, who we heard from earlier, says borisjohnson needs to take a less confrontational approach to the issue of scottish independence and make a more positive case for the benefits of the united kingdom. scotland's first minister nicola sturgeon has made it clear that in her opinion another independence referendum is inevitable. here's our scotland editor sarah smith. the enormous question facing scotland about its future, inside or outwith the uk, will not be settled soon. but the vigorous debate has already begun. from edinburgh, advice is being offered to london on how to keep the kingdom united. your argument is that the prime minister, borisjohnson, has to take action if he wants to save the union. is there any reason to believe people listen to you on this? his muscular unionism

which is trying to make britishness compete with scottishness, just won't work. project fear won't work. scottish people are far too proud. he's got to change. he's got to realise that there is a big case for constitutional change. will you work with him to make that happen? i think people will work together to try to put the case for scotland in britain. so i will complain to borisjohnson about what he's doing, i will attack him if he gets it wrong. but obviously i want scotland to be comfortable in a new britain that is restructured to take account and to accommodate the feelings of all parts of it. congratulations! first day of school vibe! freshly elected msps came to see their new parliamentary workplace. lots to learn. feeling great, actually, really excited. for the conservatives, their main task is to try and halt scottish independence. so excited to get started. can't wait. and keep borisjohnson on message. so the prime minister is right behind what we are trying to do here, which is focus on recovery. and the prime minister is also keen to see the levelling up that he has promised in every part of the united kingdom.

that's where we can see investment in infrastructure and more jobs coming to scotland. so i hope we now have a scottish government that will work better with the uk government and that will deliver for people. just as the tories, labour and the lib dems have to make the case for why scotland is better off inside the united kingdom, the snp now have to make detailed plans for the independence offer they want to make to the country. after brexit, they have to consider questions like the arrangements for the border with england, as well as those on currency and the economy. i mean, it is the case that the snp at the moment isn't able to answer a number of questions like what the border arrangements with england, if we were two separate countries, would be. well, we do know certain fundamentals. we know the common travel area should still remain, so there's no restriction on movement from people going to scotland, england, wales, northern ireland or ireland. because that's all part of the common travel area. but there would be for goods. well, goods. possibly not for services. and goods, of course, we're some way from the referendum, by that time we should have some idea what the uk has done in terms of the arrangements

in northern ireland. we of course would want to negotiate with the rest of the uk and the eu to get the best possible deal. the parliament starts work again tomorrow, with the pandemic as the first priority. there will be no moves towards another referendum until the health crisis has passed. but the debate on scotland's future is already well under way. sarah smith, bbc news, edinburgh. the parliamentary commissioner for standards is investigating who paid for a holiday taken by borisjohnson and his partner. downing street said mrjohnson had acted correctly and transparently. a nurse accused of murdering eight babies, and attempting to murder ten more, has appeared at manchester crown court via videolink. 31—year old lucy letby is charged with murdering the infants at the countess of chester hospital between june 2015 and june 2016. one of the uk's most senior counter terrorism police officers has revealed that four major terror

plots have been foiled since the start of the first lockdown. police say they're concerned that the pandemic has made it easier for extremists to radicalise the vulnerable. the biggest fuel pipeline system in the united states remains crippled by a cyber attack that's being called the worst of its kind. the colonial pipeline ships more than two and a half million barrels of oil a day, from the gulf coast to the east coast. but it has been shut down since friday. today emergency powers were invoked to try to avoid fuel shortages. president biden says there is no evidence of russian government involvement but there are some signs that the attack orginated in russia. here's our security correspondent gordon corera. colonial pipeline tonight still not pumping fuel across america, thanks to a cyber attack. four days after online hackers infiltrated systems, its pipeline is still shut down. a development serious enough to lead president biden to speak out this evening.

the department of energy is working directly with colonial to get the pipelines back online and operating at full capacity as quickly and safely as possible. the fbi also is engaged to assess and address this attack. colonial�*s 5,500 mile pipeline carries nearly half of all the fuel for america east coast, from texas up to the north—east. emergency powers have allowed tankers to carry more to avoid shortages, including at airports. what's called ransomware has become a profitable enterprise. the hackers behind this incident even licensing their software for others to use. they are thought to be based in russia, but criminals, rather than part of a government. the group call themselves darkside. today they put out a statement saying, we are apolitical and do not participate in geopolitics. don't tie us to

governments, they say. our goal is to make money and not creating problems for society. it looks like they may be worried that this time, things have gone too far. what they have done is they have taken some data, encrypted it, and they are holding it for ransom. and they are saying if they don't get paid, they are going to leak it on the internet. and likely this company is going to be either needing to pay it off, or getting some sort of help from the us government. because the longer this goes on, you can start to see supplies eventually, not this week, but soon, start to get a bit tight and that is going to drive up energy prices. colonial say they hope to restore systems by the end of the week. but this is notjust about fuel supplies. hospitals, police forces, even local councils in the uk have all in the past been hit by a ransomware threat that is still growing. gordon corera, bbc news. the family of a woman who took a fatal overdose after her benefit

payments were cut have begun a legal claim against the government. philippa day, a 27—year—old mother, was found collapsed at her home in nottingham beside a letter rejecting her request for a benefits assessment. an inquest injanuary concluded that 28 errors were made in managing her case. 0ur social affairs correspondent michael buchanan has the details. it's been six months. i am in so much debt. i have nothing to eat. i can't... phillipa day, who had mental health problems, pleaded repeatedly with benefits officials for help. her money had been cut. they insisted she couldn't have a benefits assessment at home, so in despair, the 27—year—old mother took a fatal overdose, leaving her sister to fight her case. it was absolutely preventable. it was directly due

to the impact of the claim. the coroner said that claiming benefits should not see that a risk to life, and it was. an inquest found 28 errors in the way the government had processed phillipa day's application for personal independence payments, the main disability benefit. the family are now suing the department for work and pensions. my sister was not the first to die, she was one of many. and clearly, lessons have not been learned. philippa day's death is one of scores that families have blamed on the stresses of the benefits system, including tim salter, errol graham, david clapson and jodey whiting. research by the bbc�*s shared data unit found that at least 150 reviews of death or serious harm to claimants have been carried out by the department for work and pensions between 2012 and 2019. the government told us they take each tragic case seriously, and review them in case there are lessons to learn. it is all the government marking their own homework. there needs to be an independent

public inquiry into first of all the scope of the deaths and what is causing them. jody was laid dead at the undertakers and a letter went out saying she was fit to work. jody whiting, a mother of nine, had numerous physical and mental health problems. when she missed a benefits assessment due to pneumonia, her benefits were stopped. her mother says the decision drove the 42—year—old to suicide. the government has apologised to her family. jody is a name and number to them. they don't see her as a person, as my daughter. to them it is just one in millions, isn't it? but it has got to stop. ministers have admitted mistakes in these cases, but campaigners say only an independent inquiry will reveal how many others have been similarly failed. michael buchanan, bbc news. a minke whale that has been stranded

in the river thames near richmond has had to be put down. rescuers say it was in poor health and was too young to survive on its own in the sea. the whale was first spotted yesterday lunchtime and then drew large crowds after it got stuck at richmond lock. tim muffett reports. a sad end to what has been an extraordinary day at teddington lock in south—west london. the minke whale that had become stranded in the river thames was euthanised this evening. animal welfare experts say it was the only way to avoid any more unnecessary suffering. the whale was first seen late yesterday afternoon. it had become stranded on a concrete ramp on richmond lock, around two miles along the river. and a seven hour rescue operation began. during the night, the whale was towed away so that vets could try and carry out a health check. but it swam free from its harness.

today, crowds gathered in teddington, along with the rspca and the rnli, after it was spotted again. for a while, it captivated onlookers as it swam by the lock gates. but at around 2:30pm this afternoon, it found itself unable to leave shallow waters by the riverbank. so the whale has become stranded yet again in the shallow waters here and now all efforts are under way to try and set it free. those efforts unfortunately were not enough to free the whale. this evening many are wondering how an animal typically found in the north atlantic and pacific oceans could have swum so far up the river thames. it could have been ill, it could be sick, separated from its mum. wouldn't have been feeding. if it was weaned, then maybe it has had a problem actually feeding for itself. but something has happened. we won't know what that is, but the pathologist, the vat pathologist at london zoo will do an autopsy and they will

work out the history of the animal. a captivating sight for many over the past 24 hours, but sadly this minke whale was unable to return to the open sea. tim muffett, bbc news. fulham became the third team to be relegated from the premier league tonight after losing at home to burnley. fulham nowjoin west bromwich albion and sheffield united as the teams going down to the championship. a decision is expected tomorrow on where the champions league final between manchester city and chelsea will be played. it was due to take place in istanbul at the end of the month. but turkey is now on england's travel red list, meaning fans can't travel there. wembley was considered an alternative option but another country has now emerged as the likely venue. 0ur sports correspondent laura scott is at wembley and can tell us more.

with 19 days to go until the final between chelsea and manchester city it remains unclear where the match is going to be played. it has been a fraught days of discussion since turkey was added to the uk read less for travel on friday and it now seems unlikely that istanbul will be the venue for the final on the 29th of may. fans of course a big deal not to travel from the uk to turkey. wembley then emerged as a candidate and remains the preferred option for uefa. 0f and remains the preferred option for uefa. of course the fans would be able to be here and the uk government offered to host the final but at a meeting today between uefa, uk government officials and the fa, it became clear that uefa wanted a quarantine exemption for up to 3000 of its stakeholders, international media, sponsors and officials, and it seems unlikely that those exemptions will be forthcoming. so portugal has emerged as the strongest contender and it is a

useful fallback option because