Former president Donald Trump has urged US residents to get vaccinated against Covid-19 and criticised the Biden administration for pausing the Johnson & Johnson treatment.

Speaking in an hour-long interview on Monday with Fox News’ Sean Hannity, Mr Trump revealed he has been vaccinated and branded the decision to pause the rollout of the Johnson & Johnson single-dose Covid vaccine over rare blood clots “so stupid”.

James Crump has the full report:

Speaking about the changes from Monday 26 April, Nicola Sturgeon said people who have been shielding can return to work, if they can not work from home.

In addition, children who have been shielding can return to school.

All shops will also be able to reopen from Monday, along with close-contact services, such as beauty parlours.

People will be able to go into premises to collect takeaways, rather than having to get them from a serving hatch, or at the door.

Meanwhile, cafes, pubs and restaurants will be able to reopen, with alcohol able to be served outside from Monday – when people can meet outside in groups of up to six from six different households.

But in indoor hospitality, Ms Sturgeon said the “greater” risks would mean alcohol can still not be served, although pubs, cafes and restaurants can open till 8pm.

Six people can meet indoors in hospitality settings, but must be from two households.

Nicola Sturgeon has confirmed planned relaxations to lockdown measures in Scotland will go ahead from Monday.

Beer gardens, cafes, shops and gyms will reopen from 26 April, but indoor hospitality venues will have to close at 8pm, with outdoors following at 10pm.

Our Whitehall Editor Kate Devlin has the breaking story:

There has been a “dramatic deterioration” of press freedom since the pandemic tore across the world, Reporters Without Borders said in its annual report.

The group’s new World Press Freedom Index, which evaluated the press situations in 180 countries, painted a stark picture and concluded that 73 per cent of the world’s nations have serious issues with media freedoms.

It says countries have used the coronavirus pandemic, which erupted in China in late 2019, “as grounds to block journalists’ access to information, sources and reporting in the field”.

This is particularly the case in Asia, the Middle East and Europe, the media group said.

Issues have also arisen from a drop in public trust in journalism itself.

The group said 59 per cent of people polled in 28 countries claimed that journalists “deliberately try to mislead the public by reporting information they know to be false”.

The EU executive’s vaccine task force chief has said that at least 12 of the bloc’s 27 member states are confident they can vaccinate 70 per cent of their adult population by mid-July.

The European Commission set the target for the end of this summer, depending on a big increase in vaccine deliveries to accelerate its vaccination drive.

European internal market commissioner Thierry Breton told an Irish parliamentary committee said: “We are confident that we will be able to deliver enough doses but it is true also that it is up to member states to organise themselves to be ready for that.

“Today I can tell you that I understand we have at least 12 member states who say they are fully comfortable this 70 per cent figure. This number is increasing on a daily basis.”

Mr Breton did not say which 12 member states were confident or which countries were less comfortable about the target.

It comes after an announcement last week that EU countries will receive 50 million more vaccines produced by Pfizer this quarter has give the executive additional comfort on its delivery targets.

Scotland’s first minister Nicola Sturgeon is holding a coronavirus briefing today, where she is expected to give an update on the latest lockdown restrictions.

Ella Glover explains what time her announcement is and what you can expect from it:

Israel and Britain are discussing the possibility of opening a “green travel corridor” between them due to the success of the two countries’ vaccination campaigns, reports Reuters.

Israel’s Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday that the issue was discussed at a meeting between foreign minister Gabi Ashkenazi and UK Cabinet Minister Michael Gove in Jerusalem.

A statement from the ministry quoted Mr Ashkenazi as saying: “We will promote, together with the UK, mutual recognition of vaccines in order to allow tourists and business people from both countries to safely return to their routines.”

The ministry added that both countries had made “great progress” with vaccinations and therefore opened the “possibility of creating a green travel corridor” – although it gave no timeline for implementing it.

Last week, Israel said it would start allowing the entry of vaccinated tourists groups into the country from 23 May.

The discovery of 77 cases of a new coronavirus variant, which first emerged in India, has caused concern among scientists and the government.

Officials consider it a “variant under investigation (VUI)” rather than a “variant of concern (VOC)”, which includes Manaus, UK and South African variant.

Samuel Osborne outlines everything we know about the new variant:

The discovery of 77 cases of a new coronavirus variant, which first emerged in India, has caused concern among scientists and the government.

Officials consider it a “variant under investigation (VUI)” rather than a “variant of concern (VOC)”, which includes Manaus, UK and South African variant.

Samuel Osborne outlines everything we know about the new variant:

Wearing two face coverings can nearly double the filtering efficiency of the masks against particles the size of the novel coronavirus and reduces the chances of wearer contracting Covid-19, according to a new study.

Researchers from the University of North Carolina found that double masking enhanced filtration by eliminating gaps and poor-fitting areas of masks.

My colleague Vishwam Sankaran has more on this story: