Rules around tourists Most people believe that we need to restrict future tourists visiting our country, but there are many problems in doing so. This could be done by ballot, but this would entail a bureaucracy to make decisions…

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says she’s not aware of any Covid-19 updates from overnight but said more than 70,000 Kiwis had been tested.Ardern told TVNZ that bar anything significant, Auckland would move down to alert level 1.”The…

The British government announced Sunday that it aims to give every adult in the country a first dose of coronavirus vaccine by July 31, a month earlier than its previous target.

The new target also aims for everyone over 50 or with an underlying health condition to get a vaccine shot by April 15, rather than the previous target of May 1.

The makers of the two vaccines that Britain is using, Pfizer and AstraZeneca, have both experienced supply problems in Europe. But UK Health Secretary Matt Hancock, who announced the new targets, said "we now think that we have the supplies" to speed up the vaccination campaign.

READ MORE: State by state: Australia's COVID-19 vaccine rollout

The early success of Britain's vaccination campaign is welcome good news for a country that has had more than 120,000 coronavirus deaths, the highest toll in Europe. More than 17.2 million people, almost a third of the country's adults, have been given the first of two doses of vaccine since inoculations began on December 8.

Britain is delaying giving second vaccine doses until 12 weeks after the first in order to give as many people as possible partial protection quickly. The approach has been criticised in some countries — and by Pfizer, which says it does not have any data to support the delay — but is backed by the UK government's scientific advisers.

News of the new vaccine targets came as Prime Minister Boris Johnson met with senior ministers on Sunday to finalise a "road map" out of the national lockdown, a plan he is to announce on Monday.

Faced with a dominant UK virus variant that scientists say is both more transmissible and more deadly, Britain has spent much of the winter under a tight lockdown. Bars, restaurants, gyms, schools, hair salons and all nonessential shops have been closed while grocery stories, pharmacies and takeout food venues are still open.

READ MORE: First Aussies receive COVID-19 vaccines

The government has stressed that economic and social reopenings will be slow and cautious, with nonessential shopping or outdoor socialising unlikely before April. Many children will go back to school beginning March 8 and nursing home residents will be able to have one visitor from the same date.

Johnson's Conservative government has been accused of reopening the country too quickly after the first lockdown in the spring.

The number of new confirmed cases, hospitalisation and deaths are all declining but remain high, and Johnson says his reopening road map would follow "data, not dates."

But he is under pressure from Conservative lawmakers, who argue that restrictions should be lifted quickly to revive an economy that has been hammered by three lockdowns in the last year.

John Edmunds, a member of the government's scientific advisory group, said British hospitals are still treating about 20,000 coronavirus patients, half the January peak but almost as much as height of the first surge in the spring.

READ MORE: Inside one of Sydney's COVID-19 vaccine hubs

"If we eased off very rapidly now, we would get another surge in hospitalisations" and deaths, he told the BBC.

Edmunds said there is added uncertainty because of new virus variants, including one identified in South Africa that may be more resistant to current vaccines.

Hancock told Sky News that the government would take a "cautious but irreversible approach" to reopening the economy.

One person is dead after an incident in central Christchurch in which a bloodied man – wielding a hammer – was seen running down a street.Police said emergency services received a report of a serious assault at an Armagh Stproperty…

A 17-year-old boy has died following a two-car crash south of Brisbane.

Emergency services responded to reports of a smash along Beaudesert-Beenleigh Road and Belivah Road in Bahrs Scrub about midnight on Saturday.

Police arrived to find one of the drivers of the cars, a teenage boy from Beenleigh, trapped in his vehicle.

After being freed a short time later, the teenager was taken to Princess Alexandra Hospital.

He died of his injuries about 4am today.

The passengers in his car, aged between 17 and 19, where unharmed.

The driver of the second car, a 25-year-old Wonglepong man and his three passengers, aged between 20 and 25, were also unharmed.

The Forensic Crash Unit is investigating and appealing for anyone who may have information or dashcam footage of the incident to come forward.

A United Airlines flight bound for Honolulu has been forced to turn around after suffering an engine problem and dropping debris onto Denver suburbs.

The Boeing 777-200 returned safely to Denver International Airport around 1.30pm on Saturday local time, the spokesperson said.

That was about 20 minutes after police in Broomfield, Colorado, said via Twitter that they had received reports that an airplane flying over the Denver suburb had engine trouble and had "dropped debris in several neighbourhoods around 1:08pm."

READ MORE: Cathay Pacific suspends international flights to Australia

"No injuries reported at this time," the tweet added.

Additional tweets from police said debris landed in Commons Park and the Northmoor and Red Leaf neighbourhoods of Broomfield. The city is about 40kms north of Denver and 15kms east of Denver International Airport.

US authorities have yet to definitively connect the two incidents, but the Federal Aviation Administration confirmed in a statement that a Boeing 777-200 safely returned to the Denver International Airport after "experiencing a right-engine failure shortly after takeoff."

https://twitter.com/LexiDaish/status/1363247738113040386?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

"The FAA is aware of reports of debris in the vicinity of the airplane's flight path," the statement said. CNN has reached out to United Airlines for additional information.

Broomfield police cautioned residents to not touch or move plane debris if they see it in their yard.

Kieran Cain told CNN he was playing with his children at a local school when a plane flew over and they heard a loud boom.

"We saw it go over, we heard the big explosion, we looked up, there was black smoke in the sky," Mr Cain told CNN.

"Debris started raining down, which you know, sort of looked like it was floating down and not very heavy, but actually now looking at it, It's giant metal pieces all over the place," he said.

"I was surprised that the plane sort of continued on uninterrupted, without really altering its trajectory or doing anything," he said.

"It just kind of kept going the way it was going as if nothing happened."

Mr Cain said he and his children took shelter under an overhang as the debris came down.

Two men have been charged after a young man was allegedly stabbed by a group of armed men attempting to steal his wallet in Sydney's south-west overnight.

Police say the alleged victim was sitting in his parked Hyundai i30 on Dale Parade in Bankstown at 1.20am this morning when he was approached by at least four men brandishing knives.

The men allegedly demanded the driver's wallet and money and then dragged him from his car, beating him and stabbing him in the leg.

Police officers who happened to be driving by saw the attack, prompting the group to flee through Griffiths Park.

The officers chased the men on foot and two were found and arrested at a unit block on Northam Avenue.

The injured man was treated by paramedics at the scene before being taken to Liverpool Hospital, where he remains in a serious but stable condition.

The two alleged attackers were taken to Bankstown Police Station and charged with aggravated robbery with wounding causing grievous bodily harm.

The men, aged 23 and 29, been refused bail to appear at Bankstown Local Court tomorrow.

Detectives are continuing to investigate the incident.

A World War II survivor and Prime Minister Scott Morrison are among the first people in Australia to receive the COVID-19 jab in a surprise early start to the nation's vaccine rollout this morning.

An upbeat Mr Morrison donned an Australian flag-themed face mask as he rolled up his sleeve for the injection just before 11.30am today.

He is one of a small number of people to receive the first dose of the Pfizer vaccine at a medical clinic in Castle Hill in Sydney's north-west, before the large-scale rollout across Australia commences tomorrow.

READ MORE: Victoria records no new local COVID-19 cases for second day

He was asked questions about his medical history and his health on the day before receiving the shot in his left arm.

The very first person in Australia to receive the first Pfizer dose was aged care resident and World War II survivor Jane Malysiak, who sat alongside Mr Morrison for what the PM called an "historic day for Australia".

The 84-year-old was one of two aged care residents to receive the vaccination today, along with aged care staff and disability care staff and residents.

Mr Morrison told the media he had elected to lead the way in receiving the Pfizer vaccine in order to boost public confidence.

"I have, by my own example today, joined by the Chief Nurse of Midwifery and the Chief Medical Officer of our country, together with those Australians who are in the top priority of this vaccination program, to say to you, Australians, it's safe, it's important," Mr Morrison said.

He said that the country had "made its Australian way" through the pandemic and would continue to do so as the vaccination program progressed.

"Greg (Hunt) talked about putting shoulders to the job," he said.

"Today I put my shoulder to the job and that is what I am asking Australians to do, in joining me and all of their fellow Australians as we continue on the successful path we have been on."

The first Pfizer doses had been officially scheduled to be begin tomorrow but Health Minister Greg Hunt told the ABC's Insiders program this has been brought forward by a day.

Mr Hunt says "there was a very strong focus on the need for key leaders, not the Parliament, not the Cabinet, not even the leadership group, but a cross-party group, to provide that confidence [in the vaccine]".

He added that the opposition leader, two other members of the opposition and Greens leader Adam Bandt had also been invited to receive the vaccine over the next few days.

"This is a cross-parliamentary view where parliamentarians don't have any special status," Mr Hunt said.

"The research shows that people want to see that if we believe it's safe, then that will give them greater confidence.

"Many people are worried that this has been too quick and we have to show that it has been through a full, thorough assessment and that we believe in the safety ourselves."

Phase 1A of the vaccination program is set to begin in full tomorrow, with up to 1.4 million doses of the Pfizer vaccine to be given to hotel quarantine workers, frontline healthcare workers and aged care staff and residents in the coming weeks.

Speaking at a press conference following today's vaccinations, Mr Hunt said he hoped to see 60,000 vaccinations across Australia in the next week.

These would incorporate people from 240 aged care centres and 90 towns and suburbs nationwide, "from Alice Springs to Albany to Altona and so many others".

Larger volumes of the AstraZeneca vaccine will become available in March for Phase 1B of the rollout, when the vaccine becomes available to people aged over 70, high-risk workers such as Defence Force personnel and police, and the disabled and vulnerable.

Around 4000 doses of the Pfizer vaccine are due to arrive in Sydney today, with the state aiming to vaccinate around 12,000 frontline workers in the next three weeks.

READ MORE: Everything you need to know about Victoria's vaccine rollout

Three vaccination hubs operating out of the Royal Prince Alfred, Westmead and Liverpool Hospitals will aim to vaccinate 1100 people every day, with border workers, hotel quarantine staff and frontline health workers the first in line.

This includes staff at the three hospitals, with 480 Westmead workers set to get the jab tomorrow.

In Victoria, which has faced numerous outbreaks within its quarantine hotels, the hotels will have their own dedicated vaccination clinics.

The first doses of the Pfizer vaccine are due to land at The Alfred hospital in Melbourne today.

The vaccine rollout will be coordinated from the Alfred, with thousands of doses distributed to the state's ten quarantine hotels and two health hotels.

A vaccine centre will also be set up at Melbourne Airport to vaccinate flight crew, customs workers and other airport staff.

The state is set to receive 11,000 doses of the Pfizer vaccine every week, with Phase 1A expected to take around 8 to 10 weeks to complete.

A third Adelaide hospital has been fast-tracked to open as a vaccine hub for South Australia's vaccination roll out.

Meanwhile in Queensland, hotel quarantine workers, border staff and frontline health workers will be informed of their eligibility for vaccination via text message.

Around 100 of the first in line are expected to receive a text message today, telling them to attend the Gold Coast University Hospital to get the vaccine tomorrow.

The hospital is the state's first vaccination hub, with some of the staff delivering the vaccines to be among the first to receive the jab.

Chief Health Officer Dr Jeanette Young has flagged that she is hoping the start of the vaccination program will signal the end of the state's recurring border closures which have wrecked havoc on Queensland's struggling tourism industry.

However, the vaccination rollout has not been without its detractors.

READ MORE: Anti-coronavirus vaccine protests held across Australia

Yesterday, thousands across the nation's capitals held rallies to protest the arrival of the vaccines.

Gatherings were held in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Adelaide, and Perth, with a few hundred people at each.

In Victoria, where the state has just emerged from a snap five-day lockdown, pepper spray was deployed and a number of arrests were reportedly made.

Protesters gathered in Fawkner Park in South Yarra yesterday afternoon before marching down St Kilda Road.

Video shows a number of people being arrested, and some people in the crowds were pepper sprayed.

Celebrity chef Pete Evans, who was banned from Instagram this week, spoke at the Sydney event in the Domain.

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