this is bbc news — these are the latest headlines in the uk and around the world. millions of people in britain face tougher covid restrictions — as rule changes come into force. as the uk grapples with a new strain of coronavirus, there are now confirmed cases in france, spain and sweden. former mi6 officer and soviet spy george blake has died aged 98 in moscow. and coming up — we'll tell you about the sport that is high—speed and environmentally friendly — welcome to the world of extreme e, backed by f1 champion lewis hamilton.

hello and welcome if you're watching in the uk or around the world. 6 million people in the east and south—east of england have joined those living under the strictest coronavirus restrictions in tier 4. round 2a million people in england, around 40% of the population, are facing the toughest message which mean the closure of all nonessential shops. a national lockdown has begun in northern ireland and strict measures have been reimposed in wales after being eased for christmas. all of mainland scotland has moved into the toughest level of restrictions. the rest of scotland is in tier 3. france, spain and sweden have confirmed their first cases of the coronavirus variant recently identified in the uk. in the us, millions of americans face going without an appointment benefits amid a political stand—off

over a $900 billion coronavirus stimulus package. 0urfirst report is on the millions entering the toughest that of restrictions in england. here's daniela relph. harsher restrictions have returned, and it shows. with christmas day done, the centre of southampton is empty as new areas of southern and eastern england now find their lives restricted by even tighter rules. it's very, very quiet. it's unusual at this time of the year. so, yeah, it's strange and different. some people are totally not seeing their family. it's caused frictions in families. it would be nice if it could all come to an end and we could all be back to normal. the blue areas on the map are all now in tier 4, where you must stay at home unless you need to travel for work or education. you may only meet one person at a time outside. nonessential retail closes, and you shouldn't leave a tier 4 area.

but elsewhere, there is a familiar look to boxing day. the prime minister had warned people to think carefully and avoid sales crowds. in leeds, though, still in tier 3, the prospect of a bargain drew some people out. i always go to the sales on boxing day for bargains and i don't like doing it online, so i wanted to support the shops as well. enjoying it so far, just a shame we can't have a coffee somewhere or perhaps a glass of wine. it's a lot quieter than we were expecting, it's all a bit eerie, but we got what we needed and it was nice, but the staff all looked a bit not as festive as well. it's a different feeling. there is one activity the hardiest can still do despite restrictions. 0pen water swimming, here in somerset, has been a lockdown comfort for many. it'sjust addictive, it'sjust something for your mental health, to keep you sort of balanced

and a reset from a busyjob. it'sjust perfect. across the uk, harsher rules are now in force. mainland scotland has moved into its toughest level of restrictions, and northern ireland, along with wales, is now in full lockdown. daniela relph, bbc news. as we've been hearing, in northern ireland, a six—week lockdown has begun with nonessential shops forced to close. hair salons must also shut while pubs, cafes and restaurants are restricted to takeaway and delivery services. the measures will be reviewed in four weeks‘ time. here's our ireland correspondent, chris page. as soon as christmas day ended, the lockdown began. there are no seasonal sporting events in northern ireland on this 26th of december. racecourses and stadiums are silent. shoppers and sales are absent too. instead, belfast city centre is shuttered down. 0ne festive tradition that is allowed, though, is a brisk and breezy boxing day walk.

people said tighter restrictions were for the best. oh, i think it's very necessary. it's a good thing and anything to keep us safe. i think it'sjust best everybody stays safe. had to happen, unfortunately. but we just have to do it. i think it's ok. the lockdown‘s in place from today until early february. and for the first week, the rules will be more strict. shops which sell essential items, like supermarkets, will have to shut at 8pm. between that time and 6am, members of different households can't meet up anywhere for social reasons, inside or outside. police have been given extra powers to enforce the stay—at—home message. pubs and restaurants have been hit particularly hard at what is usually a popular time of year to eat out. i that know the health of people is just paramount and it protects the nhs, but we were given very, very short notice on some of the lockdowns and a lot of stock had been bought in, staff had to be organised, and it has a very big financial impact

on all of the hospitality trade. the devolved government has said it had no option but to take strong action because infections, hospitalisations and deaths have been rising throughout this month. everyone in this part of the uk is hoping this lockdown will be the last. chris page, bbc news, belfast. mainland scotland has moved into its highest level of coronavirus restrictions and, in wales, tough restrictions have been reimposed after yesterday's relaxation of the rules which allowed two households to mix for christmas day only. all but essential shops are closed and people have been told to stay at home to save lives. the new variant, which was first found in the uk in september, carries a genetic fingerprint that makes it easy to track, and it happens to be one that is now common. with france being the latest country to disclose a case, in the last several days, the world health organization has

reported that nine cases have been detected in denmark, four in spain, one case each in the netherlands, germany, italy and australia. switzerland is also saying the variant is most likely present in the country, and it has been recorded in sweden. japan also confirmed its first five cases, leading it to ban all foregin non—resident nationals from entering the country. meanwhile, researchers say that the virus found in south africa, while having similar properties to the uk variant, has developed independently. i spoke to professor lawrencejung and asked him whether it's just a matter of time before the whole of england comes under tier 4 restrictions. sadly i think it is. with this new variant, it will be spreading much faster and taking over from the other virus types in the pandemic in the uk. i think the only move is for harsher restrictions. and so could those restrictions. and so could those restrictions be in place basically

until there is a critical mass of people having received the vaccination? i think that's going to ta ke vaccination? i think that's going to take a long time. we need to use any further restrictions to increase surveillance. we need to get as far as is possible the testing and tracing and isolating really working properly. and we also need people to really ta ke properly. and we also need people to really take seriously the restrictions. this virus variant is like all other viruses we've had to deal with the pandemic. a lot of variation from the beginning and they are all the same in terms of how they are transmitted. we need to be careful, avoiding indoor areas, poorly ventilated areas and sticking to hands, face, space. how much has this new variant now changed what we're dealing with?” this new variant now changed what we're dealing with? i think it's because all the indications are that it's spreading much more rapidly. it looks like it's more infectious.

there's still work to do to fully understand the level of activity of the variant but it seems to be being passed on more rapidly and there is a feature which is disturbing which means it may be more infectious for children. that doesn't mean that children. that doesn't mean that children will get sick because they fortu nately children will get sick because they fortunately don't tend to get ill but they will become transmitters. the way things will happen when the schools and universities return, i think we'll have to think very seriously over the next few weeks about whether that's a sensible thing to do injanuary. about whether that's a sensible thing to do in january. do you think ten chili schools need to stay closed for longer, and universities? i think closed for longer, and universities? ithink so, closed for longer, and universities? i think so, we need testing sorting out in schools and we may need to think about a staggered return. i know how difficult this is. my work in the university of the last thing we wa nt in the university of the last thing we want to do is stop students returning but given where whereat at the moment, the number of cases reported everyday, the number of deaths where seeing and the number

of hospitalisations, there are few choices now and we need to have more severe restrictions injanuary while we get our act together and indeed get the vaccine rolled out to be more vulnerable in our population as soon as possible. the former mi6 officer george blake, who became one of the cold war‘s most infamous double agents, has died, according to russian media reports. he was 98. as as a soviet spy, blake handed over information that betrayed at least a0 british agents in eastern europe. 0ur moscow correspondent, steve rosenberg, reports. he said it was up to 600. he had a russian home, a russian wife, even a russian name — giorgi ivanovich. but george blake was a british intelligence officer who became one of the most notorious double agents of the cold war. he spied for the soviets for nearly a decade. blake had spent three years

in captivity in north korea and, by the time he returned to britain in 1953, he was a committed communist. posted to berlin by mi6, he became a kgb mole. he would take the train to the soviet sector, hand over data on western intelligence operations and western agents, and then drink champagne with his kgb handler. maybe 500, 600. agents, you betrayed 500, 600 agents? maybe. blake convinced himself that what he was doing was morally right. i looked upon it like a sort of voluntaryjob. you know, like people... 0xfam? something like that. he was eventuallyjailed in britain for 42 years. he then was able to escape and was smuggled to east germany and spent the rest of his life in moscow cocking a snook at the brits who had not succeeded in keeping him.

in 2012, he told a russian tv channel that he had not changed sides because of blackmail or torture. he had offered his services voluntarily. in a message of condolence, president putin described him as "courageous, an outstanding professional," adding that his memory would remain in russian hearts for ever. russia gave him medals and much praise but, to britain, he is the cold war traitor who escaped justice. i spoke to an author about george blake earlier. he's clearly one of the greatest traitors of the cold war. he had quite a lot of competition when you think the cambridge spy ring of philby, burgess, blunt and mcclane in the 19505. but burgess, blunt and mcclane in the 1950s. but between 1953, when he

came back from korea, until 1960 when he was unmasked, basically, in his own words, he would photograph with his own camera virtually every document that came across his desk in london and in berlin where he was based. so the quantity of material he gave to the soviets was extraordinary. but the quality is encapsulated in one of the biggest spy encapsulated in one of the biggest spy operations of the cold war called the berlin tunnel, a big eavesdropping operation conducted by the british and americans to dig a tunnel under the soviet sector in berlin and eavesdrop on the telephone conversations of the soviet high command. blake was on the committee that organised this in london when he was with mi6 and a few days after the first paper was drawn up piece out on a bus with his soviet control and handed over the plans. so this multi—million pound technical operation was betrayed

even really before the first soil had been dug. blake had a problem with identity. he was dutch by birth, his mother was a dutch calvinist and his father was an egyptian jewish person calvinist and his father was an egyptianjewish person and he worked in the dutch resistance, made a dramatic escape across europe and joined his family who had fled before him in joined his family who had fled before him “119112. he joined his family who had fled before him in 1942. he was dutch and became british. his father had british citizenship which he inherited. basically he had a problem with identity which made it easierfor him when he decided problem with identity which made it easier for him when he decided to throw in his lot with the soviet union. he had no real roots in britain and british identity which made it easierfor him to britain and british identity which made it easier for him to betray. what impacted that betrayal have, actually, on britain and in terms of what it gave to russia? actually, on britain and in terms of what it gave to russia ?|j actually, on britain and in terms of what it gave to russia? i think you can gauge that by the extraordinary

prison sentence he was given in may of 1961. he was given a 42 year sentence which was the longest criminal justice sentence sentence which was the longest criminaljustice sentence and british history until then. the judge said basically, you've committed a crime which is akin to something in a war. so the range and scale of what he'd done resulted in that sentence. and he had betrayed, he claimed, 500—600 agents, which may have been a bit of so for the tv interviewer but certainly many hundreds. he always said that he talked to his soviet controllers and said, i'm happy to give you the names of these agents, mi6 agents but what i don't want you to do is to liquidate them, to kill them. no one really believes that. people believe that there were casualties and what he did lead to deaths although no one has quite quantified

it. scores of agents betrayed, certainly agents killed and an enormous amount of damage done to the fabric of the british intelligence system. and that 42 year sentence that you mentioned was the longest at that time that had ever been imposed in the british courts other than life sentences. he never actually served it, did he, because he escaped. how embarrassing was that for britain? extraordinarily embarrassing. he was a lwa ys extraordinarily embarrassing. he was always keen to escape and five years in he got together a party inside and outside the jail at wormwood scrubs. he scaled a 20 foot wall on a home—made ladder made out of knitting needles, he hid in safe houses in london for a couple of weeks and with the helps of one of his cnd colleagues and former prison mate jumped in the his cnd colleagues and former prison matejumped in the back his cnd colleagues and former prison mate jumped in the back of a camper

van, settle down in a compartment and he was driven across europe behind the iron kardan to —— her iron curtain to ease perlin. it was extraordinary embarrassing to the british government that one of the most vital and valued prisoners had managed, you know, to get out of a high securityjail managed, you know, to get out of a high security jail and get managed, you know, to get out of a high securityjail and get to moscow. even as afghan government and taliban leaders discuss peace, the country continues to be wracked by violence. in the latest incident, the capital, kabul, has been rocked by explosions, killing two security forces personnel. journalists and activists have also been targeted in recent months. some attacks have been claimed by so—called islamic state and others blamed on the talibin, which is also still fighting and others blamed on the taliban, which is also still fighting government forces. we can talk to the chair of the

afg ha n we can talk to the chair of the afghan independent human rights council. give us a sense of what it's like living there against this backdrop of violence now. thank you. kabul has been violently affected, but also across afghanistan there has been a wave of targeted killings, normally targeting journalists, human rights defenders. people who aren't very powerful or have a lot of security but people who are familiar to afghans because they stand up for rights and freedoms. they're being targeted mercilessly. last week we lost a prominent psychiatric election worker and a week before we lost someone leaving their house and in kabul almost every morning starts with news of explosions and attacks on vehicles. and so what impact does that have on the whole of society?

is it making people want to leave? there's a lot of anxiety. in my circle of friends and colleagues eve ryo ne circle of friends and colleagues everyone i talk to, when we talk to journalists there's a lot of anxiety. people... unfortunately. so it's not only individual lives. we've got some technical issues but you're back. if you just pick up from where you well, talking about the impact, please. sure, the impact isa the impact, please. sure, the impact is a widespread fear. activists, journalists are either leaving their provinces or if they can trying to leave afghanistan. the impact is widespread because these people speakfor widespread because these people speak for society and when they decide to leave or when they decide

to self censor, then you have less ofa to self censor, then you have less of a debate about the peace process and the future of afghanistan. so the impact, we can feel the impact on the civic space as a whole, not just on the individual activists and theirfamilies. just on the individual activists and their families. what hope is therefore peace process? well we are hoping and pushing for a ceasefire, we in the independent human rights commission and also for the public and civil society. if they targeted killings and violence remains at this level unfortunately i'm not very hopeful for the process because the process will lose its public credibility. also it will be very difficult to influence the process without these important voices speaking up for the rights and freedoms of afghan people. speaking up for the rights and freedoms of afghan people! speaking up for the rights and freedoms of afghan people. . thanks for joining freedoms of afghan people. . thanks forjoining us. british grand prix racing champion lewis hamilton made his name in the gas—guzzling

world of formula one but he's also backing a very different form of motor sport. it's called "extreme e" — and it's all about pushing the boundaries, in more ways than one. 0ur chief environment correspondent justin rowlatt reports. the cars are electric suvs designed by the formula 1 design guru adrian newey. they deliver 400 kilowatts, the equivalent of 550—brake horsepower, and they'll be racing in some of the most extreme environments on earth. expect star wars pod racing meets the dhaka rally, say the organisers. what brought my attention to extreme e is the great places that it's going to go to in raising awareness for the real climate issues. we've got some serious challenges up ahead of us. the direction we are going

as a human race is not good, and, yes, there are potential changes, you know, the government saying that only electric cars but that fixes... perhaps whilst that fixes one problem, another problem pops up. you know, i'm trying to learn as much as i can with ev technology, which i think extreme e will help develop, but that i don't think is the answer to the whole issue that we have. the idea is to show how powerful and fun electric vehicles can be, and to raise environmental awareness by raising them in places that have already been affected by climate issues. the series will be going to greenland, the amazon and the deserts of saudi arabia. extreme e is also billing itself as the world's first gender—equal motorsport platform. there will be four teams, each with two drivers —

one male, one female. the solution is totally different. here, more power than the petrol cars. of course, the sound is totally different, it hears not sound. i think i prefer the electric car because i need to make a change, especially in these days, because the climate change is near. all extreme e freight and logistics will travel by sea in a refurbished royal mail ship, the rms st helena, and the series will generate some of the power it uses with portable solar panels. they'll be used to create hydrogen, which, on race day, will be fed into a fuel cell like this to generate electricity, helping prove a low—carbon technology that will find applications around the world, say its designers. the displacement of diesel generators, which, you know, are prevalent throughout the world. the application of the fuel cell

on shipping, on boats, where you decarbonise the international maritime industry, a key emitter of c02. so here's a question — does the series deliver on its climate—aware promise? well, there's no doubt that extreme e will create unnecessary emissions, but it will also showcase just how capable electrical vehicles can be, and it'll send another important message — that the low—carbon revolution doesn't have to be dull and boring. the extreme e series will begin in saudi arabia in march and will be broadcast live across the bbc. justin rowlatt, bbc news. three friends in britain made dinners for more than 2000 homeless and vulnerable over four days. the trio from leicester made the meals

ata barand trio from leicester made the meals at a bar and restaurant and charities helped distribute them to the most in need. the majority were given to the homeless in the area but some went as far as scotland. france have more than doubled the record of 700 meals that they sat last good on them. now before we go — a rags to riches tale for a cat... who went from imminent death to becoming an honourary deputy minister. it sounds like a miracle but it's true for this feline, who experienced a lucky escape from a russian waste centre near moscow. if you look at the man on the right side of the conveyor belt — cutting open a plastic bag, only incredible. the cat has since been adopted by the local region's environment ministry and is living the good life he's unofficially been given the position of deputy environment minister. a national lockdown has begun in

northern ireland and strict measures are being reimposed in wales. you are being reimposed in wales. you are watching bbc news. storm bella is now looming large to the north of the uk. make no mistake, it's a powerful system that will bring problems to parts of the uk. we have severe flood warnings in force across england. more rainfall isn't what we need here. as the front comes through we may see and ensure rain in some areas before it heads to the continent. cold areas following behind it, went showers in the north. a windy night across—the—board but the wind we have the greatest concern for is going to target southern england and wales and in places it may go up to

80 mph. the met office have issued an amberwarning. 80 mph. the met office have issued an amber warning. yellow went warning means gust of 50—60 widely inland over england and wales. storm bella is likely to cause further disruption and the wind may bring down power lines in some areas. anyone having to travel, these will be challenging conditions. the front is going to slide off into the continent quite promptly on sunday morning but behind it we are going to drag in much colder air allowing the showers to turn increasingly wintry. sunshine in england and wales but some showers, snow and even on lower ground across wales and northern england, increasingly frequent but especially for scotland and northern ireland. cold, temperatures barely above freezing in the north. we may see a little circulation, a low centre developing among the big load that is storm bella as we head through sunday evening. that could mean a heavy

evening. that could mean a heavy evening of snow in scotland, northern ireland and northern england and a significant risk of ice by monday first thing. the main area of low pressure is in the south—east on monday. they will be a keen northerly wind to the west. central and eastern areas, it should be lighter but the low centre means a higher chance of wintry showers over central and eastern areas of england. not out of the woods for some snowy weather across the south in the early part of the week. a cold day, temperatures between two and 4 degrees moving us into the start of what will be a cold week ahead.

this is bbc news. the headlines: millions of people in the uk face tough that covid restrictions as rule changes come into force. as the uk grapples with the new variant of coronavirus, there are no confirmed cases in france, spain and sweden. the former mi6 officer and soviet spy the former mi6 officer and soviet spy george blake has stayed at the age of 98 in moscow. and coming up, we are going to be telling you about the year for the royals in 2020. we join daniela relph for a look back on the key events of the year for the royal family — in review 2020: the royal year. a year like no other during her long reign. a masked monarch in covid times.