this is bbc news. these are the latest headlines in the uk and around the world. millions of people in the uk face tougher covid restrictions, as rule changes come into force. as the uk grapples with the 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. archaeologists unearth an ancient hot food and drinks shop in pompeii, from thousands of years ago. 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. six million people in the east and south east of england have joined those living under the strictest coronavirus restrictions, in tier 4. around 2a million people in england — more than 40% of the population — are now living under the toughest measures, which mean the closure of all non—essential shops, as well as hairdressers, swimming pools and gyms. 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 coronavirus restrictions, tier 4, with the rest of scotland in tier 3 restrictions. meanwhile, countries including france, spain and sweden have confirmed their first cases of the coronavirus variant recently identified in the uk. in the united states, millions of americans face going without unemployment benefits,

amid a political standoff over a $900 billion coronavirus stimulus package. ourfirst report this hour is on the millions entering the toughest set 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. non—essential 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. i think 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. open—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 non—essential 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. one 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 that everybody stays safe. had to happen, unfortunately. but, yeah, 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 paramount and the protection of 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 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 government has released the latest figures for the uk, citing partial data. 34,693 confirmed cases were recorded in the past 2a hours. a further 210 people had died within 28 days of testing positive for covid—i9, taking the total number of deaths to 70,405.

the new strain of the 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 on saturday to disclose a case, in the last several days, the world health organization has reported nine cases have been detected in denmark, four in spain, and 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 confirmed its first five cases, leading it to ban all foreign 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. 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 a soviet spy, blake handed over

information that betrayed at least a0 british agents in eastern europe. 0ur moscow correspondent, steve rosenberg, reports. he had a russian home, a russian wife, even a russian name — georgy 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?

yes. 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? yes, something like that, yes. 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 succeeded in catching him. but failed to keep 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 it would remain in russian hearts forever. russia gave him medals and much praise but, to britain,

he is the cold war traitor who escaped justice. roger hermiston is an author and journalist and wrote a book about george blake called ‘the greatest traitor: the secret lives of agent george blake'. he had this assessment. he's clearly one of the greatest traitors of the cold war. he had quite a lot of competition, when you think about the cambridge spy ring of philby, burgess, blunt and mcclane in the 1950s. but between about 1953, when he came back from korea, until 1960 when he was unmasked, basically, in his own words, he would photograph with his little 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 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 all the telephone conversations of the soviet high command. and 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, he sat 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. the uk's new trade deal with the eu marks "the beginning of a moment of national renewal", boris johnson's chief brexit negotiator has said. lord frost said there was no direct effects of eu law and no alignment of any kind. but under the terms of the deal, if either party acts in a way the other views as anti—competitive, they can take remedial action. pro—brexit lawyers are set to dissect the contents

of the agreement between now and pa rliament‘s recall on wednesday. georgina wright is an associate at the institute for government. she explained some of the main points of the document. clearly, there is the ability now for the uk to diverge from where it wants, but it will come at a price and we've seen that through the agreement. there's a lot of things that businesses in great britain will have to do if they wish to continue exporting to the eu. they will have to fill in a lot of paperwork to prove, for instance, that the product they are trying to export meets eu rules and has been produced and manufactured according to eu rules. they will have to fill in custom decorations which will be checked on the borders, and there may be some health and safety checks as well. and all those delays and extra paperwork will be costly and it might be something we see producers passing on in terms of cost to the consumer. but you're right, the uk, if it decides to do things differently, it now has the ability to do that because it's no longer forced

to follow eu rules strictly. but like lots of measures in the deal, how do you resolve the dispute, how do you manage that divergence? which was a key concern for the eu. us officials say they are investigating more than 500 leads in the camper van blast in nashville in tennessee on christmas day. the van said embossed was in this —— was imminent. local businesses have offered more than $300,000 to catch those responsible. an fbi special agent elia said authorities are trying to find the reason behind this deliberate explosion. we have no indication of additional explosive threats. no other explosive threats. no other explosive devices were discovered during the area comment during our secondary sweep yesterday. we can't confirm any individuals or anybody

we have identified again, as we have mentioned, we have over 500 investigative leads and we are following up on every one of those so following up on every one of those so there are a number of individuals we are looking at, so at that point, we are looking at, so at that point, we are looking at, so at that point, we are not prepared to identify any single individual. at least eight climbers in iran have died in mountains to the north of tehran after heavy snowfall and a blizzard. heavy snow and strong winds in the past few days have forced many roads to be closed in several parts of iran. the red crescent in the province of tehran has had 20 search and rescue teams out on the mountains looking for other climbers who are still missing. the alborz mountain range rises above tehran and hosts several ski resorts. the latest headlines on bbc news: millions of people in the uk face tougher covid restrictions as rule changes come into force. as the uk grapples with the 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.

parts of central england have experienced their highest river levels for more than a decade, causing widespread flooding, as storm bella approaches the uk. more than a thousand people in bedfordshire have already been advised to evacuate their homes, and the met office is warning of severe gales and more heavy rain to come. people have had a terrible time. we have had all of the measures in place to protect people from the virus. it is christmas day yesterday, boxing day the next day obviously. and our heartsjust yesterday, boxing day the next day obviously. and our hearts just go out to people that have now come up with all that going on, now have had some of the highest level flights for over 20 years thrown at them. south korea is facing one of its toughest weeks yet in the fight against coronavirus. the country was held up as a global model for its test, track and trace measures, which has helped control the spread of covid, but there's now a brutal winter wave. 0ur correspondent laura bicker looks

back on the country's early success and its current battle. for the first time this year, seoul is facing a crisis in critical care. beds in the south korean capital are scarce, after a winter wave of covid—19. testing has been stepped up. south korea was one of the first to mass—test for the virus. one of its strategies to avoid lockdown. the number of contact tracers has also increased, as case numbers soar to around 1,000 a day. 0fficials use phone and credit card data to track down potentially infected patients. it prompted fears that privacy was yet another victim of this pandemic. translation: it's not that koreans

are more submissive, but the social consensus that i will sacrifice a small part to protect the community led people to follow government policies. there is one place in south korea where this frantic race to control the infection feels familiar. in february, daegu was a city under siege. doctors were trading over 6,000 people for covid—19. how are you coping? oh, yeah... we have to overcome this situation. there are only a handful of coronavirus patients in daegu now. how are you? good. it's been a long time! dr cho is back working as a surgeon and feels confident enough to shake my hand. what will you think about the pandemic and your part in it? we can manage, successfully, overcome the covid—19.

i told you before. we can do that. yeah, yeah, we can do that. i'm very proud of that. images of scarred daegu nurses filled korean papers, but they too are back on their own wards. translation: if another pandemic hits us again, i know i would not hesitate to carry my share because i am a nurse. south korea has managed to live with this virus and appears determined to avoid countrywide closures, but this third wave — fuelled, in part, by complacency and overconfidence — is testing that strategy like never before.

we tend to think of the fast—food restau ra nt we tend to think of the fast—food restaurant is a 20th century invention, but the romans were fond of it too. archaeologists in pompeii have made the extraordinary find of a hot food and drinks shop that served up the ancient equivalent of street food to passersby from thousands of years ago. it will be open to the public next year, but don't expect to be served any food. rachel stanton reports. at first glance, this may look like a building site, but it is so much more than that. archaeologists have been hard at work in pompeii. the discovery of a kind of ancient fast—food counter from thousands of years ago is welcome news. partially unearthed in 2019, work was extended to preserve the site. translation: the possibilities are now extraordinary because it's the first time we're excavating one entirely, and we can carry out different analysis thanks to new technology. the containers are being analysed and cleaned.

by by an interdisciplinary team. bright paintings of animals are still intact after all these years. with upside down ducks, a chicken and a dog on display. and terracotta jars led to a surprise. fragments of duck bone and remains of pork, goat, fish and snails were discovered. it may reveal eating habits around the time of the eruption of vesuvius in 79ad. now we can start the analysis of the material inside the containers to know their content. what food was sold, and what people in pompeii could buy. truly extraordinary evidence of the mediterranean diet. human bones were also found, belonging to those caught up in the volcanic eruption. there was someone inside this room, a victim,

whose bones were found in the excavation. unfortunately the skeleton is not intact because the building had been already partially looted in the past. the site is set to open to the public from easter of 2021. with this year having been like no other due to the pandemic, the unearthing of this site offers some light relief, as well as vital clues to the past. the details arejust the details are just remarkable. british grand prix racing champion lewis hamilton made his name in the gas—guzzling world of formula 1, 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. our 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 racing 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. their 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 co2. so, here's the 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. 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 to find a black cat. 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. storm bella is upon us, bringing some very wet and windy weather, southwards across the uk. this area of low pressure, named to raise awareness of the impacts from the rain and wind, with england and wales bearing the brunt as we go through the night. behind it, turning colder in scotland, northern ireland and northern england, the chance of icy patches and increasingly wintry showers as well. from storm bella, damaging gusts of wind, with the heavy rain bringing further flooding to areas already dealing with flooding overnight and into sunday. snow for some and icy conditions to follow. the strongest winds likely to be

where the met office has an amber warning in force over the coast and hills of southern england, up to 80 mph. densely damaging, certainly disruptive gusts of wind. the heaviest rain moving south over night over england and wales. elsewhere, gusts of 50—60 mph. the rain bringing a risk further flooding, and in the colder air following it, icy and turning wintry into the hills. behind the band of rain, the strong when wind clearing the far south—east of england quickly in the morning. then sunshine and showers, very few reaching the east of england or scotland, but across the west, showers of rain, sleet, snow and hail, and prolonged snow in north—west scotland in the afternoon. not as windy as it will be overnight, but gusty winds making it feel even colder. temperatures in scotland close to freezing during the day.

it is scotland, northern ireland, northern england and northern wales may see some snow to quite low levels, bringing a few centimetres places, turning it icy on sunday night into monday morning. on monday, low—pressure right across us and we expect from that some areas of rain, sleet and cold enough for some snow, notjust on hills. uncertainty about where it's going to be sitting on monday, so keep checking the forecast. certainly cold on monday. starting a cold week. back to storm bella, impacts from the wind, rain, snow and ice to follow. flood and weather warnings are in force. check out the details on our website.

this is bbc news. the headlines: millions of people in the uk face tougher covid restrictions, as rule changes come into force. as the uk grapples with

the 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. 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. let's ta ke let's take a look back at some of the lives we have celebrated over the lives we have celebrated over the past year in we remember. bond. james bond. i'm just going to put some clothes on. oh, don't go to any trouble on my account. do you expect me to talk? no, mr bond, i expect you to die!