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. some eu countries begin vaccinations against covid—19, one day ahead of the planned co—ordinated rollout across the bloc. former mi6 officer and soviet spy george blake has died, aged 98, in moscow. a fast—food joint, roman—style — archaeologists unearth an ancient takeaway restaurant in pompeii. and coming up... the sport that's high—speed, but 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 these tough 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 restrictions, tier 4,

with the rest of scotland in tier 3. meanwhile, countries including france, spain and sweden have confirmed their first cases of the coronavirus variant recently identified in the uk. and 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 this tough 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'd 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 the 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 go and sit and 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 little bit not as festive as well.

so, it's definitely 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. well, as we've been hearing, in northern ireland, a six—week lockdown has begun, with non—essential shops forced to close. hair salons must shut, while pubs, cafes a nd restau ra nts 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's 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 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 government has just 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, 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 as well. japan too confirmed its first five cases, leading it to ban all foreign non—resident nationals from entering the country. researchers say the virus found in south africa, while having

similar properties to the uk variant, has developed independently. germany has administered its first two vaccine a day earlier than planned, with medics saying they we re planned, with medics saying they were not prepared to wait for sunday's coordinated eu roll—out. a101 year old woman from a care home in saxony was the first german to receive that 90 macro vaccine. 0ther eu countries are also not waiting for sunday, with slovakia and hungary beginning their roll—outs today as well. the first eu shipments are limited to 10,000 per country, with mass vaccination programme is not expected to start untiljanuary. programme is not expected to start until january. the programme is not expected to start untiljanuary. the president of the eu commission ursula von der leyen hailed the roll—out, calling it a touching moment of unity. the former mi6 officer george blake — who became one of the cold war‘s most infamous double agents — has died. 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. i don't know, but 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 then 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'd 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 forever. russia gave him medals and much praise but, to britain, he is the cold war traitor who escaped justice.

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 when 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 need 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 customs declarations, 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 that we see producersjust 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 that show, how do you resolve the dispute, how do you manage that divergence? which was a key concern for the eu. local businesses in nashville, in tennessee, have offered more than $300,000 to catch those responsible for a camper van blast on christmas day. the explosion injured three people and damaged dozens of buildings. the van had been broadcasting a warning that a blast was imminent. no motive has yet been established for the explosion. local businesses have offered more than $300,000 to catch those responsible.

a series of explosions in the afghan capital kabul has killed at least two security personnel. officials said there were four blasts within the space of three hours. they damaged houses, shops and vehicles nearby. kabul has witnessed several bomb and rocket attacks in recent weeks, targeting security forces, politicians, journalists and activists. the chair of the afghanistan indepedent human rights commission, shaharzad akbar, gave us a sense of life under daily violence in kabul. kabul has been really violent affected, but also across afghanistan, there has been a wave of targeted killings, normally targeting journalists, activists, human rights defenders. names people are familiar with. 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. 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 speak for society and when they decide to leave or when they decide to self—censure, 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, notjust on the individual activists and their families. a regional political party in indian—administered kashmir says the authorities there have detained at least 75 political leaders and activists. they said the arrests appeared to be aimed at stamping out unrest,

after an alliance of kashmir‘s regional parties won the election. a spokesman for the alliance, said the detentions undermined the verdict of the people. the district council election early this week was the first such vote since the prime minister narendra modi's government last year revoked the special status of the muslim—majority region. india and neighbouring pakistan both claim the kashmir region in full, each control part of it. 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. 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 have helped control the spread of covid—19, 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 a 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 my community that 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 treating 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? 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 over—confidence — is testing that strategy like never before.

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. 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 motorsport now. 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 showjust 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'll 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. that is one to look forward to. we tend to think of fast—food restau ra nt tend to think of fast—food restaurant as a 21st—century invention, but it seems the romans we re invention, but it seems the romans were fond of them as well. 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 an l—shaped thermopolium — a sort 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 an entire thermopolium, and we can carry out different types of analysis, thanks to new technologies. the containers are being analysed and cleaned by an interdisciplinary team. brightly—coloured paintings of animals are still intact after all these years, with upside—down ducks, a chicken and a dog on display. and terracotta jars also led to a surprise. fragments of duck bone and remains of pork, goat, fish and snails were recovered. the discovery could lead to information on cooking and eating habits from 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 type of food was sold, and what passers—by 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 the room. a victim, whose bones were found in the excavation. unfortunately, the skeleton is not intact, because the thermopolium had already been partially looted in the past. the site is set to open to the public from easter, 2021. with this year having been like no other due to the coronavirus pandemic, the unearthing of this site offers some light relief, as well as vital clues to the past. rachel stanton, bbc news. just remarkable how well preserved they are. we will be back at the top of the hour with the latest. you can keepin of the hour with the latest. you can keep in touch with the latest on the website or download to the smartphone app. thank you so much for being with us, goodbye.

hello. 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. potentially damaging, certainly disruptive gusts of wind. the heaviest rain moving south overnight over england and wales. elsewhere, gusts of 50—60 mph. the rain bringing a risk of further flooding, and in the colder air following it, icy, and turning wintry into the hills. on sunday, behind the band of rain, the strong 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 north wales may see some snow to quite low levels, bringing a few centimetres in 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. some uncertainty about where it's going to be sitting on monday, so keep checking the forecast. but certainly cold on monday. starting a cold week. back to storm bella, though, 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. these are the latest 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. some eu countries begin vaccinations against covid—19, one day ahead of the planned co—ordinated rollout across the bloc. former mi6 officer and soviet spy george blake has died, aged 98, in moscow. now on bbc news, one of the highlights of the year from our world on a film on the impact of the coronavirus on two maids and one employer in sao paulo in brazil and exploring the relationship between employer and made in the intimacy they share. coronavirus has wreaked havoc on brazil. over 1.6 million have been infected and more than 65,000 have died. its people are suffering deep economic pain, with the country's