this is bbc news with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. boris johnson announces emergency lockdown measures — and warns the coming weeks will be the toughest yet of the pandemic. in england, we must therefore go into a national lockdown which is tough enough to contain this variant. that means the government is once again instructing you to stay at home. south african officials say they're facing a new variant of the coronavirus that is more of a risk than the mutation found in the uk. as britain's coronavirus cases rise to more than 50,000 a day, the first dose of the uk's oxford — astrazeneca vaccine, is given to an 82—year—old patient. democrats call on the fbi to investigate donald trump's phone call to georgia's top election official asking him to "find" more votes.

hello and welcome if you're watching in the uk or around the world — and stay with us for the latest news and analysis from here and across the globe. millions of people in england are to go back into a tough lockdown, similar to that which was imposed last march. the measures will come into force early on wednesday. it will mean most schools shut, and people will be instructed to stay indoors almost all day long, unless they have an essential job or a vital task like shopping forfood, or getting medical attention. 0ur uk political editor laura kuennsberg has the story. boris johnson: since the pandemic began last year, the whole united kingdom has been engaged in a great national effort to fight covid... and effort that is not over, not even close, as downing street pointed the finger of blame

at the new variant spreading fast. as i speak to you tonight, our hospitals are under more pressure from covid than at any time since the start of the pandemic. with most of the country already under extreme measures, it's clear that we need to do more. that means the government is once again instructing you to stay at home. that includes children, who he said should go to schooljust this morning. 0ur kitchen tables or shared sofas become offices and classrooms again. primary schools, secondary schools and colleges across england must move to remote provision from tomorrow, except for vulnerable children and the children of key workers. this might feel agonisingly familiar, but there is one big difference. we are now rolling out the biggest vaccination programme in our history. by the middle of february, if things go well, and with a fair wind in our sails, we expect to have offered the first vaccine dose

to everyone in the four top priority groups. nearly 1a million offers planned to the most vulnerable and most elderly. the doors could be unlocked in about six weeks, but there is a list of big ifs. if the roll—out of the vaccine programme continues to be successful, if deaths start to fall, as the vaccine takes effect, and critically, if everyone plays their part by following the rules, then i hope we can steadily move out of lockdown, reopening schools after the february half term and starting cautiously to move regions down the tiers. i want to say to everyone right across the uk that i know how tough this is. but now, more than ever, we must pull together. the weeks ahead will be the hardest yet, but i really do believe that we're entering the last phase of the struggle, because with every

jab that goes into our arms, we are tilting the odds against covid and in favour of the british people. so with the force of the law, most of life will retreat again behind closed doors. chairs on tables, empty streets, silent dinner halls, corridors falling quiet in every corner of the uk. good morning, everybody. this time, the hope of a needle in millions of arms provides the way out of all of this, but the lockdown we'll live through first is far from being a quick sting. laura kuenssberg, bbc news, westminster. mrjohnson‘s announcement of a lockdown affects england — but the other parts of the united kingdom are also trying to cope with growing numbers of cases. scotland is imposing similar restrictions, beginning at midnight local time. people will have to stay at home for anything other than essential purposes, and schools will have to provide

distance learning, until at least the first of february. in wales, existing measures banning people from mixing with other households or travelling without a reasonable excuse will remain in force. some schools and colleges were due to resume face—to—face teaching on wednesday, but they will now have to move to online lessons until at least the 18th of january. and in northern ireland, the restrictions imposed a fortnight ago under a six—week lockdown remain in force. there will be an extended period of remote learning for schools. much of the rapid spread of the virus in the uk is being put down to the new form of the coronavirus, which is far easier to catch. but it's not the only mutation which is causing concern. a variant found in south africa is also worrying virologists — as andrew harding reports from johannesburg. move! a strict new lockdown across south africa, complete with a night—time curfew with a total ban on the sale of alcohol. the authorities here are struggling to contain an aggressive new variant of the virus.

that variant, just like the one in britain, has made covid—i9 far easier to catch and to transmit. you see how short of breath you are, eh? the result — hospitals are filling up fast, and precious oxygen supplies are running low. early evidence suggests the virus here is probably no more transmissible or more deadly than the british variant. but that's still being tested. so the jury is still out, we still don't have a definitive answer, but generally viruses evolve to become more transmissible but less virulent. hopefully, this virus will obey that same dictum. say ah... but there is another worry. while britain's virus has one significant mutation, south africa's has three, including one that might make the virus more resistant to current vaccines. the concern in south africa is that

a variant that has been identified has got at least three mutations, which could potentially impact on the antibody that is induced by the vaccine to neutralise the virus. so it's a serious concern. i think it is a theoretical concern at this point in time, and hopefully over the course of the next few weeks will have a clear answer. the good news is that south african scientists are now working fast to get that answer. the bad news is that there is a significant risk that the virus here has changed to give itself at least a partial resistance to the current vaccines. still, experts say adjusting those vaccines should be relatively easy. in the meantime, a second wave of infections continues to spread fast across south africa. andrew harding, bbc news, johannesburg. and in other developments in the pandemic around the world on monday...

the french government has defended its coronavirus vaccination policy after criticism it is going far too slowly. only 516 vaccinations were reported in the first week. so far the strategy has focused on administering vaccines in care homes — which face logistical problems in storing the pfizer jab, and time—consuming processes of consent. germany is expected to extend its lockdown untiljanuary 31st to curb the spread of coronavirus. tight restrictions have been in place since the middle of december, but have so far had little effect. last week, the country reported a record number of daily deaths — over 1,000 — and ballooning infection rates. a hospital in warsaw is being investigated after it let celebrities and a former prime ministerjump the queue to get coronavirus vaccinations. 18 people were reportedly invited to get the jab to promote a vaccination campaign. 0nly medical workers and their families are currently eligible. poland's prime minister called it a scandal, saying there was no justification

for breaking the rules. while announcing the new lockdown in england, borisjohnson was keen to stress how large scale vaccination is the key to easing the measures. on monday, the uk saw its first doses of the oxford astrazeneca jab administered. half a million doses are expected to be given this week. we should warn you, this report from our medical editor fergus walsh contains some flashing images. another key moment in the fightback against coronavirus. 82—year—old brian became the first person in the world to receive the oxford astrazeneca vaccine since it was approved. he has dialysis three times a week and so is clinically vulnerable. the vaccine means everything to me. in my mind, it's the only way of getting back to a bit of normal life. you know, the virus is terrible, isn't it? it was here in oxford that this vaccine was created and where trials began in april last year — so fitting that it should be one

of six hospital trusts in england to begin administering the jab. also among the first to be immunised was the doctor who led the global trials of the oxford jab. he emphasised the importance of mass vaccination. fantastic getting it myself. anyone who is eligible for the vaccine, which every one it is, needs to come forward and be vaccinated because he has to have a massive rollout over the next few months, and we need speed to do that. the oxford astrazeneca vaccine can be stored in a fridge — a key advantage over the pfizer vaccine, which has to be transported at —70. it will also play a key role in the global immunisation. 3 billion doses are set to be distributed worldwide this year. now other news, and two democrat congressmen have called on the fbi to investigate donald trump's phone call to the top election official in georgia.

they say the president's request for enough votes to be found to overturnjoe biden‘s victory in the state broke election law. the demand came to light when the washington post released a recording of the hour—long conversation — as our north america editorjon sopel reports. are you ready to show america that georgia's a red state? in georgia, there is intense campaigning ahead of senate elections tomorrow, which will determine whether it's the republicans or democrats who control the opera house in washington. say vote! vote! but over the weekend, there was a very different type of lobbying going on, donald trump trying to persuade a republican state official over the phone to rewrite the certified results of last november's election and give victory in the state to him, notjoe biden. the people of georgia are angry. the people of the country are angry. and there's nothing wrong with saying that, you know, that you've recalculated. well, mr president, the challenge that you have is, the data you have is wrong.

so, look, all i want to do is this. i just want to find 11,780 votes. this has brought charges from republicans as well as democrats that this is a flagrant and illegal attempt by donald trump to thwart the will of the people. kamala harris is the next vice president. it was, yes, certainly the voice of desperation. most certainly that. and it was a bald, bald—faced, bold abuse of power by the president of the united states. and georgia's secretary of state was asked, had the president acted illegally? you are an election official — did you consider it a lawful request when the president asked you to find the votes? i'm not a lawyer. all i know is that we are going to follow the law, follow the process. truth matters, and we've been fighting these movements for the last two months.

and in a quite extraordinary development, every living former us defence secretary, including two that donald trump appointed, have signed a letter warning against the military being used in any power grab. that they felt it necessary to say this out loud speaks volumes about the rumours swirling around washington about what might happen next. this presidency isn't ending quietly. jon sopel, bbc news, washington. asjon mentioned, there is one key election still to be held in this latest round of us votes — the run off for two senate seats in georgia. should the democrats win both of them, they will have effective control of the presidency and both houses of congress. voting takes place on tuesday — and bothjoe biden and donald trump are campaigning for their parties' candidates. mr biden has already spoken — take a listen. unlike any time in my career, one state, one state can chart the course notjust for the next four years, but for the next generation.

let's talk now to our north america correspondent david willis. david, correspondent david willis. looking at the senate r how david, looking at the senate runoff. how high are the stakes? they are very high, james. put simply, the outcome of the election, those senate elections in georgia tomorrow will determine which party, democrat or republican, has control of the upper house, the senate, currently they have 51 seats in that 100 seat chamber, where the democrats to win both of those georgia state senate seats, then the majority will be split 50—50, which would give the casting vote two, harris, the incoming vice president. and that would of course make life a lot easier for joe would of course make life a lot easier forjoe biden would of course make life a lot easier for joe biden —— would of course make life a lot easierforjoe biden —— kamala harris, when it comes to getting his progressive agenda through congress.

where the republicans to win one of those two georgia seats, then they would retain the majority there in the upper house, and that would of course make life much more difficult for course make life much more difficult foer course make life much more difficult for mr biden. david, doesn't matter, turning back to the presidency, that mrtrump has turning back to the presidency, that mr trump has not yet accepted his defeat? he continues, doesn't he, james, to say that this is all a result of a fraudulent voting system, and he continues, as we heard and jon sopel's reports, to try to put pressure on local officials and indeed to disparage the process itself. now, in a few hours' time, donald trump is due to arrive in atlanta, just outside atla nta, arrive in atlanta, just outside atlanta, where he is due to take pa rt atlanta, where he is due to take part ina atlanta, where he is due to take part in a rally, and the fear on the pa rt of part in a rally, and the fear on the part of republicans, james, is that instead ofjust kind of lobbying for the two republican candidates in those georgia senate runoff seats, that the president will once again

go off message, if you like, and start talking about the problems with the election system here. that's, of course, could deter some republicans, perhaps many, from actually turning out at the polls tomorrow. david willis, thanks so much. stay with us on bbc news, still to come — inspiring children under covid lockdown — a leading children's author will tell us why her latest works deal with the pandemic. the japanese people are in morning following the death of emperor hirohito. thousands converged on the imperial palace to pay their respects when it was announced he was dead. good grief — after half a century of delighting fans around the world, charlie brown and the rest of the gang are calling it quits. the singer paul simon starts his tour of south africa tomorrow in spite of protests and violence from some black activist groups. they say international artists

should continue to boycott south africa until majority rule is established. around the world, people have been paying tribute to the iconic rock star, david bowie, who sold 140 million albums in a career that spanned half a century. his family announced overnight that he died of cancer at the age of 69. the world's tallest skyscraper opens later today, the burj dubai has easily overtaken its nearest rivals. this is bbc news, the latest headlines borisjohnson has announced a new coronavirus lockdown for england. democrats call on the fbi to investigate donald trump's phone call to georgia's top election official asking him to "find" more votes. america's department ofjustice says it is extremely disappointed by a british court ruling

which prevents the wikileaks founderjulian assange from being extradited. the us wants him to stand trial for publishing classified documents. but a judge at the old bailey in london said concerns over his mental health meant the extradition could not proceed. 0ur diplomatic correspondent james landale reports. free julian assange! julian assange has long attracted loyal supporters, and this was their reaction outside the old bailey as they heard the news. no extradition — yeah! for more than a decade, the wikileaks founder has resisted extradition, spending seven years holed up in the ecuadorian embassy in london, before being removed almost two years ago and detained in belmarsh prison. the us authorities want him to face 18 charges, mostly of espionage, relating to his alleged role in the leaking of thousands of secret military documents. many focused on the wars in afghanistan and iraq, including this video appearing to show a us helicopter firing

on civilians in baghdad. to some, mr assange is a champion of free speech who revealed war crimes. to others, a law breaker who endangered the lives of us agents. and today, after years of legal battles, he was driven into court to hear his fate. from the dock, he listened as districtjudge vanessa baraitser dismissed his defence that the us charges were political and a threat to media freedom. but when it came to his mental health and depression, she ruled that, in a us high—security prison, "the risk that mr assange will commit suicide is a substantial "one, and as such it would be oppressive to extradite him "to the united states." 0n hearing the ruling, mr assange simply wiped his brow. his partner and mother of his two sons, stella morris, burst into tears. we are pleased that the court has recognised the seriousness

and inhumanity of what he has endured and what he faces. but let's not forget the indictment in the us has not been dropped. the us department ofjustice said it was extremely disappointed and would appeal against the ruling. mr assange was remanded in custody ahead of a bail application later this week. james landale, bbc news. let's get some of the day's other news. there's been an easing in relations between saudi arabia and qatar. qatar's emir will attend a summit in saudi arabia on tuesday, where he's expected to sign an agreement. the saudis, along with the uae, bahrain and egypt had imposed sanctions on qatar in 2017, accusing it of supporting terrorism, something qatar denied. the un's nuclear watchdog has confirmed that iran has begun the process of enriching uranium. the process will create a substance at 20% purity. weapons—grade uranium has a purity of 90%. it's the most significant breach yet

of the 2015 nuclear deal which iran agreed with world powers. president trump unilaterally withdrew the us from the deal in 2018, accusing tehran of breaking the conditions. the us has called on iran to release, immediately, a south korean flagged tanker, which it intercepted in the gulf. iran says the tanker was polluting the waters near 0man. the leadership in tehran has been critical of south korea, after iranian funds held in south korean banks were frozen under sanctions imposed by the us. the covid—19 pandemic has ravaged countless numbers of lives around the world. but how do you even begin to explain the pandemic to children? the mental health impact of lockdown and schooling from home has had as large an impact on young people, as it has on adults. to raise mental health awareness as well as money for unicef and the uk's state medical service, the nhs. she joins us now from bedfordshire, north of london. joining me now is susie cullen, whose latest book, "covi the little

christmas dinosaur", is one of three books she's i'm tempted to say thank you to both of you. without giving away any spoilers, what is the plot of the latest story? the latest story, without giving away spoilers. 0k, latest story? the latest story, without giving away spoilers. ok, so as we know, the world locked down, especially elderly people, and he's getting on a little bit, so he found himself in a bit of a predicament and needed somebody to help him out, somebody that is immune from the virus, and so, santa had a little helper this year who ensured that all the children that have been so good all year, so patient and have washed their hands, did their homework and he ensured they got their presents this year. how did you work out how to tell a story about the pandemic to kids? 0... it started off as a poem i wrote for a little girl in my village because

she was really distressed about what was going on, and she couldn't see her granny anymore, couldn't go to school, and she was just distressed, so school, and she was just distressed, soi school, and she was just distressed, so i wrote her a poem, thinking i would give a little bit of silliness to her and cheer her up, and itjust hit that nerve with her. it helped her, helped to soothe her, and so we passed on to other children, and they have the same response. we took they have the same response. we took the word covid and made it into a fun little character, so when they hear coping now, they see it dinosaur now, they don't see scary thing outside their door. has that made them less scared to think about what's going on? it has. it's kind ofa what's going on? it has. it's kind of a distraction. they are still going to be scared, because everything is changing, and it's changing again today in england, we are not going to school, we can't see ourfamily, are not going to school, we can't see our family, and are not going to school, we can't see ourfamily, and he has been a co nsta nt for see ourfamily, and he has been a constant for them for nearly a year now, and he does give them a lot of comfort, i believe will stopjust now, and he does give them a lot of comfort, i believe will stop just a distraction more than anything else. i was just

distraction more than anything else. i wasjust thinking distraction more than anything else. i was just thinking from a year of a child's life is actually a substantial portion of their own life. i understand that six—year—old harmony as a kid who is a multiple amputee and has got involved. tell me about that. she isjust amazing. i was taking care of my mother who was quite poorly, i was at her house, and she had harmony on the tv, she was on the breakfast show, andi tv, she was on the breakfast show, and ijust tv, she was on the breakfast show, and i just fell in tv, she was on the breakfast show, and ijust fell in love with this little girl. she so inspirational. she is so brave and just full of love all the time and doesn't feel sorry for herself. so i said to my mother, i will put harmony in there, i will put her name in the new book andi i will put her name in the new book and i thought, you know, let's go one better, let's put harmony into that book. so she appears as one of the characters in the christmas book. we don't explain what is wrong with her commercial we just show images of her, and she isjust a child in the book that does gymnastics and meets the dinosaur. and i'm just very proud of the fact that we don't point out that she's any difference, we just feature her with her differences without making

a big deal out of it. briefly, susie, what will you do with covi the dinosaur, when, and surely will be when all of this is over. welcome i thank you will be a legacy. i'd love to see him be animated. he can maybe go on to help children post lockdown. they are still going to be vaccinations that they have to have come and perhaps he can help explain why people have to have vaccinations. he likes to look after the world. he's passionate about saving the environment, so perhaps he can teach children about looking after the environment as well. and just give them some good morals and teach them about kindness, that's been a real big factor, i think, in this pandemic that we have all learned how to be kinder to each other. susie and covi the little christmas dinosaur behind you, thank you so much to you both. you're welcome, thank you. martin all of our stories, of course on our website. do let me know if you written any

children books about the pandemic. you can reach me on twitter — i'm @jamesbbcnews. do stay with us. hello. well, let's see what the weather is up to on tuesday. and in summary, not an awful lot of change. it's going to stay pretty cold and in fact over the next few days, you can see that cold air sitting over europe. and the nagging north—to—north—easterly wind will keep things very chilly here in the uk. so, let's summarise the week ahead. got a lot of cold weather on the way, overnight frosts, additionally windy in the south and along the north sea coast, and on top of that, rain, sleet, a bit of snow, some ice around as well. as far as the rain's concerned, it looks as though the wettest place will be east anglia and the south east, and that's because of the wind direction. it'll be blowing out of the north—east and the showers will keep coming to this same place.

so, we could see 20—50 mm of rain over the next couple of days — so, some big puddles there. anyway, back to the here and now. so, here are the temperatures early in the morning — freezing or below in most towns and cities. here is that north—easterly wind blowing across the north sea, and you can see those showers affecting east anglia and the south east. can be quite grey and wet both in the morning and in the afternoon here. elsewhere, i think a mixture of sunshine, and occasional rain, and wintry showers. but the further west you are, the better the weather will be. belfast, ithink, swansea, plymouth in for some sunshine but chilly, 3—5 celsius briefly in the afternoon, and then very quickly, those temperatures will drop during the course of the late afternoon and evening. and you can see, that north—easterly wind continues through the course of tuesday and also into wednesday. and that weather pattern is pretty evident here. you can see the isobars pointing out at the north east, due south—west, and that's how the wind blows. so, once again on wednesday, it's copycat conditions. again, that extreme south—eastern portion of the uk can be quite

grey and wet at times with those persistent showers. best of the weather will be in the west, but notice a weather front‘s approaching there, the far north—west of scotland. so, some rain there, i think, for our friends in stornoway. but still wednesday night, we're expecting another widespread frost across the uk. temperatures in many areas will be well below freezing, down to —5 even, in bigger towns and cities, and you can see how chilly it remains in some of the bigger cities over the next few days. that's it for me, bye—bye.

this is bbc world news. the headlines.

the uk prime minister boris johnson has announced a new lockdown for england. the measures, including a closure of schools affecting almost all pupils, come as britain raises its coronavirus alert to the highest possible level. south africa is facing a new variant of the coronavirus that is more of a risk than the mutation found in the uk. scientists are testing it to see if it could limit the efficacy of vaccines. two democrat congressmen have called on the fbi to investigate donald trump's phone call to the top election official in georgia. they say the president's request to find more votes to overturn joe biden‘s victory in the state broke election law. the usjustice department has said it is extremely disappointed, and will appeal, after a court in london refused to extradite the wikileaks founder, julian assange. thejudge said there was a real risk of suicide. 0n the part of mrjulian assigned.