this is bbc news with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. i'm james reynolds. new national lockdowns in england and scotland as a surge in cases of the new coronavirus variant threatens to overwhelm the health system. the announcements came just hours after the uk became the first country to roll out the oxford astrazeneca vaccine. but there are fears in south africa that a variant detected there, could be resistant to vaccines. a court in london rules that wikilea ks founder julian assange cannot be extradited to the united states. thejudge says he is at risk of suicide.

hello and welcome to audiences in the uk and around the world. we're covering all the latest coronavirus developments here in britain and globally. first... scotland has largely gone into a national lockdown following a rise in new coronavirus cases. 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. with me is news reporterjohn mcmanus. john, reporterjohn mcmanus. tell us more about the restriction. john, tell us more about the restriction. james, those restrictions that were announced by the first minister of scotland, nicola sturgeon, on monday, came into force about one minute ago, midnight here in the united kingdom. quite wide ranging as well, it's a legally enforceable stay order. people must remain at home unless they have caring duties to go out and buy essential shopping, of course, for some outdoor exercise and

those who are part of extended households. but those who are not doing those things most stay—at—home unless they absolutely have to go to work because they are a key worker. schools closing, nurseries closing, outdoor gatherings cutback as well. group exercise band, you know places worship also closed. funerals and weddings still allowed, but only five people allowed at a wedding now, and all funeral wa kes wedding now, and all funeral wakes band. all of these measures covering most of scotla nd measures covering most of scotland apart from the islands, those in ourfinancial outlets, but the rest of scotland's farm have million population told by the first minister to stay—at—home. population told by the first minister to stay-at-home. is that population broadly supportive of these moves? yes, actually, since the first lockdown in scotland, and in other parts of the uk, in march of last year, public support has been widely supportive of government measures for people staying at home, not going to work, staying off public transport, and also the more difficult things like schools

closing which presents quite a lot of logistical problems for pa rents lot of logistical problems for parents who have to somehow enforce online learning at home while also doing their own work as well as they can. broadly, the public remain supportive and in some polls over the past year, the public have actually been ahead of government effo rts been ahead of government efforts and have wanted the government to go further. we will look at england in a bit, but what about wales and northern ireland 7 but what about wales and northern ireland? wales and northern ireland? wales and northern ireland? wales and northern ireland are also enforcing different measures. some restrictions have been in place since christmas time, an allowa nce for place since christmas time, an allowance for socialising was allowed on christmas day, that has now finished. in wales, for example, all schools and colleges have now moved to online learning, at least until the 18th of january. and online learning, at least until the 18th ofjanuary. and in northern ireland, again, an extended period of remote learning for the rest of the month. stormont executive which is in charge is going to make further announcements tomorrow morning about what they intend to do. john, thank you so much. well, the restrictions are now in place in scotland — england will follow suit in the early hours of wednesday

although all schools are to close immediately. it's largely a return to the lockdown the country endured last march and was told to the nation by prime minister borisjohnson in a televised address a few hours ago as our political editor laura kuennsberg reports. boris johnson: since the pandemic began last year, the whole united kingdom has been engaged in a great national effort to fight covid... an 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. our 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 14 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 everyjab 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. 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 kerb 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 minister jump 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. 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—19 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. 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. it's the only way of getting back to a bit of normal life. 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 injection. it was a huge privilege. every single patient that was vaccinated over the last couple of weeks have got their own personal stories to the difference it will make for them. the queue to receive the vaccine is already

forming here. there is huge public interest in the rollout out of this vaccine. the government has ordered 100 million doses. the key question is, how quickly can the priority groups be immunized? there are 31 million people in those priority groups. top of the list are care—home residents and workers. the aim is to have immunised all of them by the end of the month. the over—80s and frontline health workers are also in the first wave. then in descending age groups from 75—plus down to the over—50s. other key groups are clinically extremely vulnerable people and those with underlying health conditions. we've already delivered over a million vaccines of the pfizer injection, and now we've got the astrazeneca one, so we aim to get it into people's arms as quickly as it is supplied to us. if we get 2 million doses

a week, our aim is to get 2 million doses into the arms of those priority groups. also among the first to be immunised was the doctor who led global trials of the oxford injection. he emphasised the importance of mass vaccination. anyone who is eligible to vaccine which everyone needs to come forward and be vaccinated because he has to have a massive rollout over the next few months. the oxford astrazeneca vaccine can be stored in the fridge. a key advantage over the pfizer vaccine which has to be 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. 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 mourning 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 new national lockdowns in england and scotland as a surge in cases of the new coronavirus variant threatens to overwhelm the health system. the top election official in georgia says he didn't think it was appropriate for him to take a phone call from donald trump — in which the president pressed him to find the numbers to overturn joe biden's victory there. brad raffensperger said white house pressure had overridden his better judgment — adding he had spent two months debunking mr trump's unsubstantiated allegations that the georgia result was rigged. donald trump and joe biden are campaigning in the state of georgia — ahead of two crucial runoff votes for senate

seats on tuesday. the democrats need to win both seats to control the senate — giving them overall control of congress. let's hear what the president—elect had to say about the importance of these runoff elections. unlike of these runoff elections. any time in my career, one unlike any time in my career, one state, one state can chart the course not just one state, one state can chart the course notjust for the next four years, but for the next four years, but for the next generation. by electing john and the reverend you can make an immediate difference in your own lives! the lives of the people all across this country, because their election will put an end to the block in washington it for that $2000 to moose check, that money that will go on the door immediately, tell people who are in real trouble! 0ur north america correspondent — david willis — says the stakes couldn't be higher. 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. repuiblicans currently have 51 seats in that 100 seat chamber, where the democrats to win both ——that 100 seat chamber, were 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 to kamala harris, the incoming vice president. and that would of course make life a lot easier forjoe biden when it comes to getting his progressive agenda through congress. were 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 mr biden. david, doesn't matter, 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 in jon sopel's report, 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 atlanta, where he is due to take 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, of course, could deter some republicans, perhaps many, from actually turning out at the polls tomorrow. david willis there. 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. 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. susie cullen is a children's author who'd written three books about the pandemic... it's aim? to raise mental health awareness as well as money for unicef and the uk's state medical service, the nhs. she told us more about her latest book, "covi the little christmas dinosaur". as we know, the world went into lockdown, especially elderly people, and santa is 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, they did their homework, and he assured that they got their presents this year. how did you work out how to tell a story about the pandemic to kids? oh, well, 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. you know, she couldn't see her granny anymore. she couldn't go to school. she was just distressed, so i wrote her a poem, thinking i would give a bit of silliness to her to cheer her up. it just bit of silliness to her to cheer her up. itjust hit that nerve with her. it helped her commit helped to soothe her, so we passed it on to other children, and they had the same response. we took the word covid and made it into a fun

little character, so when they hear kovic now, they see a dinosaur, they don't see this scary thing outside their door. —— covid scary thing outside their door. -- covid has that made them less scared about what's going on? it has. it's kind of a distraction. i think they are still going to be scared because everything is changing, and it's changing again today in england, hasn't it? we are not going to school, we can't see ourfamily. not going to school, we can't see our family. he not going to school, we can't see ourfamily. he has been a co nsta nt for see ourfamily. he has been a constant for them for nearly a year now, and he does give them a lot of comfort, i believe. just a distraction more than anything else. i wasjust thinking, year of a child's life is actually a substantial portion of their own life. i understand that six—year—old harmony, who is a kid who is a multiple amputee has got involved. tell me about that please. , she is amazing. iwas actually 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. ijust harmony on the tv, she was on the breakfast show. i just fell in love with this little girl. she is so inspirational. she is

so brave and just full of love all the time. she doesn't feel sorry for herself, so i said to my mother, i will put harmony in there, i will put her name in there, i will put her name in the new book. and he thought them actually to me let's go one better, let's actually put harmony in that book. so she appears as one of the characters in the christmas book. and we don't explain what's wrong with her, we just show images of her, and she's just a child in the book that does gymnastics and meets the dinosaur. i'm very proud of the fa ct dinosaur. i'm very proud of the fact that we don't point out that she's different, 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 commit surely will be when, all of this is over? well, i think he is going to be a legacy. i'd love to see him be animated. he could maybe go on to help children, you know, post lockdown. there is still going to be vaccinations that they will have to have and perhaps they could explain why they

have to have vaccinations, he hopes 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 really good morals and teach them about kindness, because 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: there. how about this for a striking image. a mermaid lying on a beach covered in plastic trash. the picture was taken on the world—renowned kuta beach on the indonesian island of bali. officials say the rubbish had simply washed ashore in the last week or so, and they've removed around 80 tonnes of the waste in the last few days from nearby beaches. as for the mermaid — once she'd posed for the anti—pollution images, she changed outfit and joined in with clearing up the trash. a good example to ever run. more on our website. let me

know what you are up to. 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 news. the headlines.

england and scotland are ordered into new national lockdowns to contain a surge in covid—19 cases threatening to overwhelm the health systems. schools will be closed to almost all pupils as well as nonessential retail and hospitality. uk prime minister borisjohnson said the weeks ahead would be the hardest yet, as a more infectious variant of the virus spreads across the country. the announcements came just hours after the uk rolled out its second vaccine. it's the first country to approve the oxford/astrazeneca jab, which is now being handed out alongside the pfizer vaccine. the usjustice department says it is extremely disappointed and will appeal after a court in london refused to extradite wikileaks founder, julian assange. thejudge said there was a real risk of suicide. now on bbc news, hardtalk.