UK

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Monday ordered England into a new national lockdown to try to slow a surge in COVID-19 cases that threatens to overwhelm parts of the health system before a vaccine programme reaches a critical mass.

Scottish police have arrested Margaret Ferrier, a member of Britain's parliament, for allegedly breaking COVID-19 rules when she made a long train journey last year after testing positive for the virus.

Scotland on Monday imposed the most stringent COVID-19 lockdown since last March and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said he would shortly impose tougher curbs in England to contain a rapidly spreading outbreak of a new variant of the coronavirus.

LONDON (Reuters) -A British judge ruled on Monday that WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange should not be extradited to the United States to face criminal charges including breaking a spying law, saying his mental health problems meant he would be at risk of suicide.

Britain reported a record 58,784 cases of the coronavirus on Monday and a further 407 new deaths within 28 days of positive COVID-19 test.

UK scientists expressed concern on Monday that COVID-19 vaccines being rolled out in Britain may not be able to protect against a new variant that emerged in South Africa and has spread internationally.

Scientists are not fully confident that COVID-19 vaccines will work on a new variant of the coronavirus found in South Africa, ITV's political editor said on Monday, citing an unidentified scientific adviser to the British government.

Britain's health minister defended the decision for schools to reopen in some areas despite the country's high coronavirus infection rate, saying that the government was following public health advice and that schools in those areas were safe.

The roll-out of the AstraZeneca-Oxford University Covid-19 vaccine from Monday was a "triumph of British science" that would be the only long-term way out of the pandemic, British Health Secretary Matt Hancock said.