hello and welcome if you're watching in the uk or around the world. tributes have been paid — from around the world — to archbishop desmond tutu — one of the leading figures in the fight against white minority rule in south africa, who has died aged 90. desmond tutu's tireless campaigning against apartheid was rewarded with the nobel peace prize. south africa's president cyril ramaphosa described him as a "patriot without equal". the former us president barack obama said he had been a "mentor, friend and moral compass." current us presidentjoe biden said he was �*heartbroken�*. our africa correspondent, andrew harding, looks back at his life. raise our hands and we say, we will be free! desmond tutu was a man of hope. a south african priest who became one of the world's great moral voices. it was during south africa's long and violent struggle against white minority rule that desmond tutu rose to prominence. a diminutive priest, defying the apartheid government, comparing them to the nazis. the system of this country, apartheid, is immoral! the system of this country is evil! while nelson mandela was imprisoned for decades, tutu became the face and voice of south africa's liberation movement. desmond tutu was somebody at the height of the anti—apartheid struggle who, when nelson mandela and his leadership comrades in the freedom struggle were locked up on robben island, roused the faithful, inspired people. tutu was fearless, condemning the brutal apartheid state, but also urging black south africans to shun violence, to remain united. in 1984 tutu was awarded the nobel peace prize. and he used his global prominence to criticise britain and america for being too soft on the apartheid government. when freedom finally arrived in south africa, tutu did not fade into the background. instead, often in tears, he presided over a truth and reconciliation commission, shining a light on apartheid's victims and its perpetrators. in later years, tutu continued to speak out, condemning corruption, criticising south africa's own liberation heroes when they lost their way. i am warning, i am warning you that we will pray and we will pray for the downfall of the apartheid government, we will pray for the downfall of the government that misrepresents us. desmond tutu was that rare thing, a truly independent, truly fearless moralfigure, but never a gloomy one. he said to me once that when he dies he hopes the epitaph will be very clear, desmond tutu loved, he laughed he cried and that's what he was, he was a man of tremendous joy. the one thing that helps desmond tutu stand out and occupy this unique place in south african history is that he was there at every step of the way, through this country's tortuous journey from apartheid to democracy and beyond with that clear, moral, often angry, sometimes laughing voice, a man defined above all by his sense of hope. archbishop desmond tutu who has died at the age of 90. here in the uk, the queen has paid tribute to tutu. she said: "i am joined by the whole royal family "in being deeply saddened by the news of the death "of archbishop desmond tutu, a man who tirelessly "championed human rights in south africa "and across the world. "i remember with fondness my meetings with him "and his great warmth and humour." tributes have also been coming in from leaders around the world. former us president, barack obama, has posted on twitter saying, "archbishop desmond tutu was a mentor, a friend, and a moral "compass for me and so many others. "a universal spirit, archbishop tutu was grounded in the struggle "for liberation and justice in his own country, "but also concerned with injustice everywhere." the president of south africa, cyril ramaphosa, said, "the passing of archbishop emeritus desmond tutu "is another chapter of bereavement in our nation's farewell "to a generation of outstanding south africans who have bequeathed "us a liberated south africa." prime minister, borisjohnson in the uk said he was "deeply saddened to hear of the death "of archbishop desmond tutu. "he was a critical figure in the fight against apartheid "and in the struggle to create a new south africa — "and will be remembered for his spiritual leadership "and irrepressible good humour." i spoke with the former prime minister of the uk gordon brown, who gave me his reaction to the death of desmond tutu. he was one of the greatest people i've ever met. he and nelson mandela are the two leaders who ended apartheid. but you know that he was a teacher, he was a moral leader, he was a campaigner. when he walked into the room he radiated joy and light, and yet he was one of the most modest and humble and unassuming people you could also meet. so he leaves behind a legacy, one of the last of the generation of people who told us that apartheid was wrong and stood up for human rights everywhere, and he never stopped doing that right throughout his life. he went into retirement in 2010 and then i know he came out of retirement to fight for human rights issues. he will never be forgotten as one of the great leaders of our time. he was hugely passionate about education as well. tell us about some of the experiences you had working with him around issues of education. when he retired as archbishop and moved out of formal campaigning on the issues about the truth and reconciliation commission and the rainbow coalition which he talked about in south africa, he decided he wanted to educate every child in africa, so as a un envoy myself i worked with him as we tried to get more and more children into school, and even now there are millions of children who are not yet going to school and are deprived of a childhood, and he had this campaign to give every child a desk, so he had a desk that was full of information that he tried to get across africa. i remember him coming to the united nations to launch a campaign with me and i got a message that he had been kept outside the united nations because his name was not on the list and i went out thinking he'd be angry that he was not admitted in, but he was so placid and so unassuming and so modest, he just saw it as an oversight and not anything that was to be worried about. he was that sort of guy, the life and soul of the party, but also someone who was completely modest and aware that every human being has something to offer, always wanting to find the good in everyone, and of course wanting children in particular to get the chance of developing their potential to the full. he was simply a great human being. that's not only because he won the nobel prize, which he did, but throughout his full life he fought for things that he thought were important and would enhance the dignity of human beings. as you are remembering him you are smiling and we are watching pictures of him at the same time on the screen dancing and laughing as well. it seems an irrepressible humour is such a unique thing, given what he went through. yes, and of course he could have been assassinated during these terrible anti—apartheid years. he was very controversial when he stood out against some of the things that even nelson mandela who was a great friend of his had done. he spoke out about human rights, he believed, for example, in assisted dying, he believed in supporting gay rights, he was not someone who was a traditional person in the sense that he held to the old views, he was prepared to look at the future and what the ideas of the future yielded. so he was a very modern person, and having started off, i think, as a teacher before he became an archbishop, ora bishop and then an archbishop, i think he always wanted to be both learning and educating the younger generation. that is really how i will remember him, as the person who was so kind to everybody he met, subservient to no—one but treated everybody equally. and you know that's a great test of the humanity of an individual. and i think he represented that to such a great degree that he will never be forgotten. he will always be missed, and of course he has a very special place because without him and nelson mandela perhaps apartheid would have lasted for many, many more years. a wonderful tribute from gordon brown. paying tribute to his friend and one of the most impressive people he had known. new covid restrictions have come into force in scotland, wales and northern ireland to try to halt the surge in infections of the omicron variant. curbs have been introduced on the hospitality and leisure industry including social distancing rules and limits on the size of gatherings. boris johnson hasn't announced any further restrictions in england. tomas morgan has this report. another winter and another set of restrictions. social life will be curtailed yet again in wales, scotland, and northern ireland as the devolved governments have brought restrictions in again as an attempt to slow the spread of the omicron variant, to ease pressure on the nhs and to give more people the opportunity to be boosted at mass vaccination centres. having only reopened less then six months ago, nightclubs will have to turn their lights off once again in both wales and northern ireland from today. some industry bosses feel like they're being made scapegoats in this latest round of rules. we've essentially had four and a half months of trade and we're back here again. and the issue is, we are not clear when this will be lifted. we have not been provided yet with any data on why this sector particularly has been closed and what conditions will need to be met for the sector to be reopened again. restrictions on large events will apply from today in two of the nations. spectators are band from large events and sporting venues in wales and scotland from today. the premier league brought forward their break in scotland due to measures limiting fan attendance. across all hospitality venues the rule of six is back in wales as is social distancing. smaller tables mean smaller profits and two metres means fewer guests. the two—metre rule has a massive effect. new year's eve, we have full capacity but with the two—metre rule we have lost 20% of capacity. we have had to phone a few people and unfortunately cancel people for new year's eve. while restrictions in northern ireland and its scottish pubs and restaurants come into force tomorrow, the stormont executive said they would keep the measures under review. whilst first minister nicola sturgeon told the public theirs would be in place for at least three weeks. meanwhile, her counterpart further south mark drakeford said rules would be reviewed frequently. his next three weekly assessment is due at the end ofjanuary. with large events due to be attended by thousands of people across the uk called off, it looks like this new year's eve will be just as subdued as the last. tomos morgan, bbc news. the taliban say women in afghanistan seeking to travel other than short distances should not be offered transport unless accompanied by a close male relative. the taliban also directed all vehicle owners to offer rides only to women wearing islamic face coverings or hijabs. watching bbc news. —— you're watching. the bodies of 16 iraqi kurds who drowned when their inflatable boat sank last month in the channel while trying to reach england have been returned to northern iraq. burial services have taken place in irbil. the majority of the 29 people who died in the incident were iraqi kurds. an estimated 40,000 people from the region left for europe in the past year alone, using clandestine routes. soran qurbani of bbc persian service — took part in the bbc investigation into channel drowning incident — and he gave me more details on the events in northern iraq today. very overwhelming situation for the families because these bodies were supposed to arrive on friday morning but due to the weather conditions the flights were delayed for two days and many of these families had gathered at the airport for the past two days. in general, iraqi kurdistan is in mourning. you can see this from people's feedback on social media and on tv many people are right now talking about this tragic event. these 16 bodies were from different towns and at least seven towns, right now their funerals are taking place in the seven different towns. it is very traumatic for iraqi kurds in particular because many of these people have family members and relatives on their way to europe right now. in the past three days there were other incidents in the mediterranean sea were at least two people died in similar incidents. some of them were iraqi kurds again. so these events are a reminder of the danger of the situation. remind us of the specifics of what happened last month. it is believed that at least 32 people who were on that boat that night, there were six dinghies trying to cross on the same night. what we have found out through the communication of these people with their families back home and two eyewitnesses, survivors of that incident, after a couple of hours the weather conditions changed and the dinghy was punctured and was losing air. they tried to ask for help from both french and the uk authorities but the eyewitness told us that before they sent their location to them it was too late and they sank and the boat went over and these people didn't manage to send their location to the authorities to be rescued. as we see these pictures from northern iraq of some of these funerals taking place, you have already mentioned the concern people have about the young people that have been sent away, or gone away in some instances. let's have a little listen to the reaction from some people in irbil to that situation. translation: we iraqisl and kurds and kurds have nobody here who is in peace. everyone on iraqi soil is not at all at ease with their lives. the kurdish government and iraqi government should stop this exodus and youths should not be pushed to risk their lives like this. translation: yes, this was a family of four. - the mother and her three children wanted to migrate and have a better life. it is a tragedy that they met their end at sea. that first man saying they should not be pushed to risk their lives in this way. why do so many of them leave? when i talk to many of these migrants they blame their political leaders. they say we are let down by our leaders because there is high unemployment and injustice and they blame corrupted leaders. their leaders have not shied away from that, they say there is corruption but we need time to implement some reforms. but these people are not patient enough. and then also iraqi leaders blame smugglers for this mass exodus, if you can call it that. but most of these young people said they had lost their hope there and they want a better life. it sounds like a sort of protest. they say we leave this region to you, to their leaders, they say if you don't do any reform we are going to leave and they take this dangerous road. many of them are aware of the danger and the risks, but in spite of that they believe they can have a better future outside iraqi kurdistan. soran qurbani there. a man who was arrested within the grounds of windsor castle on christmas day, while in possession of a crossbow, has been detained under the mental health act the 19—year—old man has been detained under the mental health act. the 19—year—old man from southampton was arrested on suspicion of breach or trespass of a protected site and possession of an offensive weapon. let's get more on this with our correspondent helena wilkinson. hello now, what more are the metropolitan police telling us? we have metropolitan police telling us? - have some more details earlier this evening from the metropolitan police about the incident yesterday, christmas day. we know the queen was at windsor castle. that is where she is spending the festive period. she normally goes to her sandringham estate in norfolk. not this year because of concerns of the omicron variant. but it was yesterday morning at around 8:30am officers from both the metropolitan police and also thames valley police arrested a man moments, they say, after he entered the grounds of windsor castle. a19—year—old man from southampton, and he was taken into custody. he was arrested on suspicion of breach or trespass of a protected site and possession of an offensive weapon. they did a mental health assessment on this 19—year—old while he was in custody, and as you say, he has now been detained under the mental health act and he is being looked after by medical professionals. but confirmation from the metropolitan police that they searched the man, they say, after he was arrested, and on that man they found a crossbow. there had been various newspaper reports that the man used a rope ladder to try and scale the metal fence but that has not been confirmed by officers at this stage. so the 19—year—old man arrested in the grounds of windsor castle yesterday, just to confirm, officers confirmed yesterday that he didn't reach any of the buildings within the castle. hejust reach any of the buildings within the castle. he just got into the castle grounds. he has been detained under the mental health act. officers in their statement this evening say inquiries into the full circumstances of what happened would be continued by the metropolitan police specialist operations. thank ou so police specialist operations. thank you so much. _ police specialist operations. thank you so much, hello _ police specialist operations. thank you so much, hello enough. -- - you so much, hello enough. —— helena. police in northern india have launched an investigation after a statue ofjesus was vandalised at the entrance of a colonial—era church. the incident in the holy redeemer church in ambala city is the latest in a series of such attacks in recent months. earlier i spoke to our south asia regional editor anbarasan ethirajan in delhi. in fact, attacks on christmas day, they are unthinkable 20 years ago but since 2014 after the bjp came to power, the hindu nationalist party, christian organisations say attacks against them have doubled. we have seen prayer halls being attacked, churches that are literally being burned, and also some of the pastors are being attacked by hindu right—wing youths. this is all happening for the past few years and putting this community in fear, they fear that they are being persecuted. christians are a religious minority in india, about 2%, or 30 million people, but they have remained at the sidelines when you compare them with the other biggest religious minority, muslims. they feel the attacks are increasing but the government denies that there is an orchestrated campaign against the christians, but many people would complain that the police officers are not taking enough action as and when these christian places of worship are being targeted. so, what is the governing bjp doing to address this problem, if anything at all? the senior leaders of the bjp, including the prime minister narendra modi, they do not talk much about these incidents, whenever something big happens they talk, particularly in recent days, these incidents have not attracted any attention from the senior leaders of the bjp. it is not only about the christians. the way the hindu right—wing people have started using hate speech that shocked many people. for example, a week ago in the conclave of religious leaders, hindu saints and some of the people linked to the governing bjp, they were calling for open violence against muslims. and in fact they gave interviews for television channels afterwards standing by the statement. and this was again quite unprecedented the level of hate speech against religious minorities. that's why many newspapers have been calling on the government, including the prime minister narendra modi, to come out and openly condemn these incidents. otherwise the level of intolerance, the level of religious hatred will start growing. after that event at haridwar, what was the reaction on social media? people were shocked and appalled by the way the language that was used, the hatred that was spoken by some of the right—wing vigilante groups, the members of these groups. the most striking point was — how come the government was keeping quiet? it took many days for the police even to launch an investigation, this was only after an outcry on social media saying india is supposed to be a secular country. are many people were promoting hatred. they were not being taken into custody. here first of all the political leaders were not even coming out and condemning it, and second the authorities in this state are not even willing to take action immediately. following this outcry, following this anger and now the police have launched an investigation, though no arrests have been made so far. the former bbc radio presenter janice long has died following a short illness. she was best known as a presenter on radio 1, radio 2, top of the pops and most recently on bbc radio wales. she died at home on christmas day surrounded by her family. the bbc�*s director general said she was a stellar presenter, who was loved and respected across the industry. earlier i spoke to ian mcnabb, band member of the icicle works and a close friend ofjanice. she was the best friend that you could hope to have, you know, i knew her for 40 years, exactly 40 years, and she started out on bbc radio merseyside. she had a programme called streetlife, which went out on a sunday night and she would play all the local acts. she gave everybody a chance, she loved music. i remember after our first interview on the show, as soon as the show finished we were next door in the pub and a friendship was cemented for life. she loved music, she really wanted to be able to play music, but as with many great broadcasters and music writers she did the next best thing, which was promote as many musical things that she enjoyed that she didn't think other people would get to hear unless she presented it. but you know, i don't think ofjanice as a broadcaster. it's been really incredible today to see the massive outpouring of love for janice long, broadcaster. you know, she's my friend. i wish she could see the immense amount of love coming her way today. she was such a trailblazer in the industry as well, lots of people are talking about how important she was, one of the first women to hold so many of the positions she did as well. did she see herself in that way? janice, i wouldn't think that she is thought that she thought of herself as a trailblazer. like i said, she wasjust simply a fan of what she did. she was so enthusiastic. she went to gigs, often not phoning ahead to let them know that she was coming and she'd buy tickets. she was a fan like the rest of us. i know that when she first went to national bbc radio and tv, she was one of the only, i think there was only two lady presenters at that time and she was one of them. she got to do some links on live aid. one of the last times i spoke to her we were just having a casual conversation. she was going, "i went to the lipa school because paul mccartney "was passing out the prizes and stuff and he tapped me "on the shoulder and came up and started talking to me. "i couldn't believe it." i said, "have you met him before?" and she said, "yeah, loads of times." but i still couldn't believe it." mcnabb with a lovely story about his friend, janice long. now it's time for a look at the weather with nick miller. hello, there has been some christmas snow to bring festive excitement in a few places before parts of england, wales and northern ireland the christmas weather so far has just been about the heavy soaking rain. this is the latest weather system that has moved through bringing snow into the pennines and scottish hills today, turning increasingly light and patchy but yet again today the lion's share of christmas sun has been in northern scotland. in terms of the rain it has been a very wet christmas so far, in katesbridge in county down. since christmas day into the first part of boxing day, nearly 60 millimetres of rain, northolt in north—west london, half a month's worth of rain in that period, on the roads plenty of standing water and spray around. it's looking somewhat drier this evening and tonight, taking some patchy rain and hillsnow further north through scotland. as the wind sees there will be plenty of low cloud, mist and fog developing and rain developing in the far south—west later. for many places temperature staying above freezing but hints of blue in northern england and scotland, especially where you have snow on the ground there will be a frost. into tomorrow, here comes another spell of rain across south—west england and wales. pushing further north through england but tending to turn lighter as it does so. scotland and northern ireland will stay dry, a few sunny spells around, but a cloudy day in the northern and western isles with outbreaks of rain and showers. breeziest and mildest to the south. as we go on through the evening there will be another spell of heavy downpours running along southernmost counties of england, with those brisk winds. by tuesday, another area of low pressure looks to be racing in from the atlantic bringing some rain to northern ireland, southern scotland, northern england, north wales and the midlands where we will see the heaviest rain. as that clears through the southern flank we will see the strongest winds in parts of wales and southern england, gusting up to 40—50 mph or so and we will see the highest temperatures in the south around 12 or 13 degrees. the mild air will become much more widespread from mid week. we see this weather front moving northwards on wednesday, that's going to come with rain, some snow into the highlands but it does open the door to this much milder air heading from a long way to the south and south—west of the uk, lifting temperatures well above average for the time of year. as we see out the year and start a new one, yes, it will be wet and windy at times. but temperatures by day and night well above average. hello. this is bbc news. the headlines... tributes pour in for archbishop desmond tutu — nobel laureate and veteran of south africa's struggle against apartheid — who has died at the age of 90. the bodies of 16 iraqi kurds who drowned when their inflatable boat sank last month in the channel while trying to reach the uk have been returned to northern iraq. new coronavirus restrictions come into force in scotland, wales and northern ireland to try to limit the spread of the omicron variant. in around ten minutes' time we have sportsday. but first, here's click... it is clickmas! welcome to clickmas 2021, which is already looking more expensive than clickmas 2020. at least it is not a virtual party.