this is the briefing. i'm sally bundock. our top story: the black carpet, a sombre look for this year's golden globes, as hollywood tries to raise awareness about sexual harassment. a senior bbcjournalist stands down, accusing the broadcaster of a "secretive and illegal" pay culture. reports from syria say the army have ended a siege at a military base outside the capital damascus. france's emmanuel macron arrives in china in a bid to forge stronger economic ties between the eu and the world's second biggest economy. i'll be speaking to a leading french economist to get his take on whether mr macron will be successful in his push for greater access to china's markets. a very warm welcome

to the programme, briefing you on all you need to know in global news, business and sport. and you can be part of the conversation. today we're asking is the stance in hollywood, seen today at the golden globes ceremony, leading to change elsewhere? are you seeing change where you were, for example, for some of the environment you are operating in? what is your experience? comments to #bbcthebriefing. let's begin with that ceremony that is under way in los angeles. it has a lwa ys is under way in los angeles. it has always been seen as the first of the glitzy award shows leading up to the oscars. but this year, the issue of sexual misconduct and harassment has taken centre stage in perhaps what is the first test of how this

most glamorous of industries is handling a series of high—profile sexual assault scandals. many actors are wearing black to highlight a campaign against abuse and harassment, and some winners, including oprah winfrey, made powerful and emotional speeches about speaking out. joining me now is the bbc‘s peter bowes who is in los angeles. good to see you. tell us more about the golden globes. this issue of times is completely overtaking it. it has completely dominated the evening. i think it will dominate the entire awards season leading up to the oscar at the beginning of march. actresses said they would wear black, and made it almost without exception. you might think it would have given the appearance of being rather funereal, it would have given the appearance of being ratherfunereal, and he did look a little bit like that, and according to some, this was a celebration of the death of old

hollywood. i think that is public quite an accurate portrayal of the mood of the evening. certainly, seth meyers, a host of the show, i think summed it up quite nicely in his opening comments. although, remember that he is a comedian eddie wanted to get a few laughs at the beginning of the show. he said, would evening ladies and remaining gentlemen. marijuana is finally allowed as it is now legally in california, sexual harassment is not. that really did set the tone as far as he was concerned, and he kept on that theme all the way through. you mentioned oprah winfrey. i think it was oprah who really did seal the evening as perhaps a new start for hollywood. she said, speaking your truth is the most powerful tool we have. all the young girls watching, a new date is on the horizon. she sounded almost like a presidential candidate as opposed to a television star. there was quite an elect trick atmosphere

as she was speaking. as you say, everybody is talking about her speech, which was pretty long but extremely powerful. people are talking about what she is planning in the future. and to —— in terms of the real change, are people talking about the fact that we are going to seed now a real change in terms of this issue of sexual harassment in hollywood 7 yes, i think we will. they have taken over the yes, i think we will. they have ta ken over the phrase yes, i think we will. they have taken over the phrase "time's up". it is time up on the old phrase for hollywood. the atmosphere that reigned for so long in hollywood. those days are gone. it is notjust about hollywood. they are making the point, and a lot of famous actresses accompany women into the show this evening who represent women's rights organisations, making the point that this is more thanjust organisations, making the point that this is more than just entertainers and wealthy hollywood types. this is women and men as well in less famous

roles, it could be cleaners, farm workers who also suffer from sexual harassment in their workplace. they are saying it is a new era in hollywood but they are hoping it is a new era for everyone. for now, thank you so much. we haven't even mentioned any of the winners. that is how much this story has changed in terms of golden globes. all that is on our website. what a —— among the winners, nicole kidman dan ewan mcgregor. we have a live page updating all the time so have a look when you have time. a senior bbcjournalist has stepped down from her role accusing the broadcaster of having a "secretive and illegal" pay culture. carrie gracie is leaving herjob as china editor citing what she called an "indefensible" pay gap with male colleagues. she made the announcement in an open letter, in which she said that the bbc was breaking british equality law. our media editor

amol rajan explains. carrie gracie is one of the most respected journalist of her generation. her latest position with a high profile and uniquely challenging post responsible for covering over a billion people in a superpower that his repressive to journalists. she is paid less than two bbc reported to be similarjobs and our men. in an explosive letter, she says that the bbc has a secretive and illegal pay culture and is not living up to its values of trust, honesty and accountability. welcome back! last time when the corporation was forced to disclose salaries of some people it revealed a gender pay gap. not only our men paid more but the appearance of some women were paid less for doing equivalent work. the bbc has

embarked on three audits pay across staff. it has got much further than most on equality and is determined to do more. this is a moment of high dangerfor the to do more. this is a moment of high danger for the corporation. with over 200 female staff complaining about pay, the reputation is tarnished. more on that story in a news briefing later. syria's state—run tv is reporting the army has broken a siege of a military base outside the capital damascus. hundreds of soldiers were trapped inside after rebels surrounded the base in december, which borders the rebel—held territory of eastern ghouta. the rebel action has triggered heavy air strikes and dozens of casualties. andrew plant reports. smoke rising above abandoned buildings, a ruined town outside the capital, with syrian army tanks on the ground, and here, army soldiers smashing their way into a compound and freeing the soldiers inside. the army says it has

broken a siege here, a military transport compound surrounded by rebels for weeks — the latest battle in syria's 7—year war. the rebel area of eastern ghouta, home to around a00,000, is north—east of the capital, damascus. the military base under siege is in the town of harasta, just outside the capital. this was the syrian army's response to the rebel action, massive air strikes in eastern ghouta. and this was thursday — 23 people reported to have died and dozens more injured. after the explosions, the rescue teams moved in, known as the white helmets. one of them was also killed. idlib, another rebel stronghold, hundreds of kilometres north, and the aftermath of explosions here too. a car bomb at the weekend, which killed 18 people, thought to have been targeting a rebel ho. there are reports of hospitals

destroyed in the strikes outside damascus. doctors in the area are few and far between, and medicine is scarce. as the planes move away, though, people still come out to scavenge useful supplies from between the lumps of concrete and broken buildings. reports suggest more than 100 may have died from rebel and syrian army forces during the latest skirmish, as the military compound in harasta was freed. more than 340,000 people have been killed in syria since the conflict began almost seven years ago. let's brief you on some of the other stories making the news. three women have accused the australian actor craig mclachlan of indecent assault during a tour of the musical the rocky horror show. the 52—year—old, best known for his roles playing a heart—throb in the long—running tv soap operas neighbours and home and away, says the allegations are "baseless and vicious."

in germany, talks between angela merkel and the social democrats are going into a second day at the end of the week they will had to decide whether to start formal coalition talks. on sunday she said she is optimistic a deal could be reached. the french president, emmanuel macron, is on a state visit to china focus on improving economic ties between beijing and the eu. france suffers a big trade deficit with china, and mr macron is expected to push for improved access to the country's markets. jonathan charles is the director of communications for the european bank for reconstruction and development. hgppy happy new year. nice to see you. tell me, what do you think emmanuel

macron's trip, his first trip to asia since he became president of france will stop it is very important, isn't it? it tells us that china is just too big to ignore. it is the bare in the room, the giant figure on the world stage, growing bigger all the time. very important for trade, and both sides want something out of this visit. the chinese undoubtably seafro nts visit. the chinese undoubtably seafronts now as a very important player in the relationship. the role that was previously played by the united kingdom. china would be putting its eggs in that market —— basket leading the uk would help in the eu. now it knows that after the brexit referendum that is not possible. it is focusing on france and germany. front sees china as a massive market. as everybody does, let's be honest. if we look at what he has said in the past, he talks about the fa ct said in the past, he talks about the fact europe must stand independently of the likes of the united states and china. it is an interesting

sta nce and china. it is an interesting stance he is taking. he is talking to his electorate when he is saying that. it shows again something else that china has a vision for the world and the european union is worried because china's vision for the world is bigger perhaps than at the moment the eu's vision. china wants to make the eu's vision. china wants to make the most of what the gap that has been left by the united states under donald trump, it believes it can feel that with a global vision of investment to its new silk road vision. it sees there is a role here that can play in investing heavily in europe. china has a vision it wa nts to in europe. china has a vision it wants to pursue it to further china's interest and emanuel macron knows that. thank you for now. and jonathan charles will be back in about half an hour to review the main stories being covered by the global media. we have lots of interesting stories to get our teeth into. there are growing fears of an environmental disaster in the east china sea as a huge tanker continues to leak oil two days after colliding with a cargo ship. the iranian vessel,

which was carrying the equivalent of about a million barrels of oil to south korea, is still ablaze. 32 crew members are still missing. andy moore reports. still burning fiercely many hours after the original collision, and still no confirmed news about the fate of its 32 crew. 30 were iranian and two were from bangladesh. the sanchi is more than 170 metres long and carrying just under —— 270 metres long and carrying just under a million barrels of oil. now, if the entire cargo ends up in the ocean, that will effectively be in the top ten oil spills worldwide ever. so it has a huge potential for environmental damage. the pa namanian—registered tanker set off from iranian oil port of kharg island in the persian gulf on its journey to south korea. it sailed through the malacca strait before colliding with a chinese freight ship in the east china sea, about 160 nautical miles off the chinese port city of shanghai. major oil spills from tankers are becoming less common. one of the most serious

in recent years was the sinking of the prestige off the coast of spain in 2002. more than 60,000 tons of oil came ashore over a long stretch of coastline. specialist clean—up vessels have been sent to the scene of the tanker fire. chinese authorities have confirmed there is an oil slick, but they cannot confirm at this stage how big it is. andy moore, bbc news. stay with us on the briefing. also on the programme: a night to forget. why the spanish military had to rescue thousands of motorists trapped by heavy snow. the japanese people are in mourning following the death of emperor hirohito. thousands converged on the imperial palace to pay their respects when it 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. teams were trying to scoop up lumps of oil as france recognises it faces an ecological crisis. three weeks ago, the authorities confidently assured these areas that the oil from the broken tanker erika would head out to sea. it didn't. the world's tallest skyscraper opens later today. the burj dubai has easily overtaken its nearest rivals. you're watching the briefing. our headlines: a senior bbcjournalist stands down — accusing the broadcaster of a ‘secretive and illegal‘ pay culture. our top story, the golden globes have taken place in los angeles

with most of the hollywood stars dressed in black, in solidarity with victims of sexual harassment and assault. let's stay with that now. kj mathews is an entertainment journalist — she joins us from the golden globes in los angeles. lovely to see you. tell us about the event. it is described as politically charged, very rousing. what was your ta ke7 politically charged, very rousing. what was your take? remember we knew going into the golden globes that the red carpet would be with political statements. the times are the initiative, political activists, social activists, people who were fighting for gender equity would be on the red carpet with them to talk about the initiative. we knew going in that it would be politically

charged but the night belonged to one person and that is oprah winfrey. when she stood up and accepted the cecil b demille moored at award they were transfixed by what she said. it was electrifying. she spent five or ten minutes talking about her life, what it means to accept the award and about the climate that the country and women are undergoing right now. she even spoke about the press and how she felt that the press was significantly under siege. now, she felt that the press was significantly undersiege. now, more than ever, she understands and values free press. she also spoke about the women around the world who had never been seen or heard and can never speak out against their abusers who were powerful men. she then ended by saying, time is up. many agree with you saying she stole the show the others are asking what our plans in the future? maybe she has her eyes fixed on the white

house7 has her eyes fixed on the white house? you know, it is very interesting. many people say she should run for president. if you go to social media you will notice is oprah winfrey is trending. that is not surprising. many people are saying if donald trump could win the presidency, why not oprah winfrey? she would make a great president. she would make a great president. she is yet to rule that out. people are pushing. and i think there are some people on the fence before tonight, and they have come over to her corner to nine saying that she could be the first black female president of the united states. we have not even mentioned who has won. can you talk through some of the key winners7 can you talk through some of the key winners? obviously the handmaidens tail, big little lies. really big awards. —— handmaid's tale. no big

upsets. everybody pretty much kept their speech short. a few women got up their speech short. a few women got up on stage and accepted awards, talked about the changing environment. france's mcdormand and laura dern. barbara streisand also spoke about how head had been over 30 years and is a woman won best director. unfortunately tonight there were no female nominees and natalie portman did not let that go unnoticed when she got up to present the award. as i have already mentioned, we have all the latest on that now golden globes life page on

the bbc website. —— live page. in spain, hundreds of soldiers had to be deployed to rescue drivers and passengers who were trapped when their cars were stranded due to heavy snowfall. thousands were forced to spend the night in their vehicles in a section of motorway between the capital madrid and the northwestern city of segovia. the bbc‘s tim allman reports. what a welcome sight this must have been. a snowplough clearing an escape route for an awful lot of people who'd experienced a truly awful night. members of the military‘s emergency unit helping to free more than 3,000 vehicles. a 70—kilometre stretch of motorway brought to a standstill. soldiers handing out blankets and bottles of water. some motorists said they had been trapped for up to 15 hours. this was the scene earlier in the morning before help arrived. this woman describing how she'd been stuck since 6pm the night before. this was the worst chaos she'd ever experienced,

she said, and she felt like she was hallucinating. you can see dozens of other cars. all told, its believed as many as 4,000 people spent the night in the freezing cold. but eventually, help did arrive and the cars, buses, lorries were able to complete theirjourney. the company that runs this stretch of motorway is now being investigated to see if it properly prepared for such dramatic weather. for everyone else, this will be a night to forget. tim allman, bbc news. turning to sport now and australia have convincingly won the final cricket test match against england giving them a 4—0 win in the ashes series. england were made to follow—on in their second innings but never came close to reaching australia's score. australia won by innings and 123 runs.

pat cummins took four wickets for 39 runs. the england captain, joe root, received hospital treatment suffering from dehydration and a stomach bug. now it's time to get the rest of the news from the bbc sports centre. hello. i'm tulsen tollett. coming up in your sports briefing on monday, the final english fa cup tie of the third round on monday between brighton and crystal palace will see the video assistant referee system, or var, trialled in england for the first time, phillipe coutinho is presented to the media in barcelona ahead of him officially signing on monday and the player who was told if he scored a hat—trick he'd get a puppy, but he only scored two. so the final cup tie of the third round of the fa cup sees brighton host crystal palace in an all—premier league clash. the two clubs are billed as local rivals but more sigificant —— significant is that the game will see the var system, where certain decisions are re—assessed by a referee watching on television, trialled for the first time in a domestic english match. arsene wenger said his side did not deserve to win as holders arsenal

were knocked out of the fa cup after a 4—2 defeat by second tier nottingham forest. wenger, currently serving a three match touchline ban, selected a much changed side and watched from the stands as his side were well beaten. i knew before the game that away from home in a game like this it would be difficult but defensively you cannot afford the mistakes we made today and we did not get a good result. much better news for arsenal's north london rivals tottenham, who beat afc wimbledon 3—0. harry kane, who else, scored two of their goals and was part of a strong side selected by manager mauricio pochettino. i always say i try to put the best side to play. i think if you compare with the carabao cup it was a similar side, almost as strong. you know, i think we need

to treat our players not like machines, like humans, and we need to manage them and provide them to play to all the squad, it's so important. he looks pretty happy and so he should — philippe coutinho was paraded at camp nou after sealing his $192 million move from liverpool which will be rubber stamped in the coming hours. and he joined after his new club beat levante 3—0 to go nine points clear at the top of the primera division. coutinho is currently the second most expensive player in the world, with only his compatriot neymar ahead of him. he spent five years at liverpool but made it clear six months ago that he was desperate to join the catalans. translation: it's incredible to know i'm going to be with my idols with players that have a lot of history like lionel messi, luis suarez, andres iniesta, gerard pique, sergio busquets, all those great players and i'm very happy to know that i will play with them. cyril despres leads the way in the dakar rally after winning stage two of the 2018 edition in peru.

the frenchman is a five time champion of the rally in the motorbike category and is proving no slouch on four wheels. he's just ahead of fellow his peugueot team—mate and compatriot stephane peterha nsel. also competing this year is the former porto, chelsea, and tottenham head coach andre villas boas, whose toyota lies 44th after 2 stages. stay with me on bbc news, i'll be back with the business briefing in just a few moments — we'll have more on we will have a look at how emmanuel macron will get on in china. he has just arrived in beijing and is hoping to make some serious inroads in the world ‘s second—biggest economy. thinks will stay cold over the next

few days. clear skies on sunday led to views like this, taken by one of our weather watchers in cumbria. similar views in cumbria over the day on monday and there will be some sunshine around after the cold and frost is start. further south across the country that is where we expect more in the way of cloud. across southern, central england and wales as well. the north clear blue skies after a very cold frosty start. there could be some icy stretches around on monday morning so take ca re around on monday morning so take care on the road. heading further south, sunshine in birmingham but to the south of that, cloudy skies with hill fog here and there. this cloud is enough to produce a new outbreaks of drizzle and possibly some snow grains over deals of wales. snow grains over deals of wales. snow grains are small particles of frozen drizzle. many places will stay dry the cold with a brief coming in from

the cold with a brief coming in from the south and cloud as well. further north you have light wind and sunshine for northern england, scotla nd sunshine for northern england, scotland and northern ireland. temperatures to— four disease. slightly milder in the south but it won't feel like that. —— watch read degrees. a lot of low cloud. you can see mist and hill fog developed. it will not be colder frosty first thing tuesday morning with cloud and hill fog around. during the day, gray on tuesday. a lot of dry weather with some spots of drizzly rain and snow grains again before the next band of rain arrives in the west in the afternoon. the breeze picks up across the north and west of the country and the cloud and hill fog will thin but it could cause disruption through the day. top temperature for most of us between three and seven degrees but milder in the south—west where you may find double—digit fund wednesday. this frontal system had

they and makes slow progress because they and makes slow progress because the bumps into a big area of pressure. that will linger off the east of the country during the day on wednesday. nonetheless a return to sunny spells with a few showers. milder around 5— 10 degrees in the middle part of the week. this is business briefing. i'm sally bundock. let's talk you through the business headlines. france's emmanuel macron arrives in china, but can he forge stronger ties between the eu and the world's second biggest economy7 and watch out, tesla — we get an exclusive hands—on look at an electric car designed by former staff at bmw and apple. and on the markets: they start a brand—new trading week in asia. most markets are high.

japan closed today for a public holiday. we will tell you in a minute all you need to know.