this is the briefing, i'm sally bundock. our top story: the first major retreat of emmanuel macron's presidency, as france abandons plans to raise fuel taxes. trouble for chinese tech giant huawei. its chief financial officer is arrested in canada and faces extradition to the us. spain revisits its painful past, amid growing fears of a far—right resurgence. and sugar, spice and all things nice. one museum's mission to put the taste into town planning. in business, higher prices in the pipeline. opec set to cut oil production to pump up the cost of crude, despite warnings from president trump. a 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. as more revelations emerge about facebook and its use of our data, we are asking, is this the price we pay for free use of social media and digital technology? are you concerned about who is using your data, and for what purpose? get in touch. just use the hashtag bbcthebriefing. after weeks of violent demonstrations, the french government has abandoned plans to increase fuel taxes next year. the rise was due to come in on 1 january, but was hugely unpopular, and sparked some of the biggest protests in paris for decades. the decision is being seen as the first major retreat of emmanuel macron‘s presidency. kim gittleson reports. not even the arc de triomphe was

spared in the weeks of often violent protests organised by the so—called yellow jackets. they were angered protests organised by the so—called yellowjackets. they were angered by a proposed fuel tax is set to go into effect in 2019. now, the thousands of high visibility vest wearing citizens who took to the streets have won a resounding victory in their fight against rising prices. afterfive hours of debate, the french national assembly voted to completely scrap rather than simply delay the tax, which was meant to curb carbon emissions. translation: if the state is to remain strong and stable, it must be above all the guarantor of public order. and it remaining so is necessary if france is to be

governed. no tax is worth putting the unity of the nation at risk. but, while some mps urged calm, others sharply criticised the leadership of the french president, emmanuel macron. translation: go and tell the french molik that reasonable people on france's streets will not leave until you have given up the good old you have left. booed as he took a tour of the damage done during the protest, mr macron‘s approval ratings have hit new lows. protesters painted him as a president of the rich, out of touch with the economic pain felt by ordinary citizens. the reversal represents a major set back for president macron, who was elected on his promise to transform france's economy and lower its deficit. the key question is if this will be enough to placate protesters, or if it will further encourage revolt

against mr macron‘s reforms. the global chief financial officer of huawei, one of china's leading tech companies, has been arrested in canada. meng wanzhou now faces extradition to the united states on suspicion she has violated american sanctions on iran. the company has said it is not aware of any wrongdoing. our asia business correspondent karishma vaswani is in singapore. we have been hearing for weeks various countries taking action with regards to huawei, but this is escalating it to a brand—new level, isn't it? indeed, sally, as one member of the chinese media twitter, the editor of the global times, he called this a despicable act that many in china will see as an attack, and this sort of

continuation of what has been felt as the containment of notjust china as the containment of notjust china as it emerges on the global political stage but also of chinese companies. to remind audiences of what has actually happened, meng wanzhou, the what has actually happened, meng wa nzhou, the daughter of what has actually happened, meng wanzhou, the daughter of the founder of huawei and the firm's chief financial officer and deputy chair, so financial officer and deputy chair, so she is a pretty important person in the company, she was actually arrested in canada when she was transferring flight they are, according to huawei. details of this arrest have yet to be released, but thatis arrest have yet to be released, but that is because she has asked canada for them not to be published. what we do know is that her bail hearing on friday. as you are saying, she faces extradition to the united states, where it is at understood that she is being accused of breaking the country's trade sanctions with iran. but sally, exactly what this means is still unclear. but earlier in the year, us authorities had announced that they are investigating huawei. in a statement, huawei has said that it

has been given very little information about these charges, and is not aware of any wrongdoing by their chief financial officer. and again, it says that these charges that she faces are unspecified, and that she faces are unspecified, and that huawei has complied with all the applicable laws and regulations in every country that it operates m, in every country that it operates in, including applicable export control and sanction laws and regulations that follow the united nations, us and eu laws. so huawei is basically saying it hasn't done anything wrong at this stage, and that it has very little to go by with what is coming out of canada and the us right now. thank you very much. just to say as well that this story is impacting financial markets in asia. it is a very big deal. with me is dr stephanie hare, who is an independent analyst. so give us your take on this. i mean, huawei is on everyone's radar. we have seen new zealand take action. yesterday we had the story

about bt in the uk. there is a lot of suspicion about this company. yes, so right now there is a lot of intelligence sharing taking place among the five eyes, the united states, canada, new zealand and the uk. of those five, the united states, australia and new zealand do not want to work with huawei, and we just saw the head of m16, that is britain's intelligence service, say that the united kingdom will have some tough decisions to make about whether or not to work with huawei as this country upgrades its telecoms network from ag as this country upgrades its telecoms network from 4g the 5g. that is where we saw the really significant step with british telecom. when it comes to this particular story about the arrest of the cfo, meng wanzhou, it is to do with the us and iran, isn't it, and the fact that the seed huawei as violating their sanctions. that is what we are told this is about, so it is really interesting that the united date has been wanting to

contain huawei and has been using supposedly this as a pretext to have arrested and extradited the cfo, who is of course also the daughter of the founder of huawei. so yes, this is about potentially violating us sanctions on iran. 0k, thank you for 110w. sanctions on iran. 0k, thank you for now. we have so much to discuss when it comes to technology stories, facebook, the use of data and privacy, and stephanie is back with the stories in the news briefing. protests have reignited across spain, where appealjudges have upheld the decision of a lower court to clear five men of gang—raping an 18—year—old woman. the five, who have become known as the wolf pack, were instead convicted for the lesser offence of sexual abuse. the case has prompted widespread condemnation and calls for legal reform. georgina smyth has the story. they chant, it is not abuse, it is rape. but a court in northern spain disagreed again, upholding a decision to send the five men known as la manada, or the wolf pack, to prison

for abusing but not gang—raping an 18—year—old woman during the 2016 running of the bulls. the men were found guilty of the lesser crime of abuse in april, sparking nationwide protests. and the latest court decision brought protesters back onto the streets, voicing disbelief in barcelona... translation: we're so angry because we believe thatjustice is in favour of a patriarchal system, and there is nojustice in relation with what really happened. ..slamming the verdict in sevilla... translation: it's clearly rape. ..and calling for an overhaul of the legal system from madrid. translation: we need a legislative change. we need judicial actions. the case is far from finished. the government has pledged to review its laws around sexual violence, and a lawyer for four of the men says they will appeal again. next time, it will be

in spain's highest court. as global temperatures continue to rise, world leaders are gathering to discuss how to combat the potential impacts of a warming climate. chris fawkes explains the weather phenomenon known as el nino, and looks into how it can affect weather systems and temperatures around the world. something is lurking beneath the surface of the tropical pacific ocean, something that has the power to change weather patterns around the planet. a pool of unusually warm waters like this, more than three degrees above normal in places, and stretching thousands of miles, has been slashing its way eastwards from indonesia towards south america. now, this pool of warm water vinnie the service is preventing cooler water from upwelling near the the service is preventing cooler waterfrom upwelling near the coast of south america, and in the waters

near the surface began to warm in response. once the equatorial pacific warms by 0.5 celsius, we may see the beginnings of an el nino. now, temperatures in the pacific have reached that threshold over the last couple of months. you can see how the waters warm, the orange colours here show that these seas have been 0.9 degrees warmer than normal, and if this continues, if it sta rts normal, and if this continues, if it starts to affect the atmosphere above, then we will have the beginnings of an el nino. an el nino can make certain whether evans more likely, and it shows how closely connected all our weather systems are on this planet. if el nino begins, it could make seasonal rains heavier in peru, with a greater risk of flooding and landslides. wetter weather becomes more likely in the south of the united states this winter. indonesia could see drier weather and an increased threat of forest fires. australia could be more likely to see droughts and bushfires in the south of the country. it could also lead to another round of coral bleaching.

plant hit a drought caused by el nino become more stressed, and take less carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere. as a result, the atmospheric concentrations of co2 are likely to rise more quickly. the greenhouse gas emissions than contribute to climate change, and even just by contribute to climate change, and evenjust by warming up contribute to climate change, and even just by warming up the waters in the pacific, el nino could cause the ocean to increase huge amounts of heat into the atmosphere above —— release. giving an additional upward push to rising global temperatures. this could contribute 2019 being a very warm yearfor this could contribute 2019 being a very warm year for the planet. with widespread impact, scientists will be monitoring the pacific very carefully for signs of a potential arrival of an el nino over coming months. stay with us on bbc news. still to come: the stray dog who stopped a goalkeeping howler in argentina. that and a full round—up of the latest sporting action in sport briefing. it's quite clear that the worst victims of this disaster

are the poor people living in the slums which have sprung up around the factory. i am feeling so helpless that the children are dying in front of me and i can't do anything. charles manson is the mystical leader of the hippie cult suspected of killing sharon tate and at least six other people in los angeles. at 11am this morning, just half a metre of rock separated britain from continental europe. it took the drills just a few moments to cut through the final obstacle. then philippe cozette, a minerfrom calais, was shaking hands and exchanging flags with robert fagg, his opposite number from dover. you're watching the briefing.

our headlines: the french government has abandoned plans to raise fuel taxes at least for another year, following weeks of violent street protests. the global chief financial officer of chinese tech giant huawei has been arrested in canada and is facing extradition to the us. today spain celebrates the 40th anniversary of its constitution, passed in the transition to democracy after the death of the fascist leader, general francisco franco. the country's current socialist government has promised to remove the dictator's body from its mausoleum — one of a number of moves made in a country still trying to overcome its buried, divided past. james reynolds reports from madrid. the decades, spain's past buried

deep into its ground, was left undisturbed. but now the country is slowly uncovering its dead. these bodies, buried in a mass grave in southern spain were shot by general francisco franco's forces in the civil war. this woman has inherited an 82—year—old family search for her grandfather. my mother died four yea rs grandfather. my mother died four years ago, she says, it was always a dream to find her father ‘s years ago, she says, it was always a dream to find herfather ‘s remains. general francisco franco on the civil war and ruled spain until his death in 1975. he made sure that his family had no need to search for his grave. it is hard to lose a man who

is buried in a tomb like this. the valley of the fallen, outside madrid, is part to have very good memories of their grandfather. they loved him and they do not want him to be used for political reasons. for franco's supporters, the grape is a site of pilgrimage. the monument was designed to stand asa the monument was designed to stand as a last statement about a war which divided this country. but the arguments which were meant to be buried along with franco's body has now re—emerged. the threats of

reburial provoked franco's followers, who recently demonstrated in madrid and, on sunday, a far—right party won seats in original election for the first time since franco's death. franco is still playing a part in politics, more than a0 years after he died?m is kind of... if you are superstitious, you are disgusted about it but somehow it is like franco is back. you tried to take him away and his like, i am here. the decades spain has tried to get rid of his last dictator by forgetting him, now the government is trying to get past him by repairing him but there is little sign that this will be franco's. ——.

now it's time to get all the latest from the bbc sports centre. hello, i'm john watson. on the way, argentine rivals touch down in madrid. mourinho counts the cost of united's mistakes. and we've got the save of the season from south america. it's all coming up in thursday‘s sport briefing. it's all coming up in thursday's sport briefing. from buenos aires to madrid, boca juniors have arrived in the spanish capital ahead of the hugely anticpated second leg of the copa libertadores final on sunday. it's the first time the contest will be played away from south america. boca are bidding to win the trophy for a record—equalling 7th time, when they face city rivals, river plate. but they play at the bernabeu after the match was controversially moved to europe when boca's team bus was attacked by river plate fans ahead of the second leg. river plate lost their appeal for the game to remain in south america, the tie is level at two all. staying with classic rivalries, we've got one in the nba on thursday as the new york knicks travel to td garden to face the boston celtics. they've something to build on after this impressive overtime

win last time out against the milwaukee bucks, thanks in part to emmanuel mudiay‘s 28 points — he'd clearly found his range. they beat the celtics just a couple of weeks ago but are down in 12th in the eastern conference. in the english premier league, southampton are languishing at the wrong end of the table. can this guy change all that? new manager ralph hassenhuttel. the austrian takes over with the south coast club in the relegation zone. he had a successful spell in the german bundesliga with rb leipzig, they finished second in his first year in charge and reached the europa league quarterfinals. he left there in may after failing to agree a new contract. he's been likened tojurgen klopp. manchester united manager jose mourinho praised

his side's heart and soul but was left equally frustrated by the mistakes which saw united draw 2—2 with arsenal at old trafford on wednesday. he'd been asked if he'd lost the support of his players before the game, but they showed plenty of spirit to come from behind twice, to rescue a point. iam happy i am happy with the soul, i am happy with things that we did but, again, we are not uniform, we are not consistent. the result was a moment when the team breaks. the feeling in the dressing room is frustration but the dressing room is frustration but the feeling is that everybody is tired and when everybody is tired is because everybody gives everything. it's been a long road back for andy murray after his injury but the former world number one says he will play at the australian open injanuary. he's only played six events this year after recovering from hip surgery, slipping to 259 in the world rankings. but he can use his protected ranking to gain direct entry to the tournament, without having to go through qualifying

when the tournamnet begins in melbourne next month. now, somebody sign this guy up. he's playing in the argentinian third tier and he looks like he can be relied upon as the last line of defence. as the goalkeeper tries to clear, take a look at who's on the line. what a save! that's the type of commitment every team needs, lightning reactions to boot. you can get all the latest sports news at our website — that's bbc.com/sport. but from me and the rest of the sport team, goodbye. it's a christmas tradition enjoyed by many around the world but here in london the humble gingerbread is being used for more than just eating. the museum of architecture's annual gingerbread city is about to go on show.

it's hoped the display will show the public that urban planning can be fun and tasty too. kathryn armstrong reports. when you think of gingerbread at christmas time, chances are urban planning does not spring to mind. well, here at london's victoria and albert museum, the traditional suite is being used by a group of architects, engineers and designers to create an edible city. the brief to combine fun with a vision of what a sustainable future could look like. this is one of 60 structures created, the sugarloop, a highline that includes a licorice cablecar and cycle pathways made entirely of sugar. baking the world a better place is bakewell bridge, while the nearby hotcross pub has a micro brewery promoting sustainable hops. holland harvey architects contributed this homeless shelter that features a shop, a committee cafe. the company is currently in the process of designing a real—life version for a british charity. i think one thing we've learned

engaging with the charities, the client, throughout this project, including the gingerbread city, the lack of understanding and exposure to homelessness generally, so kind of engaging people in fun ways and simple ways is a powerful way to break down these barriers. and if all this wasn't futuristic enough for you, this pavilion was created by a robot. while those involved say gingerbread is not too different from usual modelling materials, the project has not been without its teething problems. it certainly was the case that we had to be very careful when making it, suddenly you might be halfway through making something and then be like, "wait, where did that piece go?" oh, we've accidently eaten it. the challenge of working with edible materials. the exhibition opens to the public this weekend and runs until early january. chances are, the gingerbread will be a bit dry by then. kathryn armstrong, bbc news. those little gingerbread men

swimming, iworry those little gingerbread men swimming, i worry my boys would need those. i have considered taking them but i am concerned they would misbehaving. we have some scary stories out there about data. one about the chief's in not expose by mps in the uk. the fake is the enquiry has published documents which look at how facebook is using data and, in some circumstances, it is alleged they using data without user ‘s knowledge. are you concerned about who is using your data and for what purpose? we havejohn who says,

facebook is becoming to be to be governed. but everyone can make a difference. i deleted my facebook account after the scandal. jerome says social media should be viewed asa says social media should be viewed as a menacing stranger in a dark alley. any unsolicited phone calls, e—mails, any sort of detail. a hello there.

wednesday resulted in a mild patch across the south, temperatures in the low teens and it remained chilly across scotland. today we were spread some of the milder air further north, speed, but the gust of wind will be higher. base of scotland getting showers through the morning rush hour, some heavier ones to the borders. showers for northern ireland too, head of the rain for northern england, the midlands and east anglia and the south—east, but the showers started pushing to wales and the south—west early on. as the hours go by, the rain will sweep its weight eastwards and for scotland, perhaps the worst of the rain out of away lunchtime, further south the showers turned heavier for northern england, wales, the south—west and eventually pushing into eastern areas.

mild in the south 13, 1a, much more milderfurther north, 12 for glasgow and edinburgh. through thursday evening and overnight into friday, another area of low pressure is to become barrelling our way. so it means another spell of very wet weather, the worst of the rain possibly out of the way overnight. certainly looks like that will be the case for the southern half of the uk, but to the north, some very wet prospects but here is the key talking point also for northern ireland. wind gusts and exposure could be higher, we could touch 80 and that is likely to result in some disruption. the rain across east anglia and the south—east will continue to pull away through the days. this hook he stays up in scotland, feeding the rain to the west, keeping the wind strong and his white on the chart behind me, they will see some snow. but it does stay on the mild side

here after the chilly day we have had on wednesday. for all of us, the prospects are thorough something a little more fresh as we move towards next week. the weather calms down but the wind direction will change, becoming increasingly northerly. this is the business briefing, i'm sally bundock. another bad call for huawei. its finance chief is arrested over alleged iran sanctions—busting, threatening to inflame us—china trade tensions even further. plus: higher prices in the pipeline. opec set to cut oil production to pump up the cost of crude, despite warnings from president trump. and, on the markets, asian shares and us futures tumble on the arrest of huawei's finance chief. the us was closed for the funeral of president george hw bush.