on environmental questions. the frankfurter allgemeine looks at comments by the new president of the european commission, ursula von der leyen, in which she said the eu must become a pioneer in saving the world's climate. time magazine has made the 16—year—old environmental campaigner, greta thunberg, its person of the year. it says, "she has offered a moral clarion call to those who are willing to act, and hurled shame on those who are not." we move on to someone who used to be a global icon but whose image has taken something of a beating recently, aung san suu kyi. one of the most reliable myanmar—based news sites, the irrawaddy, reports her defence of the burmese military‘s actions against the muslim rohingya people at the world court. finally, our own bbc news website reports a development which may be welcome at this time of year, employers granting ‘hangover days‘

to employees who over—indulge the night before. a p pa re ntly apparently you can work from home, something i can't do. so let's begin with france. with me is iain anderson, chair of pr company cicero group. we chair of pr company cicero group. can't talk today general we can't talk today about the general election because voters are going to the polls very soon. i'm a political geek that can't talk politics today. a hope you enjoy the 24—hour break! we can talk politics elsewhere, and this is very much the story in france. a very difficult political story, change that the french government is saying is fundamentally needed because they are facing a huge deficit if there isn't radical pension reform, and the unions are digging in their heels but so is the government.

figaro covering what edouard philippe, within the macron administration, unveiling a major programme yesterday, and really at the heart of it is moving the retirement age up. we have seen this in many countries, the un— affordability of pensions and as people have got older and are living longer are drawing on those, and the french want to move the system from a retirement age of 62 to a retirement age of 64. if you want to draw a full pension. you've got to work until you are 64 years old? that is one of the lowest retirement ages, 62, in the developing world. it remains so. the retirement age

will still be 62 but if you want to get the full range of benefits you have got to go on to 64. but the move yesterday seems to have inflamed one of the more moderate unions, the cfdt. the biggest union have been campaigning for some time against these proposed changes, but the moderate union has moved on and it looks like there is going to be a very big day of strikes in france next week to protest against these plans. and le monde says that the more moderate seems to be siding with them all, it is going to be a long drawn out fight, who will blink first, it's that usual scenario in france. previous governments have tried and failed to change the pension system in france. this has been going on for the past two or three decades. france, politically, collect w—league, likes to take to

the streets, perhaps more than other countries stopping let's see what happens, but it is a big test of president macron‘s resolve. has assisted often crumbled when met with these kinds of protests. let's move on to germany, looking at what the agenda is of the european commission as a new set of leadership comes into power. she talked a lot about this so—called green deal, the climate catastrophe being front and centre in europe. she is launching plans, she has written a piece in the german newspapers this morning, in advance of what she will say in madrid at the un climate summit. one extent,

she has gone ahead of expectations. she said she would take the first hundred days to think about what she wa nted hundred days to think about what she wanted to say. she has only been in the big chairfor i2 wanted to say. she has only been in the big chairfor 12 days, so she has gone much faster stopping the question that a lot of people are asking, is where is the beef in this? she is trying to balance growth and business needs, and employment opportunities with the climate emergency, and i've read this piece. frankly, it is all a bit fuzzy at the moment. they are saying themselves, they have got to work out how they make that happen, because the idea is, the european heads of state and government is promising they will be climate neutral by 2050, so you are putting a stake in the ground, but how do you make that happen, that is the question. absolutely, and call me an old cynic... she has gone ahead of her expectations launching a plan, it sounds a bit more like a

soundbite to me than a detailed plan. let's see what reaction she gets. talking of soundbites, person of the year, time magazine says is greta thunberg. she was speaking yesterday, we were listening to her speech in madrid at the un climate conference. your thoughts? huge fan. the youngest ever time person of the year. the front cover their, and the author has described her as a modern—dayjoan of arc, and greta has been very candid about the issues in her own life, she has suffered from depression, she has asperger‘s as well, she has talked very openly beyond climate change about how this issue has empowered her, and she speaks with such simplicity and clarity that one can only be in awe of it. initially, she

was just protesting by herself outside parliament in sweden, a couple of years ago, about the issue of climate. since then, she has managed to mobilise millions across the world. children in the uk not going to school, taking time off on specific days, it is quite phenomenal. and you talk to younger people, you talk to children, and she has captured the imagination and i think, personally, she has captured the imagination and ithink, personally, she she has captured the imagination and i think, personally, she is right, she is pointing fingers at an older generation, saying what are you going to do about this? we have just been talking about a politician that, in my view may be issuing soundbites. she is challenging those soundbites. she is challenging those soundbites and she is speaking truth to power in an incredibly powerful way. and when you mention the fact that she is so open about some of her weaknesses, she does suffer with depression and asperger‘s. it is

incredible to think what she has donein incredible to think what she has done in 16 months. she has addressed heads of state. she sparred with the president of the united states. it is quite something, isn't it? president of the united states. it is quite something, isn't mm president of the united states. it is quite something, isn't it? it is, she draws and attention around really important issues. i think there is something faintly about her, because from my perspective, the science is pretty clear, we have got to get on with it. she has been a call to action. she has indeed. now, at cicero... have hangover days? what can your stuff expect if they are expecting a bit rough the next morning? i have always taken a view, everything in moderation. i think if somebody was asking for a hangover day two or three days a week, even at this time of year... but maybe once in the month of december? i think occasionally

present he is is not great idea. this is a digital marketing agency, calling them hangover days to attract young, talented millennial‘s. do you really need to call it a hangover day? can't you just call it a duvet day or a sickie? it really isjust a sickie. but it is fundamentally about trust. do you trust your workforce, do they feel able to say, i have got a hangover, i am feel able to say, i have got a hangover, iam not feel able to say, i have got a hangover, i am not feeling particular great but i am really committed and most of the time i really and their you. good ending! thank you so much, and thank you, too, for your company on the briefing. i will see you soon.

hello there. we've already had two deep areas of low pressure affecting the weather here in the uk so far this week with another on the way. this was tuesday's rain. the day on wednesday brought lots of showers and this massive cloud is coming in for the day ahead, and we've got further lumps with those weather fronts lying across the atlantic to bring us some further spells of rain. it's notjust rain for the concern for the day ahead. as it comes into the cold air, we could see some hill snow as well. we've seen snow, showers and thunderstorms have continued in the north through the night, and with those heavy showers, the potential‘s there to continue to wash the grit off the surfaces, the roads and the pavements, so quite slick conditions through the small hours and into the morning rush. it could be quite icy, notjust in the north of course. further south we've had a lot of damp weather and temperatures are forecast even in the towns and cities to get to around freezing. so, it could be icy and frosty certainly through this morning, but already in the west, we're seeing that change. now, as this comes in across the moors and the welsh mountains, there could be a smattering of snow, more likely a few centimetres across northern ireland, perhaps in the hills of northern england into southern scotland.

we could stay in the showery cold regime all day in northern scotland, but it's going to feel quite raw as the clouds increasing all the time, bringing this rain eastwards into that cold air and giving us snow over the hills in the north. it does eventually get a bit milder in the south and west and more showery as you can see through the afternoon, so the sunshine returns, but with it, also some stronger winds. so those strong north—westerly winds will blow the rain away from southern areas, but it kind of hangs around in the north through the night and into friday, with showers rushing in on that north—westerly. so another cold feeling day, but we're back to sunshine and showers for most on friday except, as you can see, northern and north—eastern parts of scotland with their persistent rain here, hill snow too, and heavy showers elsewhere, some hail, some thunder in there as well, temperatures perhaps doing a little better than the day ahead but feeling cold with that wind. that wind which will continue to blow through friday night into saturday, blowing our weather front further southward. look at this — significant snow is expected again across the alpine regions, some really strong winds as well battering central parts

of europe, another very deep area of low pressure heading towards the balkans. so, there are warnings out quite widely across parts of central and southern europe as well. look at this for turin — expecting some snow on friday and we wouldn't like to rule out some wintriness across many alpine regions over the coming few days. here in the uk this weekend, it's going to stay chilly, we'll see further sunny spells and showers, but it'll often be quite windy, especially in the south, and there could be further bouts of rain and hill snow, notjust necessarily in the north. as ever, the warnings are on the website.

good morning. welcome to breakfast, with naga munchetty and charlie stayt. our headlines today: polls open in an hourfor the uk's third general election in less than five years, and the first in decemberfor almost a century. the convicted killer who tried to fight off the london bridge attacker with a fire extinguisher speaks for the first time about what happened. there has been a big increase in the number of people getting their milk delivered. i have joined number of people getting their milk delivered. i havejoined around in manchester to deliver a couple of clients and find out why. jose mourinho says tottenahm will be a team to be feared in the knockout