this is bbc news with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. france is to ease its strict coronavirus lockdown, as president macron announces that his country has passed the peak of the second wave. christmas gets the go—ahead across the uk. families can celebrate together after all four nations agree on a plan. us president—electjoe biden is going full steam ahead with the transition process, saying the trump administration is cooperating "across the board." ending period poverty. scotland becomes the first country in the world to provide female sanitary products free of charge.

and beyonce receives nine nominations for america's top music awards, the grammys, many for a track about the killing of george floyd. hello, and welcome. this weekend, france will start relaxing its second lockdown, with non—essential shops re—opening from saturday. then, from mid—december travel restrictions will be lifted in time for christmas. the french president, emmanuel macron, said the country had passed the peak of the second wave. paul hawkins has more. france has been under lockdown since the start of november. non—essentialshops, bars, and restaurants are shut, social gatherings banned.

here, you can only home for work, shopping, exercise or medical help. however, from this weekend... translation: all shops will be allowed to open in home services will be allowed to resume, within the framework of a strict health protocol. according to these rules they can remain open until 9pm at the latest. the relaxing of restrictions is because on monday france reported 4,452 daily infections, its lowest number since september the 28th. as for christmas... translation: on december the 15th if there are around 5,000 infections per day and 2,500—3,000 people in hospital then confinement can be lifted. we will be able to travel without restriction and spend christmas with our family. you will have to limit unnecessary travel but they appeal to your sense

of responsibility. it will not be a christmas holiday like the others. ba rs a nd restau ra nts will remain closed until the 20th of january. hospitality, like everywhere else in the world, has been badly hit by the pandemic. that's why in the south of france, in cannes, more than 150 business owners demanded to be allowed to open. translation: perfectly understand there is an emergency. we perfectly understand the coronavirus. we are like the rest, meaning we, too, can fall ill. we can also die, but in addition, we can go bankrupt. it's difficult. restaurants and bars can access government help, either 200,000 euros compensation or 20% of their turnover. but the real lifeline will come with a vaccine. france aims to start vaccinations with the elderly and vulnerable at the end of the year or start of january. in the meantime, the warning from government, if infections

raise their country could see a third lockdown. paul hawkins, bbc news. later in our business coverage we go live to paris to talk to a leading economist about the impact this has had on france. here in the uk, ministers from england, scotland, wales and northern ireland have agreed on broad nationwide rules. they said they needed to find a balance between allowing people to meet loved ones, and the risks involved. keith doyle reports. the 12 days of christmas have been reduced to five. restrictions on travel and mixing will be lifted from the 23rd to the 27th of december, after leaders across all four uk nations agreed on a common plan to allow families and friends to meet each other. but it is not going to be a christmas is normal. this year, christmas is normal. this year, christmas will be different. many of us longing to spend time with family and friends, irrespective of our faith or background, yet we can't afford to throw caution to the wind. the virus doesn't know it's

christmas, and we must all be careful. the christmas rules are, up to three households will be able to meet up during this five—day festive period. and while people can mix in homes, places of worship and outdoor spaces, they can't visit pubs and restaurants together. and the three household christmas bubble you make must be exclusive. that means no chopping and changing. your christmas bubble must stay the same throughout. whether it is three households, four households, five households, extended families are going to try to meet up to how many households they come from. i'm really against it, really. i don't think it should be happening. i think they should have locked us down and keep us lockdown, because we all want to get back to normal. further details for scotland and wales will be published tomorrow. but even with the relaxed rules, people are being asked to make a personaljudgement people are being asked to make a personal judgement about people are being asked to make a personaljudgement about the risks they take over the festive period, for themselves and those vulnerable around

them. the virus is not going to be taking christmas off, so although we want to get a little bit of flexibility for christmas, we're still urging people to very cautious, and to use this flexibility responsibly and only if you think it is necessary. northern ireland has an extra day either side of the five days, to allow for travel. of course, side of the five days, to allow fortravel. of course, —— across the uk, these measures will give people more christmas than might have been, but it will still be far from the christmas most would wish for. keith doyle, bbc news. the us president—elect joe biden has said the trump administration is cooperating "across the board" with the formal transition of power. in his first major interview since winning the election, mr biden told nbc news the process got underway quickly after officials formally recognized his victory. he's been outlining his plans for government after unveiling his choice for senior positions in his administration. 0ur north america correspondent peter bowes reports.

building a new team with a new slogan, and —— underjoe biden, america's back and ready to lead the world. formally unveiling his choice to some of the top positions in government, relying heavily on former colleagues from the 0bama administration, mr biden signalled a new tone for the white house, and its worldview. the team needs this moment. this team, behind me. they embody my core beliefs that america is strongest when it works with its allies. you've announced key members of your cabinet today... in his first major interview since winning the election, joe biden said the election, joe biden said the trump administration was finally cooperating with the transition process. he would soon be getting the daily presidential briefings. he said that plans were being made to meet the white house covid team, for discussions about the distribution of a vaccine. you think we're not going to be so far behind the curve as we might have been in the past, and there is a lot of immediate discussion and i must say, the

outreach has been sincere. there has not been begrudging so far. mr biden also expounded on his vision for a first term in office, and he said he had not ruled out appointing a republican to his administration. we still have a lot more appointments to make. i want this country to be united, for the purpose of our administration is once again be united. we can't keep use of real and political dialogue going, it has to end. —— keep this virulent. donald trump has not yet conceded the election but he has made two brief appearances at the white house. i hereby appearances at the white house. ihereby grant appearances at the white house. i hereby grant you a full pardon. one for the traditional parting of the turkey ahead of america's thanksgiving holiday. he also gave a one minute news conference to take credit for the stock market reaching a record high. the dowjones industrial average adjusted to 30,000. reporters there are plenty of questions... thank you very much, everybody.

but the president took none of them, and left the room. peter bowes, bbc news, los angeles. joe biden has said he does not want to see a guarded border between the republic of ireland and northern ireland as a result of brexit. mr biden said he had discussed his concerns with the british and irish prime ministers, as well as other european leaders. he said the peace settlement in northern ireland had taken a lot of hard work and the idea of the border between north and south closing again was just not right. let's get some of the day's other news. azerbaijan says its army has entered the second scotla nd scotland has become the first country to make a legal duty on minstrel products free. they must not be available to anyone who needs them. the period products bill was introduced by labour and products bill was introduced by labourand sp products bill was introduced by labour and sp monica lennon, who has been campaigning to end period property since 2016, and it was unanimously approved by

msps on tuesday. the result of the motion is yes, 121. there we re the motion is yes, 121. there were no votes against, there we re were no votes against, there were no votes against, there were no abstentions. the motion is agreed, and the period products free provision scotla nd products free provision scotland bill is passed. with me is our news reporter, tanya dendrinos. tell us more about this, what a great move on the part of scotland? it is certainly a landmark decision, and well bleeding, which is quite incredible, given that we are in 2020. this basically means anybody who needs access to sanitary products will be able to get them free of charge, and we know that period property is a concept which is being discussed more and more, which is fantastic. the idea is that there are a lot of women and young girls who simply do not have the finances to access sanitary products when they need them, and these could be a cross cross sections of society, right through women experiencing homelessness to low income earners, and stu d e nts low income earners, and

students as well. and i am assuming covid—19 has made this much was for women who are struggling financially? that's right. there has been a significant impact and many more women thrust into period property as a result. that can be through things simply from lockdowns and a lack of access, and also, the price of those products has gone up. many people out of work so it has just broadened the situation. it has really become a global issue. absolutely, it is a global issue, and certainly in developing countries it is a real issue. what is the outlook internationally? it's really sad when you actually break it down. yes, developing countries, we know that there are women and young girls who even drop out of school when they get a period because of they get a period because of the shame and stigma associated, but it is also an issue in developed countries as well, we know that here in the uk, plan international uk revealed that release the report of the first lockdown which showed that three in ten

women were struggling to access sanitary products and more than half of those resorted to using toilet paper, others used socks or rags and other times in a newspaper, which shows you just how devastating this is on health and hygiene level. now, scotland has set the benchmark, and thisjust scotland has set the benchmark, and this just gives the rest of the world a chance to follow suit, we know that in new zealand, for example, schoolchildren are also offered free sanitary products, interestingly, that is another nation led by a female, so there is an interesting link to be drawn there, but hopefully the rest of the world can follow suit and hopefully it sta rts follow suit and hopefully it starts a conversation about administration and we can start to address the stigma, because thatis to address the stigma, because that is a huge part of this as well. women find it difficult to talk about their period in general, let alone this concept of period poverty. absolutely, well done to scotland, trailblazer. and thank you, tanya trailblazer. and thank you, ta nya for trailblazer. and thank you, tanya for outlining that story. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: how a song about the killing of george floyd has helped

beyonce receive the most nominations at the grammy music awards. president kennedy was shot down and died almost immediately. the murder ofjohn kennedy is a disaster for the whole free world. he caught the imagination of the world. the first of a new generation of leaders. margaret thatcher is resigning as leader of the conservative party and prime minister. before leaving number 10 to see the queen, she told her cabinet, "it's a funny old world." angela merkel is germany's first woman chancellor, easily securing the majority she needed. attempts to fly a hot air balloon had to be abandoned after a few minutes but nobody seemed to mind very much. as one local comic put it, "it's not hot air we need, it's hard cash." cuba has declared nine days of mourning following the death of fidel castro at the age of 90. castro developed close ties with the soviet union

in the 1960s. it was an alliance that brought the world to the brink of nuclear war, with the cuban missile crisis. this is bbc news, the latest headlines: france is to ease its strict coronavirus lockdown as president macron announces his country has passed the peak of the second wave. and christmas has been given the go—ahead across the uk, with ministers from all four nations agreeing that families can salivate together. —— celebrate. unicef and un women have told the bbc that a generation of adolescent girls and women have been subject to domestic abuse due to the covid—19 pandemic, with an estimated 15 million more women vulnerable globally, for every three months of lockdown. economic pressures, caregiving duties and lack of access to education mean that girls are more likely to disproportionately face violence at home. the bbc‘s gender and identity reporter megha mohan has this report.

my my name is anne and i am 19 yea rs my name is anne and i am 19 years old. i have a son and have a life with my parents, brothers and sisters and we share a one room shack in a township in south africa. my father used to do ourjobs but since the covid—19 pandemic, he has not had any work. he ended up has not had any work. he ended up borrowing money from loan sharks and got into debt. with the lockdown, the entire family had to spend every day stuck together at home. in the first few months of the pandemic, my dad would get drunk and hit me and my mum and sister. we have changed and act as voice and her testimony, one of 15 million or more women in the world for each of three months of the lockdown have experienced domestic abuse, according to unicef a un women.

they say there has been a 40% increase of reported abuse in the home in some countries during the academic. we are at risk of losing a generation of girls and young women and going back at least a decade on gender equality. girls are not going back to school and we know young women have lostjobs and not going back into the working environment, and so are the principal caregivers. i think it is really dangerous. but it's not just think it is really dangerous. but it's notjust women think it is really dangerous. but it's not just women from poorer backgrounds that are vulnerable to domestic violence. cindy bishop is a un women goodwill ambassador and supermodel from thailand. violence comes in many many forms, emotional violence, neglect as well and so, just looking back, yes, multiple times where i have seen and experienced and had to foundation on my friends

legs before fashion shows. we are talking to girls and asked them to protect themselves, cover themselves up, don't get into the situations where they are the only goal. we're not talking to our about respect and consent. and is now getting help from a local south african charity, child and youth care worker intervention, after she saw posters for i helpline and looked up the number. the charities also her dad. is to be really bad at home but now that my dad is getting help, things are improving for the family andi things are improving for the family and i am also getting help so i can continue with my studies. and says she hopes to become a firefighter and teach her son to be a polite man who treats women well. and you can find much more from the bbc‘s 100 women season online. just go to bbc.com/100 women. there is a wonderful variety of stories on there and more

stories will appear in the days to come. i have been reading some of those stories and they are powerful and moving and incredible women among the 100 women, so do take a look because it will inspire you. beyonce has received the most nominations for america's top music awards, the grammys. she has nine, many of them for this track: # iam going # i am going back to the south, i am going back, back, back where my roots are not watered—down... # ‘black parade' was released injune in response to the killing by a white police officer of george floyd. its lyrics refer to police brutality and the black lives matter protests. let's discuss this and some of the other nominations with entertainment journalist kj matthews whose in los angeles.

lovely to see you and so tell us lovely to see you and so tell us about our nominations this year and of course beyonce, really being the star this time. she is really the bell of the ball, receiving nine nominations, the top nominations, the top nominations and i believe it is the record and song of the year for her song black parade, which was a song she released on june—teenth, which commemorated the end of us slavery, and it was shortly released after the death of george floyd and a video circulated of a white police officer kneeling on the neck of george floyd, sparking outrage, nationwide protests, racial awakening and she reallyjust wanted to release this song to really talk about black activism, culture, and show her

support in her love for black culture and the fact that we still have so far to go in this country. in the beginning, there was a lot of support for black lives matter. after the song was released in the us, but surprisingly, six months later, the sport for black lives matter is waning, and it is down 12%, according to a re ce nt is down 12%, according to a recent poll. this is very fitting and a wonderful way to end the way for beyonce are nice to see that the academy rewarding black culture and understands how important this songis understands how important this song is to the culture. and it did not end there, did it? and tell us about the nomination of mickey? and she is the first black female to receive the best country performance for her (song) like me, another artist celebrating black culture, especially in country music,

which is known for not being very diverse. not many black artists in the country category are not many receiving play on country music channels so wonderfulfor her to be country music channels so wonderful for her to be the first black female to receive at nomination and she was elated today and she said god is good on twitter. and finally tell us what happened to the band the weeknd. talk about drama, drama, and he is saying that the reason he was not was because of the high contentious toxic had with the academy. apparently he was performing apparently at the grammys and the super bowl, the crime is happening on january 31 the super bowl, the crime is happening onjanuary 31 and the super bowl on fabry 27th and what we are hearing is at the grammys wanted him to perform exclusively for them and not at

the super bowl so there was a lot of back and forth, back and forth when he decided to go ahead and perform for the super bowl and so people are wedging anything possibly the thing up for him not being nominated for a grammy award was because he chose to perform at the super bowl and he said he wanted to see transparency and said it was a rigged system and he said he was unbelievable that he was not nominated on twitter. the academy said it was not the case and that the voting was well in place before it was announced that he would perform at the super bowl so there was at the super bowl so there was a lot of back—and—forth and it is interesting to see if he goes ahead and perform at the grammys on january 31st but a lot of back—and—forth and he's not the first person to complain about the grammy awards. i'm not sure if you re call awards. i'm not sure if you recall a few weird years ago, ariana grande did not perform because she had a problem with

how they wanted her to perform and she felt they were restricting her creativity and trying to dictate to her what song she could perform. the grammys of always been a place where many artists have taken pot shop at them and everybody wants a pot shop at them and everybody wantsa grammy pot shop at them and everybody wants a grammy but of course if they are not nominated and then they are not nominated and then they say the grammy awards does not matter! we will see! always something to talk about, so nice to see you. thank you for being on the programme. time now for the latest sports news: hello, i'm sarah mulkerrins with your wednesday sports briefing. we'll start with the champions league, where chelsea are one of four teams to have secured their place in the knockout round. callum hudson 0doi put them ahead in the first half against the french side rennes. they looked in control until serhou guirassy equalised with just five minutes to go. but 0livier giroud popped up in stoppage time to secure a 2—1win.

it offers a lot for us and we have a beauty schedule and we tha nkfully have a beauty schedule and we thankfully have a player who has the right attitude and if he is not playing regularly and he is not playing regularly and he is not playing regularly and he is able to come in and when ican he is able to come in and when i can call on him as he did today. juventus came from a goal down to beat feran—sharos 2—1. myrto uzuni put the hungarian champions ahead before cristiano ronaldo scored his 749th career goal to equalise and then alvara morata scored a stoppage time winner to book their place in the last 16. last season's europa league winners, sevilla, are also through to the knockout stage. ivan rakitic put them them ahead just 4 minutes into their game against krasnodar in russia wanderson levelled things up in the second half before munir el haddadi won it for the spainsh side. barcelona, were the fourth team to reach the last 16.

liverpool have confirmed that mohamed salah is available for their champions league match against atalanta. he's back in full training after returning two positive covid tests with egypt during the international break. he missed sunday's win at leicester but has returned a negative test so is clear to play. a win at anfield would see liverpool reach the last 16. they were 5—0 winners over atalanta earlier this month. the women's big bash has reached the knockout stage, later on wednesday melbourne stars will take on perth scorchers in the first semifinal at the north sydney 0val. melbourne stars were brilliant in the league stages of the tournament and emerged as the table—toppers. they won eight of their games and dominated almost every opposition. they've got the likes of the australia captain meg lanning in theirside, so it might be an uphill battle for perth scorchers who struggled in the middle—phase of the tournament before

finding theirform. business news is next. see you ina business news is next. see you in a moment. hello again. we had some big weather contrasts across the uk on tuesday, england and wales, a lot of dry weather with some sunny spells breaking through the cloud, some fine sunsets to end the day particularly for eastern areas, but it was north wales that was the real mildest spot in the country, 15 celsius, mild weather across most areas. contrast that with the rain that just wouldn't stop across scotland and northern ireland, thanks to this weather front, this cold front, and as this pushes east over the next couple of days, colder air will be arriving across all parts of the country. back to what we have at the moment, that weather front is still bringing some splashes of rain across wales and western england. it will very gradually move eastwards, bringing rain into parts of the midlands and central and southern

england before long. a few showers for northern ireland and scotland, otherwise with clear spells, cold, might see 1—2 areas with a touch of frost. 0ur weather front continues to push eastwards, but it gets stretched out between these two areas of low pressure — one in scandinavia and one in spain and portugal. so the front will weaken very quickly as it slowly edges its way eastwards through wednesday, the rain becoming increasingly light and patchy as it dribbles its way across the midlands into east anglia and southeast england. there's no great rainfall amounts for these areas. the mild airjust hanging on across the east. 111—15 celsius in the very warmest spots but further north and west, it's much colder. temperatures down into single figures. following that, wednesday night, we will see patches of frost developing and maybe a few areas of fog to start the day on thursday. thursday looks like being a pretty decent day. yes, it will be cooler than it has been of late, but most areas will be dry and we should see fairly lengthy spells of sunshine developing. it will be cool for the time

of the year, temperatures generally into single figures, just 5 celsius in glasgow, maybe 7 in belfast. then it looks like we will see some more mist and fog patches developing as we head into friday morning along with some frost. so for some of us, friday promises to be quite a slow start to the day and quite murky, some of those mist and fog patches may linger all day. where that happens, temperatures will be in the low single figures, but even in the brighter spots on friday, it looks like being a particularly chilly day for this stage of november. the weekend, mostly dry, but we will continue with the cool weather conditions, with frost and some morning mist and fog.

this is bbc news with the latest business headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. how bad is it? the uk chancellor will set out the government's spending plans giving an indication of the damage covid—19 has caused to the economy. the santa rally is here. wall street pops the champagne as us markets hit fresh record highs, but how long will it last? and gamers get into gear as they pick their favourite game. we'll tell you who's been crowned champion for 2020.