♪ anchor: welcome to world news on "france 24." these are the headlines. 46 million french people will be under curfew from midnight on friday, the prime minister announcing the extension in the face of the death rate rising in france . in the last 24 hours, over 41,000 new cases. that is a new record. the number of deaths up 40% over the past week. donald trump versus joe biden, the televised showdown. the last presidential debate getting underway in hours.

with mics cut to allow people to hear both candidates. and to avoid interruptions by donald trump. and back after months of protest. saudi arabia has reappointed its prime minister. now calls for change. this is live from paris. ♪ anchor: thank you very much for being with us. mark: a new record number of new cases of covid-19 in france from the past 24 hours, the deaths up by 40% over the past week. even before this bad news, the prime minister announced more plan -- towns would be placed

under the curfew. there will be a total of 38 under restrictions overnight. french polynesia will be subject to the same rules. the reason, the rapid progression of the coronavirus. we hear from the prime minister who spoke earlier. >> over the last few days,he health situation in our country has continued to deteriorate. the circulation of the virus has reached an extremely high level. the number of people infected with covid over the last seven days has reached 251 per 1000 people, that means an increase of 40% in one week. the reproduction rate of the virus is around 1.35, this means that doubling the number of cases in 15 days.

mark: the prime minister speaking earlier in paris, while hospitals are reaching a breaking point in the face of this second wave of covid infections. we have a report from the main hospital in leon, where many beds are taken up by current covid patients. they have been brought under curfew. reporter: this hospital is doing everything it can to take in as many patients as it can as possible, will yet it is overwhelmed -- and yet it is overwhelmed. 23 beds are already occupied by coronavirus patients. >> we had to free up a certain number of beds. we now practically the same number of beds as we did last spring. reporter: four new beds will be available by the end of the week, but a shortage of staff is another concern. >> it is critical because we are tired and we cannot get staff. reporter: all hospitals are now overcrowded in the region and are the only solution is the pullback workers for care

services, those nonurgent procedures have been canceled. >> we are closing operating theaters as we get more people to help us. we are closing the operating theaters as we take up beds. reporter: now this person has moved to a resuscitation unit. he is looking after a person in a could go state. every day, they are seeing more serious cases, infections like this one. >> we are starting to see what we saw in march again. it is difficult because it is demanding work. reporter: the staff are waiting to see the impact of the curfew on their workload, nonetheless, the situation is very worrying. mark: we will have more throughout the program on the coronavirus, but for now we will move onto the final presidential debate in u.s. -- in the u.s. the big news is the mics will be cut to allow each candidate to have an uninterrupted say.

that in light of what happened during the first debate, donald trump constantly interrupting. it will also allow folks to assess what each candidate says and other policies. -- their policies. reporter: thursday night's final debate between donald trump and joe biden is said to be a high-stakes event for both candidates. the last televised debate was a chaotic affair that quickly descended into interruptions and name-calling. >> this guy -- >> that is the end of it. reporter: thursday's showdown is being held in nashville, tennessee, and this time mic muting will be used to cut out interjections. the candidates have two minutes to respond. much to the chagrin of president trump. >> i think that the mute is

unfair. reporter: joe biden welcomed to the new format. >> i think it is a good idea. first of all, he interrupted me 248 times. he is signaling it will be about personal attacks because he does not want to talk about why he is taking away health care in the middle of a pandemic. reporter: donald trump is fighting to hold onto the white house amid criticism of his handling of the crisis and as he chose behind his arrival in the national polls. joe biden is not likely to rest on his laurels, especially after the 2016 election when the polls failed to predict donald trump's victory. mark: -- has been named as the new prime minister of lebanon, the same one that fled the country la year. he was named by the president. there are no new names at the top of beirut. the prime minister, assassinated

in 2005, -- the ongoing protests. this among the covid-19 crisis in beirut. >> i tell the lebanese, who are suffering from difficulties, to the level of despair, that i am committed to my promise to them to work on stopping the collapse that is threatening our economy, society, and security. mark: there has been more than a year of popular demonstrations, looking for reform in lebanon. the people accusing the politicians of corruption. now the same old names are in charge again. now we will get reaction from the streets. >> it is the same loop. and i think we will all leave the country and they will be the last ones left, so let it be.

>> even if they bring a divine prime minister down from the sky -- [speaking lebanese] >> [speaking lebanese] mark: that is from the streets. let's bring in our correspondent in beirut. i want to start by asking, basically, have the views of the protesters been ignored i lebanon? reporter: absolutely. you heard it right now. their viewsave been ignored a lot of them are opposing the return of the prime minister. as you know, he stepped down from that position less than a year ago, now he is back. it is a slap in the face for the

revolutionaries who have been demanding a complete overhaul of the system, this system that has been in place in lebanon for decades now. they want complete reform, not just in the system, but also in electoral law. they wanted new faces to govern them, they want technocrats, people who know what theare doing, who are in charge of the ministries and who will make a difference and wil pull lebanon out of this series of crises. cris, but lebanon is facingomic more than that, it is facing a series of multiple crises exacerbated, of course, by covid-19, as you mentioned. not to mention the explosion that left beirut in complete ruins. how do we get out of this? that is the big question everybody is asking of themselves. and with the prime minister, prime minister hariri back in

place, he says he will form a government of specialists, but is that feasible? many are pessimistic. mark: the reappointment of the man that left the country, forced out a year ago by the protests -- is there a sense that perhaps france is behind what has happened? reporter: there is many people who believe that. it's known that hariri is backed by countries in the west, such as france, and regional powers. there is speculation that france may have insisted on hariri to emerge back as the candidate for leadership, but no acquisition has been made on the topic, so i can only tell you that this is widely speculated among the people in lebanon. like i said, there is nothing official. mark: our correspondent in beirut, thank you very much indeed, linda.

next, pope francis in a new documentary called "francesco." he said same-sex unions should be protected by civil union laws. this is language never used on the issue of the rights of gay people. this is a quote, "homosexual people have a right to be in a family. they are children of god and have a right to a family." so, those are the words of the pope, at odds with many in the catholic church and the church's teachings over many centuries. we will bring in as historian -- in a historian of the catholic church. mossimo, thank you for being with us. is this the sign of an actual change in catholic church policy? >> it is a change, but if it is

a change, it coincides with the election of the pope, not because of what was said yesterday. it seems to signal a transformation that began last year, but it was cut from the -- last year. and it was reintegrated later. so what is important is the context of what he has said, has done and has not done in his last seven and a half years, with being more favorable toward homosexuality in the catholic church. anchor: but what he is saying, if you just take the words, it is at odds with everything that every catholic priest or bishop massimo: it is different from what is in catholicism, from what has been said by the

vatican, until especially in the early 2000's, but i tnk it is closer toward most catholics, how they feel about it. so, i believe that pope francis is more in tune with the culture of catholics and he is trying to update t old languag of catholicism, which still has to be updated at some point. mark: i was brought up as a catholic, so i know a little bit, but not as much as you. the thing is, what i am hearing is a change is coming. if you talk to most catholic priests, they will say that homosexuality is wrong. massimo: they have been trained in seminaries that homosexuality is grounds for extradition from the clergy, so they do not necessarily represent to the catholic church, as a whole, their feelis about that.

so change is coming, but it starts with the summer of 2013, when pope francis famously said, who am i to judge -- it started there. mark: maybe if the pope can say it, people will follow the teachings of the church and countries around the world will go along with that, too. thank you very much for that insight into the words of pope francis. that homosexuals should not be made to feel afraid and ashamed. thank you. in the u.k., the british finance minister announcing a job support scheme. i am looking forward to this. >> the measure comes following criticism. boris johnson and his government is facing criticism that they are not doing enough to help

businesses. the new funding is aimed at businesses which are struggling to bring in customers because of new restrictions to limit the spread of covid-19. the opposition labor party says the plan is a patchwork of poor ideas. james wilson reports. reporter: the scheme will in next week. the program saw the government subsidizing the wages of millions of people, whose workplaces closed due to the pandemic. the chancellor returned to parliament to outline further changes. wages will be increased, but this will be less than the previous scheme, but higher than planned. >> we are making the job support scheme more generous for employers. if businesses are legally required to close, as already outlined, the government will cover the cost of employers

paying two thirds of people's salaries, if they are out for a week or more. reporter: this comes during a battle to contain the pandemic in the u.k., the number of cases surging and northern parts of england seeing restrictions tightening. in certain hotspots, restaurants and bars have been forced to close for the second time this year, leading the labour party to criticize the announcement as inadequate. >> for months, we have urged the chancellor to get ahead of the looming unemployment crisis and act to save jobs. instead, we have had a patchwork of poor ideas rushed out at the last minute. reporter: at the height of the pandemic, nearly 10 million britons were on furlough, and since then only two thirds have returned to the workforce. the unemployment rate was 4.1% in september, 1.2% higher than the previous year. >> that was james wilson on that

report. the parent company of british airways says it is cutng its fourth-quarter passenger forecast. it's only 30% of last year's level. they have suffered an operating loss of 1.3 billion euros. last year, they had a profit of 1.4 billion. according to the company, they reduced the forecast because of restrictions imposed to limit this part of covid-19. and china is warning sweden of tit-for-tat action after their telecoms regulator banned china from their networks. they said they will move away from them by 2025, citing national security concerns. china's foreign ministry said it was dissatisfied with the decision, cutie -- accusing the swedish government of suppressing chinese companies and politicizing corporations. >> the swedish side should hold

a fairview to correct the mistake in their decision and avoid bringing a negative impact on business between china and sweden, and the negative impact on swedish companies' operations in china. >> now for a che of the markets. stocks on amex note, -- stocks closing on a mixed note. in london, closing up. in the u.s., all in the green, the dow jones erasing losses after the speaker of the house, nancy pelosi, said progress was being made on a stimulus package. the s&p 500 and nasq both up. revenue at coca-cola fillon 9% in the third quarter. they are looking to shake up their product mix, this after efforts to revive sales, which have slumped during the pandemic. coca-cola says it has seen a

stronger sales to consumers, offsetting declines in their sales to bars, restaurants and stadiums. and banksy's latest painting has sold for $9.8 million, the highest for the british street artist. "show me the money" went to an unidentified collector in london. banksy added an orange a traffic cone and abandoned shopping carts in the garden image. that is it for me. >> fantastic. you should see those banksy all over the place. you would love it. or get one of those paintings. >> i would have to borrow like a million dollars. mark: think -- thank you.

the situation in nigeria is shocking. what we have seen is a shocking. you have been following these protests. the acquisitions of police brutality -- accusations of police brutality. there. and there have been demonstrations and grievances, so tell us what you found. >> some of the hashtags that have been trending on nigerian twitter are greed, hunger, bad government, wickedness. just to demonstrate that this has gone beyond -- and a good example of that is this video that was a circulating throughout nigeria, from a journalist, and it shows nigerian protesters in a factory or a warehouse, who discovered these covid-19 food supplies and that had been stopped in a warehouse -- stocked anywhere has for months. people are outraged.

the journalist saying that by government is the main reason behind the protests. th civil societyi groups sayings of aid. they locked up. they expect an ansr. but that said, not everybody is hopeful an answer will come. this saying the warehouse, they are cooking up the bestl i lie now. again, this idea that the nigerian government cannot be e trusted, not only with these supplies for those in need, but they cannot be trusted to tell the truth. mark: the trademark of a types of governments, the one in nigeria accused of this on many occasions. there are concerns that nigerian officials want to distract or manipulate the demonstrators. and protests continue. >> for some, the protests have

gotten increasingly disorderly and divided. some people see this as an attempt or the effect of officials to distract from the matters at hand. this person sums it up well, saying, seeing the chaos on full across nigeria is the next stage in the battle. they will throw distractions are away in various forms so we lose focus of the protests. one of the main things people are worried about now is what this person says, the truth is, the fight is not about the three main ethnic groups, this is a fight between the ruling class and the ruled. taking the opportunity to remind people that this is not about the things that divide us, like religion or ethnicity, this is about demanding better governance. this person saying that where the massacre occurred, muslims

have had their time to pray, christians with their time to worship, this is not a religious war, be warned, no religion will be tolerated. so they are trying to unite to encourage people to move beyond the things that divide them. this person making it even more general, saying that the enemy is poverty and the lack of decent education, the lack of a health care system, saying unemployment is the enemy, so again, this constant pride to move beyond the division that nigerian politics have seen so frequently. so people are calling for the president, for things to be renewed. this person saying the last time that nigeria erupted like this, the president resigned. this time we expect no less. it is worth mentioning that the general is not a ncomer to nigerian politics, he was the military head of state between

1983 and 1995, and he ran for president in 2003, 2011, before finally winning in 2015, so people are tired of this. mark: this is a group of people, the have-nots, so they are looking for the haves to lie. maybe it is about to change. thank you for bringing that to like. let's move on to lebanon, our next story, the returning prime minister. we heard earlier that people are angry. he was forced out and their domains have been ignored. >> it is bad deja vu in lebanon. it is similar to nigeria in that way. this person says they had enough votes to become prime minister. it is also worth mentioning, i think i will say that for this journalist, this picture sums it up, where we see everybody looking kind of extremely somber

following the announcement that he will be prime minister again, because it was sure to spark outrage. which it did come outrage and irony. this person saying, how can i explain that the country has gone through four prime ministers and the fourth one is the first one? it is ironic how it started, how it is going, so essentially it is back to square one for lebanon. this person saying that the politicians are terrible at waste management, but good at recycling themselves. this person with a serious reaction, saying come into all the dead and injured from the blast, all the dead and injured from the pellets, bullets, the unemployed, hungry and poor, i am sorry we are back at .0 with no progress. similar from this journalist, the prime minister is back and people say they are going to immigrate instead of going back to the streets. there is a feeling many have

given up on their country. but protests have already started. the people are, there are people who have not given up, but the concern is that this is the final straw. mark: indeed, and france could have had an influence on this issue, which i am sure will come to light within the next few hours. finishing with an announcement from facebook. tell us what it is. >> the social media giant will likely be extending its reach into people's private lives, because it launched a dating application. as a competitor to other dating apps. and for now, the service appears as a tab, which means essentially it will be -- or it will find matches for people based on preferences, interests, similar activity on facebook, which is unfortunate because there is a criticism that because of social media, people are forced into circles with people that agree with them and

this app looks like it will be similar. when person saying, this is great, i wanted to tell mark zuckerberg more about my private life. so you wonder if this is really what people need. mark: this is how it began, it was away from mark zuckerberg and his pals to meet girls. whatever. >> it is coming full circle. mark: it was great to see you. and thank you for the business news. and thank you for watching live from paris. ♪

10/22/20 10/22/20 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from new york, this is democracy now! >> we want justice! >> we want justice! we want justice! nigeria!l of amy: mass protests against police brutality are continuing in nigeria after security forces