France announces limited lockdown easing with Europe wary of festive surge

France has announced a limited easing of its strict nationwide lockdown and Germany and Spain have outlined restrictions on Christmas and new year gatherings as European governments act to prevent Covid cases multiplying over the holiday period. The announcements came as the second wave of the pandemic continued to cause daily death tolls not seen in the worst hit countries since the spring: Spain recorded 537 new deaths on Tuesday and Italy a further 853, its highest daily toll since the end of March.