World news | The Guardian

The fall of the iron curtain saw the market dominate. But environmental protection has become a significant rival beliefGeorge Smiley finally gets his man at the end of John le Carré’s Karla trilogy, but is far from jubilant as the Soviet spymaster defects from East to West Berlin. Reminded by a colleague that he has won his cold war battle, Smiley replies: “Did I? Yes. Yes, well, I suppose I did.”Smiley’s world-weariness was notable by its absence when the west finally claimed victory in the cold war 30 years ago this week. The Berlin Wall was a symbol of oppression. Its demolition was a euphoric moment. Continue reading...

How did a one-woman show at Edinburgh become a worldwide hit? As a book of the series is published, performers and writers ask her about inspiration, sex and guinea pigs Continue reading...

Before she died, my mother asked me to find a support group – but there were none for twentysomethings like me. Could I start my own?I arrived at the pub early and sent out an email: “I’m the girl in the white shirt and red lipstick!” Not long after that, a young woman, nervous and looking a little lost, appeared and asked: “Are you Rachel?” At first, the conversation was a little stilted, but it began to flow as we got on to common ground.If this sounds like a blind date, it wasn’t far off – except we weren’t searching for romance, and she wasn’t the only person looking for me. She was, in fact, the first of many to arrive that evening, and what had brought us all together was death, not romance. We were bereaved millennials who had lost someone close and discovered how little grief support exists for people our age. Continue reading...

Groups of officers in major cities join protests over disputed presidential election resultPolice in at least three Bolivian cities have declared mutinies and joined anti-government protests – a possible indication that parts of the security forces may be withdrawing their backing for President Evo Morales after weeks of unrest over disputed election results.Bolivia’s defence minister, Javier Zavaleta, said on Friday that no military action would be taken against the police involved for now and the government would not mobilise troops as tens of thousands of Bolivians took to the streets in cities across the country. Continue reading...

Bahareh Zare Bahari was subject of Interpol arrest warrant after criticising regimeThe Philippine government has granted asylum to an Iranian former beauty queen and critic of the Iranian regime after she was stranded for four weeks in an airport.Bahareh Zare Bahari was the subject of an Interpol “red notice” issued by Iran, resulting in her detention on 17 October when she attempted to enter the Philippines. She cited fears that she would be jailed or executed in Iran on politically motivated charges. Continue reading...

Irregularity known as Indian Ocean dipole bringing weather extremes across regionTwenty years ago in 1999 a new weather pattern was described for the first time. Now it has shifted up a gear and is causing devastation across east Africa.The Indian Ocean dipole, sometimes called the Indian El Niño, is an irregular oscillation in which the surface temperature of the sea is alternatively greater in the ocean’s west and its east. The positive phase, when it is warmer in the west, sees more rain in the west and greater chance of drought in the east. These are reversed in a negative phase. Continue reading...

Lance corporal reburied with full military honours in front of granddaughter after 1917 deathBut for a spoon and a “lightbulb” moment, Linda Cook would never have found her grandfather, who had been missing for 102 years.He was lying where he fell, gradually hidden then finally lost as shellfire exploded in the earth around him in a field near Lens, northern France. Continue reading...

PM says there will be no checks on goods going from Northern Ireland to rest of UK

Directors taking part in two UK film seasons believe separation is becoming more prevalentThirty years on from the fall of the Berlin Wall, film-makers who documented life on either side say divides between communities are becoming more prevalent, from Brexit to tensions at the US-Mexico border.The subject of the Berlin Wall and its effect on East and West Germans is being explored in two film seasons: the Barbican’s Borders and Boundaries, and Home in Manchester’s Beyond the Berlin Wall, which focuses exclusively on female directors. Continue reading...

Libertines frontman was detained on Thursday night after police stopped a drugs transaction in Pigalle districtParis authorities report that British singer Pete Doherty has been arrested in Paris for allegedly buying cocaine.The Paris prosecutor’s office said the 40-year-old Libertines and Babyshambles frontman was placed in detention on Thursday night after being stopped by police during a drugs transaction. Continue reading...

Laura Kuenssberg’s definition of scatological phrase on Brexitcast confuses colleagues

Feminist bloc plans to build on role in protests that brought down prime minister

The tube photographs of Mike Goldwater, shot between 1970 and 1980, capture intimate private moments of tenderness and humour behind the hustle and bustle of the human traffic. Be transported back to a time when it was fine to talk (and smoke) on London’s underground

Returning infrastructure investment to 1970s levels may be undeliverable, says IFSLabour and the Conservatives have triggered a public spending bidding war, promising massive programmes of borrowing that will return public investment to levels last seen in the 1970s, according to Britain’s leading experts on the public finances.The Institute for Fiscal Studies said plans unveiled by Sajid Javid, the chancellor, and John McDonnell, his Labour shadow, would represent a decisive break with the past, but warned that a future government might have trouble delivering projects on the scale envisaged. Continue reading...

Judge’s landmark 2015 ruling declared Sandra, who was born in Germany and spent 25 years in Argentina, is a non-human personA 33-year-old orangutan granted legal personhood by a judge in Argentina is settling into new surroundings in central Florida.Related: Bones of ape living 12m years ago point to genesis of upright walking Continue reading...

French police officers have begun clearing more than 1,000 migrants and refugees from a makeshift camp in northern Paris, where they had been sleeping rough in squalid conditions for months. The move comes after the country’s centrist government set out Emmanuel Macron’s tougher stance on immigration this week and vowed to clear the camps

The Guardian’s Libby Brooks is reporting from the constituency of Stirling to find out what issues people there care about most – and he wants your helpThe Guardian will be reporting from Stirling next week ahead of the General Election, as part of a series of pieces from across the country focused on finding out what matters to the people who live there. For example, Scottish Tory MP Stephen is defending one of the smallest majorities in the UK, of just 148 votes, against high profile SNP candidate Alyn Smith. Will the contest be dominated by Brexit and independence or more local issues?If you live in Stirling, can you tell us what this has meant? We’d like to understand the big issues facing you and your family and which policies matter to you. How happy are you with the state of housing, work, community relations, policing and health services? Continue reading...

Shadow police minister says police interpretation of when a strip-search is justified is ‘very loose’The New South Wales opposition has called for a review of strip-search laws after revelations about the number of children being targeted by the controversial policing tactic.On Thursday, Labor’s shadow police minister, Lynda Voltz, said figures revealed by Guardian Australia this week showing police in New South Wales have strip-searched 122 girls, including two 12-year-olds, in the past three years demonstrated a need for an overhaul of the laws governing the practice. Continue reading...

Centre-right opposition National party throws support behind the legislation that has been applauded around the globeJacinda Ardern’s landmark climate legislation has passed in New Zealand parliament, with historic cross-party support, committing the nation to reduce its carbon emissions to zero by 2050 and meet its commitments under the Paris climate accords.The climate change response (zero carbon) amendment bill passed on Thursday afternoon with the centre-right opposition National party throwing their support behind it late in the day, despite none of their proposed amendments being accepted. The bill passed 119 votes to one. Continue reading...

Thinktank says third parties such as Shia militias are more important to Tehran than nuclear plansIran now has an effective military advantage over the US and its allies in the Middle East because of its ability to wage war using third parties such as Shia militias and insurgents, according to a military thinktank.In one of the most detailed assessments of Iran’s strategy and doctrine across Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Yemen, the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) concludes Iran’s “third party capability” has become Tehran’s weapon of choice. Continue reading...

Three decades on, the country’s unification is still a source of sadness and trauma – which the far right know how to exploitI was 15 when the Berlin Wall came down. Everything changed: the east adopted not just the West German currency, but all its laws and rules and values. Thousands of companies were privatised within four years of the wall falling – millions lost their jobs, and millions more migrated to the west in search of better paid work. In 1994, only 18% of East German employees still worked at the same place as they had in 1991, according to the historian Ilko-Sascha Kowalczuk.There were new and often completely disorientating experiences for many: unemployment had not existed in the GDR. No one even knew the meaning of betriebsbedingte kündigung – compulsory redundancy – or where unemployment benefits came from. In the GDR, work had been so much more than a source of income; life revolved around the workplace. Companies often had their own singing or sports clubs, and their own childcare and health services. My dad, a metal worker, lost his job after the unification. It was a shock – he felt guilty and ashamed. But it took him years to find the words to express his feelings. “I didn’t realise the gravity of the situation,” he said to me 20 years later. Continue reading...

Kevin Lunney says kidnappers had sadistic ‘checklist’ in latest and most brutal act against QIH executivesThe business executive who was abducted and tortured near the Irish border has spoken for the first time about a crime that has shocked and bewildered Ireland.Kevin Lunney said the gang that kidnapped him went through a checklist of sadistic acts which left him in agony. Continue reading...

Victims at popular destination reported to include people from Mexico and SwitzerlandEight people including four foreign tourists were stabbed on Wednesday inside the ancient Roman city of Jerash, one of Jordan’s most popular sites for visitors.Authorities said the victims included tourists from Mexico and Switzerland. Police sources told the Guardian that three of those stabbed were Mexican and one was Swiss. The others included two Jordanian police officers, a tour guide and a driver. Continue reading...

Amid conflict in Syria, stifled free speech and oppressive machismo, rappers in Turkey are speaking out to hold their country – and themselves – to accountPop culture is usually a comfortable distraction, but sometimes it can wake you up. Take the Turkish rap epic Susamam, which translates as I Can’t Stay Silent: a 14-verse manifesto for a generation fed up with complicity, and the largest collaboration in the history of Turkish rap. For a quarter of an hour, 19 artists challenge a litany of social issues, ranging from domestic violence to animal rights and police brutality. It got 20m hits on YouTube in the first week alone.What makes the track even more impressive is the climate in which it was born: Turkey’s record on freedom of expression has taken an abysmal turn in recent years. Turkey is now the top jailer of journalists worldwide, and tens of thousands have been imprisoned in political witch-hunts that followed a failed military coup in 2016. With the nation now in active conflict in neighbouring Syria, it is common to see daily news reports of people jailed for something as simple as social media posts – even posting messages opposing war is considered support for terrorism. Continue reading...

Senior party figures accused of profiting from the state by overcharging for election kitsSeveral allies and close friends of the French far-right leader Marine Le Pen are due to go on trial in Paris accused of fraud during election campaigns in 2012.The seven defendants including senior figures in Le Pen’s party, the Front National, which has since been renamed National Rally, will appear in court on Wednesday accused of taking part in a fraudulent scheme to overcharge candidates for party election leaflets. Continue reading...

Former England international denies assaulting ex-Barnsley manager in stadium tunnelJoey Barton, the manager of Fleetwood Town football club, will go on trial next year accused of assaulting the former Barnsley manager Daniel Stendel during an incident following a match.Barton, 37, is alleged to have pushed Stendel at Barnsley’s Oakwell stadium on 13 April, leaving him with a damaged tooth. Continue reading...

Catalan question again dominates campaign ahead of Sunday’s general election

Mark Drakeford accuses Welsh secretary of arrogance amid claims he lied about knowledge of case• Latest election news - live updatesThe first minister of Wales has joined the growing criticism of the Welsh secretary, Alun Cairns, who has been accused of “brazenly lying” about his knowledge of an allegation that a former aide had sabotaged a rape trial.Mark Drakeford accused Cairns of being arrogant and out of touch and attacked him for not coming forward to explain the circumstances of a case that is threatening to overshadow the Welsh Conservatives’ campaign. Continue reading...

Company run by Masayoshi Son sees valuations of US firms WeWork and Uber plungeSoftBank Group, the Japanese tech investor, has slumped to a huge quarterly loss after the valuations of US companies WeWork and Uber plunged.The company, run by billionaire investor Masayoshi Son, made an operating loss of 704bn yen (£5bn) in the three months to the end of September, in results published on Wednesday. Continue reading...

Rees-Mogg suggests victims lacked common sense … Conservatives blocked from weaponising Treasury figures … and Green party’s $100bn climate pledgeHello again. From tomorrow your Guardian Morning Briefing will take on a different look as we expand our coverage of the UK election campaign. Make sure you are subscribed to have the latest election news hit your inbox bright and early each weekday. Continue reading...

Lib Dem leader criticised for not suspending activist who said MP’s experience was made upThe Liberal Democrats’ leader, Jo Swinson, has been accused by Labour of not properly investigating an activist who claimed one of their MPs had made up her experience of racism.Swinson said it was right that Steve Wilson, the husband of parliamentary candidate Angela Smith, had apologised to the shadow equalities minister, Dawn Butler, for writing on social media that she had lied about her experience of racism in the House of Commons. Continue reading...

Deputy premier John Barilaro says government establishing dedicated office of drought responseIn the midst of one of the worst droughts in history, the New South Wales government has jettisoned its drought co-ordinator, Jock Laurie, the former head of the National Farmers’ Federation, after less than a year in the role.Laurie, who was the land and water commissioner when he was appointed drought co-ordinator, was tasked with leading the second phase of the government’s emergency drought response. This has included working with regional councils to secure their water supplies in the face of a prolonged dry period. Continue reading...

Migrant workers at club owned by Boris Johnson-backer Robin Birley, asking for £10.55 an hourStaff at an exclusive private members’ club owned by a high-profile, Brexit-supporting backer of Boris Johnson are to go on strike.Celebrities coming to 5 Hertford Street – which has hosted figures including George and Amal Clooney, Margot Robbie, Alexa Chung, Bella Hadid and royals such as Prince William – will have to consider whether they want to cross a picket line at the Mayfair property. Continue reading...

Human Rights Watch warns non-national detainees were denied drugs and kept isolated by staff who ‘knew nothing about HIV’Prisoners in the United Arab Emirates who are HIV-positive but not from the country may have been denied regular access to life-saving treatment, Human Rights Watch has warned.On Monday the organisation claimed that non-national prisoners in at least one major UAE jail have seen delays, interruptions or a complete freeze on their access to antiretrovirals – drugs that suppress the activity of the HIV infection. Continue reading...

Cabinet minister promises no delays, despite PM having broken previous deadline

The woman, 32, and man, 24, were reported missing after failing to turn up to their jobs following a camping trip in the Goldsborough area near CairnsA couple reported missing after failing to turn up to their respective jobs have died after falling from Kearneys Falls in Far North Queensland.The couple – a woman, 32, and a man, 24, both from Townsville – were reported missing on Monday after failing to turn up to their respective jobs. Continue reading...

Don Winslow is the bestselling author of more than 20 novels and winner of numerous awards including the LA Times book prize and the Ian Fleming Silver Dagger.His latest book The Border is the latest in his Cartel trilogy, a series that covers murder, betrayal and family ties. Wanting to force the US to recognise that Mexico’s drug problem is also its own, Don talks to Alison about the personal toll of researching the stories of those murdered and targeted by the cartels, and his opposition to Donald Trump’s border policies. Continue reading...

Former MP Daryl Melham says Labor must focus on Indigenous affairs and hold firm on Uluru statementFormer Labor frontbencher Daryl Melham says Labor in this term must devote itself to dealing with unfinished business with Indigenous Australians, declaring “we need a soul, we can’t win on the economy alone”.While a number of frontbenchers are highlighting the primacy of campaigning on growth and jobs as the opposition waits for the release of the campaign review by Jay Weatherill and Craig Emerson on Thursday, Melham says Labor needs to drive the agenda in Indigenous affairs. Continue reading...

Acting PM takes action against MPs, ministry and public servants, alleging a breach of privacy in 2017New Zealand’s acting prime minister, Winston Peters, is suing two National party MPs, a slew of public servants and a government ministry for breach of privacy.Peters, who is currently acting PM in Jacinda Ardern’s absence, alleges that Anne Tolley and Paula Bennett breached his privacy by leaking his superannuation documents to the media. Continue reading...

Pollution in Delhi has reached its worst levels so far this year, at almost 400 times the amount deemed healthy. A week on from Diwali, the thick brown smog that shrouded the city after the festival has shown no sign of shifting. One local said the pollution was so bad it burned his nose and throat, making simple activities such as jogging difficult

McDonnell says voters should not trust Trump’s claims that NHS will not be part of US dealThe shadow chancellor, John McDonnell, has warned the public not to trust Donald Trump’s assurance that the NHS will not form part of post-Brexit trade deals as he committed Labour to eradicating all traces of privatisation from the service.Ahead of the first full week of general election campaigning, the senior party figure also described his sadness that Jewish newspapers had collectively suggested Labour under Jeremy Corbyn would endanger their community, and admitted that the party’s target to be carbon neutral by 2030 would be “tough” to meet. Continue reading...

Sixteen-nation Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership will cover half the planet’s peopleThe world’s largest trade deal is unlikely to be signed this year, with a draft statement from south-east Asian leaders suggesting it will be delayed until 2020, despite China’s desire to bring it into operation as soon as possible as a counterweight to its debilitating tariff war with the US.The 16-country Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership – known as the RCEP – would be the world’s largest when operational, spanning India to New Zealand, including 30% of global GDP and half of the world’s people. Continue reading...

Adil Abdul-Mahdi says ongoing protests in Baghdad have cost the country billions of dollarsIraq’s prime minister called on anti-government protesters to reopen roads on Sunday after a month of major rallies to demand wide-ranging political change.Adil Abdul-Mahdi called for markets, factories, schools and universities to reopen after days of protests in the capital and across the mostly Shia south. He said the threat to oil facilities and the closure of roads had cost the country billions of dollars and contributed to price increases that affected everyone. Continue reading...

Announcement follows news UK human rights lawyers bringing case against BATThe US government has suspended all imports of tobacco from Malawi over child labour allegations.The ban follows the news that human rights lawyers are to bring a case against British American Tobacco (BAT)_in the high court in London over child labour in Malawi’s tobacco fields, as a result of revelations by the Guardian of the scale of the abuse last year. Leigh Day are acting for nearly 2,000 claimants – children and their parents – and expect that up to 15,000 will join the case. Continue reading...

FlixBus vehicle was driving from Paris to London when it toppled on its sideEleven Britons were among 33 people injured after a Paris-London bus overturned in northern France, French police have said.The vehicle, operated by the FlixBus inter-city service, toppled on to its side at around midday as it took an exit in the northern Somme region from the A1 motorway, France’s busiest route. Continue reading...

Exclusive: naloxone will be distributed on the streets as part of pilot scheme in Redcar and ClevelandA life-saving drug that reverses the effect of an overdose of an opioid, such as heroin, is to be handed out on the street to people in England under a pilot scheme to tackle the record numbers of drug-related deaths.The main life-threatening effect of an opioid overdose is to slow down or stop breathing – the drug naloxone blocks this effect and reverses breathing difficulties. Continue reading...

After the world was told that the Uluru climb would close, waves of tourists flocked to the rock as media commentators insisted the broader public was being robbed of their rights. In this episode Lorena Allam heads to Uluru to speak to the Anangu people about the complex relationship between their community, tourists and their sacred sites, plus their vision for the future of UluruLorena Allam has written about the the morning after closing Uluru here and the joy of the Anangu here. Both articles feature beautiful photographs by Mike Bowers. Continue reading...

Mike Pannett set up late-night car park meeting to return Stephen Morris’s 1709 TecchlerA man who picked up a £250,000 violin on a train needed to be convinced that he would not be arrested before handing it back to its owner at a late-night car park rendezvous, according to the retired detective who led the negotiation.Musician Stephen Morris was reunited with the 310-year old violin made by David Tecchler on Friday night after leaving it on a Southeastern train last month, prompting a nationwide appeal for its return. Continue reading...

Driver allegedly under the influence of alcohol and driving erratically before hitting teens he had just dropped offTwo teenagers have been seriously injured after an 18-year-old ride-share driver allegedly ran them down on the New South Wales central coast.The injured teenagers were part of a group who requested a local ride-share service about 3am on Sunday, police said. Continue reading...

Iran’s determination to shore up Iraq’s unpopular government does not augur well for democracy in the Middle EastIran’s leaders say they have no wish to recreate the Persian empire in the present-day Middle East. Unlike the US, they say, Iran is not an imperialist power. That is not how it looks to many people in Lebanon, where Iran’s close financial and military links to the country’s leading Shia political organisation, Hezbollah, became the focus of angry anti-government street protests last week.The benign view of Iran as friendly neighbourhood helper is also hard to square with its support for the Houthi rebellion in Yemen, where the death toll in four years of war has reached 100,000. This conflict resembles a classic proxy struggle between two external powers – Shia Iran and Sunni Saudi Arabia – that are each vying for regional dominance. Continue reading...