World news and comment from the Guardian | guardian.co.uk

European arrest warrant issued for ex-Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont
Raging Trump demands FBI investigate Clinton, uranium – anything but Russia
Egyptian TV presenter jailed for pregnancy out of wedlock remarks
US report finds climate change 90% manmade, contradicting Trump officials
French territory New Caledonia to hold referendum on self rule
Harvey Weinstein: police say Paz de la Huerta's rape claim is 'credible'
Red Cross 'outraged' over pilfering of Ebola aid millions by its own staff
Maltese journalist's funeral held after politicians told to stay away
US woman charged over tweet allegedly insulting Robert Mugabe
Female members of Congress describe sexual harassment by male lawmakers
Bannon and GOP House campaign leader declare truce and condemn Daca
The 20 photographs of the week
Only half of Britain's fixed speed camera are active
The Greek island camp where only the sick or pregnant can leave
ICC's investigation of Libya war crimes in dock even before male rape cases
'We met on OkCupid and live in a tent': homeless couples tell their love stories
Detained 10-year-old girl with cerebral palsy released from custody in Texas
Australian journalist who reported on Manus last year detained in PNG
Crisis over Catalonia – an explainer
Relatives of Japanese abducted by North Korea decades ago place hope in Trump
British woman languishes in Egyptian jail for carrying painkillers
We need zero tolerance of sexual harassment now | Letters
No, minister: how Westminster reeled during a week of sex scandals
Prosecutor seeks to investigate Afghan war crimes allegations – and claims of US torture
'A danger to future generations': $640m pledged as third of world malnourished
When the sheep turn black, war's toxic legacy can no longer be ignored | Erik Solheim
Tracking Trump: a storm for Manafort, and a volley of post-attack tweets
The Guardian view on Trump’s Twitter silencing: a blow for diplomacy | Editorial
A glossary of sexual harassment cliches – what does 'good-natured groping' really mean?
Bowe Bergdahl attorney: Trump created 'lynch mob atmosphere' – video
Polly Toynbee on sexual harassment: what's changed since I started work - video
Empty seats welcome Ivanka Trump for speech in Tokyo – video

European arrest warrant issued for ex-Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont

Posted: 03 Nov 2017 02:54 PM PDT

Spanish judge's move comes day after former members of Catalan cabinet remanded in custody over independence push

A Spanish judge has issued an international arrest warrant for Catalonia's ousted president a day after she jailed eight members of the region's separatist government pending possible charges over last week's declaration of independence.

In the latest twist in Spain's worst political crisis in four decades, a national court judge on Friday issued a European arrest warrant for Carles Puigdemont in response to a request from state prosecutors.

Raging Trump demands FBI investigate Clinton, uranium – anything but Russia

Posted: 03 Nov 2017 12:18 PM PDT

The president seized on claims in former chair Donna Brazile's book about DNC bias in the Democratic primary to try to interfere in bureau's independence

One year after the US election, Donald Trump is escalating pressure on the Department of Justice to investigate Hillary Clinton.

In a series of tweets on Friday, the president called on the FBI to "do what is right and proper" by launching a criminal inquiry into several controversies linked to Clinton – chief among them the claim that the 2016 Democratic presidential primary was rigged in her favor.

Egyptian TV presenter jailed for pregnancy out of wedlock remarks

Posted: 03 Nov 2017 01:38 PM PDT

Doaa Salah handed three years in jail for 'outraging public decency' by discussing the possibility of a woman becoming a single mother on her show

An Egyptian court has sentenced a female television presenter to three years in jail after she spoke on her show about pregnancy outside marriage, a judicial source has said.

Doaa Salah was convicted of "outraging public decency", the source said on Friday.

US report finds climate change 90% manmade, contradicting Trump officials

Posted: 03 Nov 2017 02:26 PM PDT

Major report by government agencies goes against senior members of Trump administration and finds evidence of global warming stronger than ever

A comprehensive review by 13 US federal agencies concludes that evidence of global warming is stronger than ever and that more than 90% of it has been caused by humans.

The conclusion contradicts a favorite talking point of senior members of the Trump administration.

French territory New Caledonia to hold referendum on self rule

Posted: 03 Nov 2017 10:37 AM PDT

A deal was reached after nine hours of talks in Paris between the leaders of the island nation, located 750 miles east of Australia, and French officials

The French overseas territory of New Caledonia will hold a referendum on self rule in 2018, which is expected to pave the way to full independence for the Pacific archipelago.

A deal was reached after leaders of the island nation, located 750 miles east of Australia, held nine hours of talks with officials in Paris.

Harvey Weinstein: police say Paz de la Huerta's rape claim is 'credible'

Posted: 03 Nov 2017 02:15 PM PDT

New York police department confirms it is investigating allegation by actor, who says Weinstein raped her twice, and is gathering evidence to seek arrest warrant

New York City police believe a 2010 rape allegation made against Harvey Weinstein by the actor Paz de la Huerta is "credible", and are gathering evidence to seek an arrest warrant.

Chief of detectives Robert Boyce said on Friday that investigators have interviewed de la Huerta, who publicly accused Weinstein of raping her twice in her apartment.

Red Cross 'outraged' over pilfering of Ebola aid millions by its own staff

Posted: 03 Nov 2017 10:49 AM PDT

Organisation confirms misappropriation of almost $6m donated to fight deadly 2014 outbreak that claimed more than 11,000 lives in west Africa

The Red Cross has admitted that millions of dollars meant for fighting the deadly outbreak of Ebola in west Africa were siphoned off by its own staff.

The organisation's own investigations uncovered evidence of fraud, with more than $2.1m (£1.6m) lost in Sierra Leone, probably stolen by staff in collusion with local bank officials, according to a statement. In Guinea, a mixture of fake and inflated customs bills cost it $1m.

Maltese journalist's funeral held after politicians told to stay away

Posted: 03 Nov 2017 09:07 AM PDT

Daphne Caruana Galizia's family objects to presence of government and opposition leaders as day of mourning declared

The funeral of an investigative journalist killed in a car bomb near her home in Malta has been held without the presence of top government and opposition leaders, after her family objected to their attendance.

No group or individual has so far come forward to claim responsibility for the attack on 16 October on Daphne Caruana Galizia, who led an investigation into corruption in Malta using the Panama Papers that implicated the government and the opposition.

US woman charged over tweet allegedly insulting Robert Mugabe

Posted: 03 Nov 2017 11:48 AM PDT

Lawyer for Martha O'Donovan, detained in Zimbabwe, says client is accused of posting 'we are being led by selfish and sick man'

Zimbabwean police have charged an American citizen with a new offence of plotting to overthrow a constitutionally elected government, her lawyer has said.

Martha O'Donovan had earlier been charged over a tweet that appeared to insult Robert Mugabe, weeks after the president appointed a cybersecurity minister to police social media.

Female members of Congress describe sexual harassment by male lawmakers

Posted: 03 Nov 2017 08:32 AM PDT

Four current and former lawmakers recall incidents ranging from repeated unwanted come-ons, to lewd remarks and even groping on the House floor

For years, Republican representative Mary Bono endured the increasingly suggestive comments from a fellow lawmaker in the House. But when the congressman approached her on the House floor and told her he had been thinking about her in the shower, she had had enough.

She confronted the man, who she said still serves in Congress, telling him his comments were demeaning and wrong. And he backed off.

Bannon and GOP House campaign leader declare truce and condemn Daca

Posted: 03 Nov 2017 12:22 PM PDT

The former White House strategist and current Breitbart editor met with the chair of the National Republican Congressional Committee on Friday

Steve Bannon, head of conservative news site Breitbart.com, and Steve Stivers, the chair of the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC), agreed on Friday that a legislative fix to grant legal status to undocumented immigrants brought to the country as children "would tear apart the party and hurt Republican candidates in 2018", according to a source familiar with the meeting.

Bannon's meeting with the chair of the NRCC, which works to elect Republicans to the House of Representatives, was first reported by Politico.

The 20 photographs of the week

Posted: 04 Nov 2017 01:05 AM PDT

Banksy in Bethlehem, the aftermath of the Catalan referendum, Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh and the fight against Islamic State – the week's biggest news stories captured by the world's best photojournalists

Only half of Britain's fixed speed camera are active

Posted: 03 Nov 2017 05:01 PM PDT

Freedom of information request finds four police forces do not have any fixed cameras while 13 have less than half switched on

Only about half of the UK's fixed speed cameras are on and primed to catch traffic offenders, a survey suggests.

This means that speeding drivers may have been let off of hundreds of pounds worth of fines each, as police forces seek to cut costs.

The Greek island camp where only the sick or pregnant can leave

Posted: 04 Nov 2017 01:00 AM PDT

Thousands of refugees are living in squalid conditions on Samos, and a diagnosis of illness could be a ticket to getting out

Eida was two months pregnant when she suffered a miscarriage.

A month later, the 18-year-old Syrian refugee still feels angry and despondent. Not just that she lost a child. But that being pregnant was her ticket off the Greek island of Samos – and out of a squalid, barren, barb-wired camp.

ICC's investigation of Libya war crimes in dock even before male rape cases

Posted: 03 Nov 2017 10:00 PM PDT

Capacity and authority of court as well as evidence already under scrutiny with not one Libyan brought to The Hague for trial

The international criminal court has struggled to ensure its writ runs in Libya ever since the UN security council tasked the ICC with the investigation of war crimes after the fall of Muammar Gaddafi in 2011. The possibility of taking on a raft of new cases, including repeated male rape, will therefore raise issues of capacity, evidence and authority for the court, which has been accused of politicised justice and being limited in its powers.

'We met on OkCupid and live in a tent': homeless couples tell their love stories

Posted: 04 Nov 2017 01:00 AM PDT

Four couples living in homeless camps in Seattle and Portland talk about the challenges and rewards of being in a relationship with no permanent home

Detained 10-year-old girl with cerebral palsy released from custody in Texas

Posted: 03 Nov 2017 04:53 PM PDT

The undocumented girl, brought to Texas from Mexico as a baby, spent nine days in custody after border patrol officers followed her to a children's hospital

The undocumented 10-year-old detained by the US border patrol on the way to a Texas hospital has been released from custody to rejoin her family.

Rosa Maria Hernandez left a shelter for unaccompanied minors in San Antonio on Friday, nine days after she was taken there. After she had passed through an interior checkpoint, officers had followed her to a children's hospital in Corpus Christi, waited outside her room and arrested her once she had recovered from a gall bladder operation.

Australian journalist who reported on Manus last year detained in PNG

Posted: 03 Nov 2017 09:03 PM PDT

Freelance photographer Matthew Abbott prevented from entering the country when applying for visa at Port Moresby airport

An Australian journalist who was denied entry into Papua New Guinea believes he has been blacklisted from the country because he reported on conditions at the Manus Island detention centre.

Photojournalist Matthew Abbott, whose work at Manus Island last year was published in the Guardian and other publications, was detained by immigration officials at Port Moresby airport on Friday after getting off a flight from Brisbane.

Crisis over Catalonia – an explainer

Posted: 03 Nov 2017 10:00 PM PDT

Madrid's hardball continues with European arrest warrant issued for deposed Catalan president after independence push

On Monday, Spain's attorney general announced that he had asked the national court to bring charges of rebellion, sedition and misuse of public funds against 14 members of the deposed Catalan government, including the president, Carles Puigdemont, while the supreme court would look into possible action against Carme Forcadell, the speaker of the Catalan parliament, and other parliamentary officials for the part they played in paving the way for the independence vote on 1 October.

Relatives of Japanese abducted by North Korea decades ago place hope in Trump

Posted: 03 Nov 2017 08:00 PM PDT

In 1970s and 80s North Korea abducted over a dozen people to teach spies Japanese. The families hope the US president can finally secure their release

Shigeo Iizuka always refused to believe that his sister had walked out on her young son and daughter in the summer of 1978 to start a new life.

The discovery, a decade later, that he had been right meant little when he learned the grim truth behind her disappearance – that she had been a victim of North Korea's cold war abductions of Japanese citizens.

British woman languishes in Egyptian jail for carrying painkillers

Posted: 03 Nov 2017 05:23 PM PDT

Laura Plummer from Hull was in possession of tramadol and naproxen when she was detained by Egyptian authorities

Egyptian authorities have detained a British woman who entered the country carrying painkillers.

Laura Plummer, 33, a shop worker who lives in Hull, was arrested after 290 tramadol tablets and some naproxen for her husband's sore back was found in her suitcase.

We need zero tolerance of sexual harassment now | Letters

Posted: 03 Nov 2017 11:54 AM PDT

Camilla Palmer and Claire Dawson call on employers to act, Annie Sedley and Jilll Wallis point to three decades of women's campaigning, while Linda Walker wonders whether defending arming Saudi Arabia might be worse than Kneegate

Abuse of power is easy when exerted against those fearful of being dismissed or sidelined. When there is power against fear, it is no contest – unless perpetrators are exposed and victims are supported. To say that what was acceptable then is not acceptable now is nonsense: it was never acceptable. It takes hundreds of brave women to talk about their experience of sexual harassment before harassment is taken seriously. With a groundswell of support for the victims, we must all learn not to be cowards, but call it out on every occasion (The victims of sexual abuse are the only voices that matter, 1 November).

Most of the harassment was well known but left unchallenged. So many women suffered and lost their jobs as a result. I have acted for many women. Every harasser – past or present – should now feel as vulnerable and worried. They may be outed at any time. There is rarely an isolated incident of harassment. Victims are pushed out with money and gagging clauses, and the man remains – to harass again.

No, minister: how Westminster reeled during a week of sex scandals

Posted: 03 Nov 2017 11:44 AM PDT

Allegations of unwanted sexual advances in the corridors of power mount up, despite Theresa May's attempts to draw a line under issue of harassment

As MPs returned to their constituencies from Westminster with relief this weekend, it was hard to escape the sense that, as Scottish Tory leader Ruth Davidson put it, "the dam has broken," on decades of sexual misbehaviour in the corridors of power.

Veteran MPs said the drip, drip, drip of allegations of unwanted sexual advances, lewd comments and worse, were reminiscent of the expenses scandal that rocked British politics in 2009.

Prosecutor seeks to investigate Afghan war crimes allegations – and claims of US torture

Posted: 03 Nov 2017 10:45 AM PDT

If authorised ICC would investigate crimes allegedly committed by all sides including US forces, CIA, Taliban and Afghan military

The chief prosecutor of the international criminal court is seeking approval to investigate allegations of war crimes in Afghanistan, including possible torture by US forces and the CIA.

If authorised, the investigation would also look at crimes allegedly committed by armed opposition groups, such as the Taliban, and Afghan government forces.

'A danger to future generations': $640m pledged as third of world malnourished

Posted: 03 Nov 2017 05:01 PM PDT

Kofi Annan urges greater investment to tackle soaring rates of obesity and hunger as researchers find almost every country in the world is affected

Donors have pledged an extra $640m (£490m) to reduce the serious burden of malnutrition, which affects one in three people in the world.

The crisis "endangers the physical and mental wellbeing of present and future generations", warned Kofi Annan, speaking in advance of the global nutrition summit in Milan on Saturday. "We need further urgent investments so that people, communities and nations can reach their full potential."

When the sheep turn black, war's toxic legacy can no longer be ignored | Erik Solheim

Posted: 03 Nov 2017 06:18 AM PDT

The battle for Mosul has left the city caked in soot and shrouded in smog. When will the world realise that the environment is not merely a silent victim of war?

The smoke that billowed from the burning oil fields was so thick it blocked out the sun. By the time I reached Qayyarah, where Islamic State fighters had set fire to 19 oil wells, a film of black soot had settled over the Iraqi town like toxic snow. Even the sheep had turned black.

Pools of thick oil ran in the streets. In the sky above the town, the black smog mixed with white fumes from a nearby sulphur plant that the jihadists had also set on fire as they retreated. The plant burned for months, spewing as much sulphur dioxide into the atmosphere as a small volcanic eruption. Hundreds of people were hospitalised.

Tracking Trump: a storm for Manafort, and a volley of post-attack tweets

Posted: 03 Nov 2017 10:00 PM PDT

Trump's ex-campaign chair appeared in court charged with money laundering, while after eight people died in New York, Trump was quick to speak out

Each week Trump seems to make more news than most presidents do in a lifetime. The Guardian is keeping track of it all in this series, every Saturday

Attempting to muddy the waters ahead of special counsel Robert Mueller's expected first indictments in his investigation into Russia's interference in the 2016 election and possible collusion by the future president's team, Donald Trump tried to turn the focus on Hillary Clinton last weekend.

The Guardian view on Trump’s Twitter silencing: a blow for diplomacy | Editorial

Posted: 03 Nov 2017 11:47 AM PDT

The removal of the president's megaphone shows up the power and dangers of social media

If his name ever leaks out, the unnamed Twitter employee who deleted President Trump's account for 11 minutes need never pay for a drink again. Some people have suggested (on Twitter, of course) that he be nominated for a Nobel peace prize: after all, he did quite as much for diplomacy as past winners such as Henry Kissinger. Then again, his achievement only lasted 11 minutes – not long enough to impress the Norwegian parliament, which awards the prize. There is a case that Twitter should have shut off the account already, since its own rules prohibit threatening people or promoting violence on the basis of national origin or religious affiliation, which forms the basis of Mr Trump's appeal. In real life the president helps sell far too many advertisements for that to happen: there is a compulsive quality to watching the exploits of a choleric incompetent, whether he is Basil Fawlty or Donald Trump; but Basil Fawlty was never in charge of a nuclear arsenal. Mr Trump could not have been elected without Twitter. The new media companies, Twitter, Google, and Facebook above all, now have more power and reach than any publishers before them – and they are publishers, not neutral conduits as they pretend to be. The temporary silencing of Mr Trump shows their power just as clearly as his rise did. It is vital that they work for democracy, not demagoguery.

A glossary of sexual harassment cliches – what does 'good-natured groping' really mean?

Posted: 03 Nov 2017 08:29 AM PDT

The way we talk about these allegations frequently obscures the reality. Rather than gaslighting victims by making them feel they're overreacting, let's call rape and misconduct by their proper names

Harvey Weinstein. Kevin Spacey. James Toback. Ben Affleck. Dustin Hoffman. Michael Fallon. I could go on and on. The last few weeks have revealed just how widespread sexual harassment is; how deeply it is embedded in our definition of normal. The last few weeks have made the issue impossible to avoid, and yet the language we use to talk about sexual harassment is often designed to do just that. It's designed to avoid responsibility and avoid taking the issue seriously. It's designed to gaslight victims and make them feel as if they're overreacting. Like it's their fault or like they just can't take a joke. With every new set of allegations there comes the same old catalogue of cliches. I've collected a few of the most used and abused of these here, along with their definitions. Please find below a glossary of ways to gloss over gross misconduct.

A Different Time: A couple of decades ago, back in the olden days, pretty much anything went. Racism was fine, sexism was sexy and touching people inappropriately was normal. This was A Different Time; a time when men were men and women were non-sentient birth machines. Any sexual misconduct that may have happened in A Different Time was automatically OK and should be immediately forgiven. Basic decency didn't exist in the years pre-PC, you see. Human beings were still basically savages. I mean, people wore ultra-wide bell bottoms, for God's sake, they clearly weren't in their right minds.

Bowe Bergdahl attorney: Trump created 'lynch mob atmosphere' – video

Posted: 03 Nov 2017 10:14 AM PDT

Bowe Bergdahl's attorney, Eugene Fidell, criticised Donald Trump on Friday for creating a hostile atmosphere during his election campaign. Bergdahl was on trial for abandoning his post in 2009 in Afghanistan, for which he was spared prison time. The US president called Bergdahl 'a no-good traitor who should have been executed'

• US army's Bowe Bergdahl spared prison time for deserting

Polly Toynbee on sexual harassment: what's changed since I started work - video

Posted: 03 Nov 2017 05:44 AM PDT

Guardian journalist Iman Amrani meets Guardian columnist Polly Toynbee for an inter-generational discussion about sexual harassment. They talk about how the issue has changed over time, as well as the importance of power and male allies

Empty seats welcome Ivanka Trump for speech in Tokyo – video

Posted: 03 Nov 2017 02:46 AM PDT

Ivanka Trump shared her views on sexual harassment and women's empowerment in front of a half-empty venue in Tokyo on her first official visit to Asia. During her brief address to the World Assembly for Women she focused on women's rights issues and her work with the US administration to promote women's roles in the economy. She said women should not be defined by whether they work inside or outside the home

Empty seats greet Ivanka Trump at women's empowerment speech in Tokyo