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Donald Trump retweeted anti-Muslim videos from the Britain First far-right group. Photograph: Anadolu Agency/Getty Images

Thursday briefing: Trump races himself to the bottom

This article is more than 6 years old
Donald Trump retweeted anti-Muslim videos from the Britain First far-right group. Photograph: Anadolu Agency/Getty Images

President retweets racist videos, then attacks Theresa May … shock over war criminal’s suicide in court … and how GDP holds society to ransom

Top story: Vile tweets, then a row with wrong Theresa

Hello, it’s Warren Murray here – let’s get you started.

The air between Donald Trump and Theresa May turned toxic overnight after the US president hit back at her criticism of his retweeting racist videos. In typically hotheaded style, Trump initially directed his customary Twitter outburst at the wrong person – a random user with the handle “@theresamay”. That blunder aside, though, it puts May in a diplomatic bind as she discovers she does not have a friend in the US president – remembering that she has offered him a state visit to Britain, an invitation that some MPs now want rescinded.

As well as the real May censuring the president for transmitting offensive Britain First videos about Muslims, Jeremy Corbyn has condemned the act as “abhorrent, dangerous and a threat to our country”. Sajid Javid, Westminster’s only Muslim cabinet minister, wrote: “So Potus has endorsed the views of a vile, hate-filled racist organisation that hates me and people like me. He is wrong and I refuse to let it go and say nothing.” In one of those tortuous feats of spin that are becoming her stock in trade, Trump’s spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders said: “Whether it’s a real video, the threat is real. [Trump’s] goal is to promote strong border security and strong national security.”

Trump’s odiousness is further catalogued today in our detailed list of the sexual misconduct allegations arising from his past. Twenty women have accused him of groping, forcing kisses on them or bursting into dressing rooms where teenage girls were naked. A growing list of powerful men have faced repercussions recently for such behaviour but Trump has not – the official White House position is that all his accusers are lying.


‘I just drank poison’ – The UN war crimes court is facing serious questions after a war criminal killed himself by taking poison in front of judges and TV cameras. “Praljak is not a criminal. I reject your verdict,” said Slobodan Praljak, 72, before drinking from a small brown bottle. Judges hastily shut down proceedings and Praljak was rushed to hospital. His death was announced a few hours later.

The moments before and after war criminal drinks poison in UN court – video

The Bosnian Croat general’s suicide came after he lost his appeal against a 20-year sentence. It is the third suicide of a suspect in the custody of The Hague tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. The Croatian Serb leader Milan Babić killed himself at the nearby Scheveningen detention centre in 2006, and another Croatian Serb, Slavko Dokmanović, hanged himself in his cell in 1998. Additionally, the former Serbian president Slobodan Milošević died from cardiac arrest in his prison cell in The Hague in 2006 after longstanding heart problems.


Briton fighting Isis killed – A British man who fought Isis in Syria has been killed during a mine-clearance operation, the Guardian understands. Oliver Hall, 24, from Portsmouth, died in Raqqa a month after Kurdish commanders declared the “total liberation” of the city. Hall had joined the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) after going to Syria in August. Mark Campbell from the Kurdish Solidarity Campaign said Hall died in an explosion of ordinance left by Isis. Hall is believed to be the seventh British citizen killed with the YPG in Syria since the first foreign volunteers joined the fight against Isis in autumn 2014.


‘Not what people voted for’ – Some hardcore leavers are threatening to vote against the likely £50bn Brexit “divorce” settlement even though the most prominent of their fellow travellers have given it their support. Michel Barnier, the EU’s chief Brexit negotiator, has said he expects to announce within days that an agreement on financial issues has been reached with Britain. Theresa May and Jean-Claude Juncker are expected to nail it down over lunch on Monday. Payments would stretch over many decades (a bit like war reparations). Agreement is also thought to be close on avoiding a hard Irish border. On the divorce bill, Brexit figurehead Boris Johnson said on Wednesday that “now’s the time to get the ship off the rocks” – but dissent from others in the Tory ranks could leave May relying on Labour votes to avoid falling back on World Trade Organisation terms.


Dangerous time for the truth – Press freedom around the world has fallen to its lowest level in decades as journalists are threatened by government censorship, organised crime and commercial pressures caused by the growth of the internet. A report from campaign group Article 19 has found 259 journalists were jailed in 2016 and 79 were killed, and there were 426 attacks against journalists and media outlets in Mexico in 2016 alone. Turkey has experienced the biggest decline in freedom of speech over the past decade – 152 Turkish journalists are in prison and more than 170 media organisations have been shuttered.

The alarm has also been sounded about the UK, where the Investigatory Powers Act “offers a template for authoritarian regimes and seriously undermining the rights of its citizens to privacy and freedom of expression”. And in EU member state Hungary, a left-leaning daily paper was just shut down and its sister publications handed over to an ally of the populist prime minister. Our correspondents have compiled stories of fair reporting under siege around the world.


Ed the Kiwi – Maybe he could get a job “Sheeran” sheep. The pop singer Ed Sheeran has been quizzed about jandals and pineapple lumps by New Zealand’s prime minister, Jacinda Ardern. Sheeran put out a promo video where he said he was working on becoming a Kiwi citizen. Ardern responded with her own video and a whimsical list of requirements. Here’s how the exchange played out. Sheeran is touring New Zealand in March.

Lunchtime read: Have we outgrown GDP?

“The idea that success can only be measured by gross domestic product has become a fetish,” writes our economics editor, Larry Elliott. Think about it: the great smog of 65 years ago killed something like 4,000 people. But in economic terms “it was good for growth. It was cold and damp as well as foggy, and the more coal that was bought, the better it was for the economy.”

An air pollution protest on Tower Bridge, London. Photograph: Mike Kemp/In Pictures/Getty Images

Apart from pollution, as a metric GDP also treats speculation, gambling and arms exports as being good for the economy. We need a new measure of how well the country is really doing, says Elliott – to quote the American writer Edward Abbey: “Growth for the sake of growth is the ideology of the cancer cell.”

Sport

“I don’t think I’ve ever hit a ball better in my life,” Wayne Rooney said after rolling back the years with a wonderful hat-trick that was completed with a stunning goal from the halfway line. Sam Allardyce was a privileged spectator at Goodison Park as Everton beat West Ham 4-0. Elsewhere, Antonio Conte was sent off before Antonio Rüdiger’s header saw Chelsea past Swansea, Raheem Sterling earned Manchester City a dramatic late win over Southampton and Mesut Özil provided the inspiration as Arsenal hammered Huddersfield.

Ben Stokes’s chances of making a dramatic return to England’s Ashes squad appeared to suffer a major setback when police referred his assault case to the Crown Prosecution Service. England fans at the World Cup finals in Russia next summer have been told to restrict their alcohol intake to one pint of beer before or after the game in order to ensure their safety. And Russia’s deputy prime minister has sought to play down evidence that suggests his direct involvement in the country’s systematic doping programme.

Business

Asian stock markets have declined after US tech stocks fell. China has reported stronger manufacturing and investors will be watching an Opec meeting today where oil producing nations appear ready to extend output cuts.

The pound has been trading at $1.347 and €1.135 overnight.

The papers

Guardian front page, Thursday 30 November 2017

The first editions will not have Trump’s tweet attack on Theresa May – but many lead with the US president’s earlier Twitter offence. The Telegraph says “May attacks Trump far-right tweets” and reports that pressure is growing at Number 10 to cancel his state visit. The Times features that story but leads on news that a deal on the post-Brexit Irish border is close. The Guardian has the Trump tweet story in its last edition and leads its first on a warning that Tory MPs are preparing to revolt on the final Brexit bill.

The Sun splashes with news that Levi Bellfield, the killer of Milly Dowler, has allegedly confessed to the murder of Lin and Megan Russell. The Mirror also splashes on this story. The Mail goes with its own campaign: “Let’s turn the tide on plastic” is the headline, with a picture of a beach covered in rubbish. The FT leads with the news that Xavier Rolet, the CEO of the London Stock Exchange, has stepped down with immediate effect.

For more news: www.theguardian.com

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More on this story

More on this story

  • Trump visit to UK expected in new year, says US ambassador

  • Theresa May rebukes Trump as opposition to state visit grows

  • UK ambassador conveys concerns over Trump retweet to White House

  • Bognor's @theresamay awaits apology after Trump's Twitter tirade

  • Donald Trump attacks Theresa May over her criticism of his far-right retweets

  • Donald Trump's Twitter attack will only increase UK's post-Brexit angst

  • Trump is promoting hatred, says husband of murdered MP Jo Cox

  • 'Evil racist': how the UK reacted to Trump's Theresa May Twitter attack

  • By retweeting Britain First, Trump offends a decency he cannot understand

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