Top story: Legal advice could make or break PM

This is Alison Rourke bringing you the top stories to start your week.

As Theresa May enters the final week of campaigning before the crucial 11 December parliamentary vote on Brexit, she will hold face-to-face meetings with her own MPs. Also today, the attorney general, Geoffrey Cox, is scheduled to brief the Commons about his legal advice on the Brexit plan, before answering questions from MPs. Downing Street says this should give all members enough information to make up their minds on the legal aspects of the deal. The government will also publish the “legal position paper” on Brexit today – a précis of the advice given by Cox to cabinet. It is likely to inform Labour’s decision about whether to launch contempt proceedings to force No 10 to publish its full legal advice on Brexit.

The legal battle comes as the UK manufacturers’ trade body, the EEF, says fears imports of raw materials will dry up or rise in price when Britain leaves the EU have led to stockpiling. According to a quarterly survey by the group, this precaution has allowed firms to maintain production levels despite a sharp drop in export orders in recent months: “Evidence suggests current output maybe more a reflection of precautionary stockpiling rather than production driven by demand,” it says.

Bias in Britain – The extent of racial bias faced by black, Asian and minority ethnic citizens in 21st-century Britain has been laid bare in an unprecedented study showing a gulf in how people of different ethnicities are treated in their daily lives. A survey of people from minority ethnic backgrounds for the Guardian’s week-long investigation into unconscious bias, found they were consistently more likely to have faced negative everyday experiences – all frequently associated with racism – than white people in a comparison poll. Amongst other things, the results showed that ethnic minorities were three times as likely to have been thrown out of or denied entrance to a restaurant, bar or club in the past five years, and that more than two-thirds believed Britain had a problem with racism. You can read about 10 areas that are rife with racial bias here – from dating apps to cancer care; and you can read Nish Kumar’s experience of constantly being called Nish Patel (“they’re all Patels”) here.

Gilets jaunes – The French president, Emmanuel Macron, has instructed his prime minister to hold talks with protest groups after anti-government demonstrations led to the worst violence in central Paris in a decade, with more than 100 people injured as cars and buildings were set alight. Macron is facing his biggest crisis since taking office 18 months ago. The Élysée and key ministers appeared to rule out imposing any kind of state of emergency after thousands of masked protesters from the gilets jaunes – named after their fluorescent yellow jackets – fought running battles with riot police, torched cars, set fire to banks and houses and burned makeshift barricades. Demonstrations began two weeks ago to protest against rising fuel prices and a new green fuel tax.

Play Video 0:50 Police and protesters clash in Paris – video

Climate change – We are the last generation that can prevent catastrophic global warming, the UN climate change summit will hear when it kicks off in Poland today. Almost 200 countries are gathering to try to hammer out agreement to turn the carbon-cutting vision set in Paris in 2015 into reality. It will be a big task – climate action must be increased fivefold to limit warming to the 1.5C scientists have advised, according to the UN. The negotiations will take place against a background of ominous news: the past four years have been the hottest on record and global emissions are rising again, when they need to fall by half by 2030.

Fake Christmas – British shoppers are being warned about the safety of imitation goods, following a rise in counterfeit products. According to KPMG, over the past two years, 39 cases involving a total of £116m of counterfeit and pirated goods have been prosecuted in the UK. The charity Electrical Safety First claimed websites such as Amazon and eBay were being misused by third-party sellers to exploit online shoppers and sell fake and potentially dangerous goods.

Billy Connolly stands down – Scotland’s famous comedian is retiring from live performances. After 50 years of standup, the Glaswegian, 76, conceded in an interview with the Radio Times that his touring days were behind him. He also revealed he had tried medicinal cannabis to treat his Parkinson’s disease, likened Donald Trump to Adolf Hitler, and rebutted Michael Parkinson’s claim that his illness had “dulled” his brain.

Ring’s return – A British couple who suffered the nightmare of losing their engagement ring after their proposal in New York are to be reunited with it after police retrieved it and located them through an online appeal. CCTV video captured the aftermath when John Drennan and Daniella Anthony were searching for their ring through a subway grate. “I can still visualise the ring. Bouncing once … bouncing twice and then it was gone,” Drennan said. NYPD officers later recovered it, but could not find the couple so put out an appeal on Twitter. The couple, who do not use Twitter, knew nothing about the search until a friend told them.

Today in Focus podcast: Honduras, a dam and the murder of Berta Cáceres

Seven men have been convicted of the murder of an award-winning environmental activist in Honduras. But has justice been done for Berta Cáceres? The Guardian’s Nina Lakhani explores what the case says about the state of modern Honduras. Plus: Mark Townsend on how easy it is to buy converted firearms in the UK

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Demonstrators hold signs outside a court during the trial of the men charged with the murder of indigenous environmental activist Berta Cáceres. Photograph: Jorge Cabrera/Reuters

Lunchtime read: Lars von Trier on filmmaking and fear: ‘Sometimes, alcohol is the only thing that will help’

Lars von Trier has a new film coming out and, no surprise, it is a full-blown assault on the senses. The House That Jack Built casts Matt Dillon, that 80s beefcake, as a smirking psychopath who views his killings as performance art and his grisly trophies as stand-alone installations. Von Trier’s story is intentionally brutal; it dares you to stick with it. But the shock of watching the film is nothing compared with the shock of meeting its maker.

Play Video 2:44 The trailer for Lars von Trier's 'The House That Jack Built' – video

It is perhaps the fate of all enfants terribles to eventually slip up and be trampled. But von Trier has fallen harder than most and been steamrollered more thoroughly. He was the impish scourge of bourgeois sensibilities, a gleeful chronicler of so much human cruelty. Now he is physically spent and emotionally shot. His tussle with alcohol and depression has taken its toll. He believes his ill-starred 13th feature will be his movie swan song. “When I saw it on screen, I felt that very strongly,” he said. “It looked to me like some kind of last testament.”

Sport

The cycling community has paid tribute to much-loved commentator and former British national champion Paul Sherwen, who has died aged 62. A veteran of seven Tours de France as a rider and 33 as a commentator, the Lancashire-born broadcaster was credited with building cycling’s following around the world due to his passionate work both with NBC Sports in the United States and SBS in Australia.

Liverpool manager Jürgen Klopp has apologised to his Everton counterpart Marco Silva after his impassioned on-field celebrations following Divock Origi’s bizarre 96th-minute winner in the Merseyside derby. Everton goalkeeper Jordan Pickford has apologised to fans after his role in conceding the late winner, which bounced twice upwards off the crossbar before being headed home.

And, Tyson Fury has savaged the judges’ scoring of his controversial draw with Deontay Wilder, telling gathered media “I’ve never seen a worse decision in my life.” Promoter Frank Warren and the BBBC have confirmed they will complain officially to the World Boxing Council.

Business

International share markets have bounced today in the wake of an apparent trade war truce between the leaders of the US and China at the G20 in Argentina at the weekend. China’s Shanghai Composite led the way with a jump of 3% on optimism about Donald Trump’s agreement to delay introducing tariffs on Chinese goods for 90 days. The FTSE100 is expected to open up by a whopping 1.7%. The pound is buying $1.277 and €1.125.

Meanwhile, UK and US insurers are lagging far behind European firms when it comes to divesting from fossil-fuel businesses, according to campaigners.

The papers

The Guardian leads today with the opening story in our new series on bias in Britain with: “Racism in Britain: the stark truth uncovered”. The paper also features a story on Brexit: “May faces contempt threat over Brexit advice”.

Photograph: The Guardian

This story is the splash on the Daily Telegraph: “Backstop is ‘bad for Britain’, May told” and Brexit features on several front pages, including the Times (“DUP threat to abandon support for May in vote”), the i (“Parliament versus Downing Street”) and the Daily Express (“Pledge for new EU poll is ‘gross betrayal’”), which is outraged at a bid to “force” a second referendum.

The Sun has the story that the mother of Baby P has been granted contact with her children: “Baby P mum: Let me see my kids”, the FT has: “Shell yields to investors by setting target to cut its carbon footprint”. The Daily Mail says “You’ve done us proud, Britain!” as it celebrates the response to its call for volunteers to aid the NHS and the Mirror launches its own Christmas campaign “Help feed hungry kids”.

For more news: www.theguardian.com

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