Sanae Takaichi gets no meeting with Chinese premier Li Qiang at the G20 in Johannesburg after her comments about Taiwan sent tensions soaring

When she selected her wardrobe for this weekend’s G20 summit in South Africa, Japan’s prime minister, Sanae Takaichi, took extra care to choose something that – in her words – would “give her the upper hand” in negotiations.

But she never got the opportunity to test the theory in what would have been her most pressing engagement – talks with the Chinese premier, Li Qiang, aimed at easing a deepening diplomatic row between the north-east Asian neighbours.

Actor who appeared in My Own Private Idaho, Blade, Armageddon and Dogville, as well as Madonna music videos and video games, died on Sunday

Udo Kier, the German actor who appeared in 275 roles across Hollywood and European cinema, including multiple films by Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Gus Van Sant and Lars von Trier, has died aged 81.

Kier died on Sunday morning, his partner Delbert McBride told Variety. The actor died in hospital in Palm Springs, California, his friend the photographer Michael Childers announced on social media. No cause of death was given.

In the wake of US strikes Tehran is exploring a softer diplomatic approach – even as its leaders fear further conflict and crackdowns intensify at home

Iran is taking its first faltering steps to boost its dismal soft power abilities, spotting a slim opening to improve regional relations after Donald Trump’s June bombing campaign and Israel’s attack on Hamas negotiators in Qatar unsettled Gulf states.

The tentative foreign policy tweaks are born in part of necessity: much of Iran’s network of regional military alliances has been dismantled in recent years. But there is also a feeling in Tehran that Trump’s trampling over international law gives it an opportunity to forge less disruptive alliances with Arab neighbours.

‘She is the daughter of immigrants,’ supporters of her cruel asylum policies say. ‘How can she be wrong?’ Let me put them straight

Over the past couple of weeks, Shabana Mahmood has launched not only her new asylum crackdown policy, but also her “story”. The two are inseparable: her story justifies the crackdown. It moralises the crackdown. And it silences criticism of the crackdown. Sold as an origin story from within an immigrant and racialised experience, the purpose is to imbue her politics with sacred authenticity – the credibility of the first person. It is clever and effective. It is cynical and disgraceful.

“I am the child of immigrants” is how Mahmood now starts her fable. Immigrants who came here legally. She goes on to tell us that immigration is tearing this country apart, and proposes policies that mean UK-born children, who have known no life anywhere else, will be deported. As she launches policies that will leave refugees homeless and without support, tear families apart, punish those legally in the country for claiming any benefits and make settlement and security a long and arduous process, Mahmood declares: “this is a moral mission for me”.

Nesrine Malik is a Guardian columnist

Two leading journalists from both sides of the border warn against another ‘vague, thumbs up-thumbs down’ vote

A decade after the UK stumbled into a hasty referendum that polarised the nation and unleashed chaos, a warning comes from across the Irish Sea: it could happen again.

The government and voters sleepwalked into Brexit and the same may happen with a referendum on a united Ireland, triggering convulsions for which no one is ready.

The Thor actor and his father try to stave off the latter’s symptoms by taking a road trip to old haunts. It becomes a moving treatise on the sadness of letting go of a parent

Celebrities are forever taking their parents on televised road trips, and they’re usually cheap, easy commissions. Look how self-deprecating I am, says the famous person as they try to award themselves national treasure status by moving into light-factual programming: the person who knows me best is about to mildly embarrass me on holiday!

Be assured that Chris Hemsworth: A Road Trip to Remember is a more serious endeavour. It features some intergenerational joshing as the guy from the Thor movies goes on a motorcycle ride with his old fella, but this is a journey filled with a wistful, desperate longing, towards a destination nobody can quite reach. Craig Hemsworth, 71, has early-stage Alzheimer’s. His mental faculties are starting to slip. But his boy is a Hollywood star, with the resources of a TV company behind him. Can he help?

Musicologist Peter Wollny chanced upon the manuscripts in 1992 and authenticating them took half of his lifetime

The best fictional detectives are famed for their intuition, an ability to spot some seemingly ineffable discrepancy. Peter Wollny, the musicologist behind last week’s “world sensational” revelation of two previously unknown works by Johann Sebastian Bach, had a funny feeling when he chanced upon two intriguing sheets of music in a dusty library in 1992.

His equivalent of the Columbo turn, from mere hunch to unravelling a secret, would take up half his life.

Former PM to examine issue of trust in politics and Oscar-winning actor’s show will discuss AI

The former prime minister Theresa May is to guest edit Radio 4’s Today programme and use it to explore the issue of dwindling trust in politics.

May, who resigned in 2019 with a tearful statement about the honour she felt in holding the office, will edit Today on New Year’s Eve.

It has been a difficult week for those working with refugees and migrants in the UK, after Labour announced controversial new plans. Sadly, Solomon is used to such turmoil. He discusses hostility, hope and asylum hotels

Enver Solomon, chief executive of the Refugee Council, is at his home in London when I meet him. It’s the start of a gruesome week. The home secretary, Shabana Mahmood, has just announced that refugees could have their status revoked at any time if the country from which they fled is deemed safe; the pathway from being granted asylum to getting citizenship would increase to 20 years; AI would be used to establish a refugee’s age; and – a strikingly nasty idea – the jewellery of those arriving in the UK could be seized.

While media commentators puzzled over whether this would be enough red meat for Labour to see off Reform, this must surely have been a new low for Solomon? “There’s been lots of terrible weeks,” he says. “So I’m used to it.” He looks neat, open and determined, and his kitchen is incredibly yellow and cheerful, which I put down to sheer effort of will to look on the bright side.

Brazil’s former president says he took a soldering iron to electronic tag as he was hallucinating that it was bugged

Brazil’s far-right former president Jair Bolsonaro has claimed he took a soldering iron to his electronic ankle monitor after having a substance-induced “psychotic attack” that caused him to hallucinate that the device was bugged.

Bolsonaro made the claim during a custody hearing on Sunday, 24 hours after he was arrested at his home in the capital, Brasília, amid suspicions he was planning to abscond to a foreign embassy to avoid being sent to jail to serve a 27-year sentence for masterminding a failed coup.

Weeks before the Manchester cheating story broke, I published a murder mystery novel with almost the same plot. It’s no coincidence

You probably saw the recent story about a publican who grew suspicious of a team that won his pub quiz every week. He and his staff set about trying to discover exactly how they were cheating. Do you fancy testing your knowledge and recall of topical news? Before you read the next paragraph, for one point name the pub, and for two points name the suburb of Manchester where it’s located.

Although I have never set foot in The Barking Dog, or Urmston, as soon as this story broke, my inbox was full of friends and strangers forwarding the link and expressing their amazement – not only because it’s a classic hero’s quest in which good wins against evil, but also because it’s a strange case of life imitating art. This autumn, I published The Killer Question, a crime fiction novel with a plot almost identical to this, albeit with a murder mystery woven in, which admittedly the Urmston case lacks.

Vineyard owners say sales slump, Trump tariffs and worst harvest in 70 years have put producers in danger of closure

French winemakers are often accused of viewing the glass as half empty. Dire warnings about the state of the sector – one of the three pillars of the country’s economy – are a hardy perennial blamed on everything from geopolitics to a drop in the number of drinkers.

Before a crisis meeting with the agriculture minister on Monday, vineyard owners say an unprecedented series of setbacks, including some of the worst harvests in 70 years, has left many of them on their last legs.

Charities say vulnerable young people are being failed by local authorities, the police and central government

More than 2,000 children who have been trafficked or who arrived in the UK alone to claim asylum disappeared from social services’ care last year, according to freedom of information data shared with the Guardian.

The authors of a report, Until Harm Ends, submitted FoI requests to children’s services departments in councils across England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland asking for information about trafficked children and those who arrived alone in the UK and claimed asylum, who then went missing after being taken into care.

Morgan Geyser of Wisconsin cut off her electronic monitoring device and was last seen with an acquaintance

A Wisconsin woman who admitted to stabbing a classmate nearly to death in 2014 to please the online horror character Slender Man is missing after she cut off an electronic monitoring device and left a group home, authorities said on Sunday.

Madison police issued an alert on Sunday for Morgan Geyser, now 23, saying she was last seen around 8pm on Saturday with an adult acquaintance.

In-app notifications go out this week to users believed to be aged under 16 ahead of 10 December social media ban

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Snapchat is about to begin alerting some users that their accounts will be deactivated when Australia’s under-16s social media ban takes effect from 10 December.

Users that the platform assesses are likely to be aged under 16 were due to begin getting notifications about the ban this week in-app, via email or SMS.

Musician and actor tells LA audience that doctors also found a hole in his heart requiring surgery

Donald Glover, who performs under the name Childish Gambino, has revealed he had a stroke last year which forced him to cancel world tour dates.

At the time the 42-year-old said he was dealing with an “ailment” after performing in New Orleans and had gone to a hospital in Houston, where he discovered he needed surgery. He subsequently postponed, then entirely cancelled the remainder of his US tour, as well as all of his UK, European and Australian dates, writing: “Unfortunately, my path to recovery is taking longer than expected.”

• Tackle forces Mallía off with suspected serious injury

• Borthwick insists England forward is ‘respectful guy’

Tom Curry found himself at the centre of a storm after England’s win against Argentina, as Felipe Contepomi accused the flanker not only of a “reckless” tackle on Juan Cruz Mallía but of shoving him, the Pumas’ coach, in the tunnel afterwards. Mallía, the full-back, was forced off late on with what is thought to be an anterior cruciate ligament injury, which meant Argentina, who had used all their replacements, had to finish the match with 14 men.

“How old is he?” said Contepomi of Curry. “Twenty-seven? And strong. And I am 48 and he comes and just [shoves me]. I was standing there. He was coming in to say hi to one of our coaches, but we said no because we were upset. I said: ‘Man, you broke his knee,’ and he said: ‘Fuck off,’ and pushed me like that.

• ‘When a player has such a talent, these things happen’

• Frank ‘disappointed’ by Spurs’ performance in 4-1 loss

Mikel Arteta credited Eberechi Eze for adding an “aura” to the Arsenal team after he scored the first hat-trick of his career to haunt Tottenham and send Arsenal six points clear at the top of the Premier League.

Eze was close to joining Spurs from Crystal Palace in the summer before they were gazumped by their north London rivals and the England international made them pay after Leandro Trossard had opened the scoring.

• Everton manager says United needed rebuild in 2013

• Moyes goes to Old Trafford with United on good run

David Moyes has said he believed Manchester United needed a long-term rebuild when he succeeded Sir Alex Ferguson in 2013 and the subsequent upheaval at Old Trafford represents a departure from the club’s values.

Speaking before Monday’s return to Old Trafford with Everton, Moyes admitted his 11-month spell as United manager “didn’t work for different reasons” but insisted it has been consigned firmly to the past. However, despite inheriting a title-winning squad from Ferguson, Moyes said United’s wait for a 21st league title has come as no great surprise.

Move aims to bring in extra £1.2bn of savings as government seeks to head off criticism over welfare spending

• You be the chancellor: play our budget game

Rachel Reeves will launch a fresh crackdown on benefit fraud at the same time as lifting the two-child limit for universal credit at a cost of £3bn, as ministers seek to head off criticism over rising welfare spending in the budget.

The chancellor has made the decision to scrap the two-child limit in full, a move that will be welcomed by Labour MPs who have long highlighted its effect on increasing child poverty.

Freezing income tax thresholds for an extra two years to 2030, bringing more people into higher tax bands as wages rise.

Making salary sacrifice schemes less generous, including those for pension contributions.

A pay-per-mile scheme on electric cars to help fill the tax gap from petrol duty as more people opt for green vehicles.

Bringing in higher tax on the most expensive properties, including a surcharge on the highest-value houses. The surcharge will reportedly be targeted at homes worth more than £2m, after worries that a lower £1.5m threshold would hit too many in the south-east.

• Italians win singles matches against Busta and Munar

• Alcaraz and Sinner both absent for Davis Cup final

Italy have been crowned Davis Cup champions for a third successive year, after victory over Spain. The two teams reached the final despite the absence of their respective star players Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz in Bologna this week.

And it was Italy who retained their title after Matteo Berrettini and Flavio Cobolli won their singles matches on Sunday. Berrettini beat Pablo Carreño Busta 6-3, 6-4 in the opening contest and an entertaining tussle between Cobolli and Jaume Munar followed in which the Italian charged back to win 1-6, 7-6 (5), 7-5.

• Detroit and Kansas City avoid costly defeats

• New England confirm place as AFC No 1 seeds

Brandon Aubrey kicked a 42-yard field goal as time expired after Dak Prescott rallied Dallas from a 21-point deficit and the Cowboys beat the Philadelphia Eagles in a mistake-filled thriller.

Former prime minister says he wants to join ranks of those pressing for more checks on men who may have disease

David Cameron has disclosed he was treated for prostate cancer and has called for a targeted screening programme.

The former prime minister said he had a prostate-specific antigen (PSA) test, which looks for proteins associated with the form of the disease. The result was high and he subsequently had a biopsy that revealed the cancer.

Delegates made minimal headway on timetable for replacing oil and gas or on firm commitments to reducing carbon emissions

“Right now, our people are losing their lives and livelihoods from storms of unprecedented strength which are being powered by warming seas. Our coral reefs, the lifeblood of our islands’ food systems, culture and economies are at a tipping point in dieback. Forest ecosystems are at a tipping point. The window to protect lives and economies is closing.”

While 194 countries argued for more than 12 hours on Friday night over the final details of what should be voluntary and what should be a legally binding commitment as the Cop30 UN climate summit drew to a close, Steven Victor, the environment minister of Palau, tried to remind them of what they were fighting for: people’s lives.