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President receives public Covid jab after FDA and CDC carved out fewer categories than he hoped of Americans eligible for third dose

An SPD-led coalition would be in the country’s best interests, but after a knife-edge result, there is no guarantee one will emergeLess than two years ago, the German Social Democratic party stood at 11% in the polls and appeared to be a moribund political force. Sunday’s knife-edge federal election, in which the SPD narrowly topped the polls with 26% of the vote, represents therefore one of the more improbable political comebacks of recent times. It is also a personal vindication for Olaf Scholz, the party’s candidate for chancellor. As the SPD bumped along in a poor third place, behind the Christian Democrats (CDU/CSU) and the Greens, Mr Scholz’s conviction that he could still win the top job was treated as fantasy politics from the representative of a party on the road to nowhere. But as his rivals became increasingly accident-prone during a rollercoaster campaign, Mr Scholz’s suggestion that he represented the safest pair of hands to take Germany beyond the Merkel era became ever more plausible.Whether he will get the chance to do so is still up in the air, and is likely to remain so for some time. The election has delivered a fragmentary political landscape with a near-perfect balance of forces between left and right. Chastened after the worst performance in its history, the CDU nevertheless finished only two percentage points behind the SPD. And while the Greens scored their best-ever result in finishing third, their influence in forthcoming coalition negotiations is almost matched by the economically liberal FDP, which opposes tax rises and is committed to restoring debt restrictions loosened during the pandemic. Preliminary negotiations between these two “kingmakers” will help determine whether the future coalition tilts left or right. Right now, the only certainty is that, for the first time since the 1950s, Germany will be governed by a three-party coalition. Continue reading...

Home side had the better players but Pádraig Harrington didn’t help himself with his wildcards or partnershipsThe most fundamental and important, if boring, point. On paper, USA had the stronger Ryder Cup team by a considerable margin. If they played to their full potential, Europe would not have enough strength in depth to compete with them. And so it proved; there was not a single failure in the home team, justifying their heavy favouritism before a ball was struck. Sport would be a terribly dull place if expected outcomes based on talent level was the outcome all the time but in this case it was precisely what happened. Every USA player returned at least a point, three Europeans won none. Continue reading...

Hinckley, who was 25 when he shot and wounded the president in 1981, can be released from all court supervision if he follows rulesA federal judge has said John Hinckley Jr, who tried to assassinate Ronald Reagan 40 years ago, can be freed from all remaining restrictions next year if he continues to follow those rules and remains mentally stable.Related: Close calls: when American presidents diced with death Continue reading...

Shares soar as, along with ITP Aero sale, firm wins multibillion-dollar contract from US air forceRolls-Royce has sold its Spanish business for €1.7bn and won a multibillion-dollar contract from the US air force, prompting a FTSE 100 leading share price surge as investors cheered signs of the jet engine maker’s post-pandemic recovery.Shares in the company soared by more than 10% on Monday, sending its stock to its highest level since the early weeks of the Covid crisis in March 2020, after the company announced the sale of its Spanish ITP Aero unit to a consortium led by the US private equity firm Bain Capital. Continue reading...

Value of UK energy firm, which has taken on customers from collapsed rivals, put at $4.6bnOctopus Energy, which has been taking on customers from collapsed rival suppliers, has secured up to $600m (£438m) from an investment fund set up by the former US vice-president Al Gore.Generation Investment Management (GIM), a $36bn fund manager that finances businesses focused on sustainability and tackling climate change, will take a stake of up to 13% in a deal that values Octopus at $4.6bn. Continue reading...

Sheriff’s deputy violated free speech protections when he asked Amyiah Cohoon, 16, to remove post about virus that ‘upset’ parentsA federal judge ruled that a Wisconsin sheriff violated free speech protections guaranteed by the first amendment when he asked a teen to remove an Instagram post about Covid-19 that “upset” local parents in March last year.Related: How the US vaccine effort derailed and why we shouldn’t be surprised Continue reading...

The pragmatic chancellor’s departure will be a turning point not only for Germany but also the EUDuring a farewell tour of European heads of state and government this summer, Angela Merkel went to see the Queen. The few filmed minutes of her arrival in Windsor are irresistible. On one side, the Queen in a green floral dress, her smile controlled by centuries of code and tradition. On the other, a shy-seeming woman in trousers and purple jacket, nodding her head too many times, trying to observe the correct rituals for greeting a monarch. Elizabeth and Angela: two opposite worlds, two entirely different functions, and yet, similarities. Those boring speeches no one dares to make any more. That style, that calm, that stability and that way of embodying their countries.Merkel now embodies more than Germany; she embodies Europe. She’s a pop icon, who has entered our consciousness like a song. Mugs, T-shirts and even lemon squeezers are sold in her image. But her rise and longevity remain a mystery. How could this woman, so strangely indifferent to the trappings of power, take over a party held for half a century by conservative males, and then be elected four times in a row to lead one of the world’s great powers? How did she become such a role model that a schoolboy once asked her in all innocence: “Can a boy also become chancellor?” Continue reading...

Congresswoman tweets response to bizarre insult before telling CBS how she plans to fight Trumpists in re-election battleOne of the less dignified spats in US politics has rumbled onwards as the Wyoming Republican Liz Cheney responded to a bizarre insult from Donald Trump.Related: ‘He knows he lost’: Georgia Republican opposes Trump before rally in Perry Continue reading...

We shouldn’t be surprised by low vaccine rates, health researchers say. Plus the 21 biggest style tribes of 2021Since the first coronavirus vaccines were approved, the US bought enough to inoculate the entire population, and even potentially embark on a round of booster shots, but health professionals have found an essential element to a successful vaccination campaign has been lacking: trust.That low confidence has garnered the US an unenviable distinction – in mid-September it became the least vaccinated member of the world’s seven most populous and wealthy democracies, or G7, which includes Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy and Japan. Continue reading...

The best images from the three days of competition at Whistling Straits as Europe suffered a record defeat against a young Team US Continue reading...

Working from home has made life easier for many people. But easier or more convenient working conditions shouldn’t come at a cost to workers; they should simply be a part of good corporate practiceAfter months of remote work, many Americans are less than thrilled at the prospect of returning to the office. Despite the efforts of many employers and government officials to bring people back into the physical workplace, the last thing many employees who are at home want to do is start commuting again.What is surprising, though, is just how much some workers are willing to surrender to their employers in order to keep the remote work arrangement going. A recent GoodHire study found that 61% of survey respondents would be willing to take a pay cut to maintain remote working status. Seventy percent of those surveyed also said that they would forfeit benefits like health insurance, paid time off and retirement accounts in order to keep working remotely. Continue reading...

Basketball players were among those who campaigned to remove Donald Trump from office. But clear injustices in America still remain“We want fair treatment for Haitian refugees”.Those are the words NBA hall of famer Dikembe Mutombo used when I asked him about the Haitian refugees being brutalized and subject to mass deportations at the US-Mexico border. It’s a statement that shouldn’t need any more explanation in a country that once said: “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free”. Continue reading...

In ‘canned’ hunts, captive animals are shot for meat and trophies but ranchers say they need to make money and exotic animals offer a steady revenueIn the rolling expanse of rural west Texas, a Southern white rhinoceros named Killian has learned to come when he’s called. Killian stands there like a big fat puppy, hoping someone will dare to pet him. He and his rhino companion, Sebastian, like rubdowns far better than treats.We are standing on Ox Ranch, a more than 18,000-acre property in Texas crawling with exotic animals. Some are gunned down by paying guests for trophies. Others, like Killian and Sebastian, live here just for show. There are an estimated 8,000 animals on the land – but if CEO Jason Molitor has to pick his favorites, it’s the two rhinos. Continue reading...

The Pittsburgh Steelers hoped the quarterback’s experience and savvy would be enough for one final playoff run. That theory looks seriously misguidedThe only thing more painful than moving on from a franchise quarterback too quickly is holding on to one too long.Three weeks into the season, it has become painfully clear that the Pittsburgh Steelers miscalculated in bringing back Ben Roethlisberger for one final ride. The future Hall of Famer is well and truly cooked. And now the Steelers, who are 1-2 after losing to the Bengals on Sunday, are staring down the prospect of finishing last in their division for the first time since 1988. Continue reading...

Low vaccine rates may be the predictable outcome subject to entrenched social forces that have diminished American health and life expectancy since the 1980s, health researchers sayDr Claudia Fegan’s patient was a congenial, articulate and unvaccinated 27-year-old deli worker who contracted Covid-19 and became so ill he required at-home oxygen treatments.Now recuperating, he told his doctor his 64-year-old boss had been vaccinated, and she too was sickened with a “breakthrough” case. However, she only had mild symptoms. Continue reading...

I am the daughter of a former Afghan president. I am sharing my story for the first time because I see history repeating itself

Steve Stricker’s six debutants contributed the majority of the points in a resounding, record-breaking victoryWhat began on Friday morning as an opportunity for American redemption after recent Ryder Cup disappointments ended on Sunday afternoon with a record-breaking victory that doubles as an ominous statement of intent for the years ahead.Even before Xander Schauffele smacked a ball into the overcast Wisconsin blue toward the shimmering waters of Lake Michigan to kick off Sunday’s dozen singles matches, the victory celebrations were already in full swing all over the horseshoe-shaped grandstand encircling the first tee, where rowdy spectators clad in red, white and blue sucked down tall cans of beer and sang the Star-Spangled Banner and God Bless America between resounding chants of “U-S-A! U-S-A!” Continue reading...

Steve Stricker’s brilliant USA side routed Europe by a record score of 19-9 at Whistling Straits11.32pm BSTCongratulations to the USA for their record win, then, and commiserations to Europe. A reminder that Ewan Murray’s verdict has landed, all the way from Whistling Straits. You know what to do: clickity click. Thanks to you all for reading this blog. Nighty night!Related: Ryder Cup: Team USA romp to victory as Morikawa seals winning half point11.29pm BSTAs for Europe? Well, it was a week to forget, though what resistance shown by Jon Rahm and Sergio Garcia! There were also moments for Tyrrell Hartton, Shane Lowry, Tommy Fleetwood and Viktor Hovland, plus valedictory singles wins for the veteran duo Lee Westwood and Ian Poulter. Oh, and Rory McIlroy’s defiant Sunday best and bittersweet emotional interview. So no, it wasn’t great ... but it wasn’t all bad either, was it? All roads lead to Rome now, so here’s to them regrouping along the way. Continue reading...

A 30-year-old woman was arrested on suspicion of starting the blaze that grew explosively in hot and gusty weatherFirefighters were gaining the upper hand on Sunday on a forest fire that displaced thousands and destroyed more than 100 buildings near Shasta Lake in northern California.Lighter winds and cooler temperatures slowed the Fawn fire as it moved toward the shores of California’s largest man-made lake and away from populated areas north of the city of Redding, allowing crews to increase containment to 35%, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection said. Continue reading...

The cause of the accident was not immediately clear and federal safety authorities will investigateAt least three people were killed on Saturday afternoon when an Amtrak train that runs between Seattle and Chicago derailed in north-central Montana, toppling several cars onto their sides, authorities said.The westbound Empire Builder train derailed at about 4pm near Joplin, a town of about 200, Amtrak spokesman Jason Abrams said. The accident scene is about 150 miles north-east of Helena and about 30 miles from the border with Canada. Continue reading...

Speaker says she will work to build consensus on Biden’s separate $3.5tn social agenda, which has caused division within the partyThe House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, said on Sunday Democrats will pass a $1tn bipartisan infrastructure bill this week.Related: ‘We couldn’t be more inconsistent’: discordant Democrats imperil Biden’s agenda Continue reading...

Seven cars of an Amtrak train travelling through north-central Montana came off the rails in an accident on Saturday. The cause of the derailment is not yet clear, and the National Transportation Safety Board has said it will investigate

Top voting official Brad Raffensperger dismayed that former president uses lies to fundraiseThe top election official in Georgia, a Republican, said Donald Trump unequivocally lost the state in 2020, a day before a rally on Saturday night at which Trump repeated baseless accusations of voter fraud.Related: Arizona Republican ‘audit’ finds even bigger lead for Biden in 2020 election Continue reading...

Critics say Biden’s national security adviser should have considered the worst case scenarioOn the afternoon of 30 August, a White House aide brought a note into the Oval Office confirming that the last US military plane had left Afghan airspace, marking the moment America’s longest war had come to an end.Joe Biden was with a team of advisers and on receiving the news he asked two of them, secretary of state Tony Blinken and national security adviser Jake Sullivan, to accompany him to his private dining room to mark the moment with a call to the defence secretary, Lloyd Austin. Continue reading...

Anti-choice groups are embarrassed that their draconian law is being enforced the way it was designed

Hangar 1 collaborated with Crimson Wine group to salvage Napa-grown fruit for a specialty vodka with charitable intentionsWhen the haze from last year’s Glass fire settled over Napa Valley, all seemed lost for the region’s grapes. Most were tinged with ash and smoke before they could be pulled from the vines, rendering them useless for winemaking. But it gave a spirit distillery in nearby Alameda an idea.Hangar 1, which specializes in crafting sustainable and locally sourced spirits, reached out to their partners at an affected winery to see if they could turn the wasted grapes into vodka. Continue reading...

The Amazon boss turned up late and then told the PM to get on with his job. As Jennifer Acuri points out, it’s tough in New York“Look, you can fake it everywhere else, maybe try it in Los Angeles, but they’ll eat you alive in New York.” That’s a piece of advice Jennifer Arcuri says she once gave Boris Johnson. It doesn’t seem like he took it because, on Monday, he was in New York meeting Jeff Bezos and it didn’t seem to go very well.We know about this Arcuri tip because on Tuesday she was talking about Johnson via video link to the London Assembly’s oversight committee. By an oversight, the committee seems to have been confusingly named. Is it a committee concerned with overseeing what the mayor of London does or with oversights that he has committed? Or does that amount to the same thing? Continue reading...

The removal of Gen Robert E Lee’s statue – a target for Black Lives Matter protesters – from Monument Avenue has sparked a debate on public art in VirginiaAll but one plinth is now bare on Monument Avenue in Richmond, Virginia.Where once stood enormous statues glorifying Confederate leaders, on a thoroughfare that memorialized a white supremacist past in the former capital of the Confederacy, there is now empty space. The only monument that remains is of a black man: the Richmond native and renowned tennis player and activist Arthur Ashe. Continue reading...

The death of Gabby Petito draws attention to a form of widespread gendered violence in the US that has long been hiding in plain sightThe last week of July, as Gabby Petito and her fiance, Brian Laundrie, posted Instagram photos of themselves hiking barefoot in Utah’s Canyonlands national park, bronzed skin matching apricot-colored rocks, the body of Jerri Winters was discovered in Clinton Township, Michigan.Her boyfriend, Matthew Lewinski, immediately admitted to the police he strangled her last December, keeping her mutilated body in the basement of the home they shared for months. Continue reading...

Slumping approval ratings, political deadlock at home and blunders on foreign policy leave the White House facing its moment of truthIs Joe Biden failing? Less than nine months into his presidency, rising numbers of Americans and not a few foreign allies appear to think so. Polls last week by Gallup and Rasmussen put his national approval rating at minus 10 points. His overall poll average is minus 4. That compares with a positive approval rating of 19 points in January when he took office.These figures suggest one of the steepest ever early falls in presidential popularity is under way. Jolting, too, is a new Harvard-Harris survey giving Donald Trump a 48% favourability rating to Biden’s 46%. Among independent voters and in battleground states, the outlook for Democrats appears grim. In Iowa, 62% disapprove of Biden’s performance while 70% say the country is “on the wrong track”. Michigan and Virginia tell similar stories. Continue reading...

Staff attrition, high demand for appointments and enraged human clients have strained vet practices across the USEarly in the pandemic, Dr Monica Mansfield, a veterinarian based in Medway, Massachusetts, became haunted by a recurring nightmare.“There were these vulnerable kittens in my basement, and I forgot to feed them,” Mansfield recalls. “I’d wake up, terrified. ‘Oh my gosh, the kittens! Where are they?’ I felt like I was missing details and forgetting things that were critical to a case – that were critical to an animal’s life.” Continue reading...

Undermining female solidarity serves only to strengthen the grip of the patriarchyBlaming women for the ills of the world might appear an odd feminist call to action. But an idea gaining traction is that the “white feminism” dominant in the United States and the UK is not only a driving force of societal racism, but responsible for a host of other bad things, from the war on terror to the hypersexualisation of women in popular culture, to the dreadful abuses of power we see in international aid. It’s part of a growing tendency on the left to look for scapegoats at the cost of building the solidarity needed for social change.This is not to downplay the extent of racial inequalities in the UK, the way they affect women of colour and the structural racism that lies behind them. But it’s quite a jump to move from the observation that women are no more immune to racism than men to holding the feminist movement accountable for the plight of women of colour around the world. A new book, Against White Feminism, by Rafia Zakaria, makes precisely this case. To stack up the argument, she stereotypes feminism beyond recognition as a shallow, consumerist and exclusionary movement dominated by selfish white women who care little about scrutinising the male violence perpetrated by white men. Continue reading...

Party sees new urgency – and political opportunity – amid growing threat to Roe v WadeStanding on the lawn of the US Capitol, in clear view of the supreme court, a coalition of Democratic women declared Roe v Wade was no longer the law of the land.Related: House Democrats vote to establish federal right to abortion Continue reading...

While big corporations tell Americans how virtuous they are, they lobby up a storm against Biden’s social policy billIn recent years, “corporate social responsibility” has been viewed by some as the answer to the multiple failings of capitalism. Chief executives have responded to all sorts of problems – worsening climate change, widening inequality, soaring healthcare costs and so on – by promising their corporations will lead the way to solutions because they’re committed to being “socially responsible”.Related: House Democrats are scared to tax billionaires – that’s a costly mistake | Robert Reich Continue reading...

The Spanish wildcard, who for years feuded with the captain, broke Nick Faldo’s win record with a comeback for the agesRight about the time it was all as good as over, when the US fans at Whistling Straits were jeering the loudest, the wiseacres on social media were explaining where Europe had got it all wrong, just when your thumb was hovering over the TV remote, that was when it happened.Europe, already 6-2 down, were trailing in two of the Saturday morning foursome matches and all-square in the third. Their alpha pair, Sergio García and Jon Rahm, who had won the team’s only full point on the first day, had lost four of their first five holes on the second. It was not that they were playing so very badly, just that the USA pair of Brooks Koepka and Daniel Berger were playing that much better. Continue reading...

The US team had the upper hand again at Whistling Straits, leaving Europe hoping for a Sunday miracle12.26am BSTThat’s the end of another long day, and another painful one for Europe. They’re staring down the barrel now, and although nobody ever takes anything for granted in the Ryder Cup, they’ll need to improve on the Miracle of Medinah if they’re to keep hold of their trophy ... and this team have never looked capable of anything like that. Pity poor Jon Rahm and Sergio Garcia, though, who have been clocking up the points in what looks a futile if admirable effort. Thanks for reading this blog. Hope to see you tomorrow for the USA procession!12.19am BSTFleetwood nearly trundles in a chip; Hovland nearly drains his long birdie putt. But it’s too little, too late, and they pick up DeChambeau’s marker. Easy in the end, though that end came quickly with a four-hole salvo.3&1 Scheffler/DeChambeau v Fleetwood/Hovland (F)

Freed from the psychic baggage of two decades of failure, the youngest team in Ryder Cup history are so far battering EuropeThe generational shift that defines Steve Stricker’s US team continued to pay off handsomely on Saturday morning as the Americans moved closer to winning back the Ryder Cup along the windy, western shores of Lake Michigan.The youngest team in Ryder Cup history – average age: 29 – continued its rampage on the Straits Course and their European foes, winning three of the morning’s foursomes matches to take a 9-3 stranglehold on the proceedings and move within 5½ points of reclaiming the title. The Americans, who became the first team in competition history to lead by six or more points after three sessions, were threatening to not only win back the Ryder Cup but run away with it as the groups went off for Saturday afternoon’s fourballs. Continue reading...

Judge granted temporary injunction and referred the case to a three-judge panel while mandate was set to go into effect MondayNew York City schools have been temporarily blocked from enforcing a vaccine mandate for teachers and other workers by a federal appeals judge, days before it was to take effect.Related: CDC overrides advisory panel to back Pfizer booster for Americans with high-risk jobs Continue reading...

Senate minority leader says he will ‘cross those bridges when I get there’ as expert says court may have reached a ‘turning point’At the end of a week in which Mitch McConnell refused to rule out blocking a Joe Biden supreme court pick if Republicans take the Senate next year, an expert said the court may have reached a “turning point” regarding public perception of its politicisation and need for reform.Related: Amy Coney Barrett says the supreme court aren’t ‘partisan hacks’. Oh really? | David Sirota Continue reading...