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Clifford Farrar collapsed after seeking care last year. His death exposes the health crisis in Washington state prisonsOn a cold December day in 2021, the echoes of an emergency code cut through the bustling sounds of the Stafford Creek corrections center in Aberdeen, Washington.The alarm could mean there had been a scuffle at the poker table, an officer was having a bad day, or a new lockdown due to yet another Covid outbreak was being imposed. Continue reading...

After almost a week of counting, Republicans look set to retake the house with a narrow margin. Plus, media groups urge world leaders to impose climate tax on fossil fuel firms

Prior to the shooting, the city grappled with police corruption, entrenched gun culture and the lasting wounds of segregation. Now the illusion of ‘Uvalde Strong’ has ruptured as families demand changeThis story was originally published by The Trace, a non-profit newsroom covering gun violence in America. Sign up for its newsletters here.It took most of the summer for the Uvalde school district to fire Pete Arredondo, the chief of the district police department whose blunders were largely blamed for the high number of casualties at the horrific mass shooting at Robb elementary school. The families of the victims acknowledged that it was the first real response to community demands for accountability, but parents, grandparents and siblings have not stopped organizing to oust – by protest or by election – those who were in charge on 24 May. Now, they’re fighting to change gun laws in Texas, a state that prohibits its agencies from enforcing any gun control legislation passed since January 2021. Continue reading...

It’s time to ditch the generations-long argument between those who blame overpopulation and those who worry about consumption

Just three of Gregg Berhalter’s roster for Qatar have Latino roots. But many inside the game believe the coach should be given the benefit of the doubtSpanish-speaking soccer fans of a certain age have grown up listening to broadcasters refer to the US men’s national team as “el equipo de todos” – everyone’s team, representing the diverse cultural backgrounds that make up America. But the 26-player US squad for this year’s World Cup, which kicks off on 20 November, has just three players representing the Latinos and Latinas who provide a considerable share of the game’s supporters in the US.Forward Jesus Ferreira moved from Colombia to Texas when he was 10, midfielder Cristian Roldan’s parents are from El Salvador and Honduras, and Gio Reyna’s grandfather is Argentinian. Luca de la Torre, whose father is Spanish, provides another Hispanic presence, but he isn’t Latino. And one would have to stretch the definition of Latino to count Kellyn Acosta, whose paternal step-grandfather is Mexican. Ricardo Pepi, the Mexican American striker who settled a heated battle over his services by choosing the US over his family’s native country, was left out. Continue reading...

County leaders say they fear ex-president is even more divisive than he was two years ago and is therefore unelectableTerri Burl was an early member of Women for Trump. As chair of her local Republican party branch in northern Wisconsin, she twice campaigned vigorously for his election in the key swing state. By the time Trump left office, Burl rated him the greatest president since Ronald Reagan. Maybe even better.But now Burl has had enough. Continue reading...

Former US first lady rules out possibility of running for president herself in futureMichelle Obama has said Donald Trump’s rise to power in the 2016 US election “still hurts” but she and her husband had “laid a marker in the sand” with his presidency.The former first lady said “leadership matters” but ruled out the possibility of running for president herself in future. Continue reading...

Height confers obvious advantages in basketball. But super tall players are often more susceptible to injury and smaller stars have thrived at the topWhen word began to circulate, there was great hope. What could this 7ft 7in giant from Sudan named Manute Bol do in the NBA? Could his defense and shot blocking make memories of the greatest defenders like Bill Russell vanish? In his book, Manute: The Center of Two Worlds, author Leigh Montville describes the efforts to bring Bol from Africa to the United States to find out what he was capable of. In the end, though, Bol didn’t have a legendary career. Yes, he was a fan favorite, known, strangely, as much for games in which he hit multiple three-pointers as he was for his blocked shots. But while Bol led the NBA in blocks twice, he averaged just 2.6 points and 4.2 rebounds per games across his career. Even his teammate, the much smaller Charles Barkley, would deride and prank Bol, not worried about retribution.But Bol’s career – like that of many super-tall, super-short and even rather heavy players – raises a question. In a sport that is regularly defined by height, does size really matter in the NBA? This subject comes into focus again today with the frenzy over the potential of the 7ft 4in French prospect Victor Wembanyama, who plays as fluidly as All-Stars like the 6ft 8in Jayson Tatum and who can defend as well as giants like the 7ft 1in three-time NBA defensive player of the year Rudy Gobert. Continue reading...

After almost a week of counting, Republicans look set to retake the house with a narrow marginRepublicans were on the brink of taking control of the US House of Representatives after a flurry of races were called for them on Monday.The party had expected an overwhelming victory in the lower chamber of Congress due to high inflation and dissatisfaction with the Biden administration. But there was unexpectedly strong support for the Democrats, who have controlled the House since 2019. Continue reading...

Delivery workers grapple with danger after dozens injured in blazes that can spread quickly and suddenlyNew York City delivery workers have to deal with an array of threats: speeding cars, volatile weather, armed robbers and app algorithms that can “deactivate” them if they don’t rush to customers quickly enough. Lately, workers have added another to the list – their electric bikes bursting into flames.The powerful lithium ion batteries used in small electric vehicles are responsible for a growing epidemic of fires. This year, there have been about 200 fires and six deaths, according to the New York City fire department. This month, an e-bike fire inside a Manhattan high-rise apartment became an inferno that injured nearly 40 people and forced firefighters to evacuate residents using ropes. Continue reading...

Sources say Trump will deliver the address from Mar-a-Lago Tuesday even though his candidates fared poorly in the midtermsDonald Trump is expected to announce his 2024 presidential campaign on Tuesday night as planned, according to multiple sources close to the former US president, inserting himself into the center of national politics as he attempts to box out potential rivals seeking the Republican nomination.Trump will deliver at 9pm ET a speech from the ballroom at his Mar-a-Lago resort, where he recently hosted a subdued midterm elections watch party, and detail several policy goals that aides hope could become central themes of the presidential campaign. Continue reading...

Victory for Democrat over Trump-endorsed opponent is seen as a boost to voting rightsThe Democratic candidate for governor in Arizona, Katie Hobbs, has defeated her far-right, Trump-endorsed opponent, staving off a major threat to voting rights in the state.Hobbs, who is Arizona’s outgoing secretary of state, defeated Kari Lake, a former TV anchor who denies the 2020 election results. Lake has refused to say if she would accept defeat this time around but tweeted “Arizonans know BS when they see it” after Monday’s result emerged. The Associated Press projected Hobbs as the winner on Monday evening with more than 95% of votes reported. Continue reading...

Complaint on behalf of six detained people who have not yet seen a judge targets largest jail system in USLos Angeles residents jailed because they can’t afford to pay bail have filed a class-action lawsuit challenging the system that often keeps low-income people behind bars before they’ve been charged.The complaint was filed on Monday on behalf of six people in LA jails who were recently arrested but have not yet seen a judge, been arraigned or assigned a public defender. Continue reading...

Democrats are behind in several districts needed to secure control of Congress’ lower chamber for another two years

Former first lady writes on love, knitting and being tall in The Light We CarryAlmost four years after her memoir, Becoming, Michelle Obama is once again giving readers insight into her life. In The Light We Carry, Obama shares practical tips and wisdom about everything from overcoming fear to how exactly you can “go high”.Peppered among the advice – from Obama herself and vicariously from family members, friends and colleagues – are stories about her life. Continue reading...

In The Light We Carry, the follow-up to her bestseller Becoming, the former first lady reveals her ‘fearful mind’ and experience of depression during the pandemicMichelle Obama “hates” how she looks, “all the time and no matter what”, she has revealed in her new book.The Light We Carry, the former First Lady’s second memoir, builds on her 2018 title Becoming, and aims to be a “toolkit to live boldly”. In the new book, which was extracted in the Guardian’s Saturday magazine, Obama discusses ways to overcome one’s “fearful mind”, which she likens to “a life partner you didn’t choose”. Continue reading...

Shooter killed three football players and wounded two others on Sunday night in a parking garage on campusA suspected shooter who killed three students and wounded two at a Virginia university was behind bars on Monday night.Christopher Jones Jr, 22, was taken into custody in suburban Richmond, the state capital after the student and former football player killed at least three students at the University of Virginia (UVA), said UVA police chief Tim Longo. Continue reading...

Trump lawyer not charged after grand jury investigation in New York that led to seizure of phones by FBIProsecutors in New York do not plan to bring criminal charges against Rudy Giuliani in connection with an investigation into his interactions with Ukrainian figures, they revealed in a letter to a judge on Monday.They said they made the decision after a review of evidence resulting from raids on his residence and law office in April 2021. Continue reading...

Alabama congressman Mo Brooks, a once-zealous Trump ally, comments after party fails to retake Congress in midtermsAlabama congressman and once-zealous Trump supporter, Mo Brooks, has a remarkable new stance on the political future of his former hero. “It would be a bad mistake for the Republicans to have Donald Trump as their nominee in 2024,” he said.The stark judgment from Brooks was indicative of the deepening and brutal blame game among Republicans which continued on Monday, nearly a week after the party failed to retake Congress in the midterm elections and a day before Trump’s expected announcement of a new presidential campaign. Continue reading...

President at G20 says ‘I don’t think we’re going to make it’ after Republicans triumph in key races and stand on brink of majorityJoe Biden on Monday expressed doubts that Democrats can maintain their majority in the US House of Representatives after Republicans won key races over the weekend.“I think we’re going to get very close in the House, but I don’t think we’re going to make it,” Biden said at a press conference, dedicated to his meeting with China’s Xi Jinping at the G20 summit, in response to a question about abortion legislation following the midterms. Before the midterms, Biden said that the first piece of legislation Democrats would pass if they kept control of both congressional chambers would codify abortion rights established in Roe v Wade. Continue reading...

Grand jury indicted Mason Herring on two felony counts earlier this month, including assaulting a pregnant personA Texas man faces criminal charges for allegedly trying to end his wife’s pregnancy without her knowledge by slipping medication used to induce an abortion into her drinks.Earlier this month, a grand jury indicted the man, a 38-year-old attorney from Houston named Mason Herring, on two felony counts, including assaulting a pregnant person. The second charge Herring faces is “assault – forced induced to have an abortion”, according to court records. Continue reading...

Whether you voted Democratic, Republican or neither, we’d like to hear from voters in the US as the final votes are talliedDemocrats have retained control of the Senate, while the Republican party looks likely to narrowly gain the balance of power in the House of Representatives.As the votes from the US midterm elections are tallied, we would like to hear from voters about their reaction to the results announced so far. Continue reading...

Full live results of the Congressional midterms, seat by seat. The House of Representatives remains undecided, but Democrats have retained control of the Senate

FTX was supposed to be the future – a safe, reliable and innovative way to trade digital currency. Instead it has unleashed a financial meltdownFTX seemed to be a shining example of a cryptocurrency exchange that was doing everything right. Run by Sam Bankman-Fried – a multibillionaire, believed by many to be a once-in-a-generation genius, who rubbed shoulders with congresspeople and called for “thoughtful regulatory leadership” – FTX and its sister companies were bringing crypto to the mainstream. They spent millions on a Super Bowl ad comparing crypto to the invention of the wheel and the lightbulb, urging customers not to “miss out” on “the next big thing” and touting FTX as “a safe and easy way to get into crypto.” During the crypto downturn this past year, Bankman-Fried was compared to JP Morgan for the seemingly endless pile of cash he had to offer floundering crypto firms as he swooped in as a savior.In the span of one week, his empire came crashing down.Molly White is a researcher, software engineer, and the creator of the website Web3 is Going Just Great Continue reading...

Police say suspect, ‘armed and dangerous’ and believed to be former football player, still at large after Sunday evening incidentThree people have been killed and two others wounded in a shooting at a parking garage at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, according to the college president, and police searched on Monday for a student who was suspected of carrying out the deadly violence.The shooting happened about 10.30pm Sunday, the university’s president, Jim Ryan, said in a letter to the school’s community which was posted on social media. The letter said the suspected killer was Christopher Jones Jr, who used to play for the University of Virginia’s football team. Continue reading...

In memoir, former vice-president protests loyalty but hits out over Charlottesville, Russia, both impeachments and moreIn his new book, Donald Trump’s vice-president, Mike Pence, protests his loyalty to his former boss but also levels criticisms that will acquire new potency as Trump prepares to announce another presidential run and the Republican party debates whether to stay loyal after disappointment in last week’s midterm elections.According to Pence, Trump mishandled his response to a march staged by neo-Nazis in Charlottesville in August 2017, a costly error that Pence says could have been avoided had Pence called Trump before a fateful press conference in which Trump failed to condemn “the racists and antisemites in Charlottesville by name”. Continue reading...

Chris Magnus had been asked to resign by Biden’s homeland security chief amid a surge in migrant crossingsThough he had said he did not intend to quit, the leader of the US agency in charge of patrolling the nation’s borders resigned over the weekend, according to the Joe Biden White House.Chris Magnus had been asked to step down by Biden’s homeland security chief, Alejandro Mayorkas, amid a surge in migrant crossings at the US border with Mexico. Magnus – who was told he would be fired if he didn’t leave on his own – responded by publicly stating that he had “no plans to resign” as the commissioner of US Customs and Border Protection (CBP). Continue reading...

The killing of Mahsa Amini has galvanised a new generation to reject oppression – I hope that they achieve what we couldn’tI held my first photo exhibition in late 2017, a few months after returning from Mosul, Iraq, where I had documented the operation to liberate the city from Islamic State. From the first moments of the event, I felt gloomy as my family cast concerned looks at me while the press took pictures of my hair freely protruding from my scarf and clothes – a deliberate rebellion on my part against Iran’s conservative traditions and beliefs.I suddenly experienced a flashback to all the ways in which I had been oppressed as a woman during my life. When I turned six, they pulled me out of my games with the boys in the neighbourhood. When I turned seven, they covered my head with the ugliest scarf in the world, which looked like a burlap sack, and sent me to school where, even though it was staffed solely by women, no one was allowed to remove the scarf. Continue reading...

House control still undecided as Republicans lead and attention pivots to Florida, where Trump is expected to announce 2024 run. Plus, why we need to be a lot less hesitant about being kindGood morning.While the balance of power in the US House of Representatives remains unresolved, Democrats are celebrating the projection that they have won control of the Senate, marking a significant victory for Joe Biden, as Republicans backed by his presidential predecessor, Donald Trump, underperformed in key battleground states.Have the US midterms finally loosened Trump’s grip on the Republican party? Some in the party are ready to declare it so. Referring to Governor Ron DeSantis’s victory in Florida, David Urban, a longtime Trump ally, told the Washington Post: “It is clear the center of gravity of the Republican party is in the state of Florida, and I don’t mean Mar-a-Lago.”What does the future of the Democrat party look like? From the first openly lesbian governors in the US and first Black governor of Maryland, to the first Generation Z member of Congress, as well as battle-hardened young politicians in critical swing states such as Michigan and Pennsylvania, a new slate of Democratic leaders is coming into view after Tuesday’s elections.Kherson fell quickly. Will Ukraine’s progress east of the Dnipro River be as straightforward? Ukraine’s success in Kherson – and make no mistake, forcing Russia out with minimal civilian casualties is a major achievement – was a victory achieved by smashing the Russian supply chain. But critical also was favourable geography – the isolated position of Kherson on the west of the Dnipro. Russia has more advantages to the east, which will make it harder.What else is happening in Ukraine? Here’s what we know on day 264 of the invasion. Continue reading...

After years of tempest and tumult, most of us want a competent government that acts reasonably and carefullyDemocrats will retain control of the US Senate, and maybe even the House.There was no red wave. But there was no blue wave, either.Robert Reich, a former US secretary of labor, is professor of public policy at the University of California, Berkeley, and the author of Saving Capitalism: For the Many, Not the Few and The Common Good. His new book, The System: Who Rigged It, How We Fix It, is out now. He is a Guardian US columnist. His newsletter is at robertreich.substack.com Continue reading...

As viral stories about the hermitic country abound, North Koreans face devastating hunger and Covid clampdownsUntil January 2020, the joint security area of the Korean demilitarised zone (DMZ) was the one place on the peninsula where forces from North and South Korea stood face to face – a spot where Kim Jong-un and Donald Trump even met and shook hands. The US and South Korean troops stationed there have a lonelier watch now. On the North’s side, weeds poke out from the gravel and sprout between the steps of its Panmungak Hall, set just behind the demarcation line. Occasionally, soldiers venture out on to the terrace that runs along its first floor – but only clad in full hazmat suits. On an autumnal morning, the sole sign of life is a distant face peering through binoculars from the second floor. This wearer is in full protective gear too, though stationed safely behind glass. Since the emergence of Covid-19, the few windows into the country have slammed shut.The victims are the North Korean people, now more isolated than ever. It’s also bad news for the rest of us, our ability to understand a totalitarian country with an ever-expanding nuclear programme even further reduced. Pyongyang’s recent flurry of missile tests, and the likelihood of a seventh nuclear test, have rightly commanded headlines. There is also, less happily, an insatiable appetite for tales of the country’s absurdities or lurid excesses, real or imagined. We’ve been told that Kim Jong-un had his ex-girlfriend killed by firing squad (she later appeared on television), that his uncle was not just executed but fed to dogs (a claim that originated as satire), and that state media insisted until recently that his grandfather had mastered teleportation. These stories feed on the west’s gullibility and desire for sensation and the regime’s well-documented cruelty, bombastic propaganda and genuine oddity – but also on Pyongyang’s obsessive secrecy: when so little can be seen, anything seems possible.Tania Branigan is a Guardian leader writer; she spent seven years as the Guardian’s China correspondent

Gen Z voters have faced crisis after crisis. In the midterms, peers helped candidates connect with themDemocrats avoided a predicted “red wave”, and they have Gen Z to thank. Tuesday night’s big wins can largely be attributed to young voters, who showed up en masse and overwhelmingly voted blue.Exit voting polls found that one in eight midterm voters were under 30, and 61% of those between the ages of 18 and 34 voted for Democrats. The results pushed the Fox News pundits Jesse Watters and Laura Ingram to suggest that the legal voting age should be increased to 21. Continue reading...

Film-maker says the salient lesson from the midterms for Democrats is to stop depressing their own vote with pessimism, fear and conventional thinkingIn the lead up to last week’s midterm elections in America, the punditocracy of commentators, pollsters and political-types were almost united: a “red wave” of Republican gains was on the cards.But one dissenting voice stood out: that of leftist filmmaker Michael Moore. Against all the commonplace predictions, he had forecast Democrats would do well. He called it a “blue tsunami”. Continue reading...

Josh Allen and his team had a 27-10 lead in the third quarter on Sunday. The quarterback must shoulder much of the blame for the chaos that followedWhen Patrick Mahomes and Josh Allen went toe-to-toe in January’s playoff thriller, it was inconceivable that any game in the near future (or any future) would match its insanity. Well, hold our beer, said the Vikings and Bills on Sunday.The Bills suffered a similar fate as they did in that playoff game, a devastating loss in overtime, this time 33-30. And Josh Allen was just as distraught as he had been in January. But not because NFL rules prevented him from getting the ball in overtime. This time Allen was a central culprit in the loss. Continue reading...

Programs purport to teach teenagers struggling with mental health problems to learn choice and accountability through powers of nature, with little oversightRowan Bissette was 16 when she was transported against her will from Florida to Utah by two men she did not know. This was her first time leaving her home state.These men were hired by her parents to take her from the psychiatric hospital in Jacksonville where she had been receiving treatment to a residential facility for more “intensive care”. She was terrified. Continue reading...

Justice department filing claims former US president kept secret documents in drawer at Mar-a-Lago with other files from after his time in officeDonald Trump retained documents bearing classification markings, along with communications from after his presidency, according to court filings describing the materials seized by the FBI as part of the ongoing criminal investigation into whether he mishandled national security information.The former US president kept in the desk drawer of his office at the Mar-a-Lago property one document marked “secret” and one marked “confidential” alongside three communications from a book author, a religious leader and a pollster, dated after he departed the White House. Continue reading...

Six killed in Dallas show during an exhibition involving two historic second world war-era aircraftTributes have poured in for pilots who were among the six killed when two historic military planes collided in midair during a show in Dallas on Saturday afternoon, with people saying they were heartbroken that the aerialists died while engaging in what they loved.The union which represents pilots for Dallas-based American Airlines said on Twitter that retirees Len Root and Terry Barker were aboard a B-17 Flying Fortress bomber that crashed with a P-63 Kingcobra fighter during an exhibition involving the two second world war-era aircraft.The AP contributed reporting Continue reading...

Joe Biden and Chuck Schumer hail achievement after Nevada victory, while Georgia Senate heads to runoff

House control still undecided as Republicans lead and attention pivots to Florida, where Trump is expected to announce 2024 runAs the balance of power in the US House of Representatives remained unresolved on Sunday, Democrats are celebrating the projection that they won control of the Senate, marking a significant victory for Joe Biden as Republicans backed by his presidential predecessor Donald Trump underperformed in key battleground states.While senior Democrats remained guarded Sunday about the chances of keeping control of both chambers of Congress, House speaker Nancy Pelosi hailed the party’s performance in the midterms following months of projections indicating heavy losses. Continue reading...

The leadership in Washington may be geriatric but key wins for younger candidates suggest a generational change is under wayWe are in the early hours of Wednesday morning, 6 November 2024, and after a nail-biting night two men are preparing to give their respective victory and concession speeches in the US presidential election. One of the men is days away from his 82nd birthday, the other is 78.The prospect of a possible rematch between Joe Biden and Donald Trump in two years’ time is instilling trepidation in both main parties. It is not just the political perils that go with either individual, it’s also the simple matter of their age. Continue reading...

Victory over Republican Jim Marchant for state’s top elections post is significant win against efforts to sow doubt in US electionsCisco Aguilar, a Democrat, was elected Nevada’s top election official, beating Jim Marchant, a Republican who is linked to the QAnon sought to spread misinformation about the results of the 2020 race.His victory is a significant win against efforts to sow doubt in US elections, a growing force in the Republican party. Continue reading...

Western democracies want Ukraine to win – but are they all happy for Europe’s centre of gravity to migrate eastward?If the outcome of the war could be determined by the toss of a coin, the camps would be clear: democracies would want Ukraine to win, autocracies would want it to lose. But real-world political outcomes are not so binary. They typically fall on a spectrum between annihilation and total victory. This leaves the democracies divided into at least three camps: the English-speaking, the western European and the eastern European minus Hungary. What Putin calls the “collective west” all want Ukraine to win. But not necessarily to the same extent.For Poland and the Baltic countries the matter is simple. They want Ukraine’s victory to be unequivocal. The advantages would be both material and psychological.Anna Gromada is a social scientist and co-founder of the Warsaw-based Kalecki Foundation thinktank.Krzysztof Zeniuk is an economist Continue reading...

US president expected to urge Beijing to do more to curb North Korea and raise carbon reduction targetsJoe Biden, buoyed by the military breakthrough in Ukraine and Democrat retention of the US Senate, said he would seek to establish red lines in the US’s relationship with China when he meets President Xi Jinping on Monday before the G20 summit of world leaders in Bali.At an Asian summit on Sunday in advance of his first bilateral with Xi, Biden laid down some firm parameters about freedom of navigation in the South China Sea and warned China against attempting an invasion of Taiwan, to which it lays claim. But he also said he wanted to keep lines of communication open with Beijing. Continue reading...

Alphonso Davies is the star but the Concacaf surprise package will look to press at pace rather than sit back and defendThis article is part of the Guardian’s World Cup 2022 Experts’ Network, a cooperation between some of the best media organisations from the 32 countries who qualified. theguardian.com is running previews from two countries each day in the run-up to the tournament kicking off on 20 November. Continue reading...

Full live results of the Congressional midterms, seat by seat, as Democrats retain control of the Senate while control of the House of Representatives remains undecided