Al-Qaida courier, who could be freed next year despite 26-year sentence, tells court of interrogators’ horrific treatmentFor the first time, a Guantánamo Bay prisoner who went through the brutal US government interrogation program after the 9/11 attacks has described it openly in court, saying he was left terrified and hallucinating from techniques that the CIA long sought to keep secret.Majid Khan, a former resident of the Baltimore suburbs who became an al-Qaida courier, told jurors considering his sentence for war crimes that he was subjected to days of painful abuse in the clandestine CIA facilities known as “black sites” as interrogators pressed him for information. Continue reading...

Joe Biden, whose Build Back Better bill has been slashed by the two holdouts, said with ‘50 Democrats, every one is a president’Joe Biden recently summed up his problems getting things done.In an America where the US Senate is split 50-50, then effectively any single senator can hold a veto over the president’s entire agenda. “Look,” laughed Biden at a CNN town hall, “you have 50 Democrats, every one is a president. Every single one. So, you got to work things out.” Continue reading...

Pelosi forced to postpone infrastructure vote on Thursday ahead of Biden’s meeting with world leaders in RomeJoe Biden’s nearly $3tn domestic agenda remains unrealized after an 11th-hour push to rally Democrats around a pared-down package that he framed as historic, failed to close the deal in time for his meeting with world leaders in Rome at the G20 summit.But after a dramatic Thursday of bold promises and dashed hopes, the House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, was forced to postpone a vote on a $1tn infrastructure bill for a second time in a month, as progressives demanded more assurances that a compromise $1.75tn social policy plan would also pass. Continue reading...

Witnesses describe gruesome scenes as John Grant, 60, put to death on Thursday in state’s first judicial killing for six yearsOklahoma is coming under sharp criticism after witnesses to the state’s first judicial killing for six years described gruesome scenes of the dying prisoner convulsing and vomiting as he was administered the lethal injections.John Grant, 60, was pronounced dead at 4.21pm on Thursday at McAlester state penitentiary after he was injected with a triple cocktail of midazolam, vecuronium bromide and potassium chloride. Later, the department of corrections said the killing had gone “in accordance with protocols and without complication”. Continue reading...

Yes, there have been compromises. But this is the biggest ever plan to curb emissions and, ahead of Cop26, will send a signal to the worldMove aside, Donald Trump: there’s a new American for the world’s progressives to hate. What’s more, he’s not even a Republican, but rather a member of Joe Biden’s Democratic party. He’s Joe Manchin, who represents West Virginia in the US Senate – the body that’s split 50-50, and which Democrats only control if every single senator stays onside. It’s thanks to him – aided and abetted by the Arizona’ Democrat senator Kyrsten Sinema – that Biden cannot take his place at the Cop26 summit in Glasgow proudly pointing to a raft of measures, signed and sealed, by which the US government will tackle the climate crisis.Biden had a whole plan worked out, and most Democrats backed him. But Manchin refused to say yes. He insisted that Biden drop perhaps the most powerful element of his climate programme: rewards for energy companies that shift to renewable sources, and fines for those that stick with fossil fuels. Manchin killed that off, perhaps because he represents a state that still has some coal mining, perhaps because he has big personal investments in coal, perhaps because he has received fat donations from the fossil fuel industry. Or maybe just because West Virginia voted by an almost 40-point margin for Trump last year and so, to keep winning, Manchin has to look more like a Republican than a Democrat. Continue reading...

In a CNN interview, seven jurors reflect on the trauma of seeing the cellphone recording and how they arrived at their decisionJurors in the landmark George Floyd murder trial spoke about the life-altering case and how the experience still affects them, in an interview with CNN on Thursday.Seven jury members, out of a total 12, sat down with CNN’s Don Lemon for their first and only interview since the trial, where Derek Chauvin was found guilty of second-degree unintentional murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter in April 2021. Continue reading...

Hannah Gutierrez-Reed’s attorneys blame producers for ‘unsafe’ set and say 24-year-old ‘devastated’ over death of Halyna HutchinsLawyers representing the crew member in charge of weapons on the film set where actor Alec Baldwin fired a gun while rehearsing that killed the cinematographer last week have blamed the producers for an “unsafe” set.The crew member, armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, has “no idea” how live bullets became present on the set near Santa Fe in New Mexico where the desert western Rust was being filmed. Continue reading...

Schools warn parents against allowing kids to wear outfits inspired by Netflix series over ‘violence depicted in the show’A trio of elementary schools in upstate New York banned Halloween costumes inspired by the sinister Netflix hit show Squid Game.In a note to parents, the schools noted that teachers have noticed students talking about the show and playing games that mimic some of the show’s disturbing concepts at recess. Continue reading...

Bills like TX HB 25, which was just signed into law by Texas governor Greg Abbott, are blatantly discriminatory and are part of a broader effort to erase trans people from public lifeSports are a concept almost as old as civilization itself. From the Olympics of ancient Greece, to the games of lacrosse and pitz played by indigenous peoples of the Americas, humanity has engaged in sport. Throughout history, sport has always been an integral part of our social experience. Participation in these physical pursuits has served many purposes, from simple exercise and play to forging and strengthening social bonds. Sports strengthen and inspire us. They encourage us to grow. Sport can be a battleground, both literally and figuratively, and in sport, conflict is resolved and statements are made.There are many people today that bemoan the perceived politicization of sport – but politics and sports are inextricably intertwined and have been since their inception. When athletes make political statements, we listen to them. Politicians, coaches and commissions steer the conversation about what place sport holds in society, who benefits and how, and who is allowed to participate. The New York State Athletic Commission suspended the license of Muhammad Ali and stripped him of his heavyweight title for his stand against participation in the Vietnam war. More recently, the NFL blacklisted Colin Kaepernick for taking a knee during the national anthem as a form of protest to police killings of Black Americans.Alana McLaughlin is a mixed martial arts athlete Continue reading...

Brenda the Civil Disobedience Penguin says it’s time to crush the net zero con that puts cash over people’s future Continue reading...

All of America’s economic peers have a paid family leave policy. Why would a Democrat oppose such a basic measure?Americans will remain some of the last people on the planet to have no right to paid leave when they have children, and for that, you can thank Joe Manchin.Manchin, the Democratic senator from West Virginia, tanked the paid leave portion of an increasingly narrow domestic policy package. Manchin had already gotten Democrats to make what was once a sweeping and ambitious bill smaller and less effectual. Even though the Democrats control the House, the Senate and the White House, and are not expected to maintain control of Congress after this year’s midterm elections, they still can’t get it together to deliver what the American people put them in office to do. And that’s because of Manchin, as well as his fellow centrist holdout, Kyrsten Sinema. Continue reading...

President faces hurdles in reasserting US credibility at the summit. Plus, Texas stand-your-ground laws thrown into spotlight• Don’t already get First Thing in your inbox? Sign up hereGood morning.Joe Biden is heading to Glasgow for the critical Cop26 global summit, where he will fight to reassert the United States’s credibility after Donald Trump’s presidency, as his spending and climate bill remains unsigned into law.Phasing out fossil fuels from the gridMaking oil and gas producers pay to emit methaneIntroducing a CO taxWhat are stand-your-ground laws? The controversial laws oppose the idea that faced with danger, you should retreat, and offer provision for homeowners to use deadly force to justifiably defend themselves.When were these laws introduced? The first law in the US was enacted in Florida in 2005, after lobbying from the National Rifle Association. Opponents say they result in unnecessary deaths and are often a pretext for racism. Continue reading...

Questions about Trump’s role in 6 January may go unanswered unless House investigators can secure a breakthrough to obtain documents and testimonyThe House select committee investigating the Capitol attack is confronting a pivotal moment as resistance from top Trump administration aides threatens to undermine their efforts to uncover the extent of the former president’s involvement in the 6 January insurrection.The select committee remains in the evidence-gathering phase of the investigation that now encompasses at least five different lines of inquiry from whether Donald Trump abused the presidency to reinstall himself in office or coordinated with far-right rally organizers. Continue reading...

On 16 August 1920, Indians shortstop Ray Chapman was struck by a pitch and killed. His death is still remembered in Cleveland to this dayIt takes an instant for a baseball to travel from the pitching mound to home plate. In that short span, disaster unfolded during a game between the Cleveland Indians and New York Yankees over a century ago.On 16 August 1920, with the two teams locked in a pennant race, the Indians’ star shortstop Ray Chapman faced Yankees pitcher Carl Mays at the Polo Grounds in New York. Mays sought to intimidate batters by pitching inside. This time, his high pitch struck Chapman in the head and the batter fell to the ground. He was eventually taken to St Lawrence Hospital, where he underwent surgery, but died. He was 28. Of the tens of millions of pitches thrown over the history of Major League Baseball, this was the only one that killed someone. Chapman’s death is the subject of a new documentary film, War on the Diamond, directed by Andy Billman. Continue reading...

President faces challenges to reassert US credibility after Trump but critics say Biden’s actions have yet to match his wordsWith no major climate legislation firmly in hand and international allies still smarting after four bruising years of Donald Trump, Joe Biden faces a major challenge to reassert American credibility as he heads to crucial UN climate talks in Scotland.The US president, who has vowed to tackle a climate crisis he has described as an “existential threat” to civilization, will be welcomed to the Cop26 talks with a sense of relief following the decisions of his predecessor, who pulled his country out of the landmark Paris climate agreement and derided climate science as “bullshit”. Continue reading...

Genealogists looking for standout ancestors proud to claim connection to 17th-century ‘witches’What do Hollywood actor Humphrey Bogart, Senator Mitt Romney and half the US presidents have in common?They are all alleged descendants of someone involved the 1692 Salem witch trials, in which an infamous outbreak of religious hysteria resulted in 19 early settlers hanged and one pressed to death. Continue reading...

John Marion Grant, convicted of stabbing a prison cafeteria worker, was the first since a series of flawed executions in 2014 and 2015Oklahoma has executed a man for the 1998 stabbing death of a prison cafeteria worker, the state’s first lethal injection following a six-year moratorium, after the US supreme court on Thursday cleared the way for the execution to proceed.John Marion Grant, 60, was declared dead at 4:21pm after being strapped to a gurney inside the execution chamber and given a lethal injection of three drugs. Continue reading...

Complaint filed in Albany court against Cuomo, whose departure followed inquiry that found he had sexually harassed 11 womenA misdemeanor complaint has been filed against former New York governor Andrew Cuomo in a court in Albany, the state’s capital, a spokesman for the New York state courts said on Thursday.Cuomo’s departure followed an inquiry that found that the Democrat had sexually harassed 11 women and capped a remarkable fall from grace for a powerful politician once seen as a likely contender for the White House. Continue reading...

Lawsuit accused federal agencies of faulty background check that allowed Dylann Roof to purchase a gunThe families of nine people who died in a 2015 racist mass shooting at a Black South Carolina church have reached a settlement with the justice department in a lawsuit that accused federal agencies of a faulty background check that allowed the white supremacist killer Dylann Roof to purchase a gun.The justice department will pay $88m, which includes $63m for the victims’ families as well as $25m for five survivors who were injured at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal church in Charleston, South Carolina. Roof wanted to start a race war by targeting the 200-year-old historically Black congregation. Continue reading...

President’s visit to Capitol Hill prompts flurry of activity as Pelosi ramps up pressure on progressives to accept Biden’s frameworkJoe Biden on Thursday unveiled a “historic economic framework” that he said would make the US more competitive and resilient, touting the $1.75tn plan to expand the nation’s social safety net and confront the climate crisis as a victory for consensus and compromise even as the path forward remained uncertain.The president, who delayed his departure to Europe to finalize the proposal, cast the emerging deal as a once-in-a-generation opportunity to restore American leadership and show the world that democracies can still deliver in the 21st century. Continue reading...

This is the second time the 70-year-old made the journey, this time breaking her previous record in honor of her birthdayDierdre Wolownick, mother of the renowned climber Alex Honnold, has become the oldest woman to climb Yosemite’s El Capitan, breaking her own record after scaling the rock face for a second time on her 70th birthday.Wolownick summited El Capitan last month. She had previously completed the climb with her son in 2017, a journey that took her 13 hours up and six hours down on the Lurking Fear route, which typically takes four days to complete. Still, this climb was grueling, Wolownick said. Continue reading...

Joe Biden has urged Democrats to pass his $1.75tn social spending plan, insisting he campaigned on the agenda in the bills and ‘81 million Americans voted’ for it. ‘Their voices deserve to he heard, not denied,’ the US president said as he delivered remarks at the White House after declaring he has reached a ‘historic economic framework’ with Democratic lawmakers Continue reading...

Better Homes & Gardens spray was link between four infections in Kansas, Georgia, Minnesota and Texas that caused two deathsAn aromatherapy spray sold at Walmart has been the cause of at least four bacterial infections that have resulted in at least two deaths, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).The CDC confirmed on Tuesday that the Better Homes & Gardens Lavender & Chamomile Essential Oil Infused Aromatherapy Room Spray with Gemstones was the link between the infections in at least four different states – Kansas, Georgia, Minnesota and Texas. The bacterial infections resulted in at least two deaths, including a child. Continue reading...

President’s $1.75tn spending framework includes investments in childcare and healthcare, but 12 weeks of paid family leave is outJoe Biden on Thursday released the framework of a $1.75tn social and climate spending proposal after weeks of fraught negotiations with congressional Democrats.The framework includes investments in childcare, climate change mitigation and an expansion of healthcare, but it is a significantly pared-down version of the original $3.5tn agenda Biden had proposed. Continue reading...

Scandals and backdoor support for fossil fuels blight an organisation that ought to be taking the lead at Cop26

Eschewing fakery and influencers, this novel new series sees contestants secretly filmed from the moment they walk on set. It could be a gamechanger – as long as they don’t catch onPeople often accuse reality TV contestants of lacking self-awareness, but the opposite is usually true. Most are outrageous, offensive and, at times, embarrassing because they know it’s what will lead them to be cast. It’s an issue plaguing the genre; cast members are often pseudo producers, feeding an audience the contrived drama they think it wants. Ironically, this is far from what many viewers actually want: authenticity.A show that aims to tackle this criticism head on is Insiders, Netflix’s first Spanish original reality show, which will probably gain an international audience after the success of the streamer’s foreign-language shows. Insiders is also hosted by Money Heist actor Najwa Nimri, another draw for global viewers. Continue reading...

Republicans currently have a 23-13 advantage over Democrats, and the new map gives them a good chance to pick up two extra seats – what might happen next?Hello Fight to vote readers,You don’t have to be an expert to see why Texas’ new maps for its state legislature and congress discriminate against minority voters. Ninety-five per cent of the state’s growth over the last decade has been driven by minorities. But the new maps Texas enacted don’t include a single new district where there is a Hispanic majority. Continue reading...

Company announced it would raise minimum wage at Sam’s Club to $15, but Walmart workers were only bumped up to $12Mendy Hughes, 46, has worked as a cashier for Walmart in Melbourne, Arkansas, for 11 years.Her hourly wage, after a recent increase, is $12.85 an hour, a mere 85 cents more than the hourly starting wage for new hires despite her 11 years with the company. Continue reading...

The political meltdown of a decade ago crushed faith in hope and change, and led to Maga and mayhemA first-term Democratic president with a majority in Congress and an uncompromising Republican opposition. A country disillusioned by a previous administration’s corruption and mismanagement. A working class traumatized by an economic downturn. An establishment calling not for aggressiveness and boldness, but for half measures and compromise.If this sounds familiar, it is not only because it describes this current moment, but because it is the experience we lived through 12 years ago – a political meltdown that destroyed many Americans’ remaining faith in their government, and ultimately birthed Donald Trump’s presidency. Continue reading...

Areas from agriculture to finance are changing too slowly to meet critical 1.5C target, with some even regressing. Plus, gun used in Rust shooting was not thoroughly checked

This week’s roundup also features the best of Ben Stokes, Barry Davies, the ‘85 Bears and a pre-season pratfall1) The great Benjamin Andrew Stokes will be playing in the Ashes! To celebrate, here’s the man himself at the wrestling. If you prefer cricket, please enjoy highlights from that Headingley knock here, TMS coverage of the winning moment and his winning shot captured from the crowd. Stokes has form in Australia – making his maiden Test ton at Perth in December 2013.2) Rally driver Thierry Neuville tackles a 9.1km route in daylight – and in the dark. Continue reading...

The president has snubbed Mohammed bin Salman, but the ruler recently labelled a ‘psychopath’ is a problem that won’t go awayWhen Joe Biden was recently asked whether gas prices would come down soon, the US president offered a cryptic explanation of how his strained relations with Saudi Arabia were at least partly to blame for the price at the pump.Gas prices were high because oil-rich nations in the Middle East were not increasing the supply of oil. That was happening, Biden suggested, in retaliation for his personal decision to not speak with – nor acknowledge – Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman as his counterpart. Continue reading...

Teams have traditionally been conservative around the trade deadline. But we can always imagine what could happen if general managers were more boldThe NFL’s trade deadline is nearly upon us. You know what that means: it’s fake trade season.Given the structure of the NFL, the deadline is often a nothing affair. Compared to its equivalents in baseball and basketball, it arrives a tick too early for a team to fully declare that it’s out on the year, dumping any spare parts for future draft picks and the hope of tomorrow. Plus, the league’s compensatory draft pick system encourages even bad teams to hold on to costly veterans. Continue reading...

Exclusive: A former player has told the Guardian that an international head coach attempted to solicit sex from her while with the Vancouver Whitecaps women’s teamThe head coach of the Jamaica women’s national team has been accused by a former player of attempting to solicit sex from her during a recruiting process when he was in charge of the Vancouver Whitecaps women’s team.The latest allegations against a prominent figure in North American women’s soccer come at a time when players around the world have spoken out about a culture of abuse and inappropriate behavior in the sport. Continue reading...

Doris Derby is a documentary photographer, activist and professor who captured the people at the frontline of the struggle for racial equality in 1960s and 1970s America Continue reading...

Gen Mark Milley says reports about breakthrough missile have ‘all our attention’, and says US working on same weaponsChina recently conducted a “very concerning” test of a hypersonic weapon system as part of its aggressive advance in space and military technologies, America’s top military officer has confirmed.Gen Mark Milley, chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, was the first Pentagon official to confirm the nature of a test this year by the Chinese military that was reported as a nuclear-capable hypersonic weapon that was launched into space and orbited the Earth before re-entering the atmosphere and gliding toward its target in China. Continue reading...

Eddie Gonzalez, a former school officer, shot into a vehicle near a high school, striking the 18-year-old who died a week laterCalifornia authorities have filed murder charges against a former school safety officer who fatally shot an unarmed 18-year-old girl, a rare prosecution for an on-duty killing by an officer.The Los Angeles district attorney announced Wednesday that Eddie Gonzalez, who had worked as a school officer in Long Beach, was facing one count of murder after he shot into a vehicle near a high school on 27 September, striking 18-year-old Manuela Rodriguez. The teenager, who went by Mona and had a five-month-old boy, was taken to a hospital and put on life support before she died a week later. Continue reading...

House lawmakers said the proposal to tax those with more than $1bn in assets or incomes of more than $100m a year was too complex to succeedSenior Democrats in Congress were at odds on Wednesday over a proposal to tax billionaires’ assets to help pay for Joe Biden’s social and climate change agenda, leaving it unclear if the idea had enough support to become law.Senate Democrats unveiled the new billionaires tax proposal earlier in the day, presenting it as an entirely new entry in the tax code designed to help pay for Biden’s sweeping domestic policy package and edge his party closer to an overall agreement on a shrunken version of the administration’s $3.5tn flagship legislation. Continue reading...

In an affidavit, Dave Halls told investigators he ‘should have checked all’ the rounds as officials confirm gun contained live bulletsOfficials confirmed on Wednesday that live bullets, including the round it is believed killed cinematographer Halyna Hutchins and injured director Joel Souza, were found on the set of the movie Rust last week after actor Alec Baldwin fired a gun during a rehearsal.It also emerged that the .45-caliber Colt – which has been described by law enforcement as a “legit” antique gun, not a prop gun – was not thoroughly checked before being given to Baldwin, who fired the lead bullet, according to officials and a new court filing. Continue reading...

But defense attorneys may call them ‘arsonists’ or ‘looters’ judge says ahead of contentious trial over fatal shooting of two menThe people shot by Kyle Rittenhouse in Kenosha, Wisconsin, last August cannot be referred to as “victims” by prosecutors in court, a judge ruled on Monday.Defense attorneys may, however, call them “arsonists” or “looters”, the judge said. Continue reading...

Health officials indefinitely close outlet of fast-food chain in Pleasant Hill for failing to enforce vaccination protocolsAnother In-N-Out restaurant in California was forced to close after refusing to enforce Covid-19 vaccination rules.Health officials in Contra Costa county indefinitely shut the Pleasant Hill location of the popular burger chain on Tuesday after it ignored repeated warnings to verify that customers who wanted to dine indoors had vaccination cards or proof they had tested negative for the virus in the past 72 hours. Continue reading...