Immigration authorities seek bids for contractors to run center on naval base. Plus: Republicans could trigger $28tn default

Many workers feel stonewalled by elected officials and scapegoated for the high US Covid death tollAlexandra was working in the public health emergencies unit in a major north-eastern American city when the first wave of the pandemic hit. Although her job was in public health policy research, and not treating Coovid-19 patients on the frontlines of the healthcare system, she recalls the spring of 2020 as a blur of 24-hour shifts.Related: ‘We’re trying to survive’: workers face cuts as US public sector lags in recovery Continue reading...

This week’s roundup also features a perilous reaction to a run-out, animals on the pitch and road race rain hazards1) The Ryder Cup starts on Friday after a three-year pandemic-induced hiatus. Europe won impressively last time at Le Golf National, highlights including a Friday foursomes clean sweep. Here’s Henrik Stenson and Justin Rose leading the way, and Europe’s winning moment on the Sunday, as Francesco Molinari beat Phil Mickelson. The USA were rampant, however, when they last hosted, in 2016, and Ryan Moore clinched victory. The competition has often traded on a bit of spice, of course, so here’s a slice of the Battle of Brookline in 1999, when emotions ran high on both sides of the rope. Pressure is another Ryder Cup ingredient of course, so here’s a compilation of 10 memorable pressure putts. The first time Europe competed as a whole, came in 1979, losing 11-17. It all began more than half a century earlier, with only a Great Britain team competing, and here’s some Pathé News footage of that early action. Continue reading...

Opposition from Mitch McConnell means the spending package is dead and the US faces a shutdown and defaultTop Republicans in the Senate are poised to block a key spending package advanced by Democrats in a move that could precipitate the dual fiscal crises of a government shutdown and an unprecedented US default on its colossal debt obligations.The House has approved a combined stopgap funding measure that would keep the federal government open until early December and suspend the debt limit until after the 2022 midterm elections, sending the legislation to the Senate. Continue reading...

Port complex of Los Angeles and Long Beach, already the busiest in the US, has seen major traffic this week as imports boomSouthern California is dealing with a traffic jam unlike any other, as a record number of container ships have been stuck waiting in the waters outside the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach to unload cargo.The bottleneck this week at America’s busiest port complex is the result of a shortage of trucks and drivers to pick up goods, coupled with an overwhelming demand for imported consumer products. Continue reading...

Floyd’s cousin urges Biden to do all he can to push through reform as negotiators clash on key issuesBipartisan negotiations in the US Congress over a police reform bill that was prompted by the killing of George Floyd have collapsed.“We did the best we could,” the Democratic congresswoman Karen Bass told reporters on Wednesday. Continue reading...

Immigration authorities seek bids for contractors to run migrant operations center on naval baseThe Biden administration is preparing to reopen a migrant detention camp on Guantánamo Bay in the wake of a surge of migrants and asylum seekers on the southern border.Related: How thousands of Haitian migrants ended up at the Texas border Continue reading...

The Haiku Stairs, a nearly 4,000-step trail across Oahu’s Ko’olau mountain range, has drawn tourists despite being prohibited from useHawaii officials have announced plans to spend $1m removing a popular mountain trail known as the Stairway to Heaven, which they say has become the scene of “rampant illegal trespassing” and safety concerns despite the public being banned from using it.Tens of thousands of people have climbed the Haiku Stairs, which span nearly 4,000 steps across Oahu’s Ko’olau mountain range, since the US navy built the trail during the second world war. Though the public has been forbidden from the stairs since 1987, numerous people continued to use them, despite no trespassing signs and fines of up to $1,000. Continue reading...

An estimated 14,000 have crossed the Rio Grande only to be faced with squalid living conditions and possible deportationThousands of migrants and asylum seekers are facing desperate conditions as they continue to be held in makeshift camps under the Del Rio International Bridge in Texas, including high temperatures, squalid living conditions, probable deportation and shocking mistreatment by border patrol agents.Related: Kamala Harris on expulsions at US border: ‘Human beings should never be treated that way’ Continue reading...

Fed chair says it could raise interest rates next year, as long as the Covid crisis is containedThe Federal Reserve signaled on Wednesday that it may start cutting its enormous pandemic stimulus programs as soon as November and could raise interest rates next year.The US central bank left interest rates unchanged at near zero after its latest meeting. Rates were cut in March 2020 as the US economy reeled from the impact of the pandemic. But the Fed also indicated it may soon start pulling back on the $120bn in monthly asset purchases program that it started when the coronavirus hit the US. Continue reading...

The couple, both of whom passed away in recent years, did a brilliant job on Whistling Straits and more than a hundred other courses during a storied six-decade careerWhen the dust settles following the 43rd staging of the Ryder Cup at the Straits Course on Sunday evening, there is a reasonable chance the star of the week could be the beloved course architect, Pete Dye – for the simple reason that, whenever something major is played on a Dye course, the course always finds a way to stand out.Dye, who died last year aged 92, was a titanic figure in the realm of golf architecture – one of only four course architects to be enshrined in the World Golf Hall of Fame – having designed more than a hundred courses around the world across a panoramic six-decade career. His tracks have held six major championships, most recently at the Ocean Course at Kiawah Island earlier this year. The key to understanding a Dye course is that he makes them look much harder than they actually play. Continue reading...

Investors worried about Chinese developer draw parallels with 2008 collapse of Lehman BrothersChina’s embattled property developer Evergrande Group has caused concern among investors worldwide. With $300bn (£220bn) owed to its creditors and key debt interest payments due on Thursday, the firm’s troubles have rattled global financial markets.As the second biggest property firm operating in the largest sector of the world’s second largest economy, it is clear why investors are worried, with some drawing parallels to the 2008 collapse of Lehman Brothers. It also comes as a significant test for China’s president Xi Jinping, as Beijing attempts to curb financial risks and concentrations of wealth while trying to limit the economic impact. Continue reading...

Dr Joseph Ladapo attacked concern over the pandemic as ‘Covid mania’ and said ‘there is nothing special’ about vaccinesA medical professor who is opposed to mask and vaccine mandates, attacked concern over the pandemic as “Covid mania” and likened the eating of fruit and vegetables to the benefits of vaccination has been named as Florida’s new surgeon general.Dr Joseph Ladapo has been appointed to the role by Ron DeSantis, Florida’s Republican governor who has railed against restrictions placed upon day-to-day life to dampen the Covid-19 pandemic and has sought to block funding for schools in the state that have attempted to make students wear masks to stop the spread of the virus that has killed more than 675,000 people in the US since the pandemic began. Continue reading...

Pfizer and BioNTech announced that their Covid vaccine is safe and effective for children aged 5-11. This is overdue relief for many American womenIt was the news that parents had been waiting to hear for more than a year and a half: on Monday, Pfizer and BioNTech announced that their Covid-19 vaccine is safe and effective for children aged five to 11. The pediatric dose, administered at one-third the volume of the adult dose, creates a “robust” immune response that is predicted to protect child patients from severe disease and death from Covid. Crucially, the trials, in which the vaccine was administered to 2,268 children, found no cases of myocarditis, an inflammation of the heart that is a very rare but serious side-effect of some mRNA vaccines in adults. The companies are requesting emergency use authorization from the Food and Drug Administration, (FDA) and if the FDA moves at the same pace that it did in granting emergency approval for the adult vaccine, that will mean that vaccinations of school-aged children could begin as early as Halloween – though logistical and political obstacles could still delay the shots.The announcement is a light at the end of the tunnel for parents, who have seen their children’s lives unfairly warped by the coronavirus pandemic. Schools were closed, activities were shuttered, and opportunities to visit relatives or play with other kids were suddenly fraught with risk. During the long wait for child vaccinations, the commentary on the urgency of vaccine development has rightly focused on the pandemic’s devastating effects on children – medical, educational and developmental. Continue reading...

Lawsuit alleges Mary Trump and NYT ‘were motivated by personal vendetta’ against him and a desire to push political agendaFormer US president Donald Trump has sued his estranged niece and The New York Times over a 2018 story about his family’s wealth and tax practices that was partly based on confidential documents she provided to the newspaper’s reporters.Trump’s lawsuit, filed in state court in New York on Tuesday, accuses Mary Trump of breaching a settlement agreement by disclosing tax records she received in a dispute over family patriarch Fred Trump’s estate. Continue reading...

The Freedom to Vote Act rivals the 1965 Voting Rights Act as the greatest expansion of ballot access in our historyImagine it’s November 2020, and you are 59-year-old Laura Roundine, living on tribal lands in Montana. Days before the election, you’re home-bound after open heart surgery. The reservation has no at-home mail delivery.Your right to vote is saved by Renee LaPlante, a Blackfeet community organizer. She drives your ballot to a distant election office as part of her job. Continue reading...

Remains found near Grand Teton national park confirmed as those of the 22-year-old. Plus: America’s tiger problemGood morning.The FBI has confirmed that human remains found along the border of Grand Teton national park are those of 22-year-old Gabby Petito, who disappeared while on a cross-country road trip, and that her death was a homicide. Continue reading...

Martin Kaymer, one of Europe’s vice-captains and a major winner on the course, on the opportunities and threatsMartin Kaymer, one of the vice-captain of the European team and winner of the US PGA Championship at Whistling Straits in 2010, gives his verdict on the key holes. Continue reading...

The WNBA’s two best teams appear bound for a championship showdown, but familiar playoff faces in Minnesota and Seattle could upset the apple cart along the wayThe WNBA playoffs tip off on Thursday night with a pair of first-round sudden-death fixtures before shifting into full gear next week. Here’s a look at the teams, ranked in order of their chances of winning the title. Continue reading...

Governor Greg Abbott’s actions sparked outrage from reproductive rights advocates in a state that recently passed another restrictive billBy the end of the year Texas may have even more restrictions on the ability to get an abortion after its Republican governor Greg Abbott quietly signed into law new restrictions banning the mail order provision of abortion medication seven weeks into pregnancy.The law prevents providers from prescribing abortion-inducing drugs more than seven weeks into pregnancy, instead of ten weeks, the current limit. It takes effect on December 2. Continue reading...

Twenty-four golfers competed for three long days at Kiawah Island and the whole contest came down to one six-foot puttBy Steven Pye for That 1980s Sports BlogThe 1991 Ryder Cup was never destined to end well for Europe. The bad blood began before a ball had even been struck at the Kiawah Island course in South Carolina. At the pre-tournament gala dinner, the hosts broadcast a 15-minute video showing the history of the competition. It was so one-sided in favour of the Americans that Ken Schofield, the boss of the European Tour, nearly walking out in protest. “The film was a joke,” reflected Europe captain Bernard Gallacher. “All they showed were Americans hitting shots.”There was more to come. A local radio DJ revealed the phone numbers of the European players’ hotel rooms, encouraging listeners to call them in the early hours of the morning before the event. The “Wake Up the Enemy” campaign was a bit juvenile, but it helped set the mood. Continue reading...

Working in US public sector feels untenable for many amid lack of benefits, low pay and lack of general investmentMopping, sweeping, waxing floors, trash removal, sanitizing, scrubbing bathrooms and cleaning student apartments.For $10.65 an hour, Nelly Nunez and Pamala Greathouse have worked as janitorial custodians at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque through the pandemic as essential workers, facing extra workloads, understaffing and Covid-19 safety concerns, while struggling to make ends meet on low pay. Continue reading...

Joe Biden has underlined the importance of ensuring peace in Northern Ireland is not jeopardised by post-Brexit tensions. Asked about a UK-US trade deal, the US president told reporters in Washington on Tuesday: 'There are two separate issues: on the deal with the UK, that continues to be discussed, but on the protocols, I feel very strongly about those. It was a major bipartisan effort made, and I would not at all like to see – nor, I might add, would many of my Republican colleagues – like to see a change in the Irish accords, and the end result having a closed border again'

In the past few weeks more than 12,000 Haitians have arrived in Del Rio, Texas, gathering in a huge makeshift camp. Many have to cross the Rio Grande from Del Rio to Ciudad Acuña to seek food and supplies in Mexico to bring back to family members waiting in the US. Others are crossing back into Mexico to avoid deportation flights Continue reading...

Willie Garson, the actor best known for his role as Stanford Blatch in the original series of Sex and the City, has died at the age of 57. Garson was most famous for his role in the HBO series Sex and the City playing Carrie Bradshaw’s closest male friend, the talent agent Stanford Blatch. Information about the cause of Garson’s death has not been officially released

The fish-out-of-water sports sitcom is about little more than a nice man being nice. Yet it has become a cultural lightning rodI have a degree in English literature, which is to say I left university with no life skills apart from the ability to be pretentious at the drop of a hat. I can find meaning where there is none! I can explain ad nauseam why an innocuous doorknob in a Victorian poem symbolises aristocratic insecurities about settler-colonialism! It would make my day to do so!I am not boasting about my doorknob-interpretation talents, by the way. I am just trying to fathom my befuddlement at the discourse around Ted Lasso, the Apple TV+ sitcom about a cheerful American coaching an English football team. Continue reading...

Mark Meadows, Dan Scavino and former campaign manager Brad Parscale are among those being targetedThe House select committee investigating the 6 January attack on the US Capitol is considering issuing a blitz of subpoenas for top Trump White House aides including the former chief and deputy chief of staff, according to a source familiar with the matter.The subpoenas – which are expected to be authorized as early as this week – would place House select committee investigators inside the White House and Trump campaign war rooms at the time of the insurrection as the panel prepares to ramp up the pace of its inquiry. Continue reading...

Human remains found near Grand Teton nation park confirmed as those of 22-year-old Petito who disappeared on a road tripThe FBI says a county coroner has confirmed that human remains found in remote northern Wyoming along the border of Grand Teton national park are those of 22-year-old Gabby Petito, who disappeared while on a cross-country road trip with a fiance who is now being sought by authorities in Florida.The Teton county coroner, Brent Blue, determined her manner of death was homicide, but did not disclose a cause of death pending final autopsy results, officials said Tuesday. Petito’s body was found Sunday near an undeveloped camping area that’s surrounded by woodlands and brush, located about 30 miles (48km) northeast of Jackson, Wyoming. Continue reading...

Trump has continued to pedal lies about fraud in the 2020 election up until now, almost a year after ballots were cast

Thousands of Haitians encamped under and near a bridge in the town of Del Rio faced a ramped-up US exclusion effort on Tuesday, with six flights to their homeland. More than 6,000 migrants had been removed by Monday, officials said.Asked on Tuesday about footage of the incident, Kamala Harris said: 'What I saw depicted, those individuals on horseback treating human beings the way they were, was horrible'

President reminds PM of the US’s major role in bringing about the Good Friday agreementPresident Joe Biden has warned the prime minister that peace in Northern Ireland must not be jeopardised by tensions over post-Brexit trade rules at a meeting in the White House.Speaking in the Oval Office at the start of a face-to-face meeting, Biden stressed the importance of maintaining the careful balance that was achieved by the Good Friday/Belfast agreement. Continue reading...

As the case unfolded on social media, people have pored over the wealth of online video and photos for cluesThe disappearance and death of Gabby Petito and the police hunt for her boyfriend have generated a whirlwind online, with a multitude of armchair detectives and others sharing tips, possible sightings and theories by way of TikTok, Instagram and YouTube.Whether the frenzy of attention and internet sleuthing has helped the investigation is not clear, but it has illuminated the intersection between social media and the public’s fascination with true-crime stories. Continue reading...

Oakland, across the bay from San Francisco, has seen a rise in homicides since the onset of the pandemicOakland, California, on Monday recorded its 100th homicide of 2021, a grim milestone that comes as cities across the US have seen gun violence rise since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.The Oakland police department said it received reports on Monday morning about multiple gunshots being fired in East Oakland, a neighborhood that has long borne the brunt of gun violence in the city. Authorities later said a man had died, marking the tenth shooting death in the city in the past week. Continue reading...

American is trying to resolve his feud with teammate Brooks Koepka and is focused on regaining Ryder CupBryson DeChambeau arrived in Wisconsin with a lot to say. Rightly so, given he has avoided general media duties since the first week in August. DeChambeau’s comments then, about his refusal to receive a Covid vaccine, triggered the kind of controversy that has seemed never ending.After that particular rumpus he retreated. Now Ryder Cup commitments have dragged him back towards the podium. “This is a team event, I’m focused on helping Team USA to a victory and that’s honestly the reason why I’m here,” the Californian said when pressed on his recent silence. Continue reading...

Joe Biden has promised to the United Nations that the withdrawal from Afghanistan is a turning point in history, in which 'relentless war' would be supplanted by 'relentless diplomacy', pledging a renewed commitment to the UN and to his nation’s alliances.Speaking to the general assembly on Tuesday, the president also touched on his country's withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan and the Covid-19 pandemic.

President tellls UN that US will give $11bn a year to developing nations to respond to climate emergencyJoe Biden has promised to the United Nations that the withdrawal from Afghanistan is a turning point in history, in which “relentless war” would be supplanted by “relentless diplomacy”, pledging a renewed commitment to the UN and to his nation’s alliances.“As I stand here today, for the first time in 20 years the United States is not at war. We’ve turned the page,” Biden said in his first address to the UN general assembly as president. “All the unmatched strength, energy, commitment, will and resources of our nation are now fully and squarely focused on what’s ahead of us, not what was behind.” Continue reading...

Mark and Patricia McCloskey investigated over ethical complaints following June 2020 confrontation with protestersMark and Patricia McCloskey, a Missouri couple who became famous for pointing guns at protesters marching for racial justice last summer, could have their law licenses revoked.Related: Lincoln Project says ad attacking Greg Abbott pulled from Texas football game Continue reading...

Autopsy to identify the remains and determine cause of death as police resume searching swampy reserve for Brian LaundrieMedical examiners in North Port, Florida, were scheduled to conduct an autopsy on Tuesday on a body found in Wyoming, seeking to determine if it is Gabby Petito, the 22-year-old “van life” traveler who disappeared.Related: Gabby Petito: Florida police search home of fiance after remains found Continue reading...

The Rev Kenneth B Thomas Sr, also a barber shop owner, coach and teacher, is making a grassroots effort in a Black Arkansas communityThis photo essay was published in partnership with Scalawag, a nonprofit journalism and storytelling organization that disrupts dominant narratives about the US south. Scalawag’s series Breaking Through Covid is a collection of stories focused on illuminating the ways the Covid-19 pandemic has realigned communities and put sharper points on the crises the south was already facing.At Bethesda Worship and Healing Missionary Baptist Church in Jonesboro, Arkansas, the Rev Kenneth B Thomas Sr preaches the gospel of “Mask it, vax it or choose the casket. The choice is yours.” Continue reading...

Those who want to end a pregnancy are doing their best to travel beyond state borders in the aftermath of a strict anti-abortion lawOriginally published by The 19th.With abortion effectively banned in Texas, patients are flooding reproductive health clinics in neighboring states and overwhelming the region’s fragile abortion infrastructure, according to data shared with The 19th. Continue reading...

If presidents do not get to replace justices in an election year, then Coney Barrett’s confirmation is illegitimate; if presidents do, then Gorsuch’s is illegitimate. You can’t have it both waysIn Planned Parenthood v Casey, a landmark decision from 1992, the US supreme court memorably noted that its “power lies … in its legitimacy”. If the people come to question the court’s legitimacy, they will cease to accept the “the Judiciary as fit to determine what the Nation’s law means and to declare what it demands”.It appears that Justices Clarence Thomas and Amy Coney Barrett share these worries. In separate remarks this month, both justices sought to assure the public that, in Coney Barrett’s words, “this court is not comprised of a bunch of partisan hacks”. Thomas said much the same, seeking to disabuse his listeners of the belief that justices “are just always going right to [their] personal preference”. Continue reading...