More than 1,900 people are dying in the US daily on average. Plus, a mountain goat has killed a grizzly bear in Canada

Despite the summer’s floods, frontrunner Olaf Scholz’s ‘moderate’ climate message is holding out against the GreensForty years ago, Germans loved to make fun of eco-types who ate muesli, wore shapeless knitted sweaters and packed their groceries in jute bags. Back then, the German Green party was just getting started. Today, things are different: every supermarket has organic food, every fashion chain sells sustainable T-shirts in its stores, and the coronavirus crisis has accelerated the trend towards cycling to get around. The Green party itself has become a viable political force.Related: The Guardian view on Angela Merkel: farewell to a bulwark of stability | Editorial Continue reading...

As sports gambling becomes legal in more and more US states, I remember how it slowly took over the social lives of my friends back homeIn July, a friend from the old country (Australia) visited New York, where I live, and messaged me to see whether I’d be up for a drink. The European football championship had just entered its knockout stages; once we’d decided which match to watch – Switzerland v Spain – and where, my friend immediately began bombarding me with suggestions for different bets we could place: first goalscorer, half-time score, final score and so on.On the afternoon we were due to meet, he messaged to say he was running late, then added: “I’ve got $500 on the Swiss to win, $12,500 payout.” Throughout the match he kept checking his phone to keep tabs on updated odds; when Switzerland lost to Spain on penalties, he sank into a gloom that did not lift until his basket of super spicy buffalo wings arrived. For an afternoon, I was transported back to the social world I’d left behind in Australia, and one that’s slowly but surely taking shape in America: a world in which sports betting is a permanent fixture of conversation, a slow-moving magmatic sludge that eventually takes over every space, every interaction, every friendship in which sport plays an important role. Continue reading...

Low wages and poor working conditions – as well as unruly customers – combine to keep the food service labor shortage goingAfter the traumas of widespread economic shutdowns during the coronavirus pandemic, America’s restaurant industry is largely open for business again as eateries ranging from high-end bistros to fast-food chains are serving hungry customers.But behind the full tables and busy kitchens is a story of a sector still in trouble amid the impact of the pandemic, marked by staff shortages, low wages and fears that safety protocols are still not enough to cope with a virus that is still a threat as the more contagious Delta variant spreads across the US. Continue reading...

Biden’s new state-based distribution plan sparks backlash from some officialsDemand has been soaring for monoclonal antibodies – a treatment to lessen the severity of Covid-19 symptoms – especially among states with larger populations of vaccine-hesitant Americans, as the US continues to struggle with the highly contagious Delta variant in regions with lagging vaccination rates.The demand for the treatment increased twentyfold in recent weeks because of the sharp rise in new cases accelerated by the Delta variant and lagging vaccination rates, and because of increased awareness of the treatment. But the distribution has, so far, been unequal. Continue reading...

Media watchdogs suggest that some basic level of responsibility to the public should be required to keep a broadcast licensePhil Valentine, a prominent Tennessee rightwing talk radio host, had released a song called Vaxman, an anti-Covid vaccination ditty based on the Beatles track Taxman.Marc Bernier, a host in Daytona Beach, Florida, had declared himself “Mr Anti-Vax”. Dick Farrel, also from Florida, urged his listeners not to get vaccinated, and Jimmy DeYoung asked on air whether the vaccine could be a “form of government control of the people”. Continue reading...

UK and airlines welcome news that US will lift Covid-19 travel restrictions from early November

The White House said US president Joe Biden will hold a call with French president Emmanuel Macron in the coming days to reaffirm America's commitment to one of its "oldest and closest partners" amid a diplomatic crisis stemming from a nuclear submarine deal. France is reeling after being humiliated by a major Pacific defence pact orchestrated by the US, Australia and Britain, which involved a submarine deal that sank a rival French submarine contract.

Dr Alan Braid of San Antonio became the first provider to reveal he violated the law in a Washington Post opinion pieceA San Antonio doctor who said he had performed an abortion in defiance of Texas’s new law has been sued, setting up a potential test of the legality of the extreme, near-total ban on the procedure.

Plan comes as tens of thousands of Afghan refugees are on military bases awaiting resettlementThe Biden administration wants to nearly double the number of refugees admitted to the United States to 125,000 in the fiscal year starting on 1 October in keeping with a campaign promise, according to a statement from the state department.The state department will consult with the Department of Homeland Security and Congress to lift the cap, which was set at 62,500 for the 2020 fiscal year, ending this month, the statement said. Continue reading...

Press secretary voices concern over widely shared images as more than 6,000 migrants removed from Texas encampmentThe White House on Monday responded critically to widely shared images of US border patrol agents in Texas rounding up Haitian migrants on horseback.Related: Haitian migrants intend to remain at Texas border despite plan to expel them Continue reading...

But president will contend with skepticism in wake of Aukus, disagreements over Israel and the chaotic Afghanistan withdrawalJoe Biden will make his first speech to the United Nations as president on Tuesday, seeking to “close the chapter on 20 years of war” and begin an era of intensive diplomacy.Biden will however have to contend with hostility from China, an open rift with France and widespread scepticism among UN member states over his commitment to multilateralism following disagreements over Israel, a chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan, and a nuclear submarine deal that took adversaries and allies by surprise. Continue reading...

Boris Johnson has welcomed the US decision to lift Covid-19 travel restrictions to allow fully vaccinated passengers from the UK and most EU countries to travel into the country from early November. The move signals the end of a travel ban imposed by Donald Trump more than 18 months ago in the early stages of the pandemic, and comes after intense lobbying from Brussels and London

Hang Time owner says rule is part of the restaurant dress code and he reserves the right to refuse businessA Texas couple were denied service at a restaurant because they were wearing masks.Related: Texas women in New York restaurant vaccine brawl say race a factor Continue reading...

Video showed at least a dozen officers rushing inside home of Brian Laundrie, after body believed to be of ‘van-life’ blogger Petito discoveredPolice on Monday searched the Florida home of Brian Laundrie, the man wanted for questioning in the disappearance of his fiance, Gabby Petito, whose body was apparently discovered on Sunday in a national park in Wyoming.Video showed at least a dozen officers, including one wearing an FBI jacket, pulling up to the house in North Port and rushing inside. The officers served a search warrant. Local media reported that Laundrie’s parents were seen getting into a police van. Continue reading...

Suit for $1m alleges the school violated the girl’s civil rights and racially and ethnically discriminated against herA father in Michigan filed a $1m lawsuit against staff at his daughter’s school after the seven-year old biracial girl’s hair was cut without her parents’ permission.The lawsuit filed on 14 September in federal court in Michigan, by Jimmy Hoffmeyer on behalf of his daughter Jurnee Hoffmeyer, names as defendants Mount Pleasant public schools, a librarian and a teacher’s assistant. Continue reading...

The Northern Irishman expects a partisan home crowd with Europe’s lack of fans in Wisconsin increasing the scale of their taskWhen Rory McIlroy used a devilish pre-Masters question about voting rights to call the United States “the best country in the world” it was easy to sense another blow to the once-ferocious rivalry that existed in the Ryder Cup. How could McIlroy and the other residents of Florida who represent Europe for a week every two years possibly feel antipathy towards their adopted home?Perfectly easily, as it transpires. McIlroy expanded on his “best country” remark by pointing to the convenience of life for someone in his “fortunate” sporting position. McIlroy admires this “land of opportunity.” Yet one glance at his face upon his singles defeat to Justin Thomas at Le Golf National in 2018 or his hulk-like demeanour when losing narrowly to Patrick Reed in the same format two years earlier reveals someone who can very easily turn against the star-spangled banner. The Ryder Cup is not the cosy domain of those who frequent the coffee shops of West Palm Beach. Continue reading...

New documentary Missing in Brooks County looks at Falfurrias, one of the busiest immigration checkpoints in the US and the growing number of deaths plaguing the nation’s border regionJust off US highway 281, south of a spit of a town called Encino in Brooks county, there’s a cross made of wind-strewn flowers tied to a utility pole marking the spot where 10 undocumented migrants were killed last month when the speeding van carrying them crashed. The makeshift shrine on a stretch of the highway deep in south Texas also contains some candles, a pair of work boots and a small Mexican flag. All mark what is suspected to be an extreme example of the collateral damage that results from securing our international borders. Law enforcement speculate that the inhabitants of the van were to be dropped off to traverse dangerous, snake-infested backcountry and circumvent a US Customs and Border Protection checkpoint located a few miles north of the accident site.The immigration checkpoint is called the Falfurrias border patrol station, which leads out of the busiest of the immigration agency’s 20 sectors along both the Canadian and Mexican borders with the US. Its function is to interdict smugglers and drug traffickers. This landmark is at the center of Missing in Brooks County, a new documentary that details the growing number of deaths plaguing the nation’s border with Mexico and the logistical challenges in identifying even a single migrant among many hundreds who die annually. Continue reading...

State’s chief medical officer says ‘Our state literally shrunk in 2020’ as deaths exceeded births

Kim played a big part in the 2008 US win at Valhalla and broke into the world’s top 10 before vanishing from the PGA TourAugust 2011. A second round of 71 is not sufficient for Anthony Kim to make the cut at the US PGA Championship, but falling short by one appears far from disastrous. Kim, 26, had tied fifth at the Open Championship a few weeks earlier demonstrating the versatility that had earned him third place in the 2010 Masters.At Augusta National in 2009, Kim had birdied 11 holes in a single round. With Tiger Woods wilting, Kim appeared a legitimate successor to the throne and one who could have done so much to break down barriers as a Korean American. Continue reading...

A bill in Congress would allow Medicare to use its bulk-purchasing power to negotiate lower drug prices. Big Pharma is not pleasedThe three conservative Democratic lawmakers threatening to kill their party’s drug pricing legislation have raked in roughly $1.6m of campaign cash from donors in the pharmaceutical and health products industries. One of the lawmakers is the House’s single largest recipient of pharmaceutical industry campaign cash this election cycle, and another lawmaker’s immediate past chief of staff is now lobbying for drugmakers.The threat from Democratic Representatives Kurt Schrader (Oregon), Scott Peters (California) and Kathleen Rice (New York) comes just as the pharmaceutical industry’s top lobbying group announced a seven-figure ad campaign to vilify the Democratic legislation, which aims to lower the cost of medicines for Americans now facing the world’s highest prescription drug prices. Continue reading...

The Brazilian president wanted a popular uprising against the supreme court, but the underwhelming response was tellingThere is something pathetic about a leader who cannot recognise his limitations. For months, Brazil’s president, Jair Bolsonaro, has insisted that he could bend democracy in Latin America’s largest nation to his will if he so desired. Brazil’s independence day, 7 September, was supposed to be a watershed moment, as the president mobilised his supporters to take to the streets. Instead, it revealed the distance between Bolsonaro’s perception of the popular support that he enjoys and reality. Sinking in the polls and with mounting obstacles in the way of broadening his political alliances, the president bet that he could compel enough of a grassroots backing to intimidate the political establishment, and the supreme court in particular. Unsurprisingly, to quote Gabriel García Márquez’s novel The General in His Labyrinth, the president “could not renounce his infinite capacity for illusion at the very moment he needed it most”.Bolsonaro backers and dispassionate analysts alike predicted a massive public outpouring of support for the president’s ongoing efforts to undermine democratic processes. It was thought that 7 September might even culminate in a takeover of the supreme court building akin to the raucous invasion of the US Capitol building on 6 January. Days before independence day, Bolsonaro called the planned demonstration an “ultimatum” for supreme court judges, and declared ominously that “if you want peace, prepare for war”. He even hinted at a constitutional “rupture that neither I nor the people want”. Continue reading...

Million deaths avoidable if vaccinations increase, adviser says. Plus, Ted Lasso and The Crown triumph at the EmmysA decision not to recommend booster vaccine shots for most Americans is “not the end of the story”, the White House chief medical adviser, Dr Anthony Fauci, said on Sunday, two days after a scientific panel appeared to turn the Biden administration’s plan for combating coronavirus on its head.Fauci also said he did not believe a million coronavirus deaths in the US was an inevitability, despite the Delta variant-fuelled surge that last week brought the grim milestone of one in 500 Americans having fallen died of Covid. Continue reading...

Anti-Trump Republican group targets governor with ad showing border wall made of coffins of Covid victimsA group of disgruntled Republicans has questioned if the Texas governor, Greg Abbott, used political influence to pull a TV ad criticising his handling of the coronavirus pandemic.Related: Beto O’Rourke set to run against Greg Abbott for Texas governor – report Continue reading...

The rookie may turn out to be an all-time great. But he was terrible on Sunday and his team have a long history of ruining young quarterbacksThe beauty of the NFL is rooted in outrageous displays of skill and jaw-dropping plays. Then there’s the New York Jets, who offer none of the above.It’s no surprise that the Jets are 0-2 after falling to the New England Patriots 25-6 on Sunday. After all, teams like the Jets – who finished last season 2-14 – don’t often come out of the gate with a run of victories. Continue reading...

Royal drama The Crown and feelgood comedy Ted Lasso were among the big winners at television's Emmy awards, a night dominated by streaming shows, British talent and rare wins by women.There were many triumphs for Britons – including Olivia Colman, Kate Winslet, Hannah Waddingham and Michaela Coel. Though the telecast exhibited diversity among presenters, there was little diversity to be found in the list of winners, with no acting winners of color

The president is about to embark on a legislative push with almost no room for errorIn what could be the most consequential stretch of his presidency, Joe Biden faces an autumn sprint to advance a once-in-a-generation expansion of the social safety net.Related: House Democrats are scared to tax billionaires – that’s a costly mistake | Robert Reich Continue reading...

Body found in Wyoming’s Grand Teton national park as police in Florida look for fiance in vast nature reserveFBI agents searching in Grand Teton national park in Wyoming on Sunday discovered “human remains consistent with the description” of Gabby Petito, a 22-year-old woman who went missing during a cross-country “van life” trip with her fiance, Brian Laundrie.Petito’s last known contact with family members was from the Wyoming park. Continue reading...

Thousands seeking to escape poverty and hunger in their own country remain encamped under and near a bridge in Del RioHaitian migrants seeking to escape poverty and hunger in their home country said they would not be deterred by US plans to swiftly send them back, as thousands remained encamped under and near a bridge in Del Rio, a remote Texas city.Related: How thousands of Haitian migrants ended up at the Texas border Continue reading...

Activist says there will be protest over treatment of Black patrons after confrontation outside Carmine’sA lawyer for three women from Texas arrested after a brawl outside a popular New York City restaurant over the requirement that guests show proof of vaccination has said race was a factor in the case.In video shot by an onlooker last Thursday and shared widely on social media, a restaurant hostess, who is white, is seen being attacked. Continue reading...

Relitigating 2020 will not fuel a win in 2024, says Bill Cassidy, who voted to impeach Trump over Capitol attack

Actor Matthew McConaughey has also flirted with challenging the Republican, who appears vulnerable

Piers Morgan will be presenting a nightly talkshow in this new venture aimed at outflanking the ailing GB NewsThe human Marmite of British journalism, Piers Morgan, is about to be spread very thinly. He has signed a global commentary deal with Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp. A nightly talkshow will be central to the plans of a new venture, talkTV, which is to be launched “early next year”. Morgan’s show will also air on Fox Nation, a streaming spinoff from Fox News, in the US and Sky News in Australia, making him a daily presence on three continents. He can also be enjoyed – or avoided – in print, where a twice-weekly column will appear in the Sun and the New York Post, and in a book deal with Murdoch’s HarperCollins publishers.Morgan, who stagily stormed off the set of Good Morning Britain in March, will seemingly no longer be “silenced” by “cancel culture”. He will instead be given global amplification as part of a new battle for the small but economically significant audiences for right-leaning news. The media village gossip is part of a much larger pattern of change affecting all mainstream newsrooms and challenging how broadcasters think about bias, opinion, news and their own presenters. It is also part of a testing of the generational tensions within journalism, where the hunger for diversity and broader representation is creating economic opportunities for those mining the often older, whiter, righter and richer demographic. Continue reading...

If neither side budges, US risks default on debt and lowered credit rating, which would cost billionsTop Democrats are expected to dare Republicans to block a stopgap funding measure, which would trigger the double-barreled fiscal crisis of the US defaulting on its mammoth debt and a shutdown of the federal government, according to two sources familiar with the proposal.The plan being considered by the House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, and the Senate majority leader, Chuck Schumer, involves suspending the debt ceiling past the 2022 midterm elections in a stopgap bill that would keep the government funded through early December, the sources said. Continue reading...

Defence pact with Australia and the US increases chance of confrontation with China and spurs nuclear proliferationLife got a little more dangerous last week. It wasn’t due to the pandemic or the climate crisis. It was entirely the result of the conscious choices of men (and it’s nearly always men) gearing up for war.That’s denied, naturally. Myopic politicians, soldiers and diplomats say new nuclear weapons, missiles, ships, submarines and alliances are necessary to deter unnamed enemies. They are needed to bolster “international security”. Continue reading...

The Legacy Museum, opening in October, lands at a time when racial violence is again on the rise and critical race theory is being used to prevent America’s racist past being taught in schoolsA 30ft wave crashes over your head as you enter the museum, dragging you instantly down into the roiling waters. The waves keep coming at you in gunmetal grey surges, with nothing to cling to amid the loneliness of the sea.Across the giant screen in front of you, words start emerging that ask you to reflect on the “the terrifying, tragic and deadly ocean journey” which 12.7 million men, women and children were forced to make having been kidnapped from their homes in Africa and sold into slavery. For about 2 million of them, the voyage to the Americas would end “in a watery grave at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean”. Continue reading...

Pre-emptively branding as rigged an election you are likely to lose risks turning off GOP voters and undermining democracyIt was a pre-emptive strike against truth by some of the biggest names on the American right wing.Former president Donald Trump warned that the ballot would be “rigged”. The Republican candidate Larry Elder predicted “shenanigans”. The conservative media star Tomi Lahren suggested that “voter fraud” was inevitable. Continue reading...

Political cowardice means those funding Joe Biden’s ambitious social policy plan want to leave the mega-rich unscathedThis week, House Democrats released their proposed tax increases to fund Joe Biden’s $3.5tn social policy plan.Related: ‘Medium is the message’: AOC defends ‘tax the rich’ dress worn to Met Gala Continue reading...

Former Planned Parenthood president cites Texas law and says Republicans are on brink of ending right to abortion

As country’s traditional allies take a more confrontational approach to China, it could offset Anglosphere divide with new partnershipsDuring the announcement that America, the United Kingdom and Australia had formed a new Aukus defence pact – inaugurated with the sale of American nuclear-powered submarines to Australia – Australian prime minister Scott Morrison lauded it as a “forever partnership for a new time between the oldest and most trusted of friends”.That phrasing was notable given that the deal excluded New Zealand, which has historically been so close with Australia that the Australian constitution contemplates complete integration of the two countries. Remarkably, New Zealand’s government apparently only learned about the Aukus deal when it began to be reported in the media on Wednesday. Continue reading...

Officers say Brian Laundrie has also disappeared after Petito went missing during couple’s US road tripMystery surrounding the whereabouts of 22-year-old Gabrielle “Gabby” Petito deepened late on Friday, after police in Florida said they were working with the FBI to locate 23-year-old Brian Laundrie, Petito’s fiance who is described as “a person of interest” in her disappearance.Petito and Laundrie had been on a “van life” trip across the south-western US, living in their vehicle. Petito’s family reported her missing last week, after Laundrie returned to Florida alone. Continue reading...