US-Saudi rift grows over decision to cut oil production

Washington has accused Saudi Arabia of coercing other Opec+ members into 2m-barrel-a-day reduction

The relationship between the US and Saudi Arabia continued to worsen on Thursday as the two countries traded barbs over the decision to cut oil production, with Washington accusing Riyadh of coercing other members of the Opec+ cartel, and Riyadh suggesting the Biden administration tried to get the decision delayed by a month.

In reaction to Joe Biden’s declared intention to reevaluate the US relationship with Riyadh, the Saudi foreign ministry issued an unusually long statement rejecting “attempts to distort the facts” about the kingdom’s motives for pushing for a 2m-barrel-a-day cut to Opec+ production.

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Record numbers of people risking lives to cross Darién Gap to US

More than 150,000 fleeing poverty have reached Panama so far this year in pursuit of American dream

The humanitarian crisis in Darién Gap has reached new heights as medical NGOs are overwhelmed by the record numbers of people risking their lives to cross the lawless strip of jungle in Latin America en route to the US.

An exodus of Venezuelans fleeing socioeconomic collapse has led to more people embarking on the perilous journey across the only land bridge connecting South and North America so far this year than in the entirety of 2021, Panamanian authorities say.

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For the love of cars: will steep gas prices stall Democrats’ midterm hopes?

Economy in focus: America has a love affair with cars – but soaring prices are causing a rift. In the midwest, Adam Gabbatt asks voters what they think

The Henry Ford museum, in Dearborn, Michigan, is a tribute to America’s obsession with the motor vehicle.

The sprawling complex, set across 12 acres, is home to early examples of the Ford Model T, the mass-produced, affordable vehicle that set the US on the path of a car-dominant culture, as well as other era-defining vehicles right up to today.

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Democrats issue fresh ultimatum to Saudi Arabia over oil production

Members of Congress raise prospect of one-year arms sales ban unless kingdom reverses Opec+ decision to cut output

Democrats in the US Congress have issued a fresh ultimatum to Saudi Arabia, giving the kingdom weeks to reverse an Opec+ decision to roll back oil production or face a potential one-year freeze on all arms sales.

The threat came as Joe Biden reiterated his pledge to take action over Riyadh’s decision last week to cut oil output by 2m barrels a day, which Democrats have said would help “fuel Vladimir Putin’s war machine” and hurt American consumers at the petrol pump.

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Trump ordered records moved after subpoena, Mar-a-Lago staffer said – reports

FBI has surveillance footage confirming testimony of employee who spoke to investigators, Washington Post and CNN say

Donald Trump asked for boxes of records at Mar-a-Lago to be moved after receiving a government subpoena to return them, an employee of the former president reportedly told the FBI.

The Mar-a-Lago employee is cooperating with the US Department of Justice and has been interviewed multiple times by federal agents, the Washington Post said.

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Alex Jones ordered to pay Sandy Hook families $965m over hoax claims

Verdict is second big judgment against Infowars host over promotion of the lie that the 2012 massacre never happened

The conspiracy theorist Alex Jones should pay $965m to people who suffered from his false claim that the Sandy Hook elementary school shooting was a hoax, a jury in Connecticut decided on Wednesday.

The verdict is the second big judgment against the Infowars host over his relentless promotion of the lie that the 2012 massacre never happened, and that the grieving families seen in news coverage were actors hired as part of a plot to take away people’s guns.

The Associated Press contributed reporting

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Billionaire MacKenzie Scott donates $15m to help provide glasses to farmers in developing countries

Donation is believed to be the largest single donation towards helping solve the problem of uncorrected blurry vision

MacKenzie Scott, the billionaire philanthropist and former wife of the Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, has donated $15m (£13.5m) to a social enterprise that helps provide glasses to farmers in developing countries.

Scott’s donation to VisionSpring is believed to be the largest single private donation towards helping solve the problem of uncorrected blurry vision which leaves hundreds of millions of people in poverty.

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Abortion is key motivator for Democratic-leaning voters in US midterms, poll finds

More than half claim they are more motivated to vote than in previous elections, with 50% of those people citing abortion

More than half of Democratic-leaning voters say abortion has become a crucial motivation for them to vote in next month’s US midterm elections, according to a recent poll.

A survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) conducted in September reveals that June’s supreme court decision to overturn Roe v Wade has put a fire under Democratic voters, with more than half claiming they are more motivated to vote than in previous elections, and 50% of those citing as their prime reason the ruling on abortion.

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Nury Martinez resigns from LA city council after racist remarks leaked

The former city council president faced intense pressure to step down, including from Joe Biden

The embattled former president of the LA city council stepped down from the board , days after a recording surfaced documenting her and two other Latino council members using racist language to mock colleagues and constituents while they planned to protect Latino political strength in council districts.

Nury Martinez announced her resignation in a statement on Wednesday, hours after the state attorney general announced an investigation into possible criminal charges involving the meeting where she made the remarks.

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US will soon need to deter two major nuclear powers for first time, White House says

New national security strategy warns of Russia as more immediate threat and China as long-term competitor

Within a decade, the US will need to deter two major nuclear weapons powers for the first time, the Biden administration has warned, pointing to the Russian arsenal that is increasingly being brandished by Moscow and an expanding Chinese stockpile.

The president’s new national security strategy (NSS) depicts China as the most capable long-term competitor, but Russia as the more immediate, disruptive threat, pointing to its nuclear posturing over Ukraine. It warns that threat could grow as Russian forces continue to suffer defeats on the battlefield.

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Saudi Arabia is choosing friends on its own terms and Biden is not one of them

Reactions in Washington to slashing oil supply have not concerned Mohammed bin Salman; nor have the optics of indirectly boosting Putin’s war

Mohammed bin Salman had seen it coming. The groundswell of anger in Washington was clear and building since he helped lead an Opec+ decision to cut the world’s oil supply last week.

But for the first time in the modern era of ties between the US and Saudi Arabia, there was no rush to placate hard feelings, or gloss over a rift. This was the birth of a new realpolitik, where nascent Saudi nationalism paid no heed to a historical ally and instead aligned itself to what Riyadh literally sees as a new world order.

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Next January 6 hearing to focus on warnings of violence leading up to Capitol attack – live

Panel intends to detail how White House and Secret Service were told of potential for violence in days leading up to insurrection

President Joe Biden signaled today he is ready to retaliate against Saudi Arabia for pushing Opec+ to slash oil production.

Speaking as he was departing the White House for a trip to Colorado, Biden said, “We’re going to react to Saudi Arabia and we’re doing consultation when they come back. We will take action.”

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Comedians Eric André and Clayton English sue police, alleging racial profiling

Duo say police, in separate incidents at Atlanta airport, singled them out for drug search and questioning because of their race

The comedians Eric André and Clayton English have sued police, alleging racial profiling at Atlanta’s main airport in a program supposedly aimed at finding illegal drugs but in which officers regularly confiscate passengers’ cash.

André, creator and host of The Eric Andre Show, and English, a standup comedian and actor, say that in separate incidents, Clayton county police officers at Hartsfield-Jackson international airport racially profiled and illegally stopped them to question if they had illegal drugs.

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Fired Texas police officer charged over shooting of teen in fast-food parking lot

James Brennand, 25, charged with aggravated assault after shooting of Erik Cantu, 17, at McDonald’s in San Antonio

A now-former San Antonio police officer was charged on Tuesday with two counts of aggravated assault by a peace officer for shooting and gravely wounding a teen eating a hamburger in his car in a McDonald’s parking lot. The teen had begun driving away when the officer opened fire.

James Brennand, 25, was charged in the 2 October shooting of Erik Cantu, 17, according to a police statement. He turned himself in to police on Tuesday night and remained in custody, said the police chief, William McManus.

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US firms exploiting Trump-era loophole over toxic ‘forever chemicals’

Study finds chemical companies dodging federal law designed to track how many PFAS plants are pumping into environment

Chemical companies are dodging a federal law designed to track how many PFAS “forever chemicals” their plants are discharging into the environment by exploiting a loophole created in the Trump administration’s final months, a new analysis of federal records has found.

The Fiscal Year 2020 National Defense Authorization Act put in place requirements that companies discharging over 100lb annually of the dangerous chemicals report the releases to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). But during the implementation process, Trump’s EPA created an unusual loophole that at least five chemical companies have exploited.

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New Orleans lawyer fined for alerting school to priest’s past sexual misconduct

Richard Trahant was fined $400,000 for violating confidentiality rules around a bankruptcy filing by the local archdiocese

A New Orleans attorney who represents victims of clerical sexual abuse faces a $400,000 fine after alerting a local Catholic high school that a priest who worked there once admitted to fondling and kissing a teen girl he met at another church institution.

The lawyer, Richard Trahant, said he would appeal against the hefty sanction handed to him on Tuesday, which stemmed from a federal judge’s ruling that his alert violated confidentiality rules governing a Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing by the local archdiocese.

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First Thing: WHO chief urges action to tackle ‘devastating’ long Covid

Calls for sustained efforts to help people experiencing ‘prolonged suffering’. Plus, Saudi Arabia to face consequences

Good morning.

The head of the World Health Organization has urged countries to launch immediate and sustained efforts to tackle the “very serious” crisis of long Covid, which is causing prolonged suffering” for tens of millions of people.

The Ghebreyesus long Covid plan. Provide immediate access to antivirals to patients at high risk of serious disease, investment in research, support patients’ physical and mental health, ensure financial support, equitable access to Covid tests and vaccines, and multidisciplinary care.

Lockdown babies slower to meet some milestones. Babies born during the first lockdown met fewer developmental milestones at the age of one compared with those born before the pandemic – although they may have been faster to crawl, a study suggests.

The world risks ‘Armageddon’. Last week Biden invoked the biblical final reckoning between good and evil in unusually direct remarks about the dangers posed by Putin’s thinly veiled threats to use nuclear weapons to assist Russia’s faltering attempt to take over swathes of Ukraine.

Elon Musk rejects claim he talked to Putin about Ukraine. The Tesla boss has denied a report that he spoke to the Russian president, including about the potential for using nuclear weapons, before floating a peace plan that suggested Ukraine cede territory to Russia.

Midterm oil prices. The move to cut oil production comes just weeks before a critical midterm election that could hinge on how much American consumers are paying at the pumps.

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Thousands still without power weeks after Hurricane Fiona hit Puerto Rico

High temperatures, rain and mosquitoes make life unbearable for those still affected by the longest blackout in US history

Alexis Robles has slept a mere three hours a night since Hurricane Fiona hit Puerto Rico on 18 September, causing a total blackout across the Caribbean island.

Robles, 52, a systems analyst in the seaside town of Cabo Rojo in south-west Puerto Rico, has been living without power for 25 days.

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Sources in Russian analyst’s Trump dossier fabricated, prosecutors argue

Igor Danchenko, who played a vital role in creating the Steele dossier, has been indicted on five counts of lying to the FBI

A Russian analyst who played a major role in the creation of a flawed dossier about former President Donald Trump fabricated one of his own sources and concealed the identity of another when interviewed by the FBI, prosecutors said Tuesday.

The allegations were aired during opening statements in the trial of Igor Danchenko, who is indicted on five counts of making false statements to the FBI.

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Unaired Kanye West-Tucker Carlson material contains more racist conspiracy theories

Rapper deals in antisemitic tropes in interview after he wore ‘white lives matter’ T-shirt

Unaired segments of an interview between Kanye West and the Fox News host Tucker Carlson document the American rapper airing a series of comments based on racist conspiracy theories, adding to the growing controversy over the interview.

In the segments, first reported by the tech news outlet Motherboard, West, who has changed his legal name to Ye, detailed his belief in an unfounded and antisemitic conspiracy theory that Planned Parenthood was founded “to control the Jew population”.

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