Three Americans create enough carbon emissions to kill one person, study finds

The analysis draws on public health studies that conclude that for every 4,434 metric tons of CO2 produced, one person globally will die

The lifestyles of around three average Americans will create enough planet-heating emissions to kill one person, and the emissions from a single coal-fired power plant is likely to result in more than 900 deaths, according to the first analysis to calculate the mortal cost of carbon emissions.

The new research builds upon what is known as the “social cost of carbon”, a monetary figure placed upon the damage caused by each ton of carbon dioxide emissions, by assigning an expected death toll from the emissions that cause the climate crisis.

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Arthur, children’s animated TV series, to end after 25 years

The final season of the longest running animated series in the US will air in 2022

Arthur, the longest running children’s animated series in the US, will soon come to an end.

PBS Kids plans to end the beloved television show after 25 seasons, said an original developer of the show during a podcast released on Wednesday. The final season will air in 2022.

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Facebook reports fastest quarterly growth in five years

  • Social media company beats forecasts and hits $29bn revenue
  • Network condemned for allowing vaccine misinformation

Facebook saw its fastest growth this quarter since 2016, the company revealed in its earnings report on Wednesday, despite regulatory concerns and criticisms surrounding misinformation on the platform.

Related: Remington offers $33m to settle lawsuit by families of Sandy Hook massacre

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Covid: what is changing for fully vaccinated travellers to England?

We examine the new regulations regarding quarantine, testing and proving inoculation after 2 August

Millions of people living outside the UK will be allowed quarantine-free entry following the most significant lifting of restrictions on international travel in months. Here’s what you need to know:

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‘Such a moron’: Pelosi heaps disdain on McCarthy for criticizing mask guidance

  • Kevin McCarthy: mask policy a political decision by Democrats
  • Capitol physician reimposes mask requirement for the House

The House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, on Wednesday heaped disdain on the Republican minority leader’s criticism of Congress’s new mask requirement – a reversal of policy that reflected growing number of cases and fears about the highly-transmissible Covid-19 Delta variant at the Capitol.

Related: Bipartisan group reaches agreement on ‘major issues’ of infrastructure bill, Republican says – live

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‘A nightmare scenario’: how an anti-trans Instagram post led to violence in the streets

Misinformation about Wi Spa, a Korean spa in Los Angeles, quickly spread around the world. Since then, trans women in LA have faced violence and online abuse

On 24 June, a woman claimed on Instagram that a Korean spa in Los Angeles had allowed a “man” to expose himself to women and girls in the women’s section.

The unsubstantiated allegations about Wi Spa in LA’s Koreatown neighborhood quickly spread from social media to rightwing forums to far-right news sites to Fox News, and were distorted by anti-transgender groups across multiple countries.

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‘We walked 18 hours, no food’: Taliban advance triggers exodus of Afghans

As the conflict intensifies amid the withdrawal of US-led forces, a new wave of families are being forced to flee via perilous routes to Iran and Turkey

A weary Zebah Gul and her eight children are gathered quietly in a small room at a transit centre in Herat, north-eastern Afghanistan. Their six-month attempt to escape the war and find safety has failed.

They have just spent a week in Iranian police detention after being caught trying to cross the border into Turkey, and are beginning to make their way back to their besieged home province of Takhar, on the opposite side of the sprawling country.

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‘Pharma bro’ Martin Shkreli’s $2m Wu-Tang Clan album sold by US government

The album, purchased by Shkreli for $2m, was bought for an undisclosed sum

An unreleased Wu-Tang Clan album that “Pharma Bro” entrepreneur Martin Shkreli forfeited after his securities fraud conviction was sold Tuesday for an undisclosed sum, though prosecutors say it was enough to fully satisfy the rest of what he owed on a $7.4m forfeiture order he faced after his 2018 sentencing.

The entrepreneur once boasted that he paid $2m in 2015 at auction for Once Upon a Time in Shaolin, the 31-track double album the Wu-Tang Clan spent six years creating.

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Critical measures of global heating reaching tipping point, study finds

Carbon emissions, ocean acidification, Amazon clearing all hurtling toward new records

A new study tracking the planet’s vital signs has found that many of the key indicators of the global climate crisis are getting worse and either approaching, or exceeding, key tipping points as the earth heats up.

Overall, the study found some 16 out of 31 tracked planetary vital signs, including greenhouse gas concentrations, ocean heat content and ice mass, set worrying new records.

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UK poised to end amber list quarantine for people vaccinated in US and EU

Ministers to discuss plans, with talks also to determine if they will apply to England only or all UK nations

Plans to significantly open up international travel are expected to be announced on Wednesday, with UK ministers poised to let people who have been fully vaccinated in the US and EU avoid quarantine if arriving from amber list countries.

The move would benefit millions of people by finally letting them be reunited with family and friends based in the UK, as well as businesses in the aviation and tourism sectors that have been hit hard by the pandemic.

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Joey Jordison, Slipknot’s founding drummer, dies at age 46

Family announce that metal musician, who had transverse myelitis, a nerve disease, died ‘peacefully in his sleep’

Joey Jordison, the drummer whose dynamic playing helped to power the metal band Slipknot to global stardom, has died at age 46.

His family wrote in a statement: “We are heartbroken to share the news that Joey Jordison, prolific drummer, musician and artist passed away peacefully in his sleep … Joey’s death has left us with empty hearts and feelings of indescribable sorrow. To those that knew Joey, understood his quick wit, his gentle personality, giant heart and his love for all things family and music.”

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‘This is how I’m going to die’: officers recount Capitol attack ordeal – live

  • Police officer Aquilino Gonell describes violence at Capitol
  • Select committee hears witness testimony from 6 January

Jamie Raskin of Maryland is next. A law professor, his descriptions of his experiences during the attack and management of the impeachment of Donald Trump that followed brought him to particular national attention:

Related: 'The moral centre': how Jamie Raskin dominated the stage at Trump's trial

Related: ‘I need a drink’ after Republican talks, says officer beaten in Capitol attack

Now we have Stephanie Murphy, a Florida Democrat, and more video, this time from Officer Hodges’ body camera.

There are clouds of smoke, police in riot gear, shouting, pushing. Hodges curls his lip as he looks up at the screen. One burly police officer is seen dousing his eyes with water, walking back through the police line. Now we have Officer Hodges stuck in a door, screaming. It is tough to watch.

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Salmon nearly boiled alive in Pacific north-west heatwave captured on video

A conservation group recorded the video in the Columbia River on a day when water temperatures breached 70F

Salmon in the Columbia River were nearly boiled to death when water temperatures rose during the Pacific north-west’s record-shattering heatwave, according to a conservation group that has documented the disturbing sight.

In a video released on Tuesday by the non-profit organization Columbia Riverkeeper, a group of sockeye salmon swimming in a tributary of the river can be seen covered in angry red lesions and white fungus, the results of stress and exposure to extreme temperatures.

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Capitol riot police officer: ‘I was at risk of being killed with my own firearm’ – video

Metropolitan police department officer Michael Fanone told the select committee investigating the 6 January insurrection at the Capitol how pro-Trump insurrectionists attacked him. 'I was grabbed, beaten, tased, all while being called a traitor to my country. I was at risk of being stripped of and killed with my own firearm, as I heard chants of "kill him with his own gun",' Fanone said.

He went on to say that a fellow officer later took him to a nearby hospital, where he was told he had suffered a mild heart attack.

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Atlanta spa shootings: suspect pleads guilty to four counts of murder

• Robert Aaron Long agrees plea deal but faces four more charges

• Eight people, six women of Asian descent, died in shootings

A Georgia man charged in the shooting deaths of eight people at three Atlanta-area massage businesses was pleading guilty in Cherokee county on Tuesday, hoping for a sentence of life without parole to the first four cases.

Related: Are police the biggest threat to massage parlor workers’ safety?

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Failure to help poor countries fight Covid ‘could cost global economy $4.5tn’, says IMF

Fund calls on rich nations to help halt spread of infectious variants through countries with low vaccination rates

The world economy risks losing $4.5tn (£3.3tn) from highly infectious variants of Covid-19 spreading through poor countries where vaccination rates are lower, the International Monetary Fund has warned.

Calling on rich countries to take urgent action to share at least 1bn doses with developing nations, or risk severe economic consequences, the Washington-based fund said the gap between rich and poor economies had widened during the pandemic and risked worsening further next year.

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Jeff Bezos offers Nasa $2bn in exchange for moon mission contract

  • Billionaire lost out to Elon Musk’s SpaceX in lunar bid
  • Contract is to build craft to take astronauts to the moon

Fresh off his trip to space, Jeff Bezos on Monday offered to cover up to $2bn in Nasa costs if the US space agency awards his company Blue Origin a contract to make a spacecraft designed to land astronauts back on the moon.

Nasa in April awarded SpaceX, owned by rival billionaire Elon Musk, a $2.9bn contract to build a spacecraft to bring astronauts to the lunar surface as early as 2024, rejecting bids from Blue Origin and defense contractor Dynetics. Blue Origin had partnered with Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman and Draper in the bid.

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Covid vaccines mandated for employees of a US federal agency for the first time – as it happened

In a survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation vaccine monitor, 23% of Republicans said they definitely won’t get vaccinated, while 16% of independents and 2% of Democrats said the same.

White House chief medical adviser Anthony Fauci said local leaders, particularly in areas with low rates of vaccination, needed to lead outreach efforts to get people vaccinated.

Related: Fauci says health officials considering mask guidance revision for vaccinated

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Britney Spears asks for accountant to replace father as conservator

  • Los Angeles court filing reveals singer’s request for Jason Rubin
  • Father Jamie Spears has been conservator for 13 years

An attorney for Britney Spears has asked that a new conservator be named to oversee the pop singer’s finances following recent testimony that she wanted her father ousted from the role, the New York Times reported on Monday.

In a Los Angeles court filing, lawyer Matthew Rosengart requested that accountant Jason Rubin be named the conservator of Spears’ estate, a post currently held by her father, Jamie Spears, the Times reported.

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