'Apprentice' star, former White House aide Omarosa Manigault Newman beats Trump in arbitration fight over book

Donald Trump blasted "Apprentice" contestant Omarosa Manigault Newman after she won an arbitration ruling about a nondisclosure agreement with his campaign.

Milley defends China calls and says ‘I am certain Trump did not intend to attack the Chinese’ – live

General says calls to Beijing were designed to ‘de-escalate’ tensionMilley testifies over US military’s withdrawal from AfghanistanSign up to receive First Thing – our daily briefing by email

5.11pm BST

During his questioning at the Senate hearing, Republican senator Tom Cotton pressed Gen Mark Milley, the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, on why he did not resign over Joe Biden’s handling of the Afghanistan withdrawal.

Cotton specifically referred to reports that Biden ignored Milley’s advice on keeping a US troop presence in Afghanistan, asking how the general could stay in his role after that.

.@SenTomCotton: "Why haven't you resigned?"Gen. Milley: "It would be an incredible act of political defiance for a commissioned officer to just resign because my advice is not taken." He also says, "My dad didn't get a choice to resign at Iwo Jima." pic.twitter.com/7D4w3KUR03

4.53pm BST

Senator Elizabeth Warren asked defense secretary Lloyd Austin whether he believed that remaining in Afghanistan for another year would have prevented the Taliban’s rise.

Austin said the answer to that question depends on how many US troops remained in Afghanistan and what the mission’s objectives were.

.@SenWarren (D-MA): “If we had stayed in Afghanistan for another year, would it have made a fundamental difference?”Def. Sec. Austin: “There are a range of possibilities, but if you stayed there at a forced posture of 2,500, certainly you’d be in a fight with the Taliban.” pic.twitter.com/zbJ0sdWLsO

Tuchel defends Kanté after Covid-19 rules Chelsea player out of Juve trip

‘We are not angry with N’Golo – we are concerned about him’Tuchel unsure footballers should be pressured to get jabs

Thomas Tuchel has questioned whether footballers have a moral duty to lead the way on vaccinations after N’Golo Kanté tested positive for Covid-19 before Chelsea’s Champions League group game at Juventus on Wednesday night.

The issue of jabs has been sensitive in football and Tuchel, who did not disclose whether Kanté is vaccinated, said players were free to choose whether they want one. Chelsea’s manager was reluctant to offer too much of a view after losing his key midfielder and he is unsure whether footballers should be doing more to convince the public to have the jab.

Biden to meet with centrist Sens. Manchin and Sinema with Democrats' sprawling economic agenda at stake

Biden and Democratic leaders are trying to get centrist Sens. Manchin and Sinema on board with their social safety net and climate plan.

How to Be an Antiracist author Ibram X Kendi awarded MacArthur ‘genius grant’

Writers Daniel Alarcón and Reginald Dwayne Betts have also been named on the list of 25 new fellows to receive $625,000 from the foundation

The bestselling historian Ibram X Kendi has been awarded a $625,000 (£460,000) MacArthur “genius grant” for his work on redressing racism in the US.

Kendi, the author of the bestseller How to Be an Antiracist, is one of 25 new fellows to receive the no-strings-attached grant from the MacArthur Foundation. The grants go to “talented individuals who have shown extraordinary originality and dedication in their creative pursuits and a marked capacity for self-direction”. Candidates are nominated by a wide pool of experts, and recipients chosen by a selection committee.

Oprah Winfrey announces the latest selection for her book club

Tony Dokoupil interviews Oprah Winfrey for “CBS Mornings” about why she added the latest selection to her book club and the author who is joining the list.

12% of English pupils report continuing Covid symptoms weeks after infection

Secondary school students and staff describe persistent problems that point to scale of long Covid

More than one in 10 pupils and over a third of school staff with Covid continued to suffer symptoms four weeks after infection, according to new data which may shed some light on the scale of long Covid in schools in England.

Data published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) found 12.3% of secondary school pupils and 35.7% of staff with a confirmed Covid infection reported continuing symptoms, including weakness, tiredness and shortness of breath, four weeks later.

Massachusetts State Police troopers resign over COVID vaccine mandate

Dozens of Massachusetts State Police troopers have submitted paperwork to resign in response to the governor's COVID-19 vaccine mandate, according to a union that represents around 1,800 officers.

Covid live: Scotland delays vaccine passport enforcement; Turkey vows not to close schools despite cases rise

Scotland introduces two-week grace period for venues; Turkey says it will ‘never’ close schools again despite recent rise in infections

4.43pm BST

The Grammy-nominated R&B and gospel singer Kelly Price has said she almost died from Covid-19 – and was never missing, as family members feared.

Price announced her Covid diagnosis in July. According to the website TMZ, family members said the singer was rushed to hospital about a week later.

Related: Kelly Price says she almost died from Covid – and was never missing

4.17pm BST

The UK government said a further 167 people had died within 28 days of testing positive for Covid as of Tuesday, bringing the UK total to 136,375.

Separate figures published by the Office for National Statistics show there have been 161,000 deaths registered in the UK where Covid was mentioned on the death certificate.

Colbert on Arizona audit: ‘They hired Maga fans, and even they couldn’t say No 45 won’

Late-night hosts talk Arizona’s GOP-led election ‘audit’, which reaffirmed Biden’s win, and Rudy Giuliani’s Fox News ban

Stephen Colbert mocked the humiliating conclusion of a partisan effort to overturn the 2020 election in Arizona, which concluded on Friday by reaffirming Joe Biden’s victory over Donald Trump by 360 more votes than initially reported.

Post-election rifts emerge in Germany’s centre-right alliance

Growing dissent within conservative ranks is diminishing Armin Laschet’s hopes of keeping his party in power

A leading German conservative has made a public show of congratulating the Social Democrats’ candidate on winning Sunday’s national election in a sign of division within the centre-right alliance of outgoing chancellor Angela Merkel after it plunged to historic losses.

Markus Söder, the head of Bavaria’s Christian Social Union (CSU), the Christian Democratic Union’s (CDU) sister party, said Olaf Scholz was frontrunner to become Germany’s next leader, undermining the claims of the CDU-CSU’s Armin Laschetthat the 25.7%-24.1% result was too narrow to amount to a clear mandate and he could still form a “future-oriented coalition”.

Top CEOs say they're worried about corporate tax hikes as Dems push bills aimed at boosting working families

The Business Roundtable said CEOs have three big worries: Finding qualified workers, possible higher corporate taxes and slow Covid-19 vaccine uptake.

'Like toilet paper and hand sanitizer': At-home COVID-19 tests hard to find as Biden mandate looms

Experts project higher demand for COVID-19 tests as companies test non-vaccinated workers and schools increase coronavirus screening.
     

What is myocarditis, and how does it relate to the COVID vaccine? Your questions answered

University of Louisville Health physician talks about myocarditis, the inflammation of the heart muscle, and its relation to the COVID-19 vaccine.
     

Critical week ahead for President Biden and Democrats in Washington

CBS News senior White House and political correspondent Ed O'Keefe joined "CBS Mornings" to break down President Biden's agenda in a critical week ahead for Democrats.

Fuel crisis leading to cancellations of NHS cancer appointments

Charities say panic buying is heaping extra stress on cancer patients already hit by Covid delays

The postponement of NHS appointments for some cancer patients because of the fuel crisis will heap additional pressure on patients and their families, charities have warned.

The Guardian learned that several cancer patients due to attend appointments this week at University College hospital (UCLH), one of London’s largest hospitals, have been told they will have to be rescheduled.

Obama presidential center to break ground in Chicago amid years of pushback

The Obama Presidential Center was expected to break ground amid pushback by park preservationists and community groups concerned about displacement.
     

I went to work for Keir Starmer because he promised to unite the party. I regret it now | Simon Fletcher

The Labour leader is busy unravelling the alliance he built with the left in order to get the job

Keir Starmer would not have been elected as Labour leader if he had suggested publicly or privately that he intended to re-establish weighted votes for MPs in leadership elections, taking power away from regular members and ensuring future leadership contests would be less inclusive than the one he himself won. Labour party members would not have voted to abrogate their own rights. The triumphalism of some on the party’s right following the changes to the party’s rulebook will be greeted with resentment by thousands of party members.

Briefings from allies of the leadership say that the reforms show Labour has changed, drawing a line under the Jeremy Corbyn years and focusing outward. Instead, they have shown that Labour hasn’t changed at all – it is still focused on internal fights. Until someone decides to take a lead to stop the cycle of open strife, the party will struggle to win a general election.

How conspiracy theories "infiltrated" the wellness community

The unease of the COVID-19 pandemic kindled a quest for answers that allowed dangerous misinformation to spread in some yoga and wellness circles.

Marvel Entertainment chairman, others accused of breaking law in Veterans Affairs scheme under Trump

House Democrats accused three Donald Trump associates, including Marvel's chairman, of breaking the law in a plan to shape veterans' policies for their benefit.

Wealthy nations must share more resources or risk crisis for billions, warns UN chief

António Guterres says unequal access to Covid vaccines and affordable loans in developing countries will widen inequality

The head of the UN has called on rich countries to step up efforts to protect workers hit by the Covid-19 pandemic with an additional $1tn (£736bn) injection of funds to avoid a twin-track recovery that widens the gap with the world’s poorest nations.

Speaking in New York, the secretary general of the United Nations, António Guterres, said the most serious global public health and economic crisis the world has faced in the past century was on course to worsen existing inequalities and threaten “the long-term livelihoods and well-being of hundreds of millions, if not billions, of people” without a greater determination by rich nations to share resources.

Republicans block Senate bill to fund government and suspend debt ceiling

The vote comes the same week as Democrats are trying to pass President Biden's domestic agenda.

Labour conference rivals Matt Hancock’s meet-and-greet video for pure viral horror | Marina Hyde

This entire event has spent four days crying out to be locked in a loft (one that’s insulated, of course)

On Sunday, I watched a video of Matt Hancock doing a constituency walkabout, which our former Covid overlord posted and then deleted from his own Twitter account. It’s unclear how many hours or even days of footage the ex-health secretary had to film in order to splice together a full 49 seconds of people not screaming observations beginning with the words “Oi, Hancock, you absolute …”. But we’re left with Matt awkwardly fist-bumping and hugging local women, with multilayered comments about “coming out the other side”. I had only one question: how is it possible that this video is still more dignified than the Labour party conference?

To Brighton, where most coverage of Labour feels like intruding on private grief. Top line: Keir Starmer remains juuuust a few infinity stones short of a gauntlet. A national executive committee member announced that Labour’s legal fees were now £2m a year. What are its sedative bills? This entire event has spent four days crying out to be locked in a loft – one that’s insulated, of course, ideally with 2-metre-thick lead.

New book says Trump told Putin: I’ll act tough with you – for the cameras

Revelation contained in former press secretary’s new book US president joked with Putin about ‘fake news’ journalists

Donald Trump told Vladimir Putin he had to act tough next to the Russian president for the cameras, according to the former White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham.

Related: Top US general to face heated questions in Congress after Woodward revelations

Barack Obama: tax the rich, including me, to fund Biden spending plan

Former president says billionaires should ‘pay a little bit more in taxes’ to fund healthcare, childcare and the climate crisis fight

Barack Obama says wealthy Americans – including himself – can afford tax increases to help fund Joe Biden’s ambitious spending plan.

Related: Pelosi: Biden spending plan, infrastructure deal and funding ‘must pass’ next week

Covid car parks to galactic lockdown: fascinating but futile quarantine ideas

Whether atomic priesthoods, 50ft concrete spikes or burying astronauts in concrete, humanity’s attempts to keep free from infection are examined in Until Proven Safe

In January 2020, just a few days before the first Covid-19-infected passengers landed in the United States on a flight from Wuhan, preparations were already being made in a converted car park in Omaha, Nebraska. By complete coincidence, after a decade of planning, the country’s first National Quarantine Unit opened its doors here on the eve of a global pandemic.

The timing couldn’t have been better. The need for such a place had been mooted ever since 9/11, followed by a series of anthrax attacks and Sars, all of which had raised fears in Congress over the prospect of bioterrorism and the increasing global threat of infectious diseases. Located roughly equidistant from both coasts, the city of Omaha declared itself to be the ideal place for isolating people potentially infected with deadly contagions, and received almost $20m from the US department of health to establish a state-of-the-art federal quarantine facility. Featuring negative-pressure en suite rooms kitted out with mini-fridges, TVs and exercise bikes, it was like a high-security, wipe-clean hotel. There was only one problem: it had just 20 beds.

How much poorer would the rich need to be to provide a basic minimum income for everyone?

The long-running series in which readers answer other readers’ questions on subjects ranging from trivial flights of fancy to profound scientific and philosophical concepts

How much poorer would the rich need to be to provide a basic minimum income for everyone? Robin Devany

Post your answers (and new questions) below or send them to nq@theguardian.com. A selection will be published on Sunday.

Anita Hill on sexual harassment and survival: ‘You have to think: what is my life for?’

Before Christine Blasey Ford and Monica Lewinsky, there was Anita Hill, shamed for exposing the actions of a powerful man. She explains how she withstood the tumult

Anita Hill sits so still that, when she is not speaking, I worry that the screen through which we are talking may have frozen. Yet despite her lawyerly, academic poise, she exudes warmth: you would feel safe confiding in her. And that is what people have been doing for the past 30 years – telling her of their own experiences with sexual harassment and assault. “I was a symbol of so many people’s experiences,” she says.

In the pantheon of women shamed for exposing the actions of high-profile men – before Christine Blasey Ford in 2018 and Monica Lewinsky in 1998 – there was Anita Hill. In 1991, the US president, George HW Bush, nominated Clarence Thomas to the supreme court. Senate hearings for his confirmation were completed without incident, until an interview of Hill by the FBI was leaked to the press. In it, Hill accused Thomas of sexual harassment while he was her supervisor in two separate jobs, at the Department of Education and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Among other claims, Hill said that Thomas discussed women having sex with animals, and pornographic films depicting group sex or rape scenes, and described his own sexual prowess and anatomy. According to Hill, Thomas’s behaviour forced her to resign from her job.

Biden is treating migrants little better than Trump did. That’s shameful | Xochitl Oseguera

We thought the days when our country treated asylum-seekers with cruelty and disdain might be ending. This month we learned we were wrong

We thought the days when our country treated asylum-seekers with cruelty and disdain might be ending. This month we learned we were wrong.

Most of us were shaken and horrified, and the country rightfully embarrassed, by images of US border patrol agents on horseback attacking asylum seekers, including at least one child, in Texas. Thankfully, that has been stopped and an investigation is now underway. We need more than an investigation, though: we need to know that nothing like that will ever happen again.

Commerce's Raimondo Addresses Whether U.S.-China Tensions Are Affecting Trade

NPR's Steve Inskeep talks to Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo about the Biden administration's priorities and long-term problems. One issue is U.S. trade with China.

How German coalition wrangling could affect Cop26 mood

Analysis: after Germany’s climate election, UN summit delegates will be watching to see what is agreed on coal phase-out

It was called Germany’s climate election. After deadly floods in July sharpened the focus on the climate emergency, all parties vied for green votes. But when it comes to the UN climate talks in Glasgow in November, the path has largely been set by the outgoing government.

Germany was always expected to be represented by a caretaker government at Cop26. Officials expect the current environment minister, Svenja Schulze, to attend alongside the state secretary, Jochen Flasbarth. A more open question is whether the new government will be in office by the time Germany takes over the G7 presidency in 2022.

After SPD win in Germany, is Europe’s centre left on the rise?

Analysis: some say Covid has increased voters’ sense of social justice, but the picture remains uneven

Social democracy is back, according to jubilant SPD officials. And after Germany’s oldest political party edged the narrowest of wins against its conservative CDU/CSU rival, it may be tempting to believe Europe’s centre left is stirring.

Not everywhere, though: in France, the Socialist party shows no sign of recovering from its near-obliteration in 2017, when it failed to make the second round of the presidential election and crashed from 280 MPs to 30 and just 7.4% of the vote.

FBI statistics show increase in murder rate

Murder rates in the U.S. increased by 30% in 2020, the largest increase ever, according to FBI data. Experts blame the toll of the pandemic and a spike in gun sales. Jeff Pegues has more.

Harvard Business School temporarily moves some MBA classes online to curb Covid outbreak

Harvard Business School moved all in-person classes for first-year MBA and some second-year students online this week to try to curb a recent Covid-19 surge.

The 10 Senate seats most likely to flip in 2022

After a rough month for President Joe Biden, Republicans think they have more than historical precedent on their side to retake the Senate in 2022.

Keir Starmer’s make-or-break conference week

The Labour party meets this weekend in Brighton for its first in-person annual conference since Keir Starmer won the leadership. Jessica Elgot explains why it could define his future prospects

The Labour party is heading to Brighton this weekend for its first in-person annual conference since Keir Starmer took over as leader in the early days of the Covid-19 lockdown. It is a week that many analysts are already calling crucial to the future of his leadership.

The Guardian’s deputy political editor, Jessica Elgot, tells Nosheen Iqbal that with the Conservatives already gearing up for a general election that could be announced within 18 months, Starmer is running out of time to make his case to the country. His speech on Wednesday will be key to uniting his party behind him and presenting himself afresh to voters.

‘Eco-feminist’ shocks French politics in bid for Greens’ presidency

Sandrine Rousseau says people want politicians to be braver when it comes to tackling the climate crisis

Her radical “punk ecology” has won support among activists on the left and been attacked by the far right as dangerous to the French nation. But Sandrine Rousseau, a figurehead of the #MeToo movement against sexual violence and a self-described “eco-feminist,” has shocked the political class by reaching the final round of the Greens’ primary race to choose a presidential candidate.

Now, with a chance of running for president, Rousseau is warning France risks a descent into hatred and racism unless equality and the environment take priority in April’s election race.

Face masks, PPE and throwaway cutlery – after Covid, where’s next for sustainable packaging?

The global pandemic pushed consumer behaviour back toward single-use plastics to avoid contamination. So how can short-term hygiene requirements be balanced with long-term sustainability goals?

In the last five to 10 years, the packaging industry has gone through something of a rebirth. Where previously sustainability was a bit of an add-on, many companies today are busily working behind the scenes to make their packaging more eco-friendly. And while there is much work to be done – the recycling rate of plastic packaging in Europe stood at just 40% last year – a 2020 report by McKinsey attested that sustainability is indeed driving significant change in consumer packaging. “Regulators are moving on the issue, and fast-moving consumer goods companies and retailers are proactively making bold commitments to improve both the sustainability of their packaging and to fundamentally rethink their packaging systems,” the report stated.

Then along came the pandemic. Suddenly – and for good reason – hygiene trumped all other concerns. Sustainability came second to safety, and the use of single-use plastics began to go up. For example, a survey in France in July 2020, cited by the European Environment Agency, found that 5% of people had been throwing disposable face masks on to public roads, and the UK’s Foodservice Packaging Association reported last April that single-use cups and cutlery – some of the kinds most often found on beaches and countryside – were “in huge demand”.

Vegan birth control: What is it and does it work?

Is your birth control vegan? Probably not, experts say, but there are many vegan alternatives growing in popularity.
     

Most kids who suffer crippling long COVID symptoms get better. Doctors worry about those who don't.

Experts say a small percentage of kids infected with COVID suffer symptoms that stretch for weeks or months with no explanation and no clear end date.
     

The weird, the wonderful and the political: highlights from the 2021 Met Gala red carpet

The Met Gala has returned to the steps of the Metropolitan Museum of Art after a year off due to Covid-19. There were multiple show-stopping outfits from Lil Nas X, while Kim Kardashian turned heads by dressing entirely in black, even covering her face. Amid the glamour, some guests highlighted social issues. The Democratic congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez had 'tax the rich' written in red across the back of her white gown and the sports star Megan Rapinoe carried a clutch bag with the words ‘in gay we trust’

Living in Australia: share your experience of coronavirus

We’d like to hear from those living in Australia who have tested positive recently for Covid or are recovering

There are more than 5,000 active cases of Covid in Australia with greater Sydney, Melbourne, the ACT and parts of regional New South Wales and Queensland now in lockdown.

We’d like to speak to those in Australia about their experiences and how they’re affected by the situation. We’re particularly interested in hearing from people who have tested positive recently for Covid or are recovering.