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The Guardian - US
The Guardian - US
World
Sam Levin (now), and Joan E Greve, Jessica Glenza and Joanna Walters (earlier)

Trump reportedly calls Egypt's president his 'favorite dictator' – as it happened

Donald Trump and Egypt’s president, Abdel Fatah al-Sisi, at the G7 summit in Biarritz, France, on 26 August. President Donald Trump and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, left, participate in a bilateral meeting at the G-7 summit in Biarritz, France, Monday, Aug. 26, 2019. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)
Donald Trump and Egypt’s president, Abdel Fatah al-Sisi, at the G7 summit in Biarritz, France, on 26 August.= Photograph: Andrew Harnik/AP

Summary

That’s all for today, thanks for following along with our live coverage. Some links and key events from the day:

The US government considered using fentanyl for executions, according to a Reuters report out today:

The US Department of Justice examined using fentanyl in lethal injections despite the fact that it was an untested use of the powerful, addictive opioid fueling a national crisis of overdose fatalities, the agency reported:

The department revealed it had contemplated using the drug in a court filing last month, which has not been previously reported.

In the end, it decided against adopting the drug for executions. Attorney General William Barr announced in July his department instead would use pentobarbital, a barbiturate, when it resumes federal executions later this year, ending a de facto moratorium on the punishment put in place by the administration of US President Barack Obama.

But the special consideration given to the possibilities of fentanyl, even as federal agents were focused on seizing illegal imports of the synthetic opioid, show how much has changed since the federal government last carried out an execution nearly 20 years ago.

Many pharmaceutical companies have since put tight controls on their distribution channels to stop their drugs being used in executions.

The president is talking about vaping again:

Trump said earlier this week that his administration will propose banning thousands of flavors used in e-cigarettes to combat a recent surge in underage vaping.

Here’s what you need to know about the recent concerns about the dangers of vaping, from the Guardian’s health editor:

Groups sue Trump administration to stop release of citizenship data

Rights groups have filed a lawsuit to block the Trump administration from collecting government records for the production of data concerning the citizenship status of every person living in the country, NPR is reporting:

The lawsuit from Latinx advocacy groups is the first legal challenge to the president’s executive order in July seeking citizenship data. There have been growing concerns that the citizenship records would be used by state redistricting officials to redraw voting districts in a way that gives the GOP advantages in future elections.

Here’s the complaint:

The case follows a protracted legal battle surrounding Trump’s effort to put a citizenship question on the 2020 Census.

Updated

There has been ongoing scrutiny today of the Trump administration’s widely criticized effort to effectively end asylum at the US-Mexico border for nearly all migrants:

Ken Cuccinelli, the acting head of US Citizenship and Immigration Services, told the AP today that the Supreme Court’s decision to allow sweeping regulations to take effect while litigation continued was a big win for the government: “There’s no underselling it.”

The policy is considered the most significant change to asylum policy since its establishment in 1980. More from the AP:

The new policy will deny asylum to nearly all migrants arriving at the southern border who aren’t from Mexico because it disallows anyone who passes through another country without first seeking and failing to obtain asylum there. While officials say it’s a crucial effort to help ease strain on the system, it’s also a potentially potent deterrent.

The rule falls most heavily on Central Americans, mainly Hondurans and Guatemalans, because they account for most people arrested or stopped at the border.

Juan Carlos Perla, 36, said Friday that many asylum seekers from his native El Salvador have returned, including cousins who have stayed with him in a rented two-room house with donated furniture on the distant outskirts of Tijuana.

“People know that they aren’t going to be allowed in. They’re desperate. Many don’t like it here. Life here isn’t easy,” he said.

But it’s also an enormous setback for other asylum seekers, including many Africans, Haitians and Cubans who try to enter the United States via Mexico.

Mark Sanford, a South Carolina Republican and former governor, is considering taking legal action to appear on the presidential primary ballot:

He said today he was “looking at options”, which could include some kind of legal action against the state Republican party in South Carolina. Sanford announced his bid for president last week. Here’s what he told The State, a South Carolina newspaper:

I’m not a lawyer, and I don’t like that particular angle. It’s just never been my default setting — people see something goes wrong, they sue somebody. I like to look for other ways to resolve issues ...

[But] any number of people have called suggesting [legal action]. I’m listening and I would just say, ‘stay tuned.’”

Mike Pence previously argued that being gay was a “choice” and a “learned behavior”, according to a new report from CNN on the vice president’s anti-LGBT record:

CNN’s investigation comes after the White House claimed that the vice president was not “anti-gay” last week, citing as proof the fact that he was having lunch with the gay Irish prime minister and his partner:

Here’s how Pence previously argued against anti-discrimination proposals:

A Pence spokesperson responded to CNN with a statement saying the vice president “has always opposed discrimination in any form and defends the Constitution’s protection of the rights of all Americans regardless of race, sex or religion”.

Here’s what Pence has been up to today:

Democrats seek Jeff Sessions testimony

Hi all - Sam Levin here in Los Angeles, taking over our live coverage for the rest of the day.

House Democrats are pushing to have Jeff Sessions testify in the House judiciary committee’s ongoing impeachment probe of Trump, the Washington Post has just reported:

A lawyer for the former attorney general told the Post:

I have made clear that Attorney General Sessions will not appear except under compulsion of a congressional subpoena.”

Sessions had a famously rocky relationship with the president, who ended up publicly mocking him and then firing him last year.

There has been no subpoena issued for Sessions so far, according to the Post’s report.

Updated

That’s it from me this week. My west coast colleague, Sam Levin, will take over the blog for the next few hours.

Here’s where the day stands so far:

  • The climate activist Greta Thunberg held a protest at the White House, where she and other young environmental advocates called for immediate action to address climate change.
  • The Democratic National Committee announced that the fourth primary debate would take place on October 15 (with the possibility for a second night) in Westerville, Ohio.
  • Joe Biden pledged that he would release his medical records before primary voting starts. He made the promise just a day after one of his opponents, Julián Castro, appeared to make a crack at the former vice president’s age during last night’s debate.
  • Taliban negotiators have reportedly arrived in Russia just days after Trump declared peace talks with the group to be “dead.”
  • Trump reportedly referred to Egypt’s authoritarian leader, Abdel Fatah al-Sisi, as his “favorite dictator” during last month’s G-7 summit.
  • Ivanka Trump, the president’s daughter and senior adviser, told donors at a fundraising event last month that she got her moral compass from her father. (Yes. Really.)

Sam will have more on the news of the day. Have a wonderful weekend, live blog readers.

Trump referred to Egypt's al-Sisi as 'favorite dictator,' report says

Trump’s appearance at the G-7 summit last month has already been criticized for the president skipping a climate session and making unsubstantiated claims about China reaching out to US officials to discuss trade. And now, a report has emerged that Trump praised Egypt’s authoritarian leader, Abdel Fatah al-Sisi, during the trip.

The Wall Street Journal reports:

Mr. Trump looked over a gathering of American and Egyptian officials and called out in a loud voice: ‘Where’s my favorite dictator?’ Several people who were in the room at the time said they heard the question.

The witnesses said they believed the president made the comment jokingly, but said his question was met by a stunned silence.

It couldn’t be determined whether Mr. Sisi was present or heard the remark. ...

Even if lighthearted, Mr. Trump’s quip drew attention to an uncomfortable facet of the U.S.-Egypt relationship. ...

The White House hasn’t publicly admonished the Egyptian government for its human-rights record. Egypt has defended its actions, saying it is fighting extremists.

Biden downplays concerns about his past comments on busing

More from Joe Biden’s second day in Houston: the former vice president mocked those who have grilled him about comments from early in his Senate career.

“This is about the future, this is not about the past,” Biden said at a fundraiser, according to a pool report. “I love it when people say in 1972 you said ...” he added to laughs from the crowd.

The comment appeared to reference Linsey Davis’ question from the Democratic debate a day earlier. The ABC News moderator asked Biden about this 1975 quote defending his opposition to federally mandated busing to racially integrate schools: “I don’t feel responsible for the sins of my father and grandfather. I feel responsible for what the situation is today, for the sins of my own generation. And I’ll be damned if I feel responsible to pay for what happened 300 years ago.”

The answer Biden offered in response was described by commentators as everything from “baffling” to “racist.” And for some, it resurfaced a question that has come up repeatedly: has Biden adequately realized the faulty logic in his past ways of thinking about race?

For some, the answer is a resounding “no.” From a Time editor-at-large:

From an MSNBC analyst and former campaign aide to Hillary Clinton:

From a Rolling Stone writer:

When asked about releasing his medical records, Joe Biden made this somewhat odd joke to a HuffPost reporter.

Biden pledges to release physical before voting starts

Joe Biden said in Houston that he would release his medical records before the first vote of the primaries, the Guardian’s Lauren Gambino reports.

The former vice president also told reporters a day after the third Democratic debate that he considered questions about his age to be fair in the context of the primary.

The comments come one night after Julián Castro appeared to make a crack about Biden’s age by asking him, “Are you forgetting what you said two minutes ago?”

But as the blog reported earlier today, some of Biden’s advisers appear to be taking less of a “live and let live” approach to Castro’s criticism.

He’s baaaack! Just days after being unceremoniously ousted via tweet from his job as Trump’s national security adviser, John Bolton is resuming his political activities and endorsing Republican lawmakers who share his hawkish worldview.

Reuters reports:

Bolton retook the reins of the John Bolton PAC and the John Bolton Super Pact, two groups he had headed before joining the White House 17 months ago. ...

As part of the resumption of his political action groups, Bolton announced the endorsement of five Republicans running in the November 2020 elections.

They are Senator Tom Cotton of Arkansas, Senator Cory Gardner of Colorado, Senator Thom Tillis of North Carolina, U.S. Representative Adam Kinzinger of Illinois and U.S. Representative Lee Zeldin of New York.

Each candidate received $10,000 in contributions from the Bolton groups for a total of $50,000.

‘The experience that these incumbent members of Congress have provides them with a remarkable understanding and knowledge of the threats we face from international terrorism and rogue regimes such as Iran and North Korea,’ Bolton said in a statement.

Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has weighed in on the (potential) Senate primary in Massachusetts.

One of AOC’s colleagues, Joe Kennedy, is weighing a primary challenge against the incumbent senator, Ed Markey. Kennedy has argued it’s time for a generational change away from the 73-year-old Markey.

But that argument may now be undercut with AOC endorsing Markey, who has been a key co-sponsor of the Green New Deal alongside the congresswoman.

“Ed Markey, I know, is one of the strongest progressives that we have in the United States Senate,” AOC said in an endorsement video.

“And in a time right now, when we have to have conversations not just about holding this administration accountable but changing the Democratic Party for the future, Ed Markey has a very critical role in making sure that climate change, as well as a bevy of other issues — health care and beyond — are critical core issues in how we fight for working people and working families in the United States.”

Democratic presidential candidates call out the lack of debate questions on abortion

Last night’s Democratic debate included no questions on how the candidates would protect reproductive rights as states like Alabama and Missouri attempt to pass severe restrictions on the procedure. And the candidates took notice:

The oversight was particularly notable given that this was the first debate since Kirsten Gillibrand dropped out of the race. The New York senator centered her campaign around issues like abortion and paid family leave.

A former campaign adviser to Gillibrand said the lack of abortion questions demonstrated why the race needed a candidate dedicated to the issue.

Taliban negotiators arrive in Russia, report says

A Taliban negotiating team has reportedly arrived in Russia just days after Trump said potential peace talks with the group were “dead.”

The AP reports:

Russian state news agency Tass cited the Taliban’s Qatar-based spokesman Suhail Shaheen as saying the delegation had held consultations with Zamir Kabulov, President Vladimir Putin’s envoy for Afghanistan.

The visit also was confirmed to The Associated Press by a Taliban official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to reporters.

It was the Taliban’s first international visit following the collapse of talks with Washington. The team was being led by Mullah Sher Mohammad Stanikzai.

Ivanka Trump: I get my moral compass from my dad

This may well be the most terrifying thing you read on this Friday the 13th. Ivanka Trump, the president’s daughter and senior adviser, told a group of donors last month that she got her moral compass from her father.

Ivanka Trump visits Paraguay during her three-nation visit to South America.
Ivanka Trump visits Paraguay during her three-nation visit to South America. Photograph: Kevin Lamarque/Reuters

Politico has more:

At a mid-August fundraiser in Jackson Hole, Wyo., Ivanka Trump was asked to name the personality traits she inherited most from her parents.

Without much of a pause, Trump told the crowd of roughly 120 high-end donors that her mother gave her an example of how to be a powerful, successful woman.

And her father? He passed onto her his moral compass, she said, according to two event attendees.

The exchange was part of a broader conversation about Ivanka Trump’s life in Washington and the White House during a swanky retreat organized by Republican House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy in the Wyoming mountains. Her appearance signaled an informal effort by the Trump campaign, family and top aides to woo donors this election cycle by sharing intimate, colorful details about this atypical White House.

Location of the fourth debate announced

The New York Times and CNN, who will host the next Democratic debate, announced it will take place on October 15 (with the possibility for a second night) in Westerville, Ohio.

Westerville is just outside of Columbus, and the host outlets said the debate would occur on the campus of Otterbein University, a private liberal arts college.

The Democratic National Committee did not initially confirm the debate would be two nights, but that seems likely now that 11 candidates appear to have qualified. Other candidates have until Oct. 1 to qualify.

The moderators will be CNN anchors Anderson Cooper and Erin Burnett as well as the Times’ national editor, Marc Lacey. The Times noted it will be the first debate the newspaper has planned and hosted in more than a decade.

Bianca Pattison and Claire MacQueen, both 14, left in the middle of art class with paint still on their hands to attend the Greta Thunberg’s climate rally at the White House.

“I think a lot of the people I’m friends with are quite worried we’re not going to get to experience things our parents got to experience with their kids when we were growing up,” Pattison said, noting trips she’s taken with her family to islands and colder climates.

“For me, it’s not necessarily what will happen to humans but so many animals and ecosystems that are affected by what we’ve done,” MacQueen added.

It turns out there are millions of Americans who want to spend more than two hours hearing 10 Democratic candidates discus their campaign platforms, which ... kind of surprises this blogger.

The early ratings are in for last night’s Democratic debate, and ABC executives are likely quite happy with them. CNN reports:

Thursday night’s debate featuring ten presidential candidates averaged 14 million viewers across ABC and Univision. The debate ratings were head and shoulders above everything else on TV Thursday night. ...

With 14 million people watching on TV, the debate ranked behind the record-setting NBC, MSNBC and Telemundo debate in June, but ahead of most other Democratic primary debates in TV history.

For comparison’s sake, the third Democratic debate of the 2016 cycle, which also took place on ABC, averaged 8 million total viewers. But it was held on a Saturday night, traditionally a low-rated night for TV viewing, and there is more interest in the primary this time around.

As CNN notes, it seems that the switch to a one-night-only event came as a relief to viewers, but that will likely be a short-lived reprieve. With Tom Steyer saying he has qualified for the fourth debate, the next match will almost certainly be spread across two nights.

Meanwhile, reactions are still pouring in to last night’s Democratic debate. In particular, there has been a lot of discussion around Julián Castro’s repeated swipes at Joe Biden.

At one point during the debate, Castro accused Biden of changing his position on healthcare from what he had told the Houston audience just moments earlier. “Are you forgetting what you said two minutes ago?” Castro repeatedly asked Biden.

The question was (pretty reasonably) read by many as a criticism of Biden’s age and propensity for gaffes, an interpretation that Castro denied after the debate.

But the former vice president’s camp appears to have knives out for Castro now, as demonstrated by this comment from a senior Biden adviser.

Castro and Biden have both already qualified for the next debate in Ohio, but they may not share the stage again. Tom Steyer has said he has qualified for the debate, likely making the event a two-night affair.

But if the pair do end up on the same stage, Biden can be expected to target Castro. The former veep did exactly that to Kamala Harris in the second debate after she called out his past opposition to busing in their first face-off.

Updated

The blog is watching news on multiple fronts, including Greta Thunberg’s climate protest at the White House and the House judiciary committee demanding documents from tech giants to determine whether their market dominance violates anti-trust law.

On the latter front, the top Republican on the House judiciary committee, Doug Collins, released a statement about the panel’s document request.

“The Judiciary Committee is investigating the relationship between big tech and market competition,” Collins said. “We made it clear when we launched this bipartisan investigation that we plan to get all the facts we need to diagnose the problems in the digital marketplace. Today’s document requests are an important milestone in this investigation as we work to obtain the information that our Members need to make this determination.”

Collins’ statement is noteworthy for its sense of cooperation with the panel’s Democrats. The House judiciary committee has been pursuing multiple lines of investigation into Trump, and Collins has repeatedly issued statements bashing the panel’s chairman, Jerry Nadler. But investigating tech giants appears to be one area of consensus for the committee.

Thunberg briefly took the megaphone at the gathering, to enthusiastic cheers. She had seemed deliberately to keep to the fringes of the event, chanting rather shyly, and then saying she wouldn’t give a speech because previous speakers “have already said everything.”

But she added: “I just want to say I’m so incredibly grateful for every single one of you, I’m so proud of you, who have come here and I, it’s a lot of people ... This is overwhelming. Just never give up, we will continue and see you next week on September 20th,” referring to the planned global climate strike.

Early afternoon summary

It’s Friday 13th so who knows what surprises may still be in store for US politics watchers this afternoon?

I’m handing over to the Guardian US politics blogger-in-chief, Joanie Greve, now after her busy night with the team covering the Dem debate in Houston, Texas.

Here are the main topics that have been in play this morning:

  • Greta Thunberg is leading a climate crisis protest at the White House, along with other youth activists. She’s expected to speak to the crowd shortly.
  • The gun control issue had a significant role at the Democratic debate in Houston last night and rumbled on overnight, with online nastiness directed at Beto.
  • The House judiciary committee made a bipartisan demand for internal emails and other sensitive documentation from tech giants Google, Facebook, Amazon and Apple, with an October deadline for the material to be handed over to the congressional anti-trust probe.

Updated

“Mass extinction”

Climate protesters near the White House, on a cloudy day, are performing an 11-minute “mass extinction” event or “die-in”.

The Guardian’s global environment editor, Jonathan Watts, last year pointed out the grave new warning from the world’s leading experts - so 2030 is a serious deadline.

He wrote in October, 2018, hence the time left now being 11 years, not 12: “The world’s leading climate scientists have warned there is only a dozen years for global warming to be kept to a maximum of 1.5C, beyond which even half a degree will significantly worsen the risks of drought, floods, extreme heat and poverty for hundreds of millions of people.

The authors of the landmark report by the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) say urgent and unprecedented changes are needed to reach the target, which they say is affordable and feasible although it lies at the most ambitious end of the Paris agreement pledge to keep temperatures between 1.5C and 2C.”

Fridays for Future

Here’s Greta Thunberg’s pinned tweet explaining her school strike.

Seizing the future

A recap on an editorial the Guardian published this spring on Greta Thunberg’s climate campaign and her Fridays for Future strike campaign.

Thunberg arrives

Teen protest leader Greta Thunberg has arrived at the White House youth demonstration against inaction on the climate crisis.

The Guardian’s Emily Holden, who is at the event in Washington, reports that the Swedish 16-year-old just turned up moments ago.

Thunberg generally doesn’t seek the limelight, it finds her. In “celebrity” terms, that is. Of course she is very keen to draw the world’s attention to global heating.

Right now, she is very quietly chanting “hey hey ho ho climate change has got to go” with the other teens on the scene.

Updated

More Americans recognize the climate emergency

A growing number of Americans describe climate change as a crisis, and two-thirds say Donald Trump is doing too little to tackle the problem, the Washington Post reports today.

The results, from a poll conducted by The Washington Post and the Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF), “point to a growing disconnect between Americans worried about the warming planet and Trump administration officials, who have aggressively scaled back Obama-era environmental regulations and relinquished the nation’s role as a global leader in pushing for climate action,” the daily writes.

The poll finds that a strong majority of Americans — about 8 in 10 — say that human activity is fueling climate change, and roughly half believe action is urgently needed within the next decade if humanity is to avert its worst effects. Nearly 4 in 10 now say climate change is a “crisis,” up from less than a quarter five years ago.

Hurricane Dorian and damage on Grand Bahama island. Experts say the climate crisis is exacerbating powerful storms
Hurricane Dorian and damage on Grand Bahama island. Experts say the climate crisis is exacerbating powerful storms Photograph: Anadolu Agency/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

Climate protest gets under way outside White House

Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg is taking her Friday strike to the White House, rallying with other youth protestors, the Guardian’s environment reporter Emily Holden writes.

Dozens of advocates calling for rapid government action to limit heat-trapping pollution were already gathering ahead of her expected 11 am arrival.

“No more coal, no more oil, keep your carbon in the soil,” the group of mostly preteens and teenagers changed

On Wednesday, Thunberg will testify before lawmakers at the US Capitol and then join young Americans who are suing the US government over the crisis from the steps of the Supreme Court.

Thunberg, who sailed to the US to avoid the carbon footprint of flying, will participate in a global strike next Friday. It is partly inspired by her decision to spend Fridays protesting outside the Swedish parliament. Thousand of events around the world are planned.

The United Nations will be meeting in New York and discussing the climate crisis, and activists will target the global fossil fuel CEOs conference taking place the same day.

Updated

More fallout from last night’s debate includes online debate, under #BoycottABC, about ABC’s decision to air an ad burning a picture of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and equating socialism to dictatorship. You can watch the ad here.

Another interesting clip cited on Twitter is one of author and social critic Noam Chomsky, analyzing how “socialism” has been “evacuated of content”.

A constitutional case against President Trump is moving forward. The “emoluments” clause of the Constitution prevents the president from accepting payments from foreign governments, and also from the federal government (except his salary). The case was dismissed by a district court, a decision overturned today.

Here is the full text of the decision.

Going back to our earlier promise to include some of what 2020 Democratic presidential candidates had to say after the debate, here is Amy Klobuchar on CNN this morning.

I may not be the loudest voice in the room, but we already have that in the White House. Maybe people want something different and that’s the case I made [last night].”

In response to Beto O’Rourke’s stance, one Texas representative said, “My AR-15 is ready for you”. Twitter removed the comment minutes later, citing it as a threat of violence.

Trump’s likely gun-lobby-approved legislation is in stark contrast to comments by former Texas Congressman and El Paso-native Beto O’Rourke.

On the debate stage, O’Rourke told Americans, “Hell yes, we’re gonna take your AR-15, your AK-47, and we’re not going to allow it to be used against your fellow Americans anymore.”

The line has been widely cited as one of the most memorable of the evening.

Former Rep. Beto O’Rourke works his way through the crowd in the “Spin Room” following the conclusion of the third 2020 Democratic U.S. presidential debate in Houston, Texas.
Former Rep. Beto O’Rourke works his way through the crowd in the “Spin Room” following the conclusion of the third 2020 Democratic U.S. presidential debate in Houston, Texas. Photograph: Jonathan Bachman/Reuters

The American gun lobby has been working an “all-of-the-above” lobbying strategy to influence the package of gun control measures Trump is expected to propose in the near future.

Republicans have been under pressure since two mass shootings took place in the same weekend in August, in El Paso, Texas and Dayton, Ohio.

Here is more from Politico:

In addition to possible changes to the background check system, Trump will likely include gun lobby-approved offerings meant to address violent video games and mental health treatment, according to several people familiar with the situation. The red flag bill — a so-called compromise proposal pushed by the president’s ally, Sen. Lindsey Graham, but opposed by the gun industry — may not make the cut.

On Thursday night, Trump uttered the words the gun lobby wanted to hear.

“Democrats want to confiscate guns from law-abiding Americans,” he told House Republicans at their retreat. “Republicans will always uphold the fundamental right to keep and bear arms.” He received a standing ovation.

Spotlight on tech giants gets brighter and hotter

The details of this news will continue to flow out this morning, after a bipartisan congressional demand for internal documents from Amazon, Facebook, Google and Apple as part of an anti-trust probe.

The companies did not immediately return a request for comment, Reuters reports.

The demand comes days after the Texas attorney general led a group of 50 attorneys general from US states and territories in a probe on whether Google abuses its market power in advertising.

The US Justice Department said in July it is investigating “whether and how” large tech companies in “search, social media, and some retail services online” are engaging in anticompetitive behavior, an apparent reference to the same companies named by the House panel on Friday.

The Facebook logo on a screen at the Nasdaq exchange in Times Square, New York.
The Facebook logo on a screen at the Nasdaq exchange in Times Square, New York. Photograph: Richard Drew/AP

Channel reopens after Greenpeace climate protest

It remains to be seen to what extent blocking a shipping channel opens a dialogue channel. The climate crisis and the environment is top of many people’s agendas, to be sure, even if it wasn’t very high up the list at the Democratic debate in Houston last night.

But the day after Greenpeace USA protesters pretty much blocked a Texas coastal shipping lane, the waterway is back in action today - point made.

The Houston Ship Channel has reopened for vessel traffic, the US Coast Guard said today, after the last of 11 protesters who had disrupted traffic by dangling on ropes above the key energy-export waterway was removed by police earlier in the morning, Reuters writes.

A large portion of the channel was closed when the demonstrators attached themselves and banners to a bridge over the waterway to bring attention to climate change during the debate in Houston.
Police arrested 23, with the last protester removed about 1AM local time by Harris County Sheriff’s Office, said Travis Nichols, a Greenpeace spokesman.

The 23 were taken to the Harris County jail in Houston and are expected to appear in court today, he said.

The waterway stretches 53 miles from its entrance in the Gulf of Mexico to the Port of Houston. The area affected is home to five major oil refineries as well as chemical and oil-export terminals.

Greenpeace USA protesters dangle from the Fred Hartman Bridge about the Houston Ship Channel in Texas yesterday
Greenpeace USA protesters dangle from the Fred Hartman Bridge about the Houston Ship Channel in Texas yesterday Photograph: Yi-Chin Lee/AP

House committee demand files from tech giants

A House of Representatives committee moments ago demanded internal emails and other sensitive company records from four technology giants as it seeks evidence of anticompetitive behavior.

A bipartisan group of lawmakers on the House judiciary committee requested Amazon, Facebook, Apple, and Alphabet, the owner of Google, provide the documents by 14 October, Reuters reports.

Updated

Greta Thunberg protests at White House over climate crisis

Good Friday the 13th morning, everyone, some of you may be bleary eyed from staying up to watch the post-match analysis and social media rhythms after last night’s Democratic debate among the top 10 contenders for the 2020 nomination.

But, hey, wake up and smell the smoothie coz Greta’s in town, some Dem candidates are already on TV and the Trump administration is up to mischief. Here’s what’s afoot so far today:

  • Swedish teen climate campaigner Greta Thunberg is leading a protest outside the White House this morning. She and other youth activists will demand action from the US to address the climate crisis, one week before global climate strikes on 20 September.
  • Some Democratic candidates from the debate last night have already been on the television before the sun is even up in Texas. Some are standing firm on controversial topics, others are catching flak. Find out more after the break.
  • While the Dem debate was getting underway, Donald Trump was giving a reportedly rambling speech at the House Republican “retreat” in Baltimore – the city he called a rat- and rodent-infested mess in the summer. The president promised a “tax cut for the middle income people that is going to be very, very inspirational.”
  • A report has emerged that a 12-year-old girl who evacuated from the Bahamas when Hurricane Dorian hit, and arrived in Florida, was detained in US government custody instead of being allowed to be with an aunt or her godmother, who were at hand.

Updated

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