Today's Liberal News

Meet Mansoor Adayfi: I Was Kidnapped as a Teen, Sold to the CIA & Jailed at Guantánamo for 14 Years

We speak with Mansoor Adayfi, a former Guantánamo Bay detainee who was held at the military prison for 14 years without charge, an ordeal he details in his new memoir, “Don’t Forget Us Here: Lost and Found at Guantánamo.” Adayfi was 18 when he left his home in Yemen to do research in Afghanistan, where he was kidnapped by Afghan warlords, then sold to the CIA after the 9/11 attacks.

News Roundup: Republicans continue path towards federal shutdown; press yawns at Trump sedition

In the news today: Republicans are continuing to block all efforts to keep the federal government open while insisting that Democrats somehow keep it open anyway. Yes, they’ve given up on even pretending to govern. The press continues to treat the revelation that Trump’s team had a specific—if bizarre—plan for nullifying the U.S. presidential election with yawns, and it’s not clear why.

Man died after a COVID denier recorded himself ‘helping’ the man leave against doctor’s pleas

As anti-vaxx groups nationwide continue to push dangerous theories, some are already reaping the consequences. In their latest deadly advice, the same anti-vaxx groups that pushed at-home COVID-19 remedies including drinking bleach, taking ivermectin, and gargling Betadine have been encouraging members not to go to the hospital.

The conspiracy theory lies in the idea that doctors are preventing anti-vaxxers from getting miracle cures and are killing them intentionally.

Vaccine Data for Kids Under 5 Are Coming ‘Before the End of the Year’

Editor’s Note: This article is part of our coverage of The Atlantic Festival. Learn more and watch festival sessions here. The vaccine timeline for young kids is looking a little more solid. This morning, Pfizer submitted data to the FDA showing that its COVID-19 vaccine is effective and safe for children ages 5 to 11. And this afternoon, the company’s CEO, Albert Bourla, said that trial results for even younger kids, aged 2 to 4, will be available in a couple months’ time.

Sea Slugs Can Be Solar-Powered

Studying sea slugs in the group Sacoglossa can mean being on the receiving end of some very imaginative emails. Sidney K. Pierce, of the University of South Florida, retired a few years ago. “But to this day,” he told me, “I get questions from little kids in their science classes” who have stumbled upon the marvelous mollusks—and want to know if they could help “end world hunger.”The answer, Pierce assured me, is no.

Fauci: Boosters Are for Keeping People Healthy, Not Alive

Editor’s Note: This article is part of our coverage of The Atlantic Festival. Learn more and watch festival sessions here. A week after FDA and CDC advisory committees clashed on the nuances of when and whether to recommend COVID-19 booster shots, Anthony Fauci told my colleague Ed Yong that he still believes third doses of the mRNA vaccines are crucial, suggesting once again that they will eventually be part of a standard regimen.

Electric Cars Have Hit an Inflection Point

This is an excerpt from The Atlantic’s climate newsletter, The Weekly Planet. Subscribe today.One theme of this newsletter is that the world’s physical infrastructure will have to massively change if we want to decarbonize the economy by 2050, which the United Nations has said is necessary to avoid the worst effects of the climate crisis.

Peyton and Eli Manning Can’t Save the NFL

Chalk up one more anomaly to These Unprecedented Times: Something genuinely weird is happening on an NFL broadcast. For this season of its marquee Monday Night Football program, ESPN is airing an additional broadcast featuring the brothers and retired Super Bowl–winning quarterbacks Peyton and Eli Manning.

El Milagro Tortilla Workers Walk Out to Demand Fair Wages & Workload Amid Staff Shortage, COVID Deaths

We go to Chicago for an update on workers at El Milagro tortilla plants who staged a temporary walkout last week to protest low pay, staff shortages and abusive working conditions, including intimidation and sexual harassment. El Milagro claims an ongoing tortilla shortage is due to supply chain issues, but organizers say the company has lost staff due to their poor treatment of workers, including their mishandling of the pandemic, resulting in dozens of infections and five deaths.

The Plot to Kill Julian Assange: Report Reveals CIA’s Plan to Kidnap, Assassinate WikiLeaks Founder

Did the CIA under the Trump administration plan to kidnap and assassinate WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange during a shootout in London? That is one of the explosive findings in a new exposé by Yahoo News that details how the CIA considered abducting and possibly murdering Assange while he took refuge in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London to avoid being extradited to Sweden for rape allegations, charges that were dropped in 2017.

Justice for Black Women & Girls: R. Kelly Found Guilty in Sex Crimes Case After Decades of Abuse

R&B singer R. Kelly is guilty of a series of charges, including racketeering based on sexual exploitation of children, kidnapping, forced labor and transporting people across state lines for sex. Jurors in the federal trial returned their verdict Monday after 11 accusers — nine women and two men — and 34 other witnesses detailed Kelly’s pattern of sexual and other abuse against dozens of women and underage girls for nearly two decades.