Monday’s top story: President says US ‘locked and loaded’ to respond to attack on Saudi oil facility. Plus, the 100 best TV shows of the 21st century

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Good morning, I’m Tim Walker with today’s essential stories.

US produces satellite photos of Saudi oil plant attack

The US government has produced satellite photos showing what officials said were at least 19 points of impact at two Saudi energy facilities, including damage at the heart of the kingdom’s oil processing plant at Abqaiq. Officials told US media the photos showed impacts consistent with the attack coming from the direction of Iran or Iraq, rather than Yemen to the south. Iraq denied its territory was used for an attack on the kingdom. Iran has denied being responsible.

US officials said a strike from Iraq would be a violation of the country’s sovereignty. Donald Trump has said the US is “locked and loaded” after the attack on Saturday, hinting at a potential military response.

Oil prices. These soared by up to 20% on Monday in the aftermath of the attack on Saudi Aramco’s Abqaiq facility, which is the world’s largest petroleum processing plant.

Purdue Pharma files for bankruptcy amid OxyContin lawsuits

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Purdue Pharma is facing thousands of lawsuits over OxyContin’s alleged role in fuelling the opioid crisis. Photograph: Toby Talbot/AP

Purdue Pharma, the manufacturer of the drug that has become emblematic of the US opioid epidemic, has filed for bankruptcy and announced a $10bn plan to settle more than 2,000 lawsuits from states and local governments accusing the company of fuelling the crisis. Purdue, which is owned by the billionaire Sackler family, is accused of falsely downplaying the risk of addiction in the marketing of its prescription painkiller OxyContin.

Chapter 11. The bankruptcy filing is designed to halt the lawsuits and backed by about half of the states and groups that filed them, though the settlement is less than the $12bn originally envisaged. The Sacklers are expected to contribute at least $3bn of the total.

Trump criticises attacks on Kavanaugh over fresh claims

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Donald Trump and Brett Kavanaugh at the latter’s ceremonial supreme court swearing-in at the White House. Photograph: Jim Watson/AFP/Getty Images

Trump has accused “Radical Left Democrats” and “the LameStream Media” of going after “an innocent man”, after the New York Times published fresh accusations of sexually inappropriate behaviour by the supreme court justice Brett Kavanaugh during his time at Yale. The story, extracted from a book by two Times reporters, corroborated an existing claim by Kavanaugh’s fellow student Deborah Ramirez that at a party he had “pulled down his pants and thrust his penis at her, prompting her to swat it away”. Kavanaugh has vehemently denied the allegations against him.

Impeachment calls. The Democratic presidential candidates Kamala Harris, Elizabeth Warren and Julián Castro all called for Kavanaugh’s impeachment, with Harris saying that in his confirmation testimony he had “lied to the US Senate and most importantly to the American people”.

The $1m-per-minute farming subsidies destroying the world

Facebook Twitter Pinterest A coffee farm in Costa Rica. Photograph: Joshua Trujillo/Starbucks

Taxpayers around the world are contributing an estimated $1m per minute to farming subsidies, which in turn are driving the destruction of forests and wildlife and thus fuelling the climate crisis, a report has concluded. The analysis by the Food and Land Use Coalition found 1% of the $700bn a year given to farmers is used to benefit the environment, with most of the total instead spent on high-emission cattle farming, polluting fertilisers and the destruction of forests.

Costa Rica. The report singled out the Central American country as a success story: there has been a “remarkable” reflourishing of its forests since Costa Rica eliminated cattle subsidies and introduced payments for improving nature.

Cheat sheet

Kim Jong-un invited Trump to visit the North Korean capital, Pyongyang, to revive their stalled talks on denuclearisation, in a letter sent to the US president in August, a South Korean newspaper has reported.

The New York governor, Andrew Cuomo, has announced he will take “emergency executive action” to ban the sale of flavoured e-cigarette products in the state, following a surge in teen vaping and fears over its health effects.

European officials have expressed dismay after Boris Johnson compared himself to the Incredible Hulk throwing off the EU’s shackles before new Brexit talks. Mark Ruffalo, the actor who plays Hulk in the Avengers movies, warned Johnson of his metaphor’s shortcomings.

Ric Ocasek, the lead singer of the Cars, has died in New York aged 75. The new wave pioneers had 13 top 40 singles in the 1970s and 80s before their split in 1988; Ocasek and the band were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame last year.

Must-reads

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Netflix has a handful of shows in the top 100, but what will be crowned number one? Photograph: Robert Viglasky/Netflix

What are the greatest TV shows of the century so far?

The Guardian’s assessment of the past two decades in culture continues today with a round-up of the 100 best TV shows of the 21st century, as the creator of our critics’ number one pick tells Emma Brockes the networks were “afraid” of the show and its central character. “Because how could you like this guy?”

How the climate crisis is affecting our health

The effects of the climate crisis are already being felt across every specialty in medicine, from a summer spike in allergies or an increase in heart and lung disease, to the disruption of crucial supplies by extreme weather events, as Emily Holden reports.

The struggle to find skilled workers in a strong jobs market

Despite all the talk of job-killing robots, the US employment market appears to be at its strongest for several decades. In fact, as one manufacturer of robotic equipment tells Dominic Rushe, there’s “a war for people,” as businesses struggle to attract skilled applicants.

An early look at the 2020 Oscar frontrunners

After a generally dreadful movie year, writes Benjamin Lee, the autumn film festivals have delivered a welcome wave of quality – and fired the starting gun on the 2020 awards race. So will Joaquin Phoenix’s Joker beat Adam Driver’s divorcee to best actor? And can J-Lo cap her big screen comeback with a gold statuette?

Opinion

Trump thought he had an electoral lock on Iowa, thanks to $30bn in bailouts to make up for the impact of his trade wars. But the swing state’s farmers are even more furious about his ethanol policy – and 2020 Democrats are offering attractive solutions, says Art Cullen.

The Democrats overlooked rural areas, agriculture and food last time around, and paid for it in the Midwest with the election of Trump. They are not about to make the same mistake.

Sport

Antonio Brown caught a 20-yard touchdown pass in his debut with the Patriots in their 43-0 trouncing of the Miami Dolphins. Also in this week’s NFL roundup: two key quarterbacks – the Saints’ Drew Brees and the Steelers’ Ben Roethlisberger – both left their games injured, only to watch their teams lose from the sidelines.

The Norwegian Suzann Pettersen secured a stunning comeback victory for Europe over the US with the very last putt of the Solheim Cup at Gleneagles on Sunday.

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