Clinton, Holt put Trump on defensive

Goaded by Clinton and pressed by moderator Lester Holt, Donald Trump angrily defended his record against charges of racism, sexism and tax avoidance for much of the first presidential debate. The Republican candidate blamed the nation’s chronic problems on Clinton, while also appearing thin-skinned and under-prepared as he sniffled his way through the debate. Clinton said her opponent “lived in his own reality”. After a particularly one-sided exchange, Trump retorted, “It’s all words, it’s all soundbites,” adding that Clinton was a “typical politician: all talk, no action”. In her closing remarks, Clinton also noted that he had called women pigs and slobs and, in one case, called a beauty pageant contestant Miss Housekeeping “because she was Latina”. Trump, later told a TV interviewer that he had shown heroic self-restraint in not mentioning Bill Clinton’s past infidelities out of respect for their daughter Chelsea. A CNN/ORC poll found Clinton won by 62% to Trump’s 27%.

Clinton stays calm while Trump loses cool during first presidential debate

Guardian columnists take debate temperature

Donald Trump blew it, but will voters take any notice? asks Richard Wolffe. “The Republican candidate behaved like a heckler at a Clinton speech. The problem is, that may be how a lot of Americans feel.”

David Smith concludes that Hillary Clinton showed strength over Trump in one of history’s weirdest, wildest debates: “As he ducked and dived with incoherent excuses, she stared at him with thinly veiled contempt.”

In our post-debate panel, Jill Abramson declared that Trump was rude and Clinton too pleased with herself while Steven Thrasher said Trump displayed no “morning in America” Reagan optimism.

For more on the debate, check out our fact-check and the list of what we learned.

Colombia government and Farc rebels sign peace deal

Using a pen fashioned out of the spent casing of a rifle bullet, the Colombian president, Juan Manuel Santos, and leftist rebel leader Timochenko signed a peace deal between the government and Farc rebels, closing a long, bloody chapter of the country’s violent history. “The horrible night has ceased,” said Santos, quoting a phrase from Colombia’s national anthem. As night fell over the colonial walled city of Cartagena, Timochenko, whose real name is Rodrigo Londoño, said: “Our only weapons will be our words.”

‘The horrible night has ceased’: Colombia peace deal resounds in Farc’s heartland

Gay and in the military: five years on

The ban on openly lesbian, gay or bisexual troops officially ended on 20 September 2011 – five years ago this month – after it was voted on by Congress and signed by Barack Obama. Marking the anniversary of the repeal, the defense secretary, Ash Carter, said in a press release that the military is “stronger than ever and continues to exemplify the very best that our great nation has to offer”. Gay soldiers describe their experience in the years after DADT (Don’t ask, don’t tell).

Military members ‘out and proud’ five years after ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ repealed

Troubles mount for Deutsche Bank

Shares in Germany’s biggest bank lost more than 7.5% to €10.55 on Monday despite efforts to reassure investors that it will be able to pay a multibillion-dollar fine for alleged wrongdoing a decade ago. Deutsche is facing a $14bn (£11bn) demand from the US Department of Justice for mis-selling the bonds between 2005 and 2007. The shares have more than halved this year to a level not seen since the mid-1980s and are at a record low, according to some calculation methods.

Deutsche Bank shares fall to lowest level since mid-1980s

The US women’s soccer team: how much fun is too much?

Two new memoirs, Carli Lloyd’s When Nobody Was Watching and Abby Wambach’s Forward, shatter the image that the US women’s soccer team is a well-polished composite of fun, friendship and teamwork in the pursuit of excellence. For Lloyd, “drama” is actually much of her career … she always has a chip on her shoulder, and she readily admits she plays better with an underdog mentality. In Wambach’s book, writes Beau Dure, the prolific goalscorer recounts her battles with addiction with remarkable self-awareness.

Carli Lloyd’s memoir explodes myth that US women’s soccer is all fun and friends

Senior Laotian officials accused of profiting from illegal animal trafficking

Officials at the highest level of the Laotian government have been helping wildlife criminals smuggle millions of dollars worth of endangered species through their territory, the Guardian can reveal. In an apparent breach of current national and international law, the office of the prime minister of Laos has cut deals with three leading traffickers to move hundreds of tonnes of wildlife through selected border crossings, swelling treasury coffers with a 2% tax on trades worth up to $45m. The illegal trade includes the disabling or killing of 165 tigers, more than 650 rhinos and more than 16,000 elephants.

Revealed: how senior Laos officials cut deals with animal traffickers



Sabrina the Teenage Witch: the magic 20 years on

Sabrina the Teenage Witch was irreverent and absurd, yes, but its feminist ethos and screwball dialogue made it stand out from the average teen show of its day. “The magic was a metaphor for a young girl learning to control her desires and emotions, as well as an excuse to showcase a 6ft flan,” said creator Nell Scovell.

How Sabrina the Teenage Witch spelled a change in 90s TV

In case you missed it …

“The moment you put down two or three marks on a piece of paper, you get relationships,” artist David Hockney tells the Guardian. “They’ll start to look like something. If you draw two little lines they might look like two figures or two trees. One was made first, one second. We read all kinds of things into marks. You can suggest landscape, people and faces with extremely little. It all depends on the human ability to see a mark as a depiction.”

David Hockney on what turns a picture into a masterpiece