Two women challenged Jeff Flake over his position on the supreme court nominee. Shortly afterward, he apparently changed his mind

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• Pilot ejects safely on day Pentagon heralds new purchase
  
• Plane has stealth technology Trump thinks makes it invisible

An F-35 fighter jet crashed in South Carolina, the US Marine Corps said, in the first such incident to affect the most expensive defence programme in the world.

Related: Trump hails 'invisible' plane in remarks to coast guard: 'The enemy cannot see it'

We are in the midst of a reckoning: survivors of assault are sharing their stories and we need to learn how to respond

I was 19 the first time someone shared her story of being sexually assaulted with me. Over AOL Instant Messenger, a friend from high school said she’d lost her virginity at a party a year earlier. “But,” she added, “it wasn’t what I wanted. I was drunk. He took advantage of me.”

I had no idea what to say. I understood that she was describing a traumatizing experience. I could tell she was still upset. What she was alluding to was terrible, but it was also commonplace. I heard stories of hookups gone bad almost every weekend. I sat frozen at my keyboard. Should I ask for details or would that only make it worse? Should I encourage her to talk to someone – her mom, an adviser, a therapist? It didn’t occur to me that she was talking to someone: me.

Anyone needing a lesson in how American democracy should work must watch Ana Maria Archila and Maria Gallagher hold Jeff Flake to account

Truth spoke to power. And the US Senate finally listened.

In the end, after a full day of official Senate hearings, all it took was two gutsy women, Ana Maria Archila and Maria Gallagher, to stop the confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh. The two women, who said they were survivors of sexual assault, stubbornly refused to let the elevator doors close as Senator Jeff Flake, the critical swing vote on the Senate judiciary committee, was on his way to cast his vote to advance the supreme court nominee.

A quiet consensus is emerging across the political divide: Bernie Sanders and Paul Ryan both advocate enabling Americans to co-own the businesses where they work

What do Bernie Sanders and Paul Ryan have in common? Mr Ryan recently learned he has some Jewish ancestry, but there is at least one other thing, tucked between their otherwise diametrically opposed visions for the US economy: both advocate enabling more Americans to co-own the businesses where they work.

Mr Ryan has been a longtime co-sponsor of bills supporting employee stock-ownership plans, or ESOPs, through which millions of workers reap the profits they help create, on top of their wages. Mr Sanders, meanwhile, is among those on the left now crafting ambitious bills to promote employee ownership nationwide. Americans seem divided on just about everything, but if the two of them can agree that we should co-own more of the businesses we rely on, maybe the rest of us can too.

A House resolution and a vote on arms sales in the Senate could affect US backing for the Saudi-led coalition

The civil war in Yemen is one of those obscure conflicts that feels as though it has been going on for ever. In the space of little more than three years, the conflict has become what the UN and aid agencies agree is the world’s worst man-made humanitarian disaster, with 16,700 civilians killed or wounded, 8.4 million people facing famine, a nation torn apart and an economy destroyed.

The killing of children, hit by missiles and shells smashing into their homes and schools or stricken by disease and malnutrition, has come to symbolise Yemen’s war. The UN’s latest Children and Armed Conflict report found that 1,316 children were killed or maimed in 2017. Just over half died in air attacks by the western-backed, pro-government coalition, and many others at the hands of Houthi rebels.

Republicans rallying around Kavanaugh shouldn’t expect women to accept that without a fight: patriarchy is on borrowed time

The Week in Patriarchy is a weekly roundup of what’s happening in the world of feminism and sexism. If you’re not already receiving it by email, make sure to subscribe.

Distractions at work can lead to lost productivity, which translates into an expense for employers

You can say one thing about Challenger, Gray & Christmas: for a company with such a festive component to their name, they sure know how to ruin a party.

Over the past year or so, the outplacement firm’s researchers have given employers all sorts of reasons to dread any events that rivets the nation. For example, the firm reported that last year’s NCAA tournament and Super Bowl would cost employers $2.3bn and $3 bn, respectively in lost employee productivity.

On a day when the emotion of the Ryder Cup threatened to boil over it was Rory McIlroy who got into the hottest funk. Things had been going well for the Irishman, who had won his morning fourball with Sergio García and was two up after two holes playing with Ian Poulter in the afternoon against Justin Thomas and Jordan Spieth until he appeared to be provoked by a spectator about his putting.

McIlroy’s response after making a tricky 10-footer to make a half on the 3rd was to turn around 180 degrees to face the crowd before bellowing at them: “Who am I? Who am I?” before pointing at his chest, and shouting: “Fucking come on!”

Of the hundreds of decisions Thomas Bjørn has had to make since he took on the captaincy two years ago, picking Sergio García was one of the riskiest. Not that Bjørn ever saw it that way. He has been on the same team as García in six Ryder Cups, as a teammate and a vice-captain. Now he was in charge, he knew he wanted him in his team, even if he had to use one of his wildcard picks to do it. The problem was, hardly anyone else seemed to agree with him.

García had been playing some poor stuff this summer, missing the cut in eight of his past 11 tournaments. But Bjørn was not worried about that. Instead it was the criticism that bothered him. To pick García, he has had to leave out men who were in better form, such as Rafa Cabrera-Bello and Matt Wallace. “I know people are going to wonder how much quality Sergio will bring on the course, I believe he will bring plenty but I also know what Sergio brings off the course. He’s right at the centre of it every single time.” García, Bjørn said, is “the one who will stand up in the middle of the room and who the others will listen to. He’s the one who will rally the troops.”

The American’s Ryder Cup losing streak extended to seven, while Tommy Fleetwood became the first ever European to win his first four Ryder Cup matches

Not since the Marshall Plan have the Americans been so generous to Europe. And Tiger Woods has been among the most munificent in this 42nd Ryder Cup.

On Friday, he and Patrick Reed gifted a point to Francesco Molinari and Tommy Fleetwood in the opening fourball, 3&1, before he skipped the afternoon foursomes to rest his back. On Saturday, he and Reed gift-wrapped the quiet Italian and his long-haired Southport mate the morning fourball, 4&3. And, as the American team sought to apply a tourniquet to the haemorrhage, the same European combination – Moliwood, as they have become known - were grateful for a 5&4 victory when Woods and the nervous debutant Bryson DeChambeau failed to click in the afternoon foursomes.

The extent of Europe’s stranglehold on the Ryder Cup is such that terminology referring to miracles is used when discussing the last time a lead such as this was overturned. A United States side apparently united as never before needs individual skill to retrieve this situation. How poetic.

Thomas Bjørn and his fearless team will take an advantage of 10-6 into Sunday’s singles session. The same margin applied overnight Saturday into Sunday – in the US’s favour – at Medinah in 2012, when José María Olazábal oversaw a recovery for the ages. Europe led 10-6 after two days at Brookline in 1999, before the US roared back. These, however, are the notable exceptions; it would be a major surprise if Europe do not reclaim the cup from here.

• President backs opponent of senator key to supreme court vote
• Tennessee, Mississippi, Minnesota and Kansas are next

Donald Trump will on Saturday kick off a week of rallies in five friendly states, seeking to shore up support ahead of the midterm elections as the fate of his pick to fill a supreme court vacancy remains unclear.

Related: Jerry Brown signs California law banning gun sales to most under 21

• Governor signs law on rifles and other types of guns
• Law enforcement, military, licensed hunters are exempt

Most people under 21 will not be able to buy guns in California starting next year, under a law Governor Jerry Brown announced signing on Friday.

Related: American nuns win victory holding Smith & Wesson accountable

Mitch McConnell has made it clear: Dr Christine Blasey Ford does not matter. This is about shaping the judiciary for years to come

They blocked Barack Obama’s pick for the supreme court. They threw in their lot with Donald Trump, a political neophyte and TV celebrity facing multiple sexual harassment allegations. It is entirely unsurprising that the Republican party seems ready to ram through the confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh.

Related: Kavanaugh: Trump orders FBI inquiry after Republicans vote to advance nomination

Republican state senator Joe Fain denies allegation of committing sexual assault 11 years ago

A woman has accused a Washington state lawmaker of raping her 11 years ago, saying she was inspired to speak out as she watched the televised allegations against supreme court nominee Brett Kavanaugh. The lawmaker has denied the claim.

Candace Faber said in a tweet that Republican state senator Joe Fain sexually assaulted her in 2007 the night she graduated from Georgetown University in Washington DC. He was not in office at the time at the time of the alleged assault.

The Guardian obtained internal videos sent to Whole Foods management, coaching them on how to watch for unionizing

Amazon-owned Whole Foods Market has stepped up its efforts to crack down on union activity among employees – instructing managers to watch out for warning signs of union activity and to tell possible union members that joining a union is a “roll of the dice”.

Following a mass email sent out on 6 September by Whole Foods employees seeking to coordinate with one another to discuss workplace issues and the prospect of forming a union, Amazon released training videos for managers in an attempt to head off union efforts.

Move is the eighth since 2015 as the central bank aims to unwind years of historically low rates

The US Federal Reserve raised short-term interest rates again on Wednesday, the eighth such move since 2015 as the central bank moves to unwind years of historically low rates.

After a two-day meeting the Fed announced a quarter percentage point rise in its benchmark rate to a range of 2% to 2.25%. The rate is used to set credit card, mortgage and loan rates and will trigger rises across the board for consumers.

A jury ruled the agrochemical company caused Dewayne Johnson’s cancer. He tells the Guardian he wants to use the victory to make a difference while he still can

Dewayne Johnson tries not to think about dying.

Doctors have said the 46-year-old cancer patient could have months to live, but he doesn’t like to dwell on death. These days, he has an easy distraction – navigating the international attention on his life.

USC’s upcoming bye week may not feel that much different from the game week the Trojans just experienced. On Saturday night, during a shockingly sloppy 24-20 victory over the flawed Arizona Wildcats in the desert, the Trojans were mostly playing against themselves.

They technically had an opponent,...

Gegard Mousasi said he worked so diligently to make himself a mixed martial arts champion, there was no way he could allow a loss to a smaller man, even if it was Bellator welterweight belt-wearer Rory MacDonald.

In a vivid Saturday night example of why weight classes exist, the middleweight champion...

With new starting quarterback Trevor Lawrence knocked out of the game, No. 3 Clemson rallied behind Travis Etienne, who ran for 2-yard touchdown with 41 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter to give the Tigers a 27-23 victory over Syracuse on Saturday.

Etienne finished with three TDs and a career-high...

Jake Browning completed 23 of 25 passes for 277 yards and one touchdown, and No. 11 Washington was thoroughly dominant on both sides in a 35-7 rout of No. 20 BYU on Saturday night.

Washington (4-1) watched Browning play with the poise and accuracy expected of a fourth-year starting quarterback...

Adrian Kempe ended up playing some of the best hockey of his young career in the spring. It just wasn’t with the Kings.

Kempe was part of Sweden’s run to the World Championship gold medal in May. He contributed two goals and six assists in 10 games and teamed with countrymen Hampus Lindholm and...

While Brett Kavanaugh’s Supreme Court nomination has rallied many women across the country in support of the California professor who has accused him of sexual assault, not all women share that view.

Female voices have echoed throughout the Senate this week demanding male senators justify their...

If there really is one game left of Mike Scioscia’s tenure as Angels manager, Saturday night’s 5-2 loss to the Oakland Athletics at Angel Stadium isn’t likely to stick out to the 59-year-old.

Not in a fond way, at any rate. The loss meant the Angels, who had won four games in a row to climb within...

When the ball struck the back of the net, Zlatan Ibrahimovic sprinted to the stands with his arms wide, roaring. Rolf Feltscher jumped on his back. It was a triumphant celebration as the Galaxy took a two-goal lead, with both goals from Ibrahimovic, on the way to a 3-0 victory over the Vancouver...

An Oceanside parent said she is concerned that her 12-year-old son’s classmates designed a deportation-themed board game for a school assignment — and that her son’s teacher didn’t say that it was inappropriate or offensive.

Jake Hull, a student at Cesar Chavez Middle School in the Oceanside School...

Dwayne Haskins threw two touchdown passes in the final seven minutes as No. 4 Ohio State wiped out a 12-point deficit to beat No. 9 Penn State 27-26 Saturday night in another wild game between the Big Ten powerhouses.

Trace McSorley had 461 total yards, including a career-high 175 rushing and threw...

Dave Roberts sat inside his office at AT&T Park drenched in a blend of Prioux champagne and Budweiser. On his desk sat a half-empty bottle of Bud Light. He wore a sopping wet, commemorative T-shirt with a message as vague as the Dodgers’ schedule for next week: DEFEND SO CAL.

Will they even play...

Tommy Kennedy may seem destined to be playing water polo, but that didn’t stop the Newport Harbor High junior from almost walking away from the sport.

Kennedy’s father, Mike, played water polo at Costa Mesa High. His uncles, Eriks and Riki Krumins, each played water polo at Newport Harbor before...

It wasn’t pretty, and yet it was beautiful, the Dodgers’ painstaking summer journey winding into a champagne-soaked mob of blue amid a stadium of Giants.

It wasn’t as they planned, but it is exactly what they wanted, a chance at October redemption earned during a cool autumn dance on the backs...

Sen. Flake said he wouldn't vote to confirm Kavanaugh unless the FBI investigated the sexual assault allegations against him.

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Cameron Kasky says one of the "biggest problems" is the lack of discussion among those who disagree, and he wants to change that.

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MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — A civic leader and former airline executive was alone when he was fatally shot in downtown Memphis, Tennessee, and authorities are investigating whether he was killed in a robbery or as part of a "personal vendetta," police said Friday.

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The airline said one man remains unaccounted for.

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The victim was reportedly lobster diving when the incident occurred

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Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu had said on Monday the system would be delivered to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's forces in two weeks despite strong Israeli and United States objections. A week previously, Moscow had accused Israel of indirectly causing the downing of a Russian military jet in Syria. "The delivery started already and as President (Vladimir)Putin said, after that incident ... the measures that we will take will be devoted to ensuring 100 percent safety and security of our men," Lavrov told a news conference at the United Nations.

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WASHINGTON ― Mark Judge, the man who was said to be present when Brett

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Rob Goldstone, who set up the 2016 meeting between a Kremlin-linked lawyer and Trump campaign officials, shares his theory.

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At least 384 people were killed and many swept away when a major earthquake and tsunami hit the Indonesian island of Sulawesi, authorities said on Saturday.

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WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — The airline operating a flight that crashed into a Pacific lagoon in Micronesia on Friday now says one man is missing, after earlier saying all 47 passengers and crew had safely evacuated the sinking plane.

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He took to Facebook to post about the tragedy.

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Iraq's foreign ministry voiced "regret" on Saturday over a US decision to shut its consulate in the southern city of Basra which has been rocked by weeks of deadly protests. "The ministry regrets the American decision to pull its staff out of Basra," a statement said. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo ordered all but emergency staff to leave Basra, with consular duties to be taken over by the embassy in Baghdad.

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More than two years since the 2016 EU referendum, the United Kingdom, its politicians and its business leaders remain deeply divided over Brexit while Prime Minister Theresa May has yet to clinch a divorce deal with the EU. Opponents of Brexit are exploring ways to stop what they say is Britain's biggest mistake since World War Two. Miller is leading a campaign to have another referendum, but she said if the government manages to successfully navigate an exit deal then politicians must be allowed to focus on domestic issues without the distractions of a debate about Britain's relationship with Europe.

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Next week's cover of The New Yorker is an homage to the testimony given by

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NEW YORK (AP) — Fearing possible gunshots, it took only the collapse of a police barrier at a politically charged New York celebrity music show Saturday to send thousands of spectators fleeing in panic.

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Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the Turkish president, was greeted with protests and controversy in Germany on Friday as a state visit that was supposed to repair relations between the two Nato allies appeared only to highlight their stark divisions. Thousands of demonstrators marched through the streets of Berlin under a banner of “Erdogan not welcome”, while a Kurdish activist burnt himself to death in an apparent suicide protest. Angela Merkel appeared to throw Mr Erdogan a lifeline by offering him a full state visit at a time when Turkey is struggling under the weight of US economic sanctions. But there was little sign of common ground after the two held face-to-face talks. “It is important to continue the dialogue with Turkey, because we can only work out our differences by talking,” Mrs Merkel told a joint press conference. "There is much that unites us: Nato membership, the migrant issue, and the fight against terror." But she added: “There are still profound differences between us over press freedom and the rule of law.” As if to underline the point, Mr Erdogan used the press conference to demand the extradition of a prominent Turkish journalist living in self-imposed exile in Germany. A woman shows Kurdish symbols and a sticker with a portrait of Abdullah Ocalan, the jailed leader of the Kurdistan Workers' Party Credit: AP Photo/Markus Schreiber And Mrs Merkel’s words were undercut when another journalist was thrown out of the press conference for wearing a T-shirt that called for “Freedom for journalists in Turkey”. Ties between the allies have been strained by the crackdown on opponents of the regime in Turkey, and Mrs Merkel urged Mr Erdogan to free five German citizens who are being held in Turkey on what Germany maintains are “political charges”. But Mr Erdogan rebuffed the request and responded by demanding Germany do more to help Turkey in its crackdown on opponents of his regime. "I can not interfere in the German justice system or criticise them, nor can you interfere with the Turkish judiciary or criticize them,” he said. “Germany must be more determined in the fight against terror.” He claimed supporters of the militant Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) and Fethullah Gülen, the cleric Turkey alleges was behind a failed coup in 2016, are living in Germany. The Turkish foreign ministry reportedly handed over a list of 69 people it wants Germany to extradite as he arrived. Profile | Recep Tayyip Erdoğan Earlier, there were frosty scenes as Mr Erdogan was received with full military honours. The German president, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, appeared at pains to show he was only welcoming his Turkish counterpart on sufferance, and remained stony-faced throughout. More than 200 guests refused invitations to a state banquet in Mr Erdogan’s honour, among them prominent figures from across the German political spectrum. An estimated 4,000 protestors marched through central Berlin to the Bellevue palace where the official banquet was held. The march was led by a homemade cardboard tank. One man held aloft a banner that read "No deals with the devil". But the protestors' numbers were smaller than expected, and the march was peaceful under a heavy police presence. Nevertheless, the visit was fraught from the start. The German press published pictures of Mr Erdogan appearing to give the four-fingered salute of the Muslim Brotherhood as he arrived on Thursday. Bild, Germany’s biggest-selling newspaper, described it as a “provocation against Western values and democracy”. The charred body of a 26-year-old Kurdish activist was found in Bavaria after he set himself alight. German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier (L) and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan arrive for a state dinner at Bellevue presidential palace Credit: ADAM BERRY/AFP/Getty Images In a video message left behind, Umit Acar reportedly said his death was a protest against Turkish military operations against Kurds in Turkey and Syria. “I chose today especially, because Erdogan is coming here,” he said. “In all the massacres that the Turks have committed against the Kurds, the Germans delivered them weapons.” The joint press conference with Mrs Merkel almost didn’t take place after Mr Erdogan threatened to boycott it if Can Dündar , a prominent former Turkish newspaper editor living in Germany, was allowed to attend. He later used the press conference to demand Mr Dündar’s extradition to Turkey. “This is our natural right,” he said, claiming Mr Dündar was a “spy” who had published “state secrets” over a report which alleged Turkish intelligence armed Islamist factions in Syria. There was no question of Germany agreeing to extradite Mr Dundar, Heiko Maas, the foreign minister, said. "I look forward to seeing more of Mr Dündar in Germany in future," he added. The only real progress appeared to be when Mrs Merkel announced a joint summit over Syria next month with Mr Erdogan, France’s Emmanel Macron and Vladimir Putin of Russia. Mr Erdogan has been pushing for such a meeting, but one name conspicupous by its absence was that of Donald Trump. The US president has taken a different approach to freeing prisoners held in Turkey, imposing economic sanctions over Mr Erdogan’s refusal to release an American pastor. Mrs Merkel made clear in the run-up to yesterday’s talks that her priority was to preserve relations between Turkey and the West amid fears the US sanctions are pushing Mr Erdogan into Russia’s embrace.

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The court in San Francisco overturned a 2016 judgment by a jury which found no proof the classic 1971 Zeppelin song breached the copyright of "Taurus," written by Randy Wolfe of a Los Angeles band called Spirit. Wolfe's trustee, Michael Skidmore, filed the case in 2015 on behalf of his late friend who long maintained he deserved credit for "Stairway" but drowned in 1997 having never taken legal action over the song. The case is "remanded for a new trial," the higher court panel ruled Friday in a 37-page decision supporting Skidmore's appeal.

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Fentanyl was first developed in 1959 and introduced in the 1960s as an intravenous anesthetic.

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VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis asked Saturday for daily prayers to protect the Catholic Church from what he says are "attacks by the devil," in his latest response to the clerical sex abuse and cover-up scandal roiling his papacy.

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Beijing and Washington are locked in a spiraling trade war that has seen them level increasingly severe rounds of tariffs on each other's imports. Friction between the world's top two economies is now moving beyond trade, with U.S. President Donald Trump accusing Beijing this week of seeking to interfere in congressional elections, marking what U.S. officials told Reuters was a new phase in an escalating campaign by Washington to put pressure on China. On the military front, China has been infuriated by the United States putting sanctions on the People's Liberation Army (PLA) for buying weapons from Russia, and by what Beijing sees as stepped up U.S. support for self-ruled Taiwan, claimed by China as its sacred territory.

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And settled an old grudge in Afghanistan.

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Kavanaugh veered from the truth, offering explanations that conflicted with evidence or definitions that were unverifiable.

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The United Nations Human Rights Council voted to extend an international probe of alleged war crimes committed in Yemen despite strong opposition from Saudi Arabia and several of its allies. Last month, investigators detailed evidence of possible war crimes committed in Yemen by both the Saudi-led coalition and the Huthi rebels supported by Iran. The coalition and the Yemeni government, which together are battling the Huthis, strongly criticised the probe's initial report, arguing that it underplayed rebel violations and Iran's role.

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The US Securities and Exchange Commission on Thursday charged Tesla CEO Elon Musk with securities fraud, alleging he misled investors last month in tweets about taking the company private. Musk tweeted August 7 that he had "secured" funding to privatize the electric automaker at $420 a share, causing a brief spike in Tesla's share price. The SEC said Musk's statements on Twitter were "false and misleading" and that he had never discussed the plans with company officials or potential funders.

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Supporters of Christine Blasey Ford, the university professor who accused Brett Kavanaugh of sexually assaulting her in high school, gathered in Washington, D.C. They wore shirts reading “I am a survivor,” “outraged and unafraid” and other phrases associated with the #MeToo movement. Ford shared her experience of the alleged assault with the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday morning. (Michael Walsh/Yahoo News)

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VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis has defrocked a Chilean priest who was a central character in the global sex abuse scandal rocking his papacy, invoking his "supreme" authority to stiffen an earlier sentence because of the "exceptional amount of damage" the priest's crimes had caused.

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One of the trained assassins wanted for poisoning Sergei Skripal is a decorated colonel in Russian military intelligence given the country’s highest award by Vladimir Putin.  The real identity of one of the wanted men in the nerve agent attack - named by counter-terrorism police as Ruslan Boshirov - can be disclosed as Colonel Anatoliy Vladimirovich Chepiga. The 39-year-old, who has served in wars in Chechnya and Ukraine, was made a Hero of the Russian Federation by decree of the President in 2014 in a ceremony shrouded in secrecy. The disclosure, uncovered by investigative journalist organisation Bellingcat in conjunction with The Telegraph, exposes as lies Mr Putin’s claims that the Skripals' would-be killers were innocent "civilians".  A spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry dismissed the claims, saying they are part of an "information campaign". Chepiga, posing as Boshirov, and a second man identified as Alexander Petrov, have insisted they were on holiday in Salisbury and had no connection with the attack, using weapons-grade Novichok nerve agent. Video: Salisbury poison suspects claim they were tourists The true identity of his accomplice Alexander Petrov remains unclear, but The Telegraph has established that he was travelling under his real first name and had only changed his surname to an alias. Counter-terrorism police and the security services are understood to know his real name.  A former senior Russian military officer said Col Chepiga’s high rank and experience strongly suggested that “the job was ordered at the highest level”. The source claimed an attempted assassination of less importance would have been carried out by a lower ranking officer. A Tory minister said: “This is further embarrassment for Putin and Russia. This is the latest in a series of cock-ups by the GRU. It will have the opposite effect he will have wanted. It shows an inept capability that has been exposed. “There is no doubt that the Salisbury poisoning was part of a wider plan of Putin reaffirming Russia as a superpower and letting people know what Russia is capable of. This was a message to the West and his own people - cross me and there are consequences. He has learned that he simply won’t get away with it.” Boris Johnson, the former Foreign Secretary, said: "Utterly predictable news that GRU behind Skripal atrocity. What have you got to say, Putin? And I hope we hear real condemnation from Corbyn."   Colonel Anatoliy Chepiga - aka Ruslan Boshirov - is believed to be pictured back row, far right with a group of fellow military graduates in Chechnya The revelations come as Theresa May told the UN's security council that Russia should not "be in any doubt" that if it did not "rejoin the international consensus against the use of chemical weapons" then the UK and its allies would be forced to take action.  Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova dismissed the new claims, highlighting how they had been published as Mrs May appeared at the UN. She wrote on Facebook: "There is no evidence, so they continue the information campaign, the main task of which is to divert attention from the main question: 'What happened in Salisbury?' "The question is: when will there be any evidence of the involvement of anyone, as London tells us, of poisoning in Salisbury?" European arrest warrants and Interpol red notices have been issued for the pair, who are accused of the murder of Dawn Sturgess, a local woman inadvertently poisoned by a discarded Novichok bottle, and the attempted murder of Col Skripal, 67, and his daughter Yulia, 33.  Both men - under the aliases Boshirov and Petrov - have been charged with the poisoning of the Skripals by the Crown Prosecution Service. Video: Novichok suspects named by British authorities After Scotland Yard released its evidence - including CCTV showing the men close to Col Skripal's home on the day he was poisoned - the pair appeared on Russia TV, on the order of Mr Putin, to claim that they worked in the fitness industry and their sole reason for visiting the UK was to see the historic sites of “wonderful” Salisbury. Theresa May had publicly accused them of being members of the GRU. It can now be revealed that Col Chepiga has been fighting in an elite special forces unit - Spetsnaz - under the command of the GRU for 17 years and working undercover for at least nine years.  He has been given more than 20 awards and a Hero of the Russian Federation medal, though, unlike most of the other recipients, there is little public information available about Col Chepiga.  The medals are normally awarded by the president personally, and are only given to a handful of people each year. A Russian passport application in the name of Anatoliy Chepiga in 2003 The website of the Far-Eastern Military Command Academy, where Col Chepiga studied, lists all of their alumni who have received the award with a detailed description of the acts that resulted in the recognition.  In his case it simply says: “Anatoly Vladimirovich Chepiga was awarded the honourary title of Hero of the Russian Federation by order of the president of the Russian Federation.” His name also appears on a monument in honour of the alumni of the Far-Eastern Military Command who have received their Hero medal at its base on the border with China. The secretive nature of Col Chepiga’s award, combined with the timing in 2014, suggests that it was for actions in Ukraine.  The name Anatoliy Chepiga - aka Ruslan Boshirov - is bottom right under a 'gold star honour list' on an honours wall at the Far Eastern Military Command School In 2014 Russia was not engaged in fighting in either Chechnya or Syria and his unit - number 74854 of the 14th Separate Brigade of Special Forces (Spetsnaz) - was pictured on the eastern border of Ukraine that year.  Involvement in Ukraine would explain the secrecy around his award, which is also noted by a veterans' group. The group writes on its website: “You can become a hero even in our seemingly peaceful times."  “Anatoliy Vladimirovich Chepiga, a native of the village of Nikolayevka and 2001 graduate of the Far-Eastern Military Command Academy, was deployed to Chechnya three times and has more than 20 awards and medals.  “In December 2014, Colonel Chepiga was awarded the title of Hero of the Russian Federation for carrying out a peacekeeping mission.” From Nikolaevka to Salisbury – The journey of Anatoliy Chepiga from schoolboy to trained assassin Col Chepiga was born in a small village with 300 residents near the border with China in 1979. At the age of 18, he enrolled in the Far-Eastern Military Command Academy in Blageoveschensk, less than an hour from his home.  The academy is an elite training ground for marine commandos and officers in the Spetsnaz. At the time Col Chepiga was a student, it was known for training officers involved in overseas clandestine operations.  He graduated in 2001 and joined his unit. He served with it in Chechnya where he was deployed three times.  Salisbury attack step-by-step timeline puff Bellingcat and the Insider Russia have uncovered a file from 2003 in which Col Chepiga applies for a passport in his real name that lists his address as the military unit in Khabarovsk.  The soldier, who is married with a teenage son, then moved to Moscow, where he can next be traced in 2012. Experts believe that because of his rank as colonel, the same as Col Skripal, and the nature of his work he may have studied at the Military Diplomatic Academy, also known as the “GRU Conservatory”, following his move to Moscow.  Passport records show that he was given the alias Ruslan Boshirov in 2009 at the latest.

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