The movement founded by Greg Glassman grew into an empire, helping popularize the masculinity aesthetic embraced by Pete Hegseth and RFK Jr

Comparative machismo is hardly new, but when Donald Trump publicly admired Senator Jon Husted’s backside earlier this month, later telling advisers it made the since-defeated Ohio incumbent more “interesting” to voters, the senator leaned into the compliment, saying it gave him extra motivation to “get down to the gym”.

Would that odd exchange have taken place without CrossFit, the fitness empire founded by college dropout and gymnast Greg Glassman in the 1990s that grew to 15,000 gyms across 160 countries before he was drawn into public controversy at the height of #MeToo and the social justice movement in 2020?

3ft-long reptile was looking for a meal before animal protective services safely removed it from establishment

Surveillance cameras installed in a North Carolina bagel shop caught a small alligator purposefully strolling though the back door, through the stockroom and to the front counter, startling employees and customers – one of whom armed himself with a chair against the intruder.

The 3ft-long alligator’s intrusion in Bagel Dock Express in Southport, North Carolina, last Thursday was later shared by the business.

CVS Pharmacy will be separate from CVS Health, housing major insurer Aetna and benefits manager Caremark

CVS Health, the largest US healthcare conglomerate valued at $117bn, has announced its plans split off its pharmacy chain from its health insurance and benefits businesses, ending an era in which healthcare companies grew into vast conglomerates.

In their announcement on Wednesday, CVS Health said they will split off its 9,000 pharmacies, in-store clinics and mail order prescription business into a business named CVS Pharmacy.

Democratic leaders and seat-flipping victors from Tuesday’s ‘blue tsunami’ offer post-election comments

The broad repudiation of Donald Trump, his policies and the Republican party, focused on Trump’s personal unpopularity, high costs of living and the Iran war, offer Democrats an opportunity to reset the US domestic agenda. But what will they do with it?

Here, Democratic leaders and seat-flipping victors from Tuesday’s “blue tsunami” offer their post-election comments.

National Transportation Safety Board says discovery of parts confirms plane was breaking apart before it crashed

A piece of the private Learjet 60 that crashed in Florida, killing all nine people onboard, was found 4 miles (6km) away from the crash site, according to investigators on Tuesday, providing confirmation the plane was breaking apart prior to impact.

The majority of the left elevator, part of the tail that controls the pitch of the aircraft, was found in three separate pieces between 1.3 miles and 3.8 miles from the crash site at Greenacres, near West Palm Beach, according to National Transportation Safety Board member Tom Chapman.

Cleveland Meredith arrested after allegedly posting a call to execute all judges involved in 2021 US Capitol attack trials

A man pardoned by Donald Trump for participating in January 6 attack on the US Capitol and threatening to kill the then house speaker, Nancy Pelosi, is facing new charges for threatening to kill federal judges that presided over his and other cases arising from the violent anti-government clash.

Cleveland Meredith, from North Carolina, was arrested on Monday over a Facebook post in April that allegedly read: “ALL J6 Federal JUDGES will be EXECUTED!”

A decision could reshape the relationship between religious freedom and nondiscrimination laws in the US

The US supreme court will hear arguments on Tuesday over a challenge brought by two Catholic preschools in Colorado, arguing that they should be admitted to the state’s free education system despite their rejection of children with LGBTQ+ parents.

A decision in the case, St Mary Catholic Parish v Roy, could reshape the relationship between religious freedom and nondiscrimination laws in the US.

As Josh Shapiro, the governor, mounts outreach program, members say ‘you don’t get to change anybody’s mind’

Making hay was more than a figure of speech last week at the New Holland auction house in Pennsylvania last week, where a ton of top quality hay bales were going for upwards of $400, up about 20% from last year.

For members of the Lancaster settlement, a term used to describe the Amish population that settled here in 1760, the price of hay was only part of the discussion: the price of horses, donkeys and milk were also topics of conversation and, as it has been for year or more, a potentially deadly outbreak of measles.