US

Travis King, the US soldier who fled to North Korea, has been charged with desertion and the solicitation of indecent images of children. The US Army charged the 23-year-old private after he returned from North Korea following two months in detention. Pte King faces a total of eight distinct charges, ranging from desertion, assault and

This was only the second time President Biden has used the Oval Office for an address to the nation – a framing to emphasise a time of deep uncertainty. It was just after 8pm when he spoke live on primetime television. From behind the resolute desk from where so many American presidents have sought to

Joe Biden said Hamas and Vladimir Putin both want to “annihilate” neighbouring democracies during a rare speech from the Oval Office. The president addressed the nation after his whirlwind trip to the Middle East. “If international aggression is allowed to continue, conflict and chaos could spread in other parts of the world,” he said. “Hamas

A summit between between Palestinian, US, Jordanian and Egyptian leaders, has been cancelled, just hours before Joe Biden was due to visit the region. The US president was set to meet them after his visit to Israel on Wednesday. The summit’s cancellation is a blow to Mr Biden’s diplomatic efforts over the Middle East crisis.

Britney Spears says she had an abortion while dating Justin Timberlake more than 20 years ago. The revelation came from an excerpt of the US pop star’s upcoming memoir – a selection of extracts which were published on Tuesday by People magazine. In the excerpt, Spears described the pregnancy as a “surprise”, but wrote: “For

Donald Trump has returned to court in the US for the fraud trial that he says is “rigged” and brought to court by a “radical lunatic” prosecutor. As he arrived at the court in Manhattan for the start of the third week of proceedings, Trump, 77, told reporters “this is a rigged trial”. The case

Donald Trump is suing a private investigations firm over “shocking and scandalous” claims that he engaged in “perverted sexual acts” in Russia. The former US president is suing Orbis Business Intelligence, a London-based company co-founded by ex-British spy Christopher Steele, over a dossier containing rumours about him that caused a storm before his 2017 presidential

A motorist was handed a $1.4m (£1.1m) speeding fine after going 35mph over the limit – and claims he was then threatened with court action unless he paid it. Connor Cato assumed the steep penalty was a typo after he was caught driving at 90mph in a 55mph zone in the US state of Georgia.

A lucky ticketholder has scooped the second largest lottery win ever, banking $1.7bn (£1.4bn) in the Powerball on Wednesday night. The winning numbers were: 22, 24, 40, 52, 64 and the Powerball 10. The winning ticket was sold at Midway Market & Liquor in Frazier Park, according to the California Lottery. The winner, from California,

California will build the first group of 1,200 tiny homes at an abandoned office park in a bid to help curb the state’s burgeoning homelessness problem. The office park in Sacramento will be the site of the first group of homes to be built in four cities to across the state, the governor’s office announced.

Microsoft owes the US Treasury $28.9 billion (£23bn) in back taxes, plus penalties and interest according to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). The figure, which Microsoft disputes, stems from a long-running IRS investigation into how Microsoft allocated its profits among countries and jurisdictions in the years 2004 to 2013, according to a securities filing Critics

The man charged with abducting a nine-year-old girl from a campsite in New York state is being investigated over the unsolved murders of two teenage girls who disappeared close to his home around 20 years ago, police have said. Craig Nelson Ross Jr, was charged with alleged first-degree kidnapping after Charlotte Sena was found “safe

Elon Musk’s $44bn (£36bn) takeover of Twitter is under investigation by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and he could be compelled to testify. According to court filings on Thursday, the case centres around concerns the world’s richest man broke federal security laws in 2022, when he bought Twitter stock. The investigation is also

Joe Biden’s dog Commander has been removed from the White House after biting agents and staff. The two-year-old German shepherd had attacked members of the US Secret Service 10 times between October 2022 and January 2023. One female officer recently required medical treatment. Image: Commander was a gift to the US president from his brother

The Speaker of the US House of Representatives has been ousted from his position in a historic vote forced by far-right Republicans he had spent nine months appeasing. Kevin McCarthy, a Republican from California, is the first Speaker ever to be removed from office after months of turbulent fighting within Donald Trump‘s party, leaving the

A Florida man has been executed over the murders of two women in 1996, the state has announced. Michael Zack III, 54, was killed by lethal injection at Florida State Prison at 6.14pm on Tuesday. His final words were: “I love you all.” Zack was executed for the killing of bartender Ravonne Smith, who he

The takeaway phrase from day one of this first of so many court cases against Donald Trump? “Rampant fraud”. That’s not, legally at least, a point of debate. The judge has concluded, in a pre-trial ruling, that the Trump Organisation did commit widespread fraud. Politically though, it is deeply debatable: due process versus partisan witch-hunt.

Donald Trump is accused of raising more than $100m by lying about the value of his real estate empire, as he attacked the judge overseeing his civil fraud trial. The ex-president – and current favourite to stand as the Republican candidate for the White House next year – committed fraud for years while building his

Donald Trump is set to make a surprise appearance on the first day of his trial for “astounding” fraud which begins in New York today.  The former president, who is the favourite to be the Republican presidential candidate next year, is the central defendant in the civil trial which begins today at a courtroom in

The House Republicans and Democrats on Saturday struck a deal to fund the government and avoid a shutdown. The House of Representatives voted 335-91 on a short-term funding bill, known as a continuing resolution, according to Sky News’ US partner network NBC News. The bill would keep the government open for another 45 days –