US

Sir Keir Starmer and Donald Trump “stressed the importance of the close and warm ties” between their countries and “agreed to meet soon” in a phone call, Downing Street has said. During the conversation on Sunday, the prime minister congratulated the president on his inauguration and paid tribute to his “role in securing the landmark

Donald Trump has said he thinks Sir Keir Starmer has “done a very good job” so far and said the pair will speak over the phone “over the next 24 hours”. The US president said he and the prime minister “get along well” despite Sir Keir being “liberal, which is a little bit different from

Pete Hegseth, Donald Trump’s controversial choice for US defence secretary, has been confirmed for the job. The 44-year-old ex-veteran and former Fox News host narrowly secured the top Pentagon post with vice president JD Vance casting the 51-50 tie-breaking vote. Three Republican senators – Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, and Mitch McConnell

The US State Department has ordered a freeze on new funding for almost all American foreign development assistance following an executive order issued by Donald Trump. Hours after taking office on Monday, the US president ordered a 90-day pause in US-funded global projects pending a review of their efficiency and to check they are consistent

US military aircraft have started flying detained migrants out of America on the orders of President Donald Trump. It comes as the White House released images of men whose hands and ankles were shackled being led on to a plane. Mr Trump‘s press secretary Karoline Leavitt posted the photos on X and declared: “Deportation flights

A US woman charged with murdering two of her children has lost her fight to avoid extradition from the UK. Kimberlee Singler’s nine-year-old daughter and seven-year-old son were found dead in a residential property in Colorado along with her 11-year-old daughter who was injured but alive, police said. Prosecutors allege Singler killed two of her

Donald Trump has ordered the release of thousands of classified files on the assassination of President John F Kennedy. The 1963 killing in Dallas is the source of one of the most well-known conspiracy theories of modern times. Lee Harvey Oswald was said to be the gunman, but was shot dead himself two days after

Donald Trump has said that attacks on police officers during the January 6 riots were “minor incidents”. In his first sit-down interview since being inaugurated on Monday, recorded in the Oval Office, Mr Trump told Fox News’ Sean Hannity most of those who were jailed over the US Capitol riots were “absolutely innocent”. As part

More than 30,000 people have been ordered to leave their homes north of Los Angeles after a new wildfire broke out in California. The latest blaze – dubbed the Hughes Fire – started late on Wednesday morning near Lake Castaic, around 40 miles from the Eaton and Palisades wildfires that devastated parts of LA earlier

Donald Trump has hit out at the bishop of Washington after she lectured him on respecting immigrants and LGBT+ citizens during a televised church service. The president remained straight-faced alongside his vice president JD Vance as bishop Mariann Edgar Budde addressed him at Tuesday’s interfaith prayer service at Washington National Cathedral, telling him to “have

Donald Trump has attempted to negotiate a potential TikTok sale on live television, in what was supposed to be an announcement about investment in artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure. The US president was holding a news conference about a $500bn (£405bn) investment in AI infrastructure in the country, but was questioned about a range of topics.

Donald Trump has signed an order to remove the US from the World Health Organization (WHO), citing its perceived mishandling of the COVID-19 pandemic and “unfair” payments as a driving force. The president singled out the WHO executive order as a “big one” as he signed it alongside 100+ others upon his return to the

Donald Trump has signed a raft of executive orders within hours of returning to the White House as he reversed some of his predecessors Joe Biden’s policies. The new president told supporters at an inauguration parade event at a sports arena in Washington DC that he would revoke “80 destructive and radical executive actions of

Donald Trump will become the 47th president of the United States today – marking an astonishing return to the White House for the businessman and former reality TV star. Today’s inauguration comes after a tumultuous four years out of office that saw assassination attempts and several serious legal cases against the 78-year-old. Mr Trump will

TikTok has begun restoring service to the app in the US after Donald Trump said he would sign an executive order pausing its ban. A law signed by President Joe Biden last April required ByteDance, TikTok‘s China-based parent company, to sell the app to a non-Chinese owner by Sunday or face a ban. Some users

TikTok users in the US are opening the app to find a message saying they “can’t use” the social media platform “for now” due to a law enacted in Washington. A ban on the app was due to take effect today after outgoing President Joe Biden signed a law last year requiring ByteDance, TikTok’s China-based

Thousands of people are set to march from three separate points around Washington DC on Saturday ahead of Donald Trump’s inauguration on Monday. The rally, going by the People’s March, is a rebrand of the 2017 Women’s March, which saw more than 500,000 marchers take to the streets of DC at the start of Mr

Ahead of her husband’s second inauguration, Melania Trump wanted to get a few things straight. “Maybe people see me as just a wife of the president,” she said, in an interview with Fox News. “But I’m standing on my own two feet, independent. I have my own thoughts.” Just before the election, Mrs Trump released

Donald Trump’s swearing-in ceremony is “likely” to be moved indoors due to cold weather forecast for Washington DC on Monday. A source familiar with the matter, who spoke to Sky News’ US partner, NBC News, on the condition of anonymity, said it was likely the ceremony would be moved indoors due to the frigid weather

Dozens of planes have been forced to divert or fly holding patterns to avoid potential debris from the SpaceX rocket that blew up. The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said it briefly slowed and re-routed planes in the area where the pieces were falling back to earth. Tracking app FlightRadar24 said its most-watched flights last

SpaceX’s gigantic Starship rocket has been “lost” just minutes into its seventh test flight. The 400ft rocket – the biggest and most powerful in the world – soared from Boca Chica, south Texas, on Thursday around 4.40pm local time (10.40pm in the UK). Just minutes after the rocket launched, its booster made its planned return

The expectation was that this would be a speech tinged with hubris and bitterness.  The consensus was that it would be a greatest hits farewell threaded with frustration that America didn’t appreciate him despite the achievements, as he’d see them, of his one-term presidency – from a booming economy, record employment, historic infrastructure bills, climate

President Joe Biden has warned of a “dangerous concentration of power” among a few wealthy people in the United States in his farewell address to the nation. Without naming president-elect Donald Trump, Mr Biden said: “Today, an oligarchy is taking shape in America of extreme wealth, power and influence that really threatens our entire democracy,

At 4.30pm last Tuesday afternoon, a dark grey smoke cloud loomed over North Mount Holyoke Avenue in Pacific Palisades, obscuring the setting sun. The blazes which would become the deadliest wildfire in California’s history were racing up a nearby canyon. The streets were almost deserted, the air choking, and most people had already evacuated. My

Donald Trump’s choice for US defence secretary has been accused of lacking the competence for the job, during a much-disrupted Senate confirmation hearing. Senators are determining whether Pete Hegseth, a former combat veteran and TV news show host, is fit to lead the US military as Mr Trump’s choice for defence secretary. He is a

President-elect Donald Trump engaged in an unprecedented criminal effort to overturn his 2020 election defeat, according to a report by Special Counsel Jack Smith. He said that Trump “inspired his supporters to commit acts of physical violence” in the January 6 riots and knowingly spread a false narrative about fraud in the 2020 election. Special

A Gaza deal is “on the brink”, President Joe Biden has said in his final foreign policy address. The outgoing US president said it would include a hostage release deal and a “surge” of aid to Palestinians. Mr Biden was delivering his final foreign policy address before he leaves office next week. Today’s address will

The launch of a huge, partially reusable rocket, built by Jeff Bezos’s company, has been called off this morning after hours of delays. The 98-metre rocket, called New Glenn, is around as tall as Big Ben. It was set to carry up to 45 tonnes of tech to low Earth orbit. However, the team at

The Duchess of Sussex has delayed the release of her new Netflix series due to the devastation caused by the wildfires in LA, the streaming platform has announced. Meghan’s eight-part series, With Love, will premiere on March 4 instead of January 15. “I’m thankful to my partners at Netflix for supporting me in delaying the

Details are starting to emerge of the victims of the Los Angeles fires – and at least two died trying to protect the homes where they raised families for decades. The number of people killed by the wildfires has increased from 11 to 13, according to officials. The Eaton fire has killed eight people and

They are the displaced and there are tens of thousands of them, 600 in an evacuation centre we visited. From elderly people who fled without their medication, to pregnant mothers desperate to escape the smoke, they had nowhere else to go. Jim Mayfield, who has lived in the northern suburb of Altadena for 50 years,

Authorities in California have vowed to arrest anybody caught looting in burnt-out neighbourhoods, with one official warning: “We are not screwing around with this.” Five separate wildfires continue to burn across Los Angeles County, including the Pacific Palisades blaze – which has torn through more than 20,000 acres of land and destroyed an estimated 5,000

Mel Gibson says there is “nothing left” of his Hollywood home following the LA wildfires and “someone should answer” for the devastation. The Braveheart star was with podcaster Joe Rogan when the flames engulfed his Malibu mansion and said he was a “little tense” while recording their discussion. But he knew his family were “out