US

“Critical failures” delayed the police response to the 2022 shooting in Texas that killed 19 children and two teachers, according to a damning US Department of Justice review. The report found shortcomings in “leadership, decision-making, tactics, policy and training” led to a confused response to gunman Salvador Ramos at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde on

A mother has claimed police raided the “wrong house” and deployed diversionary flash-bang devices that injured her 17-month-old son – leaving the infant in hospital with burns. Police have offered a different account of what happened – saying they executed a search warrant at the correct address and the child was not harmed during the

Nikki Haley has dropped out of a debate before the crucial New Hampshire Republican primary contest, saying she would only take part if Donald Trump did. The former US ambassador to the United Nations finished third in the snow-covered Iowa caucuses on Monday, a couple of points behind Florida governor Ron DeSantis but well behind

A rape suspect accused of faking his own death has made a bizarre first appearance in a US court after being extradited from Scotland. Nicholas Rossi was flown out of the UK a few weeks ago after a long-running court battle during which he claimed to be a victim of mistaken identity. US officials accuse

“It was a great victory,” former president Trump’s son told me moments after his father’s Iowa victory was announced.  “He is feeling great. We crushed it tonight,” Eric Trump said. And crush it, they did. It was remarkable and has no comparison in Iowan caucus history. It’s all the more remarkable because Donald Trump has

Donald Trump has won the Republican party’s Iowa caucuses, according to a projection by Sky’s US partner NBC News. The voting is the first step of a process that’s likely to see the former president picked as Republican candidate for November’s election. Mr Trump was overwhelming favourite to be top pick among Republican members in

Temperatures in parts of the US could drop to about -30C as Donald Trump urged voters in one state to brave the blizzard conditions. At least four people have died in a dangerous Arctic blast, which has knocked out electricity for hundreds of thousands of people, brought snow even to southern states and postponed a

The main street in Des Moines, leading to the State Capitol building, is covered by a thick layer of snow, as icicles dangle from signs welcoming visitors to the home of the famous Iowa caucuses. One woman is waiting for the bus and a man is shovelling snow from the pavement in front of his

US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin is still in hospital and is in a good condition, the Pentagon has said. The 70-year-old was admitted to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Maryland on 22 December with prostate cancer. He returned to the hospital on 1 January due to complications including a urinary tract infection and

An American lawyer who fought a years-long battle in the 1970s to prevent John Lennon from being deported from the US has died aged 90. Leon Wildes, whose health had been declining since he suffered a series of strokes, died on Monday at Lenox Hill Hospital in Manhattan, his family said. His name became part

The language being used by Biden administration is interesting. “Iran is a primary – if not the primary – enabler or supporter, sponsor of the Houthis and Iran has been involved operationally in the conduct of these attacks,” a Biden administration official said. They don’t talk about Iran directing the attacks against shipping or US

Joe Biden’s son has pleaded not guilty to federal tax charges filed after the collapse of a plea deal that could have spared him the spectacle of a criminal trial during the 2024 election campaign. Hunter Biden has been accused of nine felony and misdemeanour tax offences. The charges stem from what federal prosecutors say

Donald Trump defied a judge and launched into a six-minute speech on being an “innocent man” as his civil fraud trial in New York came to an end today. Mr Trump had been barred from giving a formal closing argument at the trial but after two of his lawyers delivered the traditional speeches, one asked

The judge presiding over Donald Trump’s civil fraud case has been subject to a bomb threat, Sky News’s US partner network NBC News reports. Nassau County police responded to the threat at Arthur Engoron’s home on Thursday, according to a source with direct knowledge of the situation. Closing arguments in the trial are scheduled today,

It might be nine months away – but the race to the US presidential election has well and truly begun. The first step in deciding which candidate will get their party’s nomination begins in Iowa on Monday evening. Since 1972, the midwestern state has been the first to hold its caucus – which has routinely

Republican presidential hopeful Chris Christie has dropped out of the Republican candidacy race but vowed to never let Donald Trump become US president again. The former New Jersey governor suspended his campaign after claiming there wasn’t a path for him to win the nomination. His exit also means the removal of the most high-profile and

At least five people died and hundreds of thousands were in the dark as storms covered much of the US on Tuesday. Tornadoes swept across the midwest and south of the country, blizzards were felt in the northwest, and parts of the east of the country were threatened with flooding. In the northeast of the

A former US congressman – who led an extensive investigation into previous issues with Boeing planes – has accused the company of relying on “crappy stuff” from its subcontractor after the 737 MAX 9 mid-air blowout. Peter DeFazio, who chaired the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee until 2022, said the focus needs to turn to

Astrobotic’s Peregrine-1 spacecraft has “no chance” of landing on the moon after it sprang a propellant leak, the company says. The problem occurred in the first few hours of the lunar lander’s journey into space. The Pittsburgh-based firm added that there is enough fuel left in the lander to allow it to operate “as a

Alaska Airlines has said more “loose hardware” has been found on some of its Boeing 737-9 Max fleet of aircraft. It follows the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) grounding all 171 737-9 Max planes operated by US airlines after a window and chunk of fuselage blew out of one Alaska Airlines aircraft on 5 January shortly

Sex tapes are alleged to have been taken of Prince Andrew, Bill Clinton and Sir Richard Branson by Jeffrey Epstein, court documents have revealed. Sarah Ransome, who says she was a victim of Epstein, wrote about claims that the Duke of York, the ex-US president and billionaire businessman were filmed by the paedophile US financier.

The missing door plug that was torn off from an Alaska Airlines flight while in the air has been found by a school teacher. Pilots were forced to perform an emergency landing on Saturday after a hole was ripped into the side of the Boeing 737 Max 9 plane. The National Transportation Safety Board says

A passenger on board the plane where part of the fuselage blew off in mid-air has said the experience was “jarring” and “disorienting”. Nicholas Hoch said he heard a “big boom” after a hole was ripped in the side of the Boeing 737-9 MAX jet, and each minute felt like an hour. “That was followed

More than 170 Boeing planes have been temporarily grounded after a chunk of fuselage dramatically blew out of a brand-new passenger jet in mid-air.  US regulators say immediate inspections are needed after an Alaska Airlines plane suffered a cabin emergency shortly after take-off on Friday. Photos showed a gaping hole in the side of the

Three years after rioters shouted “hang Mike Pence” during the attack on the US Capitol, the former vice president has said he did the right thing that day. Mr Pence told Sky News that since the riots on January 6 2021, he has “lost count of the number of people who took a moment to

President Biden has said Donald Trump is “willing to sacrifice our democracy” to put himself in power again – as he spoke three years on from the Capitol riots. Mr Trump is currently favourite to be his rival once again in November’s presidential election. And Mr Biden launched an extended attack on his ambitions and

David Soul, who was best known for his role in the 1970s cop show Starsky & Hutch, has died. His wife announced the US-born actor died aged 80 on Thursday, surrounded by his family. Soul played Detective Kenneth “Hutch” Hutchinson alongside Paul Michael Glaser’s Detective David Starsky in the hit crime-solving series, which ran on

Bill Clinton “threatened” a prominent magazine and told staff not to publish articles about Jeffrey Epstein, newly unsealed court documents suggest. The claim is made in an email that was written by Virginia Giuffre – Epstein’s first public accuser – in 2011. In the message to a journalist, Giuffre alleges that the former US president

Some 40 of 250 previously sealed documents relating to the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein have been released by a US court. After Judge Loretta Preska ruled they could be unsealed in December and no objections were made, the first set of court papers were published on 3 January. They largely consist of legal arguments

Prince Andrew, Bill Clinton, Donald Trump and Stephen Hawking are among those named in court documents relating to Ghislaine Maxwell, her relationship with Jeffrey Epstein and alleged victims of sexual abuse. A US judge, Loretta Preska, ruled in December that documents that were part of a 2015 defamation case by Virginia Giuffre against Ghislaine Maxwell

A 10-year-old boy was shot dead by another boy of the same age after losing a bicycle race, the victim’s mother has claimed. Keith “KJ” Frierson was found bleeding from the head and neck at about 4.30pm in a Californian suburb on Saturday, with police arresting a boy, 10, and his father. The boy suspect

A couple from New Jersey rang in the new year in a special way as they welcomed twins – but the babies won’t share the same birth date nor the same birth year. Ezra was born first at 11.48pm on New Year’s Eve then his brother Ezekial was delivered 40 minutes later at 12.28am on

Two New York City police officers sprang into action to help save a man who had fallen on to subway tracks – marking their second heroic rescue in recent months. The NYPD officers were inspecting Carroll Street station last week when they witnessed a man fall on to the tracks. In bodycam footage released by