US

The British man who was shot dead after taking four people hostage at a synagogue in Texas had been on the radar of MI5, Sky News understands. The Security Service began looking into Malik Faisal Akram, 44, in the second half of 2020 to assess whether he posed a security threat, a Whitehall source said.

The chief executives of several major American passenger and cargo airlines have warned of an impending “catastrophic” crisis that could come in less than two days when telecommunications companies deploy a new 5G service. The new C-Band 5G service set to be rolled out by AT&T and Verizon on Wednesday could leave a significant number

The UK government is working with the FBI and a “great deal of intelligence-sharing” has taken place after a British man took four people hostage at a synagogue in Texas, the home secretary has said. Priti Patel also said “protective security” for the Jewish community in the UK is part of the response to the

The British man who was shot dead after taking four people hostage at a Texas synagogue has been named by the FBI as Malik Faisal Akram. Sky News understands the 44-year-old from Blackburn was not living in the United States but had recently travelled there. Akram’s family say they are “devastated” by his death, adding

A SWAT team and FBI officers have been called to a hostage situation in a Texas synagogue, where a man is reportedly holding members of the congregation. The incident at Congregation Beth Israel synagogue in Colleyville is ongoing. Dara Nelson, a police sergeant for Colleyville Police, said there were no injuries to report and that

Prince Andrew’s lawyers want to interview Virginia Giuffre’s husband and her psychologist about her sexual abuse claims after the royal suggested she may suffer from “false memories”, court documents have revealed. The Duke of York’s legal team has asked permission to take evidence under oath from Robert Giuffre, saying he is likely to have information

Former world number one Chris Evert has opened up about her diagnosis of stage 1 ovarian cancer. The American champion, 67, revealed she is currently undergoing six weeks of chemotherapy, adding: “I feel very lucky that they caught it early and expect positive results from my chemo plan.” In an article on ESPN, Evert said

Ghislaine Maxwell will be sentenced at the end of June, after being convicted of recruiting teenage girls for Jeffrey Epstein to abuse. US district judge Alison Nathan announced 28 June as the date of sentencing, even as she waits to resolve claims from Maxwell‘s defence team that a new trial should be ordered. It comes

Harry Dunn’s alleged killer Anne Sacoolas will no longer face a UK court hearing next week as scheduled. The US citizen had been due to appear via video link at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday. Sacoolas, 44, is accused of causing Mr Dunn’s death by dangerous driving after a fatal road crash outside the US

The leader of a far-right militia group has been charged with seditious conspiracy following last January’s attack on the US Capitol.  The charge, which alleges the group attempted to overthrow the government, is more serious than the lower-level crimes others have faced and brings with it a 20-year prison sentence. More than 150 people have

A teenager in the US has pleaded not guilty to child abuse and attempted first-degree murder after being accused of throwing her newborn baby in a rubbish bin. Alexis Avila has been able to stay out of jail pending her trial but must remain under house arrest. CCTV footage showed a young woman, believed to

A US judge has set out his reasons for rejecting Prince Andrew’s bid to have the sexual assault civil lawsuit against him thrown out. The Duke of York is being sued by Virginia Giuffre who claims he “committed sexual assault and battery” upon her when she was a teenager. In a 46-page document, Judge Lewis

Police in Philadelphia say it’s a “miracle” all four passengers – including an infant – survived when the helicoper they were travelling in crash landed in a built up area. The Eurocopter EC135 aircraft somehow managed to avoid power cables and buildings before it hit the street and slid into bushes outside a Methodist Church,

A teenage mother in New Mexico has been arrested and charged with attempted murder and child abuse, after she was captured on CCTV throwing her new-born baby in a dumpster. Alexis Avila, 18, has confessed to giving birth to the child at another location and placing him in the waste container. The baby boy was

A terminally ill man has been given the chance of life after his own diseased heart was replaced by a genetically-modified pig’s heart. In a medical first, doctors in Maryland transplanted the animal’s organ into 57-year-old David Bennett and said on Monday that he is doing well three days after the experimental surgery. It is

Davos, January 2015, and in front of a room of businesspeople at the World Economic Forum, Prince Andrew for the first time had to publicly deny the sex abuse allegations made against him. And yet since then, for seven years, the claims have continued to haunt him and the rest of the Royal Family, fuelled

A man has been saved from near-death by police officers in Los Angeles after he crash-landed his plane onto railway tracks seconds before it was hit by a train. The unnamed pilot was saved from the Cessna by quick-thinking officers who pulled him out just before a high-speed train smashed into the aircraft, sending debris

At least 19 people, including nine children, have died after a huge fire tore through an apartment block in New York City. New York City Mayor Eric Adams confirmed the number of dead in the Bronx apartment building fire. A city official who was not allowed to speak to the media confirmed to Associated Press

Talk of a boycott from this year’s scandal-hit Golden Globes isn’t strictly true insists the organisation which runs them. Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA) president Helen Hoehne has told Sky News the decision to hold a pared-back ceremony this weekend is in fact the group’s “sensitive” response to the criticism its faced over the last

A Chinese man who was brutally attacked while collecting cans in New York City has died of his injuries eight months later. Yao Pan Ma, 61, had been collecting returnable bottles and cans in Harlem to raise money to buy food after he lost his job during the COVID-19 pandemic when he was attacked from

Former US secretary of state Mike Pompeo has revealed how he lost nearly six and a half stone (40kg) in less than six months. The Trump administration’s top diplomat told The New York Post that keeping his weight down had been a lifelong battle. But, on 21 June last year, he decided enough was enough

Three white men who chased and shot a black man as he ran through their neighbourhood have been sentenced to life in prison for his murder. Ahmaud Arbery, 25, was pursued and cornered by Travis McMichael, 35, his father Gregory McMichael, 66, and their neighbour William ‘Roddie’ Bryan, 52, on 23 February 2020 in Satilla

Astronomers have for the first time imaged the last moments in the life of a red supergiant star. It was spotted just 130 days before exploding using two telescopes in Hawaii, allowing a team of researchers to survey it before it detonated in an enormous supernova. “This is a breakthrough in our understanding of what

Peter Bogdanovich, who directed movies including The Last Picture Show and Paper Moon, has died at the age of 82. His daughter, Antonia, said he died of natural causes at his home in Los Angeles. Born in New York in 1939, Bogdanovich started as a film journalist and critic. He also organised a series of

US President Joe Biden has marked one year since the 6 January deadly assault on the Capitol by condemning political violence in an address to the nation, as he also hit out at the former president. On 6 January 2021, Donald Trump supporters stormed the Capitol in Washington DC, putting 15 police officers in hospital

A blanket of snow covers Washington DC at the moment – the heart of what is often framed as the world’s greatest democracy looks picture postcard perfect. But beyond the hyperbole, and a year to the day since the event now known simply as “January 6th“, the reality seems troublingly far from perfect. That day

Thirteen people, including seven children, have died in a house fire in Philadelphia. Fire officials say they were called to a house converted into two apartments in the Fairmont neighbourhood at 6.40am local time on Wednesday. Two people were also taken to hospital and the fire was brought under control after less than an hour.

More than a million new COVID cases were reported in the US on Monday – the highest anywhere in the world since the start of the pandemic. The 1,082,549 figure – compiled by Johns Hopkins University from state data – is about double the previous high and pushes the seven-day average to more than 480,000.

A decision should be made “pretty soon” on whether Virginia Giuffre’s sex assault civil lawsuit against Prince Andrew should be dismissed, a US judge has said. Ms Giuffre, formerly known as Virginia Roberts, is suing Andrew after claiming he “committed sexual assault and battery” upon her when she was a teenager. Andrew Brettler, representing the

The founder of blood-testing startup Theranos, Elizabeth Holmes, has been convicted of fraud. The 37-year-old was found guilty of turning her company into a sophisticated sham that duped investors and patients into backing revolutionary finger-prick blood-testing technology that never actually worked. A jury convicted her on two counts of wire fraud and two counts of

Twitter has permanently suspended the personal account of US politician Marjorie Taylor Greene for repeated violations of its COVID-19 misinformation policy. Ms Greene has been kicked off of Twitter after being issued a “fourth strike” in August when she was suspended for a week for saying that vaccines were failing. She claimed in July that

A confidential settlement between Jeffrey Epstein and Virginia Giuffre, which could be key to a legal case involving Prince Andrew, is set to be made public today. The 2009 agreement between Epstein – the late disgraced financier – and Ms Giuffre, formerly known as Virginia Roberts, is due to be released following an order by

An unvaccinated couple with four children died on the same day after contracting COVID-19. Alvaro and Sylvia Fernandez, of Loma Linda in Southern California, died without hours of each other on 19 December, their family said. Mr Fernandez, 44, was hesitant about getting a COVID vaccination so had not got his jab before developing symptoms