US

Joe Biden believes he could have beaten Donald Trump in last month’s US presidential election if he had stayed in the race, it has been reported. The White House incumbent – who is set to hand over the keys to Mr Trump next month – withdrew from the race in July amid pressure over his

Dayle Haddon – the actor, activist and former Sports Illustrated model – has died from what authorities believe was carbon monoxide poisoning. Authorities found the 76-year-old dead in a second-floor bedroom on Friday morning after emergency dispatchers were notified about a person unconscious at the house in Solebury Township, Pennsylvania. A 76-year-old man, later identified

The US attorney general tried to block Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams from fundraising in the country in 1995 over a belief the IRA was still trying to source weapons, newly released records show. Janet Reno, the attorney general at the time, had previously opposed then-US president Bill Clinton‘s decision to grant visas for Mr

Bodycam footage showing prison officers fatally beating an inmate has been released by New York’s attorney general. Prison officers at Marcy Correctional Facility in New York punched and kicked 43-year-old Robert Brooks repeatedly while he was handcuffed on an infirmary bed. He died in hospital on 10 December, a day after the attack. The incident

The world’s best golfer has suffered a freak injury while cooking Christmas dinner, forcing him to undergo surgery. Scottie Scheffler sustained a puncture wound after cutting the palm of his right hand on broken glass. The world number one required surgery as small glass fragments remained in the palm after the accident. The injury has

A pizza delivery woman stabbed a pregnant customer over a $2 tip, authorities in the US say. Brianna Alvelo, 22, is charged with attempted murder after allegedly stabbing the woman multiple times at a motel in Kissimmee, Florida. The victim, her boyfriend and her five-year-old daughter were staying at the Riviera Motel to celebrate a

Donald Trump has suggested the US could take control of Canada, Greenland and the Panama Canal in a series of Christmas Day social media posts. The president-elect wished a merry Christmas to all on his Truth Social platform, “including to the wonderful soldiers of China, who are lovingly, but illegally, operating the Panama Canal”. In

A killer whale mother who carried her dead calf for 17 days in an apparent show of grief has given birth to a new calf, scientists have said. The orca, named Tahlequah and known to researchers as J35, had carried her dead infant for more than 1,000 miles in 2018. But last Friday the whale

The former CEO of Abercrombie & Fitch may have dementia and a competency hearing is needed to assess whether he can face sex charges, defence lawyers have said. Mike Jeffries, 80 and who was CEO of glitzy retailer Abercrombie & Fitch for more than two decades, is free on $10m (£7.7m) bond after pleading not

Donald Trump says that when he takes power next month he will direct the US Justice Department to “vigorously pursue” the death penalty. The US president-elect, 78, said he would do so to protect Americans from what he called “violent rapists, murderers and monsters”. Mr Trump was responding to President Joe Biden’s decision to commute

Denmark has announced plans to boost its defence spending for Greenland with a “stronger presence in the Arctic” – a few hours after Donald Trump repeated his call for the US to buy the vast island. Danish defence minister Troels Lund Poulsen said the package would amount to a “double-digit billion amount” in krone, or

American Airlines was forced to ground all flights in the US on Christmas Eve due to an unspecified technical issue. The airline did not immediately say why it was stopping all flights, but social media was quickly abuzz with travellers worrying about getting to their loved ones for the holiday. A groundstop notice was lifted

Matt Gaetz, who was briefly Donald Trump’s nominee for US attorney general, paid women for sex, including with a 17-year-old girl, and used drugs while he was a member of Congress, a committee has said. The House Ethics Committee’s report concluded there was “substantial evidence” that the former Florida congressman violated House rules, state and

Former US president Bill Clinton is in hospital in Washington DC after developing a fever. Mr Clinton, 78, has been admitted to MedStar Georgetown University Hospital for “testing and observation”. Angel Ureña, the 42nd president’s deputy chief of staff, told Sky’s US partner network NBC News he is in “good spirits and grateful for the

Warning: This story contains distressing images To find safety from Gaza, you need first to become the victim of a catastrophic injury and then be lucky enough to be identified, selected and extracted. That’s one of the many brutal truths from this long war. I have followed the stories of some of the few Palestinians

The driver of a pickup truck has been shot dead by police after crashing his vehicle into a shopping centre in Texas and injuring five people, including a six-year-old child. Officers said that after a chase with the driver, he struck a JCPenney store in Killeen about 68 miles (109 km) north of the state

US president-elect Donald Trump says he has appointed British TV producer Mark Burnett as his special envoy to the UK. Mr Burnett, 64, created and worked alongside Mr Trump on the US series, The Apprentice, which made the president-elect internationally famous for firing a succession of contestants vying for roles in his businesses. The London-born

This is awkward for Downing Street to say the least. The person chosen by the British government to be the keystone in the most important of bilateral relationships is, according to one of the incoming president’s close aides, a “complete moron”. Chris LaCivita is a central character in Trump’s orbit. He managed Trump‘s election victory

The US government has narrowly avoided a crippling shutdown after politicians agreed on a last-minute spending deal. Failure to reach an agreement would have meant federal employees would have missed pay ahead of the festive season, impacting various public services. Plans to approve the government’s budget were thrown into disarray this week after billionaire Elon

US politicians have rejected a spending bill endorsed by president-elect Donald Trump – leaving Congress with no clear plan to avert a fast-approaching government shutdown. On Wednesday, Mr Trump dismissed a bipartisan compromise, which Republicans and Democrats had reached to prevent a shutdown just days before the Christmas winter break. Instead, he urged Republicans in