US

Ghislaine Maxwell’s sex trafficking conviction has been upheld by a US judge. Her request for a retrial was rejected after a juror admitted in a TV interview that he had been sexually abused, and falsely stated before the trial that he had not been. The court ruled the juror still “testified credibly and truthfully”, and

Five foetuses have been discovered inside a Washington home, police have said, reportedly belonging to an anti-abortion activist. Police received a tip-off about “potential bio-hazard material” and found the five foetuses in the home on 6th Street, South East, on Wednesday, the Metropolitan Police Department of the District of Columbia said. Lauren Handy has been

Bruce Willis’ stunt double has said the Die Hard actor changed in the months before he was diagnosed with a condition that causes difficulties with language or speech. The Pulp Fiction star, 67, is retiring from acting following his aphasia diagnosis, which his daughter said is “impacting his cognitive abilities”. ‘He just seemed sidetracked’ Stuart

Chris Rock has broken his silence over being slapped by Will Smith at the Oscars after receiving several standing ovations from a Boston audience upon returning to the stage for the first time since the incident. “How was your weekend?” the US comedian asked a sold-out crowd at Boston’s Wilbur Theatre on Wednesday night, drawing

A British-born member of the so-called Islamic State Beatles nicknamed Jihadi George was part of a “brutal hostage taking scheme” where captors “seemed to enjoy” beating detainees, a court in the US has heard. Prosecutors say El Shafee Elsheikh and two other Britons were “utterly terrifying” and abuse carried out was “unrelenting and unpredictable”. Elsheikh

Investigators have found an eight-hour gap in Donald Trump’s official phone records as thousands of his supporters stormed the US Capitol, according to a person familiar with the inquiry. It is widely known that Mr Trump, the president at the time, had conversations with multiple Republican politicians on the day of the insurrection on 6

Jada Pinkett Smith has spoken out for the first time since the furore over her husband Will Smith slapping comedian Chris Rock at the Oscars. During the ceremony on Sunday, Rock made a joke about Pinkett Smith’s shaved head, which led to Smith hitting him on stage and then swearing furiously at him once back

Will Smith has apologised to Chris Rock for slapping him at last night’s Oscars ceremony, saying: “I was out of line and I was wrong.” Writing on Instagram, the former Fresh Prince described his behaviour as “unacceptable and inexcusable”. He said the joke Rock made about his wife’s medical condition was “too much for me

Teachers in Florida have been banned from giving lessons on sexual orientation and gender identity to children under the age of nine. Ron DeSantis, the state governor, signed the contentious “don’t say gay” bill into law on Monday. The bill has drawn intense national scrutiny from critics who argue that it marginalises LGBTQ people. It

US President Joe Biden has denied that he was calling for regime change when he said that Russia’s president Vladimir Putin “cannot remain in power”. Mr Biden was leaving a church service in Washington DC when he was questioned by a reporter about the speech. When asked if he had been calling for regime change

Joe Biden has said Vladimir Putin “cannot remain in power”, appealing to the Russian people against the killing of innocent civilians, and telling Ukraine that the US stands with them. In a powerful speech given in Warsaw in Poland, the US president built on earlier remarks in which he called Mr Putin a “butcher”, describing

Russia’s president “cannot remain in power”, Joe Biden has said in a speech where he pleaded with Russians to stand up against the war, and told Ukrainians that the US stands with them. In a powerful speech in Warsaw, Poland, the US president built on earlier remarks in which he called Vladimir Putin a “butcher”,

Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins has died aged 50, the band has announced. The US group – one of the most successful rock bands of the last 20 years – said they were “devastated”. “The Foo Fighters family is devastated by the tragic and untimely loss of our beloved Taylor Hawkins,” the band tweeted. “His

A 14-year-old boy has died after falling from a 430ft high theme park ride in Florida. Police are investigating the death of the boy, who is understood to have fallen from a “drop ride” at Orlando’s ICON Park around 11pm local time on Thursday. The teenager was taken to a nearby hospital but was pronounced

Death row inmates must be allowed to have pastors pray aloud and even touch them during their executions after the US Supreme Court sided with a prisoner awaiting the lethal injection. Texas prisoner John Henry Ramirez had challenged state rules that would have forced his pastor to remain silent and apart from him when he

NATO “will respond” if Russian President Vladimir Putin uses chemical weapons, US President Joe Biden has said. Asked if the alliance would take military action, Mr Biden said: “It would trigger a response in kind. “You’re asking whether NATO would cross… we’d make that decision at the time.” Speaking after meetings of NATO and the

Idaho has become the first US state to enact a law modelled on a Texas statute banning abortions after about six weeks of pregnancy, even though the governor who signed it shared concerns. Republican Brad Little signed into law the measure that allows people who would have been family members to sue a doctor who

The US Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm has told Sky News that as President Joe Biden flies to Brussels to discuss further sanctions against Russia, he will “not ask Europe to do things it simply cannot do” when it comes to weaning itself off Russian energy. In an exclusive interview with Sky News, Ms Granholm acknowledged

Florida governor Ron DeSantis has signed a proclamation acknowledging runner-up Emma Weyant as the winner of a women’s college swimming event after she lost to a transgender athlete. Lia Thomas beat Ms Weyant by 1.75 seconds in the 500-yard freestyle last Thursday in Atlanta to become the first transgender National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) champion

Six high school students have been killed in a collision between two vehicles in southern Oklahoma, police have said. The teenagers, all girls, were in a car that collided with articulated lorry at about 12.30pm in Tishomingo, about 100 miles (161km) southwest of Oklahoma City. Tishomingo Public Schools superintendent Bobby Waitman said the students attended