US

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

Joe Biden said “welcome home” as Donald Trump arrived at the White House for tea ahead of his historic inauguration as the 47th president of the United States. The two men were joined by Mr Biden’s wife Jill and incoming first lady Melania for the tea, which is traditionally held on inauguration day to welcome

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 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

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,

A heated exchange kicked off between two US representatives at a House Oversight Committee meeting, with one asking the other if she wanted to “take it outside”. Nancy Mace and Jasmine Crockett clashed during a discussion about civil and transgender rights on Tuesday as Texas Democrat Ms Crockett criticised Ms Mace’s rhetoric about transgender people.

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

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