US

Disney’s self-governing district that it uses to run its Florida theme parks has been taken over by the state’s governor, in an apparent punishment for its opposition to legislation about LGBTQ+ education. Ron DeSantis, who is widely tipped as a challenger for the White House next year, signed a bill taking control of Reedy Creek

The COVID-19 virus most likely leaked from a laboratory in Wuhan, according to the US Energy Department. In a report seen by the Wall Street Journal, the US agency said the virus was not being engineered as part of a weapons program. Recently given to the White House and members of Congress, the updated report

A winter storm that has made its way over the Pacific has brought several days of flooding, freezing temperatures and snowfall to some parts of Southern California. Rivers have swelled to dangerous levels and snow has even fallen in low-lying areas around Los Angeles – with some areas receiving over 30 inches of snow, and

Several US media publishers are dropping the Dilbert comic strip after its creator described black people as members of “a racist hate group”. Several media officials denounced the comments by creator Scott Adams as racist, hateful and discriminatory. Dilbert is a long-running comic strip poking fun at office culture. In an episode of the YouTube

Convicted serial murderer Ramon Escobar is suspected of killing his new cellmate on Friday at a central California prison, officials have said. Escobar, 51, shared a jail room with Juan Villanueva at North Kern State Prison in Delano. Villanueva, 53, was found unresponsive on 24 February at 8.49am. The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation

Jill Biden has dropped the strongest hint yet that President Joe Biden will run for a second term – saying there is “pretty much” nothing left to do but work out the time and place for the announcement. The US president has long said it is his intention to seek re-election, though he has yet

The production company behind the film Rust has agreed to pay a $100,000 fine to an occupational health and safety bureau following a fatal shooting on set. The New Mexico Environment Department’s Occupational Health and Safety Bureau (OHSB) had issued a $136,796 (£114,457) fine, the maximum allowable by state law, last April. It was later

A billionaire financier, considered a pioneer of private equity investment, has been found dead in his New York office after reportedly taking his own life. While the family of Thomas (Tom) H Lee, who was 78, confirmed he had passed away there was yet to be any official confirmation from the New York Police Department

Disgraced Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein begged “please don’t sentence me to life in prison, I don’t deserve it” as he was jailed for another 16 years for rape and sexual assault. Weinstein, 70, will serve the jail term after completing his 23-year sentence for a sexual misconduct conviction in New York in 2020. It is

Residents near the site of a toxic train derailment say they are afraid to take showers because of the fear of contamination. It has been almost three weeks since about 50 freight carriages on a 150-car Norfolk Southern train derailed in East Palestine, Ohio, and the controlled burn a few days later of the toxic

A TV journalist has been shot dead while reporting from the scene of a murder in Florida. They were covering the fatal shooting of a 20-year-old woman in Pine Hills at the time of the attack. Another Spectrum News 13 employee was injured while reporting at the scene, which is west of Orlando. Detectives also

A school superintendent has resigned after an eight-year-old found his gun unattended in a bathroom.  The firearm was discovered in Rising Star Elementary School in Texas – and many parents were furious because they were not informed about the incident when it happened. The boy told his teacher about the gun, prompting the teacher to

Joe Biden has said Vladimir Putin expected his enemies to “roll over” when he invaded Ukraine but was met with the “iron will” of its allies – as the Russian president suspended a key nuclear treaty with the US after accusing the West of starting the war. The American president gave a historic speech from

US President Joe Biden has become the latest and most powerful Western leader to visit Kyiv since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February last year. The show of solidarity for President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and his people came as a surprise to many, as the White House said last week that the US president had no

Alec Baldwin no longer faces the possibility of five years in prison after prosecutors dropped part of the charges being levelled at him for his part in a fatal film set shooting – but he still could be jailed for a lesser time. Baldwin was charged with two counts of involuntary manslaughter over the death

Actor Tom Sizemore is in critical condition after suffering a brain aneurysm. The 61-year-old suffered the aneurysm at around 2am on Saturday while at his Los Angeles home, his manager Charles Lago said. The actor is in intensive care in hospital, with Mr Lago describing the situation as “wait and see”. Sizemore is best known

A Jeff Koons sculpture worth £35,000 has been accidentally smashed during a VIP event at a gallery in Miami. The piece, a small, blue version of the artist’s famous “balloon dog” series was on display during the preview event at the Art Wynwood gallery. A number of guests initially thought the mishap was a piece

The US Secretary of State has warned China there will be “consequences” if Beijing provides material support to Russia in its invasion of Ukraine. Antony Blinken said in an interview after meeting with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi that Washington was concerned Beijing was considering supplying weapons to Moscow. The top diplomats of the two

Former US president Jimmy Carter, 98, has decided to receive hospice care and “spend his remaining time at home with his family”, according to a statement. It follows a series of brief hospital stays for the ex-US leader, the Carter Centre said on Saturday. The oldest living former US president opted for hospice care “instead

It looked painful, physically. RowVaughn Wells, the mother of Tyre Nichols, winced as the men accused of her son’s murder made their courtroom exit. The trigger was the media’s question to Emmitt Martin III about the police chief’s assessment of how he and his colleagues had acted. She had called them “inhumane”. Martin and fellow