US

Ketanji Brown Jackson has been confirmed as the first black woman to sit on the US Supreme Court in its 233-year history. The judge secured the life-time role following a 53-47 vote in the US Senate, following fierce questioning from critics. Judge Jackson, 51, will also be the first former public defender to sit on

An “aggressive” fox that bit a congressman and at least eight other people outside the US Capitol has tested positive for rabies. Police managed to apprehend the fox on Tuesday after several reports of attacks around Senate office buildings in Washington DC. It was humanely euthanized the following day so officials could undertake a rabies

The US has announced sanctions against Russian President Vladimir Putin’s two adult daughters. The latest move is partly in response to scenes in Bucha, near Kyiv, where more than 300 bodies have been discovered, including some civilians with their hands tied behind their backs. The US believes many of the Russian president’s assets are hidden

US police have identified the so-called “I-65 Killer”, also known as the “Days Inn Killer”, who murdered three motel clerks near a Midwest highway in the late 1980s. Harry Edward Greenwell, who died aged 68 in 2013, has been named after testing of crime scene samples found a match that was “99.9999% positive”, Indiana State

A man arrested over a mass shooting that left six people dead had posted a live Facebook video of himself posing with a handgun just hours before the incident, police have said. Smiley Martin, 27, was found at the scene with gunshot wounds, and taken to hospital where he was “quickly identified as a person

Britney Spears has announced she is writing a new tell-all memoir, saying the process has been “healing and therapeutic”. The pop star, who was freed from a controversial 13-year conservatorship arrangement in November 2020, says the experience has confronted her with memories of her early life, and experiences under the court order. It comes after

Sacramento Police have said they have made an arrest after a mass shooting in California’s state capital during the early hours of Sunday morning. Police said that more than 100 shots were fired in the Sacramento mass shooting, which killed six people and left 12 wounded. 26-year-old Dandre Martin, 26, has been arrested as a

A hunt continues for at least two gunmen who opened fire in Sacramento’s entertainment district on Sunday, killing six people and wounding 12. The streets were full of crowds leaving bars and nightclubs in California’s capital city when the sound of rapid-fire gunshots sent people running in terror. Sacramento police have confirmed they are looking

Six people have been killed and 10 injured in an early morning mass shooting in California’s state capital. Police are hunting for at least one gunman in connection with the killings in the downtown area of Sacramento, which is packed with restaurants and bars, at about 2am on Sunday. Officers had been on patrol when

Former US soccer goalkeeper Hope Solo has been arrested on suspicion of driving while intoxicated. A spokesperson for Winston-Salem Police Department in North Carolina said the 40-year-old was arrested in a Walmart carpark on Thursday. Her two-year-old twins were in the car when she was found passed out behind the wheel with the engine running,

Will Smith has resigned from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences after he slapped Chris Rock during last Sunday’s Oscars ceremony. In a statement, Smith said: “I have directly responded to the Academy’s disciplinary hearing notice, and I will fully accept any and all consequences for my conduct. My actions at the 94th

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