US

The US military is tracking a suspected Chinese spy balloon that has been flying over northwestern America in recent days. A senior defence official said the US has “very high confidence” it is a Chinese high-altitude balloon and was flying over sensitive sites to collect information. “Clearly the intent of this balloon is for surveillance,”

Hollywood actor Alec Baldwin will make his first appearance in a US court on 24 February over the fatal shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins. Baldwin, 64, faces two counts of involuntary manslaughter stemming from the incident on the set of the Rust movie in October 2021. He was formally charged with the offences by the

Tyre Nichols’ mother said “blood is going to be on the hands” of Congressmen and women if they fail to pass a bill that would limit immunity for US police officers. US vice president Kamala Harris and celebrated civil rights activist Rev Al Sharpton urged Congress to pass the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act

The US Justice Department is conducting a search of a beach house owned by President Joe Biden in Delaware. A statement from Bob Bauer, personal attorney for the President, read: “Today, with the President’s full support and cooperation, the DOJ is conducting a planned search of his home in Rehoboth, Delaware. “Under DOJ’s standard procedures,

Scott Hubbard remembers exactly where he was on the day of one of the deadliest tragedies in the history of space travel. Before he stepped out of bed on the morning of 1 February 2003, a radio broadcast brought news that NASA’s Columbia space shuttle was “overdue” on its return to Earth. “I had a

A farmworker charged with killing seven people at two mushroom farms in California told police he carried out the shootings after his supervisor demanded he paid $100 (£81) to repair a damaged forklift truck. San Mateo County District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe told the Bay Area News Group that Chunli Zhao was enraged by the equipment

Three emergency workers have been fired over their response to Tyre Nichols after he was beaten by police. The Memphis Fire Department said it had fired two emergency medical technicians and an emergency vehicle driver after an investigation found they failed to provide adequate medical care. Mr Nichols was left in critical condition after several

He’s never gonna give you up, never gonna let you down – but he is potentially gonna sue you if you (allegedly) impersonate his distinctive baritone. Rick Astley has filed a lawsuit against the rapper Yung Gravy over the song Betty (Get Money), which was released in 2022. Here is a look at what’s happened

When watching the horrific video of Tyre Nichols being kicked and punched by police officers, many minds in America were transported back to footage of another black man being beaten in similar circumstances more than 30 years ago. The video of Rodney King is grainy and shaky, before the era of police-worn body cameras and

When Memphis, a city in southwest Tennessee, had a record number of homicides in 2021 for the second year in a row, many were calling for action. Attention turned to the Memphis Police Department to tackle the murder rate, which led to the creation of the Scorpion Unit in October 2021. “MPD’s New SCORPION UNIT

Of all the words used prior to prepare us, nothing spoke louder than the pictures. That the images were captured on police bodycams made it the more chilling – a murderer’s eye view, as the indictment would have it. The video footage is as shocking as it is haunting. Having stopped Tyre Nichols in his

Memphis Police has released bodycam footage showing the moment Tyre Nichols called for his mother as he was beaten by five officers before he died. The footage shows police savagely beating the 29-year-old FedEx worker for three minutes while screaming profanities at him throughout the attack. Police have released four separate videos cut into one

The mother of Tyre Nichols has said she is “not going to stop” until every person responsible for her son’s death “is prosecuted to the fullest of law”. RowVaughn Wells was speaking to US news network MSNBC a day after Memphis Police released bodycam footage showing her son screaming “mom, mom” several times as he

Jeremy Renner was trying to stop a six-tonne snow plough from crashing into his nephew when he was run over, a police report says. The 52-year-old Marvel actor was using the PistenBully machine to help his nephew Alexander Fries free his Ford pickup truck from the snow, when the plough began to roll down the

A grand jury has indicted five former police officers on murder and other charges in connection with the death of Tyre Nichols. US President Joe Biden called for any protests to be peaceful following the charges on Thursday. Nichols, 29, died in hospital three days after a confrontation during a traffic stop in the US

A school board in Virginia has voted to fire its district superintendent after a six-year-old pupil shot a teacher. The Newport News School Board voted five-to-one to relieve George Parker III of his duties – but as part of a separation agreement, he’ll be paid more than $502,000 (£405,063) in severance – two years of

A man has died after a dog stepped on a rifle and shot him from the rear of a truck in the US state of Kansas. The victim, who has not been named by police, was found in the front passenger seat, having been struck by a bullet in the back. Emergency services were called

Germany will supply Ukraine with 14 Leopard 2 tanks and has given allies permission to send theirs too – despite threats from Russia – while the US has confirmed it will send over 31 M1 Abrams tanks and provide training to the country’s troops. The move from Germany means other countries – such as Poland

Classified documents have been found at the former US vice president’s home in Indiana, his lawyer has said. The records “appear to be a small number of documents bearing classified markings that were inadvertently boxed and transported to the personal home of the former vice president at the end of the last administration,” Mike Pence’s

CCTV has been released showing a member of the public disarming a gunman in California – just minutes after he fatally shot 11 people at a nearby Chinese New Year celebration. Brandon Tsay, 26, has been hailed as a hero for disarming Huu Can Tran at the Lai Lai Ballroom in Alhambra. In the footage,