US

The US and the Philippines are holding their largest combat drills in decades after China conducted mock air and sea attacks off the coast of Taiwan. The pre-planned annual “Balikatan” exercises will involve more than 17,600 military personnel and include live-fire drills such as a boat-sinking rocket assault in waters across the South China Sea

US President Joe Biden says his trip to the island of Ireland will underscore the United States’ commitment to peace and prosperity.   He is due to arrive in Belfast later, where he’ll be met by the UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. The pair will hold a bilateral meeting on Wednesday, after which President Biden

Five people have been killed in a shooting in Louisville, Kentucky, police have said. Six people including a police officer were transported to hospital, a Louisville Metro Police Department official said. The suspected shooter was dead, they added. Police activity was seen near a bank building. “There are multiple casualties,” the force said earlier. The

Spain’s Jon Rahm has won the 87th Masters at Augusta National. Forty years after the late Seve Ballesteros won his second Masters title and on what would have been his 66th birthday, Rahm became the fourth Spanish winner at Augusta National after Ballesteros, Jose Maria Olazabal and Sergio Garcia. The 2021 US Open champion carded

Ben Ferencz, the last surviving prosecutor from the Nuremberg trials in Germany, has died at the age of 103. Mr Ferencz was an inexperienced 27-year-old when he became chief prosecutor for the US in the trial of 22 officers who were part of Einsatzgruppen. The mobile killing squads were part of Germany’s Nazi forces during

An abortion pill approved in the US more than 20 years ago could now be pulled. US district judge Matthew J Kacsmaryk has signed an injunction directing the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to halt the approval of mifepristone while a lawsuit by a conservative Christian group challenging its safety continues. The outcome could halt

Several spectators had a lucky escape on Friday as strong winds brought three trees crashing down during the second round of the 87th Masters. Officials confirmed that no injuries had been reported following the terrifying incident near the 17th tee at Augusta National. “The safety and well-being of everyone attending the Masters tournament will always

Marvel star Jeremy Renner said he has “no regrets” about his snowplough accident that left him in a serious condition, and that he’d “do it again” to save his nephew. The 52-year-old actor added he was “so grateful and forever in debt” to those who helped him after his accident, where he was crushed by

Tennessee’s Republican-dominated House of Representatives has expelled two Democrats over their participation in a gun control demonstration at the state legislature last week. The protest came in the wake of the school shooting in Nashville on 27 March where six people, including three children, were killed. The Republicans, who control the house 75-23, voted to

Robert F Kennedy Jr, the nephew of the assassinated former president John F Kennedy, has announced he will challenge Joe Biden to be the Democratic nominee for the White House next year. He has filed a statement of candidacy with the Federal Election Commission, becoming the second person to announce themselves as a challenger to

Taiwan’s peace and democracy are facing “unprecedented challenges”, its president has said, on a visit to the US which will anger China. Tsai Ing-wen has held talks with both Democrat and Republican congressional leaders at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in California, against a backdrop of rising tensions with Beijing, which claims the island nation

A tornado has caused “multiple injuries and multiple deaths” in Missouri, US officials have said. The tornado moved through Bollinger County, about 50 miles south of St Louis, on Wednesday morning, said Sergeant Clark Parrott of the Missouri State Highway Patrol. Officials said a search and rescue operation had been launched and it was currently

Donald Trump has claimed he is the victim of election interference, as he condemned New York District Attorney Alvin Bragg for bringing criminal charges against him – speaking just hours after his arraignment. The former US president delivered an address to a crowd of some 500 people in his Mar-a-Lago estate ballroom in Florida after

Donald Trump has left his Florida home to travel to New York ahead of his unprecedented court appearance tomorrow. The former US president is expected to stay at Trump Tower in Manhattan before turning himself in to authorities on Tuesday. He is expected to be booked and arraigned on charges stemming from hush money payments

Donald Trump is set to appear at a court in Manhattan for his arraignment over alleged hush money paid to a porn actress before the 2016 election. Trump, the first former US president to face criminal charges, is due to be arraigned, fingerprinted and photographed this morning. The arraignment, which refers to the formal reading

The Chinese spy balloon that flew over the US was able to gather intelligence from several sensitive American military sites, officials have said. China was able to steer the surveillance balloon so it could make multiple passes over some of the sites and transmit the information it collected back to Beijing in real time, NBC has