US

A plane preparing for takeoff was halted in New York after a Florida couple with their pet dog fled via an emergency slide, authorities say. The incident took place on board an Atlanta-bound Delta flight as it was taxiing towards the runway at LaGuardia Airport on Monday. Witnesses reported seeing an agitated-looking male passenger force

2020 is the deadliest year in US history – and is attributed mostly to the coronavirus pandemic. The US is on course to surpass 3.2 million overall deaths in 2020, according to preliminary data, which would mark the first time figures have topped three million. A rise in deaths between 20,000 and 50,000 is not

In the summer of 2012, Robin Williams wrote a note in the inside cover of his Twelve Steps book, just a short sentence detailing what he hoped might be his legacy. “I want to help people be less afraid.” Two years later, he died by suicide at the age of 63; a tragic, traumatic end

Facebook has removed a number of features from its Instagram and Messenger apps in Europe due to what it says is an update to EU privacy rules – including security features it uses to scan for child abuse content. A recent change to the ePrivacy Directive, that was designed to prevent companies such as Facebook

US President-elect Joe Biden will be vaccinated against COVID-19 this week, as the country’s second approved jab is moved from warehouses to healthcare facilities. Mr Biden will receive the vaccine on Monday, days after Vice President Mike Pence, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. US President Donald Trump, meanwhile, has not

Members of the US Space Force will be known as “guardians”, it was announced on the military service’s first birthday. US Vice President Mike Pence said: “It is my honour, on behalf of the president of the United States, to announce that henceforth the men and women of the United States Space Force will be

Moderna’s coronavirus vaccine has become the second to be approved for emergency use in the US. The country’s Food and Drug Administration announced the authorisation a day after the agency’s panel of outside experts backed the vaccine. The FDA based its decision on results from a late-stage study of 30,000 volunteers which found that the

A senior member of Donald Trump’s administration has accused Russia of carrying out a massive cyber hack that penetrated top secret US government agencies. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo described the attack as a “pretty significant effort”. “I think it’s the case that now we can say pretty clearly that it was the Russians that

A man has been rescued after his car was buried under 4ft (1.2m) of snow in a severe storm in upstate New York, leaving him stranded in freezing temperatures for more than 10 hours. New York State police sergeant Jason Cawley contacted Tioga County 911 on Thursday to see if any emergency calls were pending.

The US regulator says it will move quickly to authorise a second COVID-19 vaccine in the country. On Thursday, a panel of 20 advisers at the Food and Drug Administration ruled that the benefits of the vaccine outweighed the risks for adults. Stephen Hahn, commissioner of the FDA, said: “Following today’s positive advisory committee meeting

President-elect Joe Biden has called a massive cyber hack of the US government a “great concern” and said it will be a top priority for him from the moment he takes office. Reports have linked the attack – which has been going on at least since March – to Russia but there has not yet

Lawyers fighting to clear the name of a man convicted of the 1988 Lockerbie bombing have described US moves to pursue the suspected ‘bombmaker’ as “cynical”. American media reports that outgoing Attorney General Bill Barr is seeking the extradition of Abu Agila Mohammad Masud from Libya. He is thought to be currently held prisoner there

Three people have been killed in car crashes as a powerful snowstorm sweeps across the east coast of the United States. Snow warnings are in place for much of the eastern seaboard with more than 50 million people braced for outages and treacherous conditions on the roads. Up to two feet (60cm) of snow is

A mysterious dark storm on Neptune has been spotted abruptly reversing its direction by astronomers using NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope, something they say has never been observed before. The storm, which is wider than the Atlantic Ocean, has been raging in the gas giant’s northern hemisphere since at least 2018, and was slowly drifting towards

Up to two feet (60cm) of snow is expected to fall along the east coast of the US on Wednesday, with officials warning it could be the biggest winter storm for years. As many as 50 million people could be affected by the snowfall, which is expected to stretch from North Carolina up through New

The Senate majority leader has congratulated Joe Biden on becoming US president-elect – in a significant blow to Donald Trump. Top Republican Mitch McConnell said the Electoral College – a group of people who voted to formally confirm the result of last month’s election – “had spoken”. “Many of us had hoped the presidential election