A former US soldier fears his Afghan interpreter will be executed by the Taliban before he is able to be evacuated from Kabul under the Special Immigrant Visa programme. James Garafalo served in Afghanistan alongside his interpreter, nicknamed Rambo, in 2017 and 2018. “He slept with us, climbed with us, ate with us and fought
US
Joe Biden says he stands “squarely” behind his decision to pull US troops out of Afghanistan. The US president spoke after the Taliban entered Kabul and swept to power in the country – 20 years after they were removed in the US-led invasion. Mr Biden said the US mission in Afghanistan was never supposed to
A month-long wildfire ravaging forestlands in northern California has lurched towards a small lumber town, threatening to destroy thousands of homes. Fire crews have been using bulldozers to build lines, in a bid to keep the blaze, known at the Dixie fire, from reaching the town of Westwood. The entire town of approximately 1,700 people
The US COVID crisis has seen children’s intensive care beds run out in Dallas and masks and testing to be made obligatory in schools across California. Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins announced on Saturday that there were no paediatric ICU beds available across the entire 19-county area. Asked what to do if your child falls
Just over a month ago, President Joe Biden was asked by a reporter if a Taliban takeover of Afghanistan was “inevitable”. “No, it is not,” the president said. “Why?” “Because, you have, the Afghan troops have 300,000 well-equipped, as well-equipped as any army in the world, and an Air Force, against something like 75,000 Taliban.
The upcoming 20th anniversary of 9/11 and the reimposition of coronavirus restrictions could spark violent attacks by extremists, the US Department of Homeland Security has warned. The agency added that the US is in a “heightened threat environment” that has been fuelled by resentment over measures to slow the spread of COVID-19, and extremists motivated
A toddler fatally shot a woman while she was on a work-related video call, police in Florida have said. Shamaya Lynn, 21, reportedly fell backwards and never returned to the Zoom call after the young child found an unsecured, loaded handgun inside the apartment. Altamonte Springs police said someone on the video call rang 911
Britney Spears’ father has agreed to step down as the pop star’s conservator. Court documents say: “Mr. Spears is willing to step down when the time is right, but the transition needs to be orderly and include a resolution of matters pending before the Court. “In order to reach that result, the Court should encourage
US President Joe Biden has said he does not regret his decision to withdraw from Afghanistan, as officials say three more provincial capitals have fallen to the Taliban. Nine out of the country’s 34 provinces are now in the insurgents’ hands as US troops continue their withdrawal. The fall of the capitals of Badakhshan and
They are two of the most notorious serial killers in US history after murdering more than 60 young men and boys between them. The horrific crimes of Dean Corll and John Wayne Gacy shocked America in the 1970s – but how closely they were linked has only recently been discovered. Corll tortured, raped and murdered
In two weeks time, New York will have its first female governor. Kathy Hochul is currently Andrew Cuomo’s deputy, and will soon replace him in the top job after his dramatic resignation on Tuesday. Mr Cuomo has quit – effective in 14 days time – following a blistering report from the New York attorney general’s
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has resigned following sexual harassment allegations. In a report last week, Mr Cuomo, a Democrat, was found to have groped, kissed, or made suggestive comments to 11 women in violation of the law, prompting prosecutors to launch a criminal investigation and calls for him to resign or for him to
Late into the night on the Diamond Mountain Road, north of Taylorsville, California, firefighters battled against the advancing flames. They are on just one of so many frontlines created by this vast blaze. They fight it in the air and on the ground. Through the afternoon we’d watched as relays of helicopters went back and
A lawsuit has been filed in the US accusing Prince Andrew of sexually abusing Virginia Giuffre, according to one of her lawyers. Ms Giuffre claims she was a victim of late financier and convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein. She has previously said she was made to have sex when she was 17 with Prince Andrew, who
A senior aide to Andrew Cuomo has resigned after a report found the New York governor sexually harassed 11 women. Melissa DeRosa, who was Mr Cuomo’s secretary, has been linked in the report to efforts to cover up the governor’s actions and retaliate against one of his accusers. In the 168-page report by the state
Jury selection is due to take place today for the sexual abuse trial of disgraced R&B singer R Kelly. The 54-year-old is expected to go on trial in Brooklyn federal court, New York, on racketeering, sexual abuse, and bribery charges – all of which he denies. Prosecutors allege the I Believe I Can Fly singer
The body of a woman has been found buried in concrete in her basement two months after she was reported missing, authorities say. According to police, Lynn Gay Keene, 70, from North Carolina, was killed and officers are now hunting for her live-in carer. Ms Keene last spoke to her family on 14 June and
NASA is looking for applicants to spend a year pretending they are isolated on Mars. The space agency wants people to apply so that it can prepare for eventually sending astronauts to the red planet. Applications opened on Friday for four people to live for a year in Mars Dune Alpha. The 1,700-square-foot Martian habitat,
Britney Spears’s father is fighting back against a challenge to his control of her money and affairs, saying there are “no grounds whatsoever” for removing him from the conservatorship. In a new court document, Jamie Spears said he had “dutifully and faithfully served as the conservator of his daughter’s estate without any blemishes on his
Five children, all younger than 10, have died in an apartment fire in St Louis, Illinois. The children’s mother had left home to pick up another adult from work and returned to find the building on fire, officials said. The mother entered the building several times in a bid to rescue her children. Although it