The US will continue to help people to leave Afghanistan after the 31 August deadline, Antony Blinken has said. The secretary of state told a news conference on Wednesday that about 4,500 Americans, out of the 6,000 who wanted to leave Afghanistan when the airlift began on 14 August, have been evacuated so far. Mr
US
A flight from New Orleans to Seattle was evacuated after a passenger’s mobile phone caught fire inside the cabin. Fortunately the phone did not catch fire while the plane was in the air and all 129 passengers and six crew members were safely transported to the terminal, with no serious injuries although two people received
A grieving father has said he feels like he “failed” his family after his twin babies died in the devastating flooding in Tennessee. At least 22 people were killed and dozens are still missing after record-breaking rainfall and floodwater caused severe damage to homes, buildings, roads and power cables as it rushed through the southeastern
Nearly 43,000 Californians are under evacuation orders as a dozen large wildfires continue to rage across the state. The wildfires have already destroyed hundreds of homes and more than 500 households are in shelters, Mark Ghilarducci, director of the California Office of Emergency Services, said. Governor Gavin Newsom has requested a presidential major disaster declaration
Twin babies were among at least 22 people killed as record-breaking rainfall caused devastating flooding in Tennessee. Dozens of people are still missing after floodwater caused severe damage to homes, buildings, roads and power cables as it rushed through the southeastern part of the US state on Saturday. The two seven-month-old babies were said to
Tropical Storm Henri has brought strong winds and rain to the north-eastern US as it makes landfall on the coast of Rhode Island. Henri has sent bands of rain westward, knocking out power to 140,000 homes and causing deluges that have shut bridges and flooded roads. The storm was downgraded from a hurricane before it
Joe Biden has defended the US military pullout in Afghanistan, saying that the mass evacuation of refugees would have been “hard and painful no matter when we started”. The US president said “my heart aches” for the thousands who are stranded outside Kabul airport in desperate scenes, but added that it was “just a fact”
At least 10 people are dead and 30 are missing after record rainfall washed away homes and rural roads in the US state of Tennessee. Between 25cm and 30cm (10in to 12in) of rain caused floodwaters to reach 2.1m (7ft) inside some of the buildings affected. Cars and entire houses were swept down a road
A toxic algae bloom is under investigation as one of the possible causes after an entire family of hikers were found dead on a remote trail in California. Police are looking into whether water they drank may have been poisoned by the algae or whether other hazards may have contributed to the deaths. John Gerrish,
The US president’s latest appearance reflected the need for a display of leadership and control for a situation that’s developing so fast. It has been only a week since Kabul fell, a week since President Joe Biden’s Afghanistan withdrawal policy revealed all its flaws. It feels like far longer. And so for the second time
President Joe Biden has told US citizens stuck in Afghanistan and allies who worked alongside American forces “we will get you home”, but admitted he cannot promise what the “final outcome” of the troop withdrawal will be. In a news conference at the White House, he admitted images of people desperately trying to flee the
A passenger who had collapsed on the tracks at a New York subway station was rescued by a police officer and member of the public moments before a train arrived. Video of the incident from a bystander shows the man lying face down at the station in the Bronx area of the city, as others
US Capitol Police are responding to reports of a possible explosive device in a truck near the Library of Congress, law enforcement officials have said. People in and around the Cannon House Office Building have been evacuated after concerns over the suspicious vehicle, which is located near the Capitol and Supreme Court. Police said investigators
Stock markets have fallen sharply after signs that the US Federal Reserve could start pulling away emergency support for the world’s biggest economy later this year. In London, the FTSE 100 was down by more than 160 points – or about 2% – in early trading following the publication of minutes of the Fed’s latest
The US does not currently have the capability to evacuate large numbers of Americans who are outside Kabul – and troops are having to negotiate with the Taliban to allow people passage to the airport, the US defence secretary has said. Speaking from the Pentagon, Lloyd J Austin III said the military was “laser focused”
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
Facebook has confirmed to Sky News that the Taliban will continue to be banned from operating Afghan government accounts on its platforms. The militant group, which is considered a Dangerous Organisation under Facebook’s policies, has in recent days swept to power in Afghanistan following the US withdrawal from the country. The Taliban is not sanctioned
The president’s address to the nation was just that – a speech carefully scripted for domestic consumption. Never mind that around the world there was an eagerness to understand the wisdom of his decision. With an all-American backdrop – the stars and stripes filling the space behind him – Joe Biden made a compelling case
The UK and the US are facing criticism over their handling of the deepening crisis in Afghanistan. Donald Trump has called for Joe Biden to resign in the wake of the Taliban’s takeover – describing the current situation as a “disgrace”. In a statement, the former president wrote: “What Joe Biden has done with Afghanistan
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