Nobody really expects Donald Trump to be convicted at his impeachment trial. The numbers are in his favour and there’s little sign that the Republican Party has turned against him. But there are three things that make this verdict so fascinating. Firstly – the outcome will be greeted as a huge victory by one side

Donald Trump’s impeachment trial is an “unjust, unconstitutional witch-hunt”, politically motivated and “divorced from fact”, the hearing has been told. The former president’s lawyer, Michael van der Veen, opened day four of the Senate trial with a blistering attack, claiming the proceedings did nothing to unify a divided America. Mr Trump is charged with “incitement

A nine-year-old black girl pepper sprayed by police begged “please don’t do this to me” and “it’s burning my eyes” as she waited handcuffed in the back seat of a police car for 16 minutes, according to new police bodycam footage. Officials in Rochester, New York, suspended the officers involved following the 29 January incident

The alleged leader of the far-right Oath Keepers militia group, who is accused of taking part in the attack on the US Capitol, discussed the possibility of getting a boat to ferry “heavy weapons” across the Potomac River, prosecutors have said. Court papers filed in the case against Thomas Caldwell provided new evidence in the

Day three of Donald Trump’s impeachment trial has been told rioters went to the Capitol building because “we take orders from our president”. Democratic representative Diana Degette told the Senate hearing how she was one of the “unlucky members” stuck in the House gallery on 6 January as “the mob” came in, and how she “heard

Larry Flynt, the founder of porn magazine Hustler and campaigner for the First Amendment in the US, has died at the age of 78. His brother told Associated Press that Flynt passed away from heart failure at his home in Los Angeles on Wednesday morning. Flynt was one of the biggest names in pornography, founding

Donald Trump was described as the “inciter-in-chief” who “had left everyone in this Capitol for dead” as the impeachment trial against him began in earnest. During eight hours of testimony, Democrat politicians, acting as “impeachment managers”, berated Mr Trump for having whipped up an atmosphere of such febrile aggression that a demonstration of support for

A group of anglers have been rescued after they became stranded on a floating pack of ice which broke away from the Minnesota shoreline. 26 people had been ice fishing on Lake Superior and had to be brought back to shore in boats just a few at a time. Many did not realise they were

Huawei has filed a legal challenge against the US Federal Communications Commission which designated the company as a threat to US national security. The telecommunications company was one of two Chinese businesses, alongside ZTE, that received the formal designation last June, which prohibited American companies from spending federal subsidies on their equipment. In a petition

Eight British men have been arrested for allegedly hacking the phones of US celebrities. The men, all aged between 18 and 26, were arrested in England and Scotland by a number of police forces across the country. The suspects are alleged to have targeted sports stars, musicians and influencers in the “sim swapping” attacks, which

Former president Donald Trump will face a second impeachment trial after the US Senate ruled it was constitutional. Senators were being asked to vote if Mr Trump can be tried even though he is no longer in office. It was approved 56 to 44, with six Republican senators voting with Democrats. Advertisement

For the first time in history, a US president is due to be tried by members of the country’s upper house for the second time. Such was the anger among Democrats at the storming of the Capitol building in early January, they voted to impeach Donald Trump again, after the first impeachment vote in 2019

The United States is, once again, about to expose and interrogate the disunity that now runs through this country. The process of putting Donald Trump on trial is about to get real. First will come a debate about whether the constitution allows for such a process, bearing in mind that Mr Trump is no longer

The second impeachment case against Donald Trump is a piece of “political theatre”, the former president’s lawyers have said. Mr Trump’s legal team have accused his Democrat opponents of exploiting the chaos and trauma of last month’s riot at the US Capitol for their own party’s gain. A day before proceedings begin in the Senate,

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have won Super Bowl LV, beating Kansas City Chiefs 31 to 9 in Florida. The win means legendary quarterback Tom Brady, who was also named the game’s Most Valuable Player (MVP), walks away with his seventh Super Bowl victory – a record for the sport, after winning his first six with

American politics often baffles outsiders but on the eve of Donald Trump’s second impeachment trial, it really has never been weirder. Politicians promoting a delusional conspiracy claiming America is in the grips of a child-trafficking liberal cabal backed by the deep state are now sitting in the US Congress. And Mr Trump‘s grand fiction that

Using earbuds while falling asleep might seem like a good way to drift off to dulcet tones but it could also be dangerous. Brad Gauthier, of Worcester in the US state of Massachusetts, found this out last week after doctors had to remove a wireless earbud from his oesophagus. In a post on Facebook, Mr

A boxer who delivered one of the biggest upsets in the history of the sport, Leon Spinks, has died aged 67. Spinks won an Olympic gold medal in 1976 but went on to shock the boxing world a year and a half later by beating Muhammad Ali to win the heavyweight title in only his

A man appears to have been shot and killed by mistake as he was making a “prank” robbery video for YouTube. Police in Nashville, Tennessee, said they were called to the car park of Urban Air Trampoline and Adventure Park on Friday evening. When they arrived, David Starnes Jr, 23, admitted shooting 20-year-old Timothy Wilks,

Donald Trump has made a return to social media to say allegations against him cannot be proven. The former president used his account on Gab, an alternative platform to Twitter often used by his right-wing followers, to release a letter from his lawyers. After being banned from Twitter and Facebook, he has been relatively quiet

President Joe Biden said Donald Trump should not be given access to classified intelligence briefings due to his “erratic behaviour”. Outgoing presidents are traditionally given access to briefings, but that is solely the decision of the current president. Image: Donald Trump is the first US president to be impeached twice Mr Biden told CBS News

Controversial congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene has refused to apologise to the school shooting survivor she called “an idiot, trained by a dog”. The far-right Georgia congresswoman who amplified QAnon conspiracy theories which focus on the debunked belief that top Democrats were involved in child sex trafficking, was captured on film running after David Hogg, one

US jobs growth bounced back less than expected in January while losses the previous month were worse than initially thought, latest figures show. The first set of employment data under President Joe Biden underlines the scale of the economic challenge faced as he seek to push through a $1.9trn (£1.4trn) COVID-19 recovery package. Please use

Marjorie Taylor Greene, a hard-right politician and QAnon conspiracy theorist, has refused to apologise for her controversial views despite being voted off her committee roles in the US Congress. A motion to remove the fiercely-loyal Donald Trump supporter from the education and labour and budget committees was passed by 230 votes to 199 as the

Donald Trump has resigned from an American actors’ union, telling the organisation: “You have done nothing for me.” The former US president made the move because SAG-AFTRA, which represents 160,000 actors and media professionals, was considering expelling him over his role in the attack on the US Capitol. In his letter to the union’s president

The US is withdrawing operational support from Saudi Arabia’s forces in Yemen, which President Joe Biden hopes will help bring an end to one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises. Mr Biden pledged during his presidential election campaign that his administration would resolve the long-running conflict between the Saudi-backed government and Iranian-aligned Houthi movement diplomatically.

Taylor Swift is being sued by bosses at a theme park who claim she used the name of their attraction as the title of her latest album. The owners of Evermore Park, in Pleasant Grove, Utah, are seeking millions of dollars in damages, saying Swift is guilty of trademark infringement. They claim to own the

The woman accused of killing Harry Dunn was employed by an intelligence agency in the US at the time of his death, a court has heard. Anne Sacoolas was leaving RAF Croughton in Northamptonshire in August 2019 when she was involved in a crash with 19-year-old Harry, who was on his motorbike. She had been

America’s top infectious diseases expert says double masking is a “common sense approach” to preventing the spread of coronavirus. Dr Anthony Fauci, chief medical adviser to President Joe Biden, recommended using two masks at a COVID-19 response news conference on Wednesday, saying there was “no harm” if people wanted to for added protection. He said

Doctors say a 22-year-old man, badly burned in a car crash, is recovering well after receiving a rare face and hands transplant. Mr DiMeo fell asleep at the wheel after working a night shift. His car hit a curb, flipped over and burst into flames. A passing driver who saw the accident pulled him out