US

Millions of rats living across New York City are susceptible to COVID-19, researchers have found. Like humans, the rodents have proved vulnerable to multiple variants of the virus, from the original to Omicron, including high levels of infection in their upper and lower airways. A World Health Organization (WHO) report in 2021 concluded that the

A US woman who was declared legally dead after disappearing more than three decades ago has turned up alive in Puerto Rico, her family and police have said. Patricia Kopta, now 83, had last been seen in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in 1992 when investigators began looking into her disappearance. She was known to be an “eccentric”

US approval of the abortion medication mifepristone has been revoked, in a decision that could further disrupt reproductive healthcare for millions of people. Mifepristone blocks the hormone needed to maintain a pregnancy and has been approved in the US since 2000 for medical abortion and miscarriage management. It is used safely in more than 60

Tennessee has become the first US state to ban public drag performances. The state’s Republican governor Bill Lee signed the bill, which classifies the performances as adult cabaret, into law on Thursday. While the word “drag” does not appear in the bill, it changes the definition of adult cabaret in Tennessee’s law to mean “adult-oriented

Drugs designed to treat diabetes and repurposed as miracle diet aids have taken over TikTok. The weight loss caused by these weekly injectables is rapid and previously unattainable, people boast, showing off newly svelte bodies. But what are these drugs, how do they work – and what were they originally designed to do? Mounjaro, Ozempic,

China has denounced the US over its TikTok bans, saying it has been “abusing state power”. Congress and more than half of US states have banned TikTok from government-issued mobile devices, following cybersecurity concerns. TikTok is used by two-thirds of American teenagers but there is concern in Washington that China could use its legal and

Disney’s self-governing district that it uses to run its Florida theme parks has been taken over by the state’s governor, in an apparent punishment for its opposition to legislation about LGBTQ+ education. Ron DeSantis, who is widely tipped as a challenger for the White House next year, signed a bill taking control of Reedy Creek

The COVID-19 virus most likely leaked from a laboratory in Wuhan, according to the US Energy Department. In a report seen by the Wall Street Journal, the US agency said the virus was not being engineered as part of a weapons program. Recently given to the White House and members of Congress, the updated report

The United States could bar tens of thousands of migrants from arriving at the US-Mexico border under a proposed plan which would require some asylum seekers to book a meeting with US officials first. Under the new rules proposed on Tuesday, migrants who do not schedule an appointment at a US border port of entry

Chinese President Xi Jinping does not want to damage relations with the US over the “spy” balloon shot down over North America, President Joe Biden has said. “I think the last thing that Xi wants is to fundamentally rip the relationship with the United States and with me,” Mr Biden told Sky News’ affiliate NBC

Former US president Donald Trump has bid “good riddance” to Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon following her shock resignation announcement. Referring to Ms Sturgeon as a “failed woke extremist”, he also accused the outgoing leader of the Scottish National Party of fighting him over his golf courses in Scotland. Criticising her government’s controversial gender reforms

The White House has determined that China has a “high-altitude balloon programme” for intelligence gathering. It comes as tensions are mounting between the US and China after the US shot down a fourth unidentified object over North American airspace. It was downed over Lake Huron in Michigan at 2.42pm local time on Sunday on President

China has claimed US high-altitude balloons have flown over its airspace more than 10 times over the past year. Beijing has made the claim after Washington accused China of operating a fleet of surveillance balloons around the world. The development comes a day after US jets shot down a fourth flying object that the Pentagon

The Kansas City Chiefs fought back to beat the Philadelphia Eagles in a classic Super Bowl that will be remembered as one of the greatest of all time. The Chiefs’ quarterback Patrick Mahomes shrugged off an ankle injury to lead his side to a dramatic 38 to 35 victory and claim their second Super Bowl

The US has shot down another unidentified object that it says flew near sensitive military sites and could have been used for spying. It was downed over Lake Huron in Michigan at 2.42pm local time on Sunday on President Biden‘s orders. A US F-16 jet fired a missile at about 20,000ft amid concerns that its

Justin Trudeau has ordered the “take down” of an “unidentified object” that “violated” Canadian airspace. The country’s prime minister tweeted that both Canadian and US aircraft were scrambled. A US F-22 stealth fighter jet, sent by the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD), “successfully fired at the object”, Mr Trudeau said. It was taken down