US

A nurse has been reunited with a TV reporter she hailed as her “knight in shining armour” after he carried her to safety on his back when she became trapped in floodwaters as Hurricane Ian hammered Florida. Tonya McCullough had been on her way to work at night in Orlando during the violent storm when

As we drove towards Fort Myers, what struck us first was the traffic. We were one of thousands of cars trying to get into the worst hit area of Hurricane Ian. The queues started the other side of the state. A line of cars, stuffed with bedding, some with strapped on generators, some pulling rowing

At least 77 people have been confirmed dead after Hurricane Ian struck the US – with rescuers desperately searching for survivors among the ruins of flooded homes. The remnants of one of the strongest and costliest hurricanes in American history is now headed north, with authorities in Florida and South Carolina left assessing the damage.

California has introduced a new bill that restricts the use of rap lyrics as evidence in court. It follows the recent indictments of US rappers Young Thug and Gunna, whose lyrics have been directly quoted at them in an ongoing legal trial. Young Thug has been accused of co-founding a gang as well as possessing

Eyewitness: ‘This is like an A-bomb hit the place’ The barrier islands off the coast of southwest Florida bore the brunt of Hurricane Ian’s fury. Sanibel Island used to be a picture-perfect holiday spot with its wide, white sand beaches and clear waters. The rich and famous have houses on the waterfront, alongside families who

Hurricane Ian is gaining strength and veering towards the Carolinas – with uncertainty over how many fatalities the storm has caused in Florida. This is one of the strongest-ever storms to hit the US – and emergency crews are trying to reach stranded Floridians after Ian cut a path of destruction across the state. Over

It is the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico that bring people to Fort Myers Beach - but on Wednesday afternoon, they unleashed the fury of Hurricane Ian. A tsunami-like storm surge, three metres (10ft) high in places, washed away homes and businesses. Early reports of ‘substantial loss of life’ – Hurricane Ian updates The seafront

Hurricane Ian has caused unprecedented damage after trapping people in flooded homes and leaving more than two million without power, says Florida’s governor. Ron DeSantis called the damage “historic” and disaster officials believe thousands could be displaced in the long term. US President Joe Biden has declared a major disaster, releasing federal funds to pay

One of the most powerful storms in US history has barrelled into Florida’s southwest coast with sustained winds of up to 150mph (241kph) and torrential rain. Hurricane Ian made landfall near Cayo Costa as an “extremely dangerous” category four storm but was close to being the maximum level of five (when there are winds of

Hurricane Ian has knocked out power across all of Cuba, leaving 11 million people without electricity, after it slammed into the island’s western tip. Cuba‘s Electric Union said power was initially knocked out for about one million people in the country’s western provinces, but later the entire grid collapsed. The hurricane made landfall as a

Residents and holidaymakers in Florida have been warned not to be complacent, as storm-in-a-century Hurricane Ian’s 140mph winds are expected to affect the whole state. After making landfall in Cuba as a powerful Category 3 storm, it is now feared it will be upgraded to Category 4 as it intensifies while crossing the Gulf’s warm

A combined Chinese and Russian naval convoy, including a guided missile cruiser and a destroyer have been spotted close to an Alaskan island by the US Coastguard. Two other Chinese naval ships and three Russian naval vessels were sighted in the Bering Sea in a single formation 86 miles (138 km) from Kiska Island by

Tropical storm Ian has strengthened into a hurricane set to unleash significant winds, flash floods and mudslides in Florida, Cuba and Jamaica, weather experts have warned. The weather system is about 90 miles (150km) southwest of the Cayman Islands in the Caribbean Sea, according to the latest advisory issued by the National Hurricane Centre (NHC)

The Royal Navy’s flagship HMS Queen Elizabeth has arrived in New York for its deployment to the United States to host an Anglo-American military conference. The ship dropped anchor within sight of the Statue of Liberty in New York Harbour yesterday. It set sail for the US from Portsmouth on 7 September in place of

Rihanna will perform at the next Super Bowl halftime show, the NFL has announced. The 34-year-old singer shared a photo of her hand holding an American football on Instagram and Twitter. Soon afterwards it was reposted by her record label, Roc Nation, the NFL and Apple Music, which confirmed the news in a tweet. Apple

A state of emergency has been declared in Florida as Tropical Storm Ian heads towards the US coast and is forecast to become a major hurricane. Governor Ron DeSantis expanded a previous warning on Saturday to cover the whole state and urged people to prepare for landfall. It activates the state’s national guard and frees

Abortions have effectively been banned in Arizona after a judge lifted an injunction that had blocked prosecutions for nearly 50 years. Women will have to leave the state to get the procedure done and some clinics will have to shut down. Anyone who performs abortions could now face criminal charges and the only exception is

Officials in Alabama have halted the lethal injection execution of a prisoner on death row because they couldn’t find a vein before the midnight deadline. Alabama corrections commissioner John Hamm said the decision to call off the scheduled execution of Alan Miller was made after it became clear they could not get the process under

A Florida highway was forced to temporarily close after a multi-vehicle crash caused thousands of cans of beer to cover the road. The semi-trailer had been carrying cases of Coors Light when it crashed and spilled its load all over the busy road. All lanes of Interstate 75, which is around 30 miles north of

A NASA-built spacecraft will deliberately crash into an asteroid as part of a test mission later this month. The spacecraft, known as Double Asteroid Redirection Test (Dart), is expected to collide with a 170-metre wide (560ft) asteroid named Dimorphos at 12.14am UK time on 27 September. Dimorphos is no threat to Earth but it has