US

Outgoing US President Joe Biden used his final hours in the White House to issue several pre-emptive pardons – including to members of his own family. In his final act in office, Mr Biden issued the blanket pardons to five members of his family due to what he called “unrelenting attacks” from Trump and his

Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos and former UK prime minister Boris Johnson are among the high-profile guests in Washington DC for Donald Trump’s inauguration. The three men were sat in the same row inside St John’s Church as the incoming president attended a church service before his swearing in. Other famous faces getting a prime seat

Drones, snipers, razor wire fencing and 25,000 personnel are among the security measures being deployed for Donald Trump’s inauguration. Hundreds of thousands of people are descending on Washington DC for the swearing-in ceremony. The inauguration is designated as a “national special security event” which allows for extra funding and coordination between agencies, including the Secret

Donald Trump will become the 47th president of the United States today – marking an astonishing return to the White House for the businessman and former reality TV star. Today’s inauguration comes after a tumultuous four years out of office that saw assassination attempts and several serious legal cases against the 78-year-old. Mr Trump will

Even Mother Nature has read the script. The icy chill that’s driven this inauguration indoors is entirely in keeping with the element of extraordinary that is Donald Trump, his second presidency and everything it portends. It’s an occasion that belongs to all of us. American or not, there are consequences far beyond the Capitol, the

Donald Trump’s swearing-in ceremony is “likely” to be moved indoors due to cold weather forecast for Washington DC on Monday. A source familiar with the matter, who spoke to Sky News’ US partner, NBC News, on the condition of anonymity, said it was likely the ceremony would be moved indoors due to the frigid weather

If you think TikTok is messing with the heads of young people, consider what it’s been doing to America’s most powerful adults. Last March, Congress voted overwhelmingly to ban the app on American soil unless a US buyer was found. Despite claims or speculation that anyone from Elon Musk to MrBeast might be buyers, a

Apple has suspended AI-generated summaries of news notifications after some were criticised for being misleading and false. Many publishers flagged up errors in the way the feature had worded their original push notifications. The National Union of Journalists told Sky News earlier this week it wasn’t “fit for purpose” and should be taken down. Reporters

Dozens of planes have been forced to divert or fly holding patterns to avoid potential debris from the SpaceX rocket that blew up. The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said it briefly slowed and re-routed planes in the area where the pieces were falling back to earth. Tracking app FlightRadar24 said its most-watched flights last

President Joe Biden will not enforce a ban on social media giant TikTok which is due to take effect the day before he leaves the White House, a US official has said. The ban is supposed start on 19 January, a day before Mr Biden leaves the Oval Office and his Republican opponent Donald Trump

President-elect Donald Trump has announced the appointment of actors Mel Gibson, Jon Voight and Sylvester Stallone as ambassadors to help make Hollywood “bigger, better and stronger”. Mr Trump said on his social media platform Truth Social the actors, all supporters of the president-elect, had been appointed as his “special envoys” to the world-famous filmmaking hub,

The two richest people on the planet are heading for a showdown in space. Elon Musk versus Amazon founder Jeff Bezos: they both launched prototype rockets on the same day, a rivalry with billions of dollars at stake. SpaceX’s Starship is fuelled by Musk’s extraordinary appetite for risk. He innovates through failure, and the seventh

Jeff Bezos’s space company Blue Origin has successfully launched its rocket into orbit on its first test flight. New Glenn – described by Blue Origin as a “giant, reusable rocket” and designed for a minimum of 25 flights – was launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida, early on Thursday morning. As it happened: New Glenn blasts

The expectation was that this would be a speech tinged with hubris and bitterness.  The consensus was that it would be a greatest hits farewell threaded with frustration that America didn’t appreciate him despite the achievements, as he’d see them, of his one-term presidency – from a booming economy, record employment, historic infrastructure bills, climate

President Joe Biden has warned of a “dangerous concentration of power” among a few wealthy people in the United States in his farewell address to the nation. Without naming president-elect Donald Trump, Mr Biden said: “Today, an oligarchy is taking shape in America of extreme wealth, power and influence that really threatens our entire democracy,

Donald Trump’s nominee for secretary of state has said he anticipates the US “will have to deal with” China invading Taiwan before the end of this decade. Marco Rubio made the comment as he appeared in front of a bipartisan Senate committee ahead of a vote on whether he is suitable for the role. He

Elon Musk is being sued for failing to disclose his purchase of more than 5% of Twitter stock in a timely fashion. The world’s richest man bought the stock in March 2022 and the complaint by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) said the delay allowed him to continue buying Twitter stock at artificially

Donald Trump’s choice for US defence secretary has been accused of lacking the competence for the job, during a much-disrupted Senate confirmation hearing. Senators are determining whether Pete Hegseth, a former combat veteran and TV news show host, is fit to lead the US military as Mr Trump’s choice for defence secretary. He is a

President-elect Donald Trump engaged in an unprecedented criminal effort to overturn his 2020 election defeat, according to a report by Special Counsel Jack Smith. He said that Trump “inspired his supporters to commit acts of physical violence” in the January 6 riots and knowingly spread a false narrative about fraud in the 2020 election. Special

With less one week left to go before the Biden administration gives way to Trump’s second term, the starkly contrasting visions and styles of the two presidencies could not be more striking. President Biden is using his final week to mould and cement his legacy. No one writes their own legacy but that doesn’t stop