The US has completed its withdrawal from Afghanistan after the last of its planes took off from Kabul airport. All its service members have now departed, bringing an end to a 20-year campaign that saw more than 2,400 Americans die – as well as tens of thousands of Afghans. General Kenneth F McKenzie announced the
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It was a day many in New Orleans had planned to spend commemorating the terrible cost of Hurricane Katrina exactly 16 years ago. Instead of those peaceful, sombre events they found themselves sitting in the dark as Hurricane Ida battered the Big Easy and knocked out power to the whole city. The power of Ida
Hurricane Ida has made landfall in Louisiana as an “extremely dangerous” category four storm. It hit on the same date Hurricane Katrina ravaged Louisiana and Mississippi 16 years earlier, about 40 miles west of where category three Katrina first struck land. Arriving with a barometric pressure of 930 millibars, Ida preliminarily goes down as tied
Hurricane Ida could be one of the worst storms to hit Louisiana in 170 years and is expected to make landfall in the next few hours. The “extremely life-threatening” surge is set to trigger devastating flash flooding in Mississippi, Alabama and Louisiana when it arrives later on Sunday – the 16th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina.
The United States killed two “high profile” ISIS targets and wounded a third in retaliation for Thursday’s suicide bombing at Kabul airport, the Pentagon has said. Speaking at a news briefing, Major General William “Hank” Taylor confirmed the drone strike, which took place on Thursday, killed an ISIS-K planner and a facilitator. A Taliban spokesman
As thousands of people sought a way out of Afghanistan to escape the Taliban, scores of them were killed in a suicide bombing outside Kabul airport on Thursday. The devastating attack by Islamic State offshoot ISIS-K which killed between 79 and 169 Afghans and 13 US military personnel – most of them Marines. None of
Robert F. Kennedy’s killer, Sirhan Sirhan, has been granted parole after two of RFK’s sons said they support his release from prison. The New York senator and brother of President John F. Kennedy was a Democratic presidential candidate when he was gunned down on June 6, 1968, at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles. Sirhan
Joe Biden has warned those behind the terror attacks at Kabul’s airport: “We will not forgive, we will not forget, we will hunt you down and make you pay.” The US president was speaking after it emerged that 13 US service personnel – most of them Marines – were among at least 73 people killed
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
Unvaccinated airline workers will be charged $200 (£146) extra per month for their health insurance, one American carrier has said. Delta Air Lines says the surcharge will be in effect from 1 November, and is necessary to offset the risk those who are not jabbed put on their insurance – similar to how smokers have
An extra 12,000 COVID-related deaths have been added to the New York State total, following the departure of ex-governor Andrew Cuomo. Mr Cuomo stood down on Monday over claims of sexual harassment by 11 women – allegations which he denies. He was succeeded on Tuesday by former lieutenant governor Kathy Hochul – the first woman
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
R Kelly’s former tour manager bribed a government official to get the then-15-year-old singer Aaliyah a fake ID card so Kelly could secretly marry her “to protect him and Aaliyah”, a court has heard. Demetrius Smith told a jury at Kelly‘s sex-trafficking trial that he went into a welfare office in Chicago in 1994 and
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