US Democrats have opened a formal impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump over allegations he sought help from a foreign power to damage a political rival. Top Democrat Nancy Pelosi said the president “must be held accountable”. Mr Trump has denied impropriety and called the efforts “garbage”. While there is strong support from Democrats on impeachment, if the inquiry moves …

Police in the US state of Oregon seized a number of weapons as hundreds of far-right protesters and counter-demonstrators rallied in the city of Portland on Saturday (local time). The far-right rally was organised by the Proud Boys, classified by a major US civil rights organisation as a hate group. The Proud Boys said the aim of gathering was to …

Donald Trump become the first president in nearly seven decades to address a Fourth of July parade in Washington DC, in an event criticised by opponents as a waste of taxpayer dollars and a needless glorification of the US President. As rain fell on the US capital, Mr Trump declared that the “future of American freedom” lay with the men …

US President Donald Trump threatened to obliterate parts of Iran if it attacked “anything American”, in a new war of words with Tehran after it condemned the latest US sanctions and called White House actions “mentally retarded”. Mr Trump on Monday signed an executive order imposing largely symbolic economic sanctions against Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and other senior …

US President Donald Trump says he is not looking for war with Iran but has warned that if a conflict did occur, it would result in “obliteration”. “I’m not looking for war, and if there is it’ll be obliteration like you’ve never seen before. But I’m not looking to do that,” Mr Trump told NBC News in an interview a …

A broad field of US Democratic presidential candidates have delivered their sales pitches to party leaders in Iowa, touting their ability to engage voters, defeat Donald Trump and deliver on longtime party goals such as universal healthcare. The 19 Democrats running for 2020 had five minutes each to sum up their case for the presidency. Most agreed on the problems, …

The United States has cut $US700 million ($987 million) in aid to El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras after US President Donald Trump blasted the Central American countries for over-migration and threatened to shut the US-Mexico border. A surge of asylum seekers from the three countries have sought to enter the US across its southern border in recent days, and US …

Daesh has lost its final shred of territory in Syria, according to US-backed forces which have declared an end to the group’s self-declared caliphate that once spanned a third of Iraq and Syria, . Syrian Defence Force (SDF) spokesman Mustafa Bali took to Twitter on Saturday to announce a “total elimination of [the] so-called caliphate” after IS militants were defeated …

Special Counsel Robert Mueller has submitted his long-awaited report on alleged collusion between Russia and President Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign. The Attorney General William Barr will now summarise the report and decide how much to share with Congress. A justice department official said Mr Mueller’s report did not recommend any further indictments. The special counsel has already charged six former …

Concerned with the possibility that the Chinese government could swipe American intellectual property through its dealings with Google and use it to advanced its military, US Joint Chiefs Chairman General Joseph Dunford said Thursday that he will be addressing the matter at a meeting with executives from the tech company next week. Speaking at an Atlantic Council event in Washington, DC, Dunford …