With his 17-day holiday stay at his Florida resort over, President Donald Trump returns to the White House facing twin challenges: the fallout from the strike he ordered to kill an Iranian general and his looming impeachment trial in the Senate.

President Donald Trump says he ordered the killing of a top Iranian general “to stop a war,” not start one, but in the tense aftermath the Pentagon braces for retaliation by sending more troops to the Middle East.

A fresh air strike hits pro-Iran fighters in Iraq, as fears grow of a proxy war erupting between Washington and Tehran a day after an American drone strike killed a top Iranian general.

US President Donald Trump ordered the killing of Iran Revolutionary Guards commander Qasem Soleimani, who died in Baghdad "in a decisive defensive action to protect US personnel abroad," the Pentagon says.

A man with a white beard was being held on $10,000 bond for allegedly robbing a Colorado bank and throwing the stolen cash into the air while shouting, “Merry Christmas” to passersby, police and local media report.

President Donald Trump on Saturday criticised House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi for holding off on sending the articles of impeachment against him to the Senate.

An embattled President Donald Trump condemns the Democratic-led impeachment vote against him, irked that he made US history in a bad way but assures that Republicans in the Senate will save him from being ousted.

The House of Representatives begin debate ahead of a historic vote on two articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump charging him with abusing his office and obstructing Congress that would make him the third US president to be impeached.

The United States imposes sanctions on four Myanmar military leaders, including the commander-in-chief, in the toughest action taken yet by Washington for alleged human rights abuses against the Rohingya and other minorities.

NATO leaders set aside public insults ranging from "delinquent" to "brain dead" and "two-faced", declaring at a 70th anniversary summit they would stand together against a common threat from Russia and prepare for China's rise.

The Taliban says it was "way too early" to speak of resuming direct talks with Washington, a day after President Donald Trump suggested negotiations to end America's longest war were back on track during a surprise visit to Afghanistan.

The House Judiciary Committee said Tuesday it would begin hearings on December 4 in the next phase of the impeachment inquiry into Donald Trump, inviting the US president and his lawyer to attend.

China has summoned the US ambassador to demand that United States scrap legislation backing Hong Kong's pro-democracy movement, or "bear all the consequences".

Disney's Frozen 2 ices out the box office competition in North America, where family audiences powered the animated adventure to a dazzling $130 million debut.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo urged Iranians on Thursday to send photos and other information documenting repression amid ongoing protests, while vowing to sanction “abuses” by the Islamic republic.

A top US official restricted access to the summary of Donald Trump’s Ukraine call that triggered an impeachment probe, fearing it would damage the president, testimony released Saturday showed.

Donald Trump's longtime aide Roger Stone is convicted of lying to Congress and witness tampering in a bid to spare the president embarrassment over the probe into Russian interference in the 2016 election.

A student pulled a gun from his backpack and opened fire at a Southern California high school Thursday, killing two students and wounding three others before shooting himself in the head on his 16th birthday, authorities say.

Former US President Jimmy Carter was admitted to an Atlanta hospital for a procedure to relieve brain pressure from bleeding caused by recent falls, the Carter Center says in a statement.

Turkey's Recep Tayyip Erdogan will travel to the United States next week to meet Donald Trump, the Turkish presidency says, amid heightened tensions between the two countries.