Four billion miles from the sun floats Ultima Thule, an icy celestial body that Nasa scientists announced Wednesday is aptly shaped like a giant snowman.

Acting US Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan's first full day at the Pentagon's helm was overshadowed Wednesday when President Donald Trump attacked his predecessor Jim Mattis.

Democrats were set to take over the US House of Representatives yesterday, ushering in a new era of divided government in Washington with the goal of checking Donald Trump's turbulent presidency.

US President Donald Trump has offered a rather stark take on the situation in war-wracked Syria, summing it up in two words -- "sand and death" -- while remaining vague about the timing of the withdrawal of US troops.

Senator Elizabeth Warren on Monday took the first major step toward launching a widely anticipated campaign for the presidency, hoping her reputation as a populist fighter can help her navigate a Democratic field that could include nearly two dozen candidates.

Democrats in the US House of Representatives plan to vote on a funding package to end the 10-day-old partial US government shutdown, without providing the $5 billion President Donald Trump has demands for a US-Mexico border wall.

A senior Republican US senator said he emerged from a White House meeting with President Donald Trump on Sunday reassured that Trump is committed to defeating Islamic State even as he plans to withdraw American troops from Syria.

US President Donald Trump said on Twitter that he had a "long and very good call" with Chinese President Xi Jinping and that a possible trade deal between the United States and China was progressing well.

At least six deaths were attributed to severe weather in the US as heavy snow and high winds snarled air and ground transportation during a busy holiday travel period.

US commanders planning for the withdrawal of US troops from Syria are recommending that Kurdish fighters battling Islamic State be allowed to keep US-supplied weapons, four US officials said, a move that would likely anger Nato ally Turkey.

President Donald Trump yesterday threatened to seal off the US-Mexico border "entirely" if Congress does not approve billions of dollars in funding for a wall.

Former First Lady Hillary Clinton's 17-year run as the woman Americans admire most is over. Another former First Lady, Michelle Obama, deposes Clinton as America's most admired woman, according to a Gallup poll.

President Donald Trump used a lightning visit to Iraq -- his first with US troops in a conflict zone since being elected -- to defend the withdrawal from Syria and declare an end to America's role as the global "policeman."

Miley Cyrus and Liam Hemsworth appear to have tied the knot amid reports the couple got married in a secret wedding ceremony.

President Donald Trump makes a surprise Christmas visit to US troops in Iraq, his first trip to a conflict zone nearly two years into his presidency and days after announcing a pullout of American troops from neighboring Syria.

US President Donald Trump vowed Tuesday he would not reopen the government until he gets $5 billion to fund his border wall, as the partial government shutdown dragged into a fourth day.

US Customs and Border Protection announced medical checks on all children in its custody following the death of an eight-year-old Guatemalan migrant -- the second child fatality in American detention this month.

Democratic leaders accused an isolated President Donald Trump on Monday of sowing Christmas "chaos" after the stock market plummeted and the US government shutdown hit a third day.

Brett McGurk, the US special envoy to the anti-Islamic State group coalition, has resigned, a State Department official said Saturday, capping a chaotic week that saw the departure of Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and Donald Trump's stunning decision to pull troops from Syria.

A partial US government shutdown that entered its second day yesterday was set to stretch through Christmas, after Congress adjourned for the weekend with no deal in sight to end an impasse over funding for President Donald Trump's wall on the US-Mexico border.