Workers digging at the future site of a Wal-Mart store in suburban Mesa, Arizona, have unearthed the bones of a prehistoric camel that is estimated to be about 10,000 years old.

Medical examiners have found that Taser electric stun guns, which are being trialled by British police forces, may have played a role in at least five deaths, contradicting the manufacturer’s claim that the weapons never killed or injured anyone, a US newspaper reported.

The parent company of gunsmiths Smith & Wesson have replaced chairman James Minder, who resigned after it was revealed that he had been convicted of a string of armed robberies and a prison escape in the 1950s and 60s.

A 29-year-old man was today charged with starting one of two wildfires that merged to became the largest in Arizona’s history, destroyed more than 400 homes.

A man arrested for allegedly causing the first of two wildfires which merged into the blaze that destroyed more than 400 homes in eastern Arizona is to appear in court today.

Nearly $4m has been stolen from the US Postal Service depository in Phoenix in what investigators say was an inside job.