Police say a black teenager shot dead by an officer was suspected of robbing a store shortly before he was killed.

St Louis police yesterday identified the officer who fatally shot an unarmed black teenager and released documents alleging the young man had been suspected of stealing a $48.99 box of cigars from a shop in a "strong-arm" robbery shortly before he was killed.

A woman driving with a small child in her car crashed through a gate at an airport in Arizona and drove on the runway, police said.

Neighbourhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman is to be charged withsecond-degree murder over the shooting dead of unarmed black teenager Trayvon Martin in Florida.

A surveillance video shot after the killing of a teenager in Florida shows the man who shot him being led in handcuffs from a police car, and an attorney for the victim’s family said it is obvious the shooter did not have the injuries his supporters have claimed.

The parents of a shot Florida teenager have accused police of leaking information about their son being suspended for marijuana and details about the fight in which he died that portrayed him as the aggressor.

TWO women accused of staging sham funerals to collect hundreds of thousands of dollars in life insurance payments have pleaded not guilty in federal court in Los Angeles.

A company in the US is offering celebrities copyright protection against fans who might want to clone them, it was disclosed today.