President Donald Trump will address students at a Christian university in his first extended public appearance since he fired James Comey as FBI director this week.

US senator Ted  Cruz opened the first major campaign of the 2016 presidential season yesterday with a kick-off speech courting cultural conservatives and declaring that he will devote himself to “reigniting the promise of America”.

The Reverend Jerry Falwell, an outspoken evangelist, apologised yesterday for saying God had allowed terrorists to attack America because of the work of civil liberties groups, abortion rights supporters and feminists.