Across the Atlantic, we have witnessed some very odd behaviour by two senior politicians, in the form of petulance in the US House of Congress.

Strike me down if politicians of all hues have not been dusting down their puffy polar coats and sufficiently warm head gear that manages to look vaguely presentable while keeping at bay the worst of mid-winter Ireland.

For anyone afflicted with a predisposition towards pessimism, these are trying times.

As the US Congress returns from a 10-day break, the question of whether the House of Representatives (controlled by the Democrats) should formally commence the process of impeaching US president Donald Trump for misdeeds committed during his tenure — and perhaps before — has split the party.

Imagine a life without Brexit? Hard to do, isn’t it? Ah, those halcyon days, when we didn’t have front-row seats to what, with each passing day, looks like the disintegration of a once-civilised society.

The Brexit roadshow rolls on and last week’s commotion in the House of Commons shows just how difficult it is for businesses to cope with the uncertainty it throws up.

US President Donald Trump has sent a letter to Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi stating that he will go ahead with his State of the Union address to Congress.

Politicians from around the world were quick to react on Twitter to news of the US strikes on Syria.

If a third party candidate, such as Mitt Romney, runs in the upcoming United States presidential election and neither Trump or Clinton get a majority (270) of electoral college votes the Speaker of the House Paul Ryan will decide who will be the next President.

The Democratic frontrunner faces a showdown with Republicans in congressional probe, writes Bette Browne

Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore yesterday expressed hope that the momentum pushing the US towards immigration legislation would benefit the 50,000 Irish living in what he described as a “twilight zone”.

Signs that US political leaders may be closing in on a budget deal to avoid the so-called “fiscal cliff” boosted Asian stock markets.

President Barack Obama poked fun at his likely presidential rival Mitt Romney and Republican opponents in Congress, including a dig at Romney’s treatment of a pet dog, at the annual White House Correspondents’ Association dinner.

Let me see if I can understand the Mahon Tribunal.

IT wasn’t the man he had travelled across the Atlantic to see. But when Taoiseach Enda Kenny yesterday found himself in the same Washington Hotel lobby as Duke Special he would have been forgiven for asking the Belfast songwriter for a rendition of his hit I Never Thought This Day Would Come.

NANCY PELOSI, the first woman to serve as US Speaker of the House, appeared out of a job after a short but productive four years in office, as Republicans retook the chamber she ran with gusto.

More than 217 members of the US House of Representatives backed the US$397bn (€286.5bn) economic rescue package today, enough to pass the bill, barring any last-minute changes of heart.

Politicians from Uruguay are to meet the President and Taoiseach during a four-day visit to Ireland this week.

The first ever English MP for the Democratic Unionists was today challenged to seek a new mandate from his constituents following his decision to officially join the Reverend Ian Paisley’s Parliamentary team.