Millions of Americans are now hooked on drugs they or somebody close to them had prescribed for pain, writes Terry Prone

Dirk Powell is from Breaux Bridge, Louisiana, and has family roots in the mountains of Kentucky.

After such a divisive election, where lies the soul of America, asks Caroline O’Doherty

Olympia, Dublin

Olympia, Dublin 4/5

After the death of her husband and four children, Mary Jones risked her life for decades fighting for US workers’ rights says Nicola Depuis.

Don O’Mahony looks at the main contenders for the big prizes at this year’s Cannes Film Festival

SATURDAY

TROPICAL storm Lee crawled onto southern Louisiana’s coast as New Orleans prepared for one of the biggest tests of its flood defences since Hurricane Katrina devastated the city in 2005.

Eric Rudolph plans to explain how and why he committed a string of deadly bombings starting with a blast at the Atlanta Olympics in 1996 – but not just yet, his lawyer said on the eve of court appearances.

A gunman killed three people and wounded three others during a shooting spree today at the Appalachian School of Law, officials said.