US health officials are recommending an end to the nation’s lifetime ban on blood donations from gay and bisexual men.

Car-sharing service Uber has come under fire on social media after appearing to endorse fare increases in central Sydney as residents were attempting to evacuate the area after a siege in a cafe.

Facebook is stepping up its efforts to fight ebola by adding a button designed to make it easier for its users to donate to charities battling the disease.

Cork is among four cities worldwide chosen for a unique project set up by the International Red Cross to look at using emerging technology, including robots and drones, to ease flood risks.

Rescuers are searching through rubble for survivors after a massive explosion at a Texas fertiliser plant killed as many as 15 people and injured more than 160.

A number of people have been killed in a massive explosion at a fertiliser plant near Waco, Texas.

Lady Gaga has donated $1m (€780,000) to help victims of hurricane Sandy.

NBC says its benefit concert for superstorm Sandy victims drew nearly $23m (€18m) in donations to the American Red Cross.

Life in the US north-eastern states hit by Superstorm Sandy was slowly struggling back to normality for many as bodies of the more than 90 dead continued to be found.

Bruce Springsteen and Jon Bon Jovi, both from hard-hit New Jersey, will perform at a benefit concert for Superstorm Sandy victims.

It may look to America like US president Barack Obama is off the campaign trail.

It may appear as if Barack Obama is off the campaign trail, but he is not.

Oil giant BP says it will donate $1 million to support relief efforts related to Hurricane Isaac, which lashed Louisiana and Mississippi with flooding, rains and wind.

THE online auction site eBay has learned from experience what kind of excitement a lock of Justin Bieber’s hair can cause.

Lindsay Lohan was taken into custody after a US Judge revoked her probation because she was ousted from a community service assignment at a women’s shelter.

Lindsay Lohan has been taken away in handcuffs after a judge found her in violation of her probation.

Prosecutors will demand time in jail for actress Lindsay Lohan after arguing that she is in violation of her probation in a theft case.

Sandra Bullock has donated $1m (€713,000) to the Japan relief effort.

Hurricane Tomas pushed northward from Haiti, leaving villagers to mop up, evacuees to return to their tents and almost everyone relieved that the country did not suffer what could have been its first big disaster since the January earthquake.

AN Irish charity building houses in Haiti has said it has exceeded its targets in the impoverished country despite the destruction wrought by the hurricane last winter.

US rescuers today resumed the desperate search for dozens of campers still missing after flash floods swept through a busy Arkansas campsite, killing at least 17.

At least 16 people were killed when floodwater tore through a campsite in Arkansas, US officials said today.

Minneapolis investigators were today trying to pinpoint the cause of a fire that gutted a building containing several apartments and an Irish pub, killing three adults and three children.

Americans should come together and help support victims of Hurricane Gustav, the wife of Republican presidential hopeful John McCain said today.

Presidential rivals John McCain and Barack Obama turned their attention to hurricane Gustav today as the Republican Party’s national convention was suspended.

Irish people in New Orleans have been urged to keep in touch with family in Ireland and the Department of Foreign Affairs as the city braces itself for monster Hurricane Gustav.

A WOMAN who took in a family recovering from Hurricane Katrina has been arrested and charged with kidnapping after authorities said she refused to return five children to their mother and went on the run with them for a month.

The death toll from tornados across four US Southern states that tore through homes, ripped the roof off a shopping mall and blew apart warehouses in a rare spasm of violent winter weather rose to at least 21 today, with dozens injured.

Lindsay Lohan is set to spend time in a morgue as part of her community service - in a bid to show the consequences of driving under the influence.

More than 100,000 homes and businesses were still without power across two US states and parts of Canada today as the impact of a winter storm lingered more than a week after it brought chaos to the area.

Lindsay Lohan has served just over 80 minutes in jail in relation to her two drink-driving arrests in Beverly Hills, California and nearby Santa Monica in May and July.

Around 1,700 people have asked to be reimbursed for buying James Frey’s largely fabricated best-selling memoir, A Million Little Pieces, a lawyer said, as a New York judge approved a settlement with disgruntled readers.

Officials in the US state of Texas are today preparing for Hurricane Dean.

JOHNSON & Johnson has sued the American Red Cross over the use by the relief group and its partners of the company’s trademark red cross logo on first aid kits, hand sanitiser and medical gloves sold to the public.

In the New Orleans neighbourhood President Bush visited right after Hurricane Katrina, the US government gave $84.5m (€65.3m) to more than 10,000 households.

The FBI is investigating allegations of theft and other wrongdoing by American Red Cross volunteers who distributed relief supplies after Hurricane Katrina.

ON Friday, September 16, the American people marked a day of prayer and remembrance for the victims of Hurricane Katrina. Casualty numbers are very high, but any loss of life is a tragedy in personal human terms.

A host of musicians and stars, including Chris Rock, came together to help the thousands of refugees displaced by Hurricae Katrina.

US federal emergency officials are directing hurricane-aid supplies to areas where hey aren’t needed, according to an Air Force official, causing delays that have left international aid shipments for Hurricane Katrina victims sitting at an Air Force base in Arkansas.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice defended President George Bush today against charges that the government’s sluggish response to Hurricane Katrina showed racial insensitivity.

The international Red Cross said today it had launched a special website to help victims of Hurricane Katrina make contact with family members and friends.

The suffering of New Orleans, long a culturally rich city, is being felt across the entertainment world.

Michael Brown, the head of the United States Federal Emergency Management Agency, was hand-picked by the President to take charge of the recovery effort in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.

Australia will send $10m (€6.1m) and a team of 20 disaster experts to the US to help with the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, the prime minister John Howard said today.