US secretary of state John Kerry has attempted to defuse tension with Israel on the eve of Benjamin Netanyahu’s address to Congress, where he will spell out his opposition to any deal with a still-nuclear armed Iran.

A border guard vessel has been attacked by land-based forces, Ukraine said, hours after Russian president Vladimir Putin called for immediate talks on a political solution to the crisis in the east of the country.

Gunman Elliot Rodger’s parents heard the news of his bloody rampage on the radio as they were racing to Santa Barbara, California, after his mother saw his online threats, it has emerged.

President Barack Obama said Russia’s troop build-up on the Ukraine border was out of the ordinary and called on Moscow to pull its military back and begin talks to defuse tensions.

A post-mortem on Hollywood actor Philip Seymour Hoffman’s body is inconclusive, and tests will be needed to determine what caused his death, the New York City’s medical examiner’s office says.

President Barack Obama is hoping his opponent in the 2008 presidential election will help sell the idea of US military intervention in Syria to the nation.

United States Anti-Doping Agency head Travis Tygart has claimed Lance Armstrong is still lying about the full extent of his doping past.

Lance Armstrong’s claims that his use of performance-enhancing drugs during his cycling career made it a level playing field have been labelled “amazing” and “simply not true” by United States Anti-Doping Agency chief executive Travis Tygart.

Mitt Romney led a chorus of Republican criticism of Barack Obama’s foreign policy, accusing the president of reducing the killing of the US ambassador to Libya as a mere “bump in the road” rather than part of a chain of events that threatened American interests.

President Barack Obama, defending his foreign policy record at a time of anti-American rage in the Muslim world, fired back at suggestions from Republican nominee Mitt Romney that the president has been weak with allies and enemies alike.

Democrats launched co-ordinated attacks against Mitt Romney, intensifying calls for him to explain his offshore bank accounts and release several years of tax returns.

Democrats launched co-ordinated attacks against Mitt Romney, intensifying calls for him to explain his offshore bank accounts and release several years of tax returns.

US president Barack Obama broke his silence over claims that Secret Service agents hired prostitutes and said “of course I’ll be angry” if the accusations were true.

Veteran CBS newsman Mike Wallace has died at 93.

The UN Secretary General today demanded that Syria’s president stop killing his own people, saying the revolutions of the Arab Spring show that people will no longer accept tyranny.

The wife of disgraced financier Bernard Madoff says the couple tried to kill themselves after he admitted stealing billions of dollars in the largest Ponzi scheme in history.

Ashton Kutcher will play “an internet billionaire with a broken heart” when he arrives as the new star of 'Two and a Half Men' next month.

Afghanistan’s former intelligence chief said today he knew Osama bin Laden was hiding in Pakistan four years ago, but his claims were rejected by the country’s leaders.

CBS and Warner Bros Television, pressed by a deadline to keep TV’s most popular sitcom alive after it was derailed by Charlie Sheen’s personal troubles, said Ashton Kutcher would replace him in 'Two And A Half Men'.

Pressed by a deadline to keep TV’s most popular sitcom alive after it was derailed by Charlie Sheen’s personal troubles, CBS and Warner Bros. Television said that Ashton Kutcher will replace Sheen in Two and a Half Men.

HUGH GRANT is reportedly in negotiations to replace Charlie Sheen on CBS’ Two and a Half Men.

Libyan rebels have seized back a second key oil complex and are pushing west toward Tripoli.

CBS’ chief executive described the future of crisis-ridden sitcom 'Two And A Half Men' as uncertain as its troubled star Charlie Sheen spoke of a drug-free life with two “goddess” girlfriends at his home dubbed Sober Valley Lodge.

Troubled star Charlie Sheen left hospital today after police found him apparently drunk in a smashed-up New York hotel room.

CHARLIE Sheen’s representative insisted last night the actor was taken to a hospital after an allergic reaction to medication.

Actor Charlie Sheen has been taken to hospital for psychiatric checks after police were called to his New York hotel room.

Actor and US talk-show host Craig Ferguson and his wife are expecting a child, it has been announced.

The Nato-led command stressed that military operations to secure vast areas of Afghanistan would not be delayed by the ouster of its top commander and mounting casualties.

CONTROVERSY continues to bubble, if not quite rage, following Tiger Woods’ comeback at the Augusta Masters last week.

House Democratic leaders are predicting victory for President Barack Obama’s bill to overhaul the US health care system.

Charlie Sheen entered rehab and is taking a break from US television’s top-rated comedy, 'Two and a Half Men', his publicist said.

Jeff Bridges of 'Crazy Heart' and Sandra Bullock of 'The Blind Side' claimed top acting honours today at the Screen Actors Guild Awards, building momentum for possible Oscars glory.

Former US presidential candidate John Kerry said today it would be irresponsible for America to consider sending more troops to Afghanistan amid the country’s deepening election crisis.

A respected TV producer accused of trying to blackmail chat show host David Letterman for $2m (€1.4m) was desperate and deep in debt, prosecutors said.

Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke said he had to “hold his nose” over last year’s taxpayer-funded bailouts of financial giants.

America was poised for a massive shake-up of its car industry today after the White House said neither General Motors nor Chrysler’s plans for more bailout money were acceptable.

Wall Street broke a four-day advance today as a rally in financial stocks fizzled and dragged the market lower.

America’s recession “probably” will end this year if the US government succeeds in bolstering the banking system, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said in a rare television interview.

Weeks after starring in his own story of bravery and heroism, the pilot who safely ditched his jet in the Hudson River received a standing ovation from the audience at a Broadway performance of 'South Pacific'.

Hudson River hero pilot Chesley Sullenberger has become such a hot media commodity that journalists are being restricted from taking pictures of him being introduced to the audience at a Broadway play this weekend.

US secretary of state Condoleezza Rice hailed the election of Barack Obama as the first African-American president as a key moment in history.

The two most influential women in President George Bush’s White House launched a fierce defence of the president’s legacy against critics calling his administration one of the worst in history.

US president-elect Barack Obama wants changes in how some of the nation’s biggest economic problems are handled, from helping the troubled car industry to aiding homeowners fighting repossession, he will say today.

“HERE I am, signed, sealed, delivered.” That’s what the giddy crowds at Barack Obama’s campaign rallies hear when he walks off the stage — the booming sound of Stevie Wonder singing about the promise of a sure thing.