News of the tragedy which has claimed the lives of six Irish people and left a number of others seriously injured first emerged when the Berkeley Police Department received an emergency call at 12.41am local time (8.41am Irish time).

Safety officials in Berkeley are inspecting the apartment complex where six Irish students were killed after a balcony collapsed.

Ryder Cup charity mementos belonging to Europe captain Paul McGinley have been stolen from his car, along with his golf clubs.

USA: Lottery ticket buyers in New Hampshire who dream of bringing home the bacon now can smell it, too.

The parents of a teenage girl run over and killed by emergency vehicles after the Asiana Airlines crash landing at San Francisco airport is suing the city, saying rescuers were reckless and poorly trained.

USA:

A five-year-old boy who has battled leukaemia for years fulfilled his wish to be his favourite superhero – taking on foe after foe around San Francisco dressed in a black Batman costume.

A wildfire raging on the edge of the Yosemite National Park threatened both one of America’s premier sites of natural beauty and a reservoir that supplies San Francisco.

The US coastguard has called off its search for two Cork men blown from their racing yacht by waves off the California coast, saying the “window of survivability had passed”.

Two Irishmen are among four sailors still missing in the Pacific Ocean after their yacht was thrown onto rocks during a yacht race in San Francisco on Saturday.

A gunman opened fire at a Christian university in California yesterday, killing at least six people and wounding three more, authorities said. Police say they have a suspect in custody.

A gunman opened fire at a Christian university in California today, killing at least six people.

EVERY now and then Irish sports journalists of a certain vintage get wistful.

Liam Gallagher would rather be in Oasis than Beady Eye.

A man who walked into a San Francisco art gallery, grabbed a valuable pencil drawing by Pablo Picasso off the wall, then fled in a waiting taxi.

FROM Angola to Los Angeles the visit of Queen Elizabeth has put Ireland in the international spotlight.

Phil Mickelson is taking advice on what course of action to follow in the wake of accusations of cheating.

PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem is to meet with players next Tuesday in a bid to address growing disquiet over the use of controversial pre-1990 Ping i2 irons.

A SOUTHERN California woman has claimed her late father was the Zodiac Killer who terrorised the San Francisco Bay area four decades ago.

Actress Sharon Stone has lost another round of custody proceedings over her oldest son.

Barack Obama’s presidential campaign is “the largest grass-roots army in recent political history”, his campaign manager said today.

Police are today reportedly investigating whether one or more of the young men mauled by a tiger at the San Francisco Zoo may have taunted the animal.

A tiger escaped from its pen at the San Francisco Zoo today, killing one man and critically injuring two others before police shot it dead, authorities said.

WHAT started out as a parody of modern-day tabloid journalism turned into an international scandal yesterday when the American media went into overdrive about the fake porn pictures of Elin Nordegren.

Actor Sean Penn has blasted the US media for "insensitive" reporting, insisting journalists no longer make time to investigate stories thoroughly.

Lestat may be looking for some fresh blood.

THE woman charged with tossing her three sons into San Francisco Bay has been battling schizophrenia and once said she was going to feed the boys to the sharks, family members said.

A woman accused of lying about finding a human finger in a bowl of chilli at a Wendy’s fast food restaurant was charged with conspiracy to commit fraud, adding to the theft counts she already faces.

The ex-girlfriend of one of America’s richest, most high-profile baseball stars has told a grand jury that he used steroids, according to reports.

BASEBALL superstar Barry Bonds told a federal grand jury in California that he used substances supplied by the now notorious Bay Area Laboratory Co-operative, or BALCO, but said he never thought they were steroids, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.

Film-maker Michael Moore had evidence that Iraqi prisoners were being abused by US soldiers long before shocking pictures of the scandal emerged, he said today.

The Episcopal Diocese of California has sanctioned a retired bishop for marrying his same-sex partner during a church ceremony in San Francisco, according to a published report.

The laboratory at the centre of the drug scandal which has rocked world athletics in the past week is being investigated for allegedly receiving millions of dollars in return for undetectable performance-enhancing drugs.

Director Quentin Tarantino and actress Uma Thurman came up with the idea for “Kill Bill,” their latest film, over an after-work cocktail during the shooting of “Pulp Fiction” a decade ago.

BASIC Instinct star Sharon Stone and her newspaper editor husband Phil Bronstein have announced they are divorcing after five years of marriage.

The Office has received rave reviews from critics after its first airing on US television.

An Irishman is being held on a bail of $5m (€5.06m) bail after being charged with murder for throwing another man overboard during a San Francisco party cruise because prosecutors fear he is a flight risk.

A new film based on the infamous Zodiac killer is reportedly being developed by Phoenix Pictures.

A luxury home was described as ‘‘a house of horrors’’ in a lawsuit filed by an engaged couple in San Francisco.