ENGLAND: The Houses of Parliament may have been infested with “mutant” rats which are becoming immune to traditional poisons.

RECENTLY, I was fortunate to attend and speak at the annual Kennedy Summer School in New Ross, Co Wexford. Attendees had two things in common: A fascination with the closest thing Ireland and Irish America have to a royal family, and a belief in the potential of democratic politics.

Further health cuts could be on the way because of a budget over-run at the HSE.

The country’s ongoing fascination with the Kennedys shows no signs of abating and this weekend, two more scions of the most famous of all Irish-American families are in Ireland for this year’s Kennedy Summer School.

There has been broad support for the Taoiseach in Boston’s Irish community, despite a planned protest against proposed abortion laws when he delivers the commencement speech at the Boston College graduation ceremony today.

By Mary Regan, Political Correspondent in Boston

Boston’s cardinal is to boycott a Jesuit college’s graduation where an Taoiseach Enda Kenny is the commencement speaker, over his support for abortion laws.

Exploiting the US president’s Irish ancestry helped Ireland retain its influence on Capitol Hill, writes Ryle Dwyer

Newly re-elected President Barack Obama will once again deal with a divided Congress as Democrats retained control of the US Senate, while Republicans kept their solid majority in the House of Representatives.

Every family has its share of pain and triumph. And then there are the Kennedys.

Joseph Kennedy III is to follow in the family tradition and contest the race for a Massachusetts congressional seat in the 4th District.

ONE of the most under-threat women in the world yesterday said receiving the Tipperary International Peace Award would help her personal safety.

Former US senator Edward M. Kennedy became a magnet for extremist rage in the decades after his brothers were gunned down, living under constant, chillingly specific assassination threats targeting him, according to newly released FBI documents.

The Democratic-controlled US Congress has approved historic legislation extending healthcare to tens of millions of Americans who lack it and cracking down on insurance company abuses.

FACING a divided Congress and a dissatisfied nation, US President Barack Obama aimed at getting the US economy and his own presidency back on track in his first State of the Union policy speech last night.

Facing a divided Congress and a dissatisfied nation, President Barack Obama will aim at getting the US economy and his own presidency back on track in his first State of the Union policy speech tonight.

PRESIDENT Barack Obama, under pressure from fiscal conservatives, will seek a three-year freeze on domestic spending in his 2011 budget that would save $250 billion (€177.5bn) by 2020, administration officials said.

The leader of the House of Representatives said today that she lacks the votes to move the Senate’s sweeping healthcare reforms Bill through the House, dealing a jarring blow to Democrats’ hopes of finally speeding US President Barack Obama’s top domestic priority through Congress.

Landmark US health care legislation backed by President Barack Obama passed its sternest Senate test in the pre-dawn hours early today, overcoming Republican delaying tactics on a 60-40 vote that all but assures its passage this week.

That’s one of the conclusions we can draw from the early success of the new Grow it Yourself (GIY) movement.

Massachusetts senator Edward Kennedy told of his fear and remorse surrounding the fateful events on Chappaquiddick Island when his car accident left a woman dead.

The most remarkable thing about Chappaquiddick is that Kennedy was 37 years old at the time. This was not some youthful shenanigans gone wrong. Everything about the story — the drinking, philandering, poor judgment and lies — were the man. It was entirely in character

US PRESIDENT Barack Obama, three former presidents and the nation’s elite gathered at a grand Catholic funeral for Edward Kennedy, America’s legendary political patriarch.

President Barack Obama paid tribute to the “greatest legislator of our time” today, eulogising Edward Kennedy in front of hundreds of mourners.

THERE was a poignant footnote to President Obama’s historic July 10 meeting with Pope Benedict XVI at the Vatican.

SENATOR Edward Kennedy’s body was taken to Boston last night to lie in repose at his murdered brother’s presidential library for two days of public visits.

DUBLINERS raised glasses in pubs and signed a book of condolence at the US Embassy yesterday in heartfelt tributes to Senator Edward Kennedy.

SENATOR Edward Kennedy’s death comes as a political struggle appears to be chipping away at the Democratic power-broker’s vision for what he called “the cause of my life”, providing affordable healthcare coverage to all Americans.

PRESIDENT Barack Obama said yesterday the nation had lost “the greatest United States senator of our time” as world leaders joined inlionising Ted Kennedy.

Senator Ted Kennedy, who died yesterday, will be best remembered in this country as a true friend of Ireland, but he will be remembered in the United States for much more. He was elected to the US Senate in 1962 at a time when the Irish-Americans had finally come out of the political shadows following the election of his brother, John F Kennedy, to the White House in 1960.

Taoiseach Brian Cowen has today paid tribute to US Senator Edward Kennedy, who died overnight following a battle with a brain tumour.

Veteran US Senator Edward Kennedy, dubbed the liberal lion of the Senate, has died after battling a brain tumour. He was 77.

The Libyan convicted of the Lockerbie bombing today formally dropped the second appeal against his conviction for the attack which killed 270 people.

Seven US senators have written to Scotland’s justice secretary calling for the Lockerbie bomber to remain in jail, it was confirmed today.

The 88-year-old sister of President John F Kennedy was fighting for her life in hospital today.

IT is to be welcomed that Edward Kennedy, one of the longest-serving American senators and a Democratic Party patriarch, is to receive an honorary knighthood from Queen Elizabeth. The honour is one of the highest that country can bestow.

Caroline Kennedy identified Barack Obama as a quantum shift in political potential.

US Senator Edward Kennedy, who is being treated for brain cancer, has been taken to a hospital near his Cape Cod vacation home after complaining of feeling ill.

Veteran politician senator Edward Kennedy left hospital today a week after undergoing surgery on a brain tumour.

Veteran politician Edward Kennedy was making a good recovery from surgery on a brain tumour, doctors said today.

VETERAN US politician Edward Kennedy was undergoing surgery yesterday on his cancerous brain tumour.

Veteran US politician Edward Kennedy was undergoing surgery today on his cancerous brain tumour.

Veteran US senator Edward Kennedy is being released from hospital, one day after being diagnosed with a cancerous brain tumour that experts say is almost certainly fatal.

US Senator Edward Kennedy has a malignant brain tumour, doctors said today.