Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Congress yesterday that an emerging agreement between Iran and the US would all but guarantee Tehran gets nuclear weapons and would be a bad deal, drawing a blunt rebuttal from US President Barack Obama.

Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has told the US Congress that negotiations under way between Iran and the United States would “all but guarantee” that Tehran will get nuclear weapons, a step that the world must avoid at all costs.

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.

President Barack Obama is poised in the next few days to ask Congress for new authority to use US military force against Islamic State (IS) militants.

Henry Kissinger once complained that when he wanted to talk to Europe, he never knew who to phone.

A 20-year-old man’s Twitter posts sympathising with Islamic terrorists led to an undercover FBI operation and the man’s arrest on charges that he plotted to blow up the US Capitol and kill government officials.

A man accused of plotting to attack the US Congress building and kill staff inside has been arrested by the FBI in an undercover operation.

A US$1.1 trillion (€882.5m) spending Bill is on its way to US president Barack Obama for his signature.

Barack Obama is ordering far-reaching changes to the US immigration system that will protect nearly five million people from deportation, and will have implications for undocumented Irish migrants.

The Obama administration is considering a plan that would shield possibly around 5m illegal immigrants from deportation as part of a broad set of executive actions that could be announced as early as next week, sources say.

President Barack Obama vowed his administration would respond in a “much more aggressive way” to cases of Ebola in the United States.

Secret Service director Julia Pierson resigned yesterday in the face of multiple revelations about bumbling in her agency and rapidly eroding confidence that the president and his family were being kept safe.

President Barack Obama acknowledged that US intelligence agencies underestimated the threat from Islamic State militants and overestimated the ability and will of Iraq’s army to fight.

President Barack Obama has acknowledged that US intelligence agencies underestimated the threat from Islamic State militants and overestimated the ability and will of Iraq’s army to fight.

The old gods are resurgent

The US House of Representatives has approved a Republican plan to file a lawsuit against Barack Obama for allegedly exceeding his constitutional powers.

The US House of Representatives has approved a Republican plan to file a lawsuit against Barack Obama for allegedly exceeding his constitutional powers.

Members of Congress are falling over one another to show their support for Israel.

US president Barack Obama and congressional leaders believe he does not need authorisation from Congress for some steps he might take to quell insurgency in Iraq, the Senate’s top Republican and congressional aides have said.

Barack Obama and US political leaders believe the president does not need Congress’ permission to take certain measures to quell the al Qaida-inspired uprising sweeping through Iraq, the Senate’s top Republican and others have said.

US House Majority Leader Eric Cantor of Virginia lost to a Tea Party challenger in a stunning Republican primary upset that sent shockwaves through Congress and gave the conservative movement a landmark victory.

European Union leaders will today sign a trade deal with Ukraine designed to give economic support to the beleaguered state in the wake of Russia’s annexation of Crimea.

Moneygall may not be known as a rugby stronghold, but Barack Obama proved last night that the Irish everywhere have just one thing on their mind when he hailed the “legendary” Brian O’Driscoll.

Taoiseach Enda Kenny has held out hope for 55,000 undocumented Irish living in the United States, telling representatives from Congress — where legislation on the issue has stalled — to “get on with it”.

Noodle challenge not that hard to stomach

US President Barack Obama said extending emergency unemployment insurance will give a “vital economic lifeline” to millions of people still grappling with the aftermath of the worst recession since the 1930s.

US politicians in both houses of Congress have been trying to agree separate plans to reopen the government and avoid a federal financial default that could tip the global economy back into recession.

Hopes are growing for a deal to head off a US government default and end a partial government shutdown after encouraging comments from the congressional leaders at the centre of the talks.

The focus of efforts to end the government shutdown and prevent a US default has shifted to the Senate, where leaders were in talks aimed at resolving the twin stalemates.

Republicans are offering to pass legislation to avert a debt default and end the partial government shutdown as part of a package that includes cuts in benefit programmes, officials in the House of Representatives say.

The White House has said no decision has been made on budget provisions after discussions with senior Republicans.

Republicans in the US House of Representatives unveiled a plan yesterday that would avert a looming default, in a sign that lawmakers may end a standoff that has rattled markets and thrown the country’s future creditworthiness into question.

Republicans are ready to offer the government a temporary debt limit extension, the leader of the US House of Representatives says.

Barack Obama is hosting senior Republicans today to seek an opening in an impasse that has shut down much of the government and threatens a catastrophic federal default.

President Barack Obama turned up the political pressure on Republicans yesterday, saying he would be willing to negotiate on budget issues only after they agree to re-open the federal government and raise the debt limit with no conditions.

A possible US national default is looming closer as the partial federal government shutdown continued, rattling markets in the US and overseas.

The White House has signalled that it would be open to a short-term hike in the US debt limit as the United States moved a step closer to its first-ever default while a separate impasse, a partial government shutdown, entered its second week.

Political gridlock in Washington left European markets in the red today amid disappointment over the lack of progress in resolving America's budget crisis.

The United States has moved closer to the possibility of the first-ever default on the government’s debt as Speaker John Boehner adamantly ruled out a House vote on a straightforward bill to boost the borrowing authority without concessions from President Barack Obama.

Congress needs to pass a debt ceiling increase by Oct 17 or the US will default, said Treasury Secretary Jacob J Lew.

President Barack Obama is cancelling a trip to Asia next week because of the US government shutdown.

Politicians on both sides of the US congressional stalemate have been summoned for talks with president Barack Obama as the partial government shutdown showed little sign of a breakthrough.

Much of the vast machinery of the US government has ground to a halt as Democrats and Republicans blamed each other for a partial shutdown that closed federal agencies, national parks and research facilities across the nation.

The US government was on the brink of shutting down last night after the House of Representatives approved a Republican bill seeking to delay President Barack Obama’s health care law.