Crews with heavy equipment began the demolition of a Florida home over a huge sinkhole where a man is presumed dead after being swallowed by the earth three days ago.

Efforts to find the body of a man swallowed by a sinkhole under his Florida home were called off amid fears that the building would collapse on rescuers.

Irish-based banks’ reliance on emergency funding fell to a two-year low in February.

THE Irish economy could grow by as much as 1.6%, this year, according to Merrill Lynch, which has also said that the global economy will not slump into recession.

TAOISEACH Brian Cowen has stood over the bank guarantee scheme, despite the fact the Government was warned of the major risks in taking such an approach just days before it was implemented.

George Osmond, father of the famous singing family The Osmond Brothers, died today aged 90.

The credit crunch claimed its biggest corporate victim yet today after the embattled chief executive of investment banking giant Merrill Lynch stepped down.

A US woman who had been missing for eight days was found alive in her car at the bottom of a ravine.

A jury convicted a Florida doctor today of causing the deaths of five of his patients through overdoses of highly potent painkillers including morphine and oxycodone.

Britney Spears has been slapped with a $30m (€22.5m) lawsuit over her 2002 movie debut Crossroads, by a man who claims his idea for the film was stolen.

The London market made further gains today despite the majority of investors being kept on the sidelines by a lack of corporate news.

Olive Osmond, the mother of Marie and Donny Osmond and other members of the performing family, has died.

Wall Street surged again today lifting the Nasdaq composite index to its best close in nearly 22 months as investors welcomed reports of strong growth in the nation’s manufacturing sector and a hefty rise in construction spending.

It was a family affair when the Osmonds received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Seventies singer Marie Osmond today claimed she suffered sexual abuse while she was a worldwide pop star.