The United States will respond by September 1 to Russia's attempt to force a major reduction in American diplomatic staff, Rex Tillerson has said.

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has arrived in Beijing for his first face-to-face talks with Chinese leaders expected to focus on North Korea’s nuclear programme and trade.

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Russia has called on Washington to restart direct military-to-military co-operation to avert “unintended incidents” near Syria, at a time when US officials say Moscow is building up forces to protect president Bashar al-Assad’s government.

In her new book, Ayaan Hirsi Ali breaks with centuries of political orthodoxy and says Islam must adapt and divorce itself from acts of terrorism. TP O’Mahony reports

What to do about the threat posed by Isis, also known as Islamic State, is now a question exercising the minds of military planners and policymakers in Westerns capitals. 

German-US relations are facing a new test over a German intelligence employee who reportedly spied for the US, with Germany’s president saying if the allegations are true, that kind of spying on allies must stop.

The Queen of England and the Duke of Edinburgh will meet Pope Francis at the Vatican today.

Russia’s prime minister has arrived in Crimea to consider priorities for its economic development following the Russian takeover.

President Barack Obama has said his meeting with Pope Francis focused on their agreements, not their divisions.

US Secretary of State John Kerry has extended talks with Afghan President Hamid Karzai over the contentious security deal to allow American troops to remain in the country after the Nato-led military mission ends next year.

The wife of US secretary of state John Kerry is in critical but stable condition in a hospital in Massachusetts.

South Africa’s Richard Sterne and Trevor Fisher Jnr are tied for the lead at the halfway stage of the Joburg Open, three shots clear of the chasing pack.

Stagnation over the US budget in Congress will have far-reaching consequences, writes Anne-Marie Slaughter

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who skipped an overseas trip this week because of a stomach virus, has sustained concussion after fainting.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has brought an unwanted souvenir back from her recent trip to Europe - a stomach bug.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton pleaded once more for global sanctions against the Syrian regime as president Bashar Assad was rocked by the defection of a top aide.

The victims of the Great Famine were remembered yesterday during a solemn memorial service in Co Louth.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has arrived in Burma on a historic visit to the long-isolated nation to test the new government’s commitment to reform.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has cancelled a trip to London and Turkey for international conferences on cyber security and Afghanistan because of her mother’s illness.

LADY GAGA enjoyed her “first real Marilyn moment” as she serenaded former US president Bill Clinton at a charity concert in Los Angeles.

AN international clerical abuse survivors group is calling on Irish bishops to release secret files as it pursues the Vatican for crimes against humanity at the Hague.

Lady Gaga has been named the most powerful female celebrity in the world by Forbes.

OLD Bailey bomber Marian Price is back in jail after a claim that she threatened to disrupt the British Queen’s visit to Ireland.

International pressure is mounting on Syria’s president, with key European governments and the United Nations denouncing a deadly crackdown that has failed to dampen a popular uprising.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has told ABC News she understood people close to Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi were in touch with other states about the situation.

Former US Secretary of State Warren Christopher, who worked for peace in Bosnia and the Mideast in the Clinton administration, has died in Los Angeles, a law firm spokeswoman said today.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is again slapping down speculation that she harbours ambitions for another presidential run.

US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton has arrived in Egypt to start a second round of Middle East peace talks.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has said proposals for new sanctions over Iran's nuclear programme have been agreed.

A US Roman Catholic archbishop warned a top Vatican office led by the future Pope Benedict XVI about a priest who may have molested as many as 200 deaf boys, according to documents obtained by The New York Times, but the priest never was defrocked.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has said that President Obama wishes to visit Ireland as soon as his domestic diary is clear.

EUROPEAN countries were accused of having an anti-war attitude that is threatening world security by US Defence Secretary Robert Gates yesterday.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is to arrive in the Middle East later to rally Arab support for tougher sanctions against Iran over its nuclear programme.

STUNNED rescuers wrenched a survivor from the rubble after 12 days entombed in Haiti’s quake-ravaged capital, where desperate crowds clamoured yesterday for more and quicker relief.

A FORMER boyfriend of Meredith Kercher said he would be “forever haunted” by her violent death.

THERE has been talk about cutting the size of the Dáil and abolishing the Seanad, but nobody seems to have suggested abolishing the Presidency, which is the single most expensive office. How much could be save by abolishing it?

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown today unveiled a plan of nearly £1bn (€1.1bn) to devolve policing and justice powers to the Northern Ireland Assembly, promising further aid if paramilitary violence erupts.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will today hold talks with the North's political leaders in Belfast as they broker an historic deal on sharing responsibility for the local justice system.

The decision today of republican paramilitary group the Irish National Liberation Army (INLA) to end violence proves the North is leaving the horrors of its past behind, it was claimed.