FOR all the ballyhoo surrounding St Patrick’s Day, the tradition of sporting a sprig of shamrock has faded in recent years, despite the fact that it can be bought packaged in many shops. Even the use of a little lapel sachet that keeps the plant fresh throughout the day is making little difference to the wearing of it.

America’S ultra-secret National Security Agency (NSA) reluctantly finds itself in the headlines amid a wave of disclosures from ex-intelligence contractor Edward Snowden, who has exposed the service’s vast electronic spying operation.

ALLOWING gays and lesbians to serve openly in the US military is a step toward equality, advocates say, but a fight for other social changes such as gay marriage still lies ahead.

A secret report condemned the US government for knowingly allowing Nazis to settle in America after the Second World War.

PRESIDENT Barack O’bama received the traditional bowl of shamrock yesterday to mark St Patrick’s Day, but if you thought the leader of the free world might add it to his garden patch, forget it.

Former President Mary Robinson is to receive America’s Presidential Medal of Freedom from Barack Obama today.

America’s first canine got star treatment and his first back-yard romp at the White House – and even presidential clearance to visit the Oval Office.

Former British prime minister Tony Blair will receive America’s highest civilian award – the Presidential Medal of Freedom – from George Bush next week.

MANY people have been comparing Barack Obama with John F Kennedy, and they are also comparing his wife, Michelle, with Jackie Kennedy.

FORMER FBI director J Edgar Hoover drew up a list of thousands of US citizens he suspected of being disloyal and put forward a plan to have them arrested, newly declassified papers reveal.

Public support for President Bush has sunk to a record low, according to figures released today.

RENEWED attempts to justify the atom bombing of two Japanese cities, sixty years ago this month, have a lot in common with the Holocaust deniers.

THE longest-running US senator, Strom Thurmond has died at the age of 100. He was in the Senate for 48 of his 100 years.

In a cramped nuclear shelter deep beneath the White House, President George Bush stared across a spare wooden table and told his national security team, "Get the troops ready."