Senators in the US have rejected a measure to repeal parts of former president Barack Obama's healthcare law after a night of suspense, dealing a serious blow to President Donald Trump's agenda.

Applause and cheers greeted Senator John McCain, who is battling brain cancer, as he returned to the Capitol on Tuesday to vote for moving ahead on legislation to dismantle Obamacare.

Former US presidential candidate Senator John McCain has promised to beat the brain cancer he has been diagnosed with after having a blood clot removed.

Senator John McCain has been diagnosed with a brain tumour after having a blood clot removed.

Donald Trump's national security adviser has insisted the US president's revelations to Russian officials about the terrorist threat from Islamic State were "wholly appropriate" and amounted to a routine sharing of information.

Donald Trump has fired FBI Director James Comey during the bureau's investigation into whether the tycoon's campaign had links to Russia's meddling in the presidential election.

A draft executive order shows President Donald Trump asking for a review of America’s methods for interrogating terror suspects and whether the US should reopen CIA-run "black site" prisons outside the United States.

US president Barack Obama has declared Donald Trump “unfit” and “woefully unprepared” to serve in the White House.

Donald Trump says people in the United States illegally are cared for better than the nation's military veterans.

Ted Cruz and Donald Trump each captured two victories in yesterday's four-state round of voting in the Republican race for the White House.

Kim Kardashian and Donald Trump are king and queen of the American Dream, barometers for how far a person can go and how low a culture can sink, writes Lynn Stuart Parramore

Caving to intense Republican lobbying, presidential candidate Donald Trump has ruled out an independent White House bid and has vowed to support whomever wins the party’s nomination — a U-turn eased by his position at the front of the field.

In politics, the benefits of talking like a real person as Donald Trump does are questionable, especially in a winner-takes-all electoral system like the US, writes Leonid Bershidsky

Jon Stewart wrapped up his long-running The Daily Show with effusive tributes to his show’s staff, many on hand to see him off while political and media luminaries who served as some of the satirist’s favourite targets, from Bill O’Reilly to Hillary Clinton, appeared on tape.

An estimated 24 million Americans watched Fox News Channel’s prime-time debate with the top 10 Republican presidential candidates, the highest-rated broadcast in the network’s history.

Some Republicans gleefully scripted Donald Trump’s political obituary in the wake of his scathing comments about Senator John McCain’s military service earlier this month, hoping that his freewheeling presidential campaign had finally imploded.

Donald Trump is ploughing millions of his own dollars into his campaign, but his party is still unsure whether he’s the ace — or the joker — in the pack, writes Bette Browne

Real estate magnate Donald Trump moved to the top of the 2016 US Republican presidential field in a CNN poll released yesterday, edging rival Jeb Bush and gaining support from Republicans in the last month despite a series of controversial statements.

The Republican establishment may hope this is the beginning of the end for Donald Trump’s circus-like run for the presidency.

Senator John McCain urged Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump to apologise to US military families for saying prisoners of war are not heroes in his first direct response to remarks by Trump.

The US National Security Agency lost its authority to collect phone records in bulk, with intelligence officials warning it could jeopardise Americans’ safety.

Russian Tu-95 bombers with a nuclear weapons payload flying along the Irish coastline should be a wake-up call that “neutral” Ireland is seen by Russia as a de facto member of Nato. EU leaders attend Nato meetings and, by EU membership, Ireland is no longer seen as a neutral country. 

Russia sanctions to stay in place for now ‘to give peace a chance’

Mitt Romney’s declaration that he is considering a third shot at the White House after being a two-time Republican presidential loser was widely greeted with disdain at a national gathering of Republican activists.

A border guard vessel has been attacked by land-based forces, Ukraine said, hours after Russian president Vladimir Putin called for immediate talks on a political solution to the crisis in the east of the country.

The Central American crisis is another spanner in the works for the 11m illegal immigrants in the US, including some 55,000 of whom are Irish, hoping for a path to citizenship.

Conor McGregor has a different perspective than most when it comes to what the Irish sporting public holds close to its heart.

Hillary Clinton’s family was "dead broke" and saddled with legal bills when she and her husband left the White House, the former first lady said at the start of a high-profile book tour that could precede a 2016 presidential campaign.

Oscar-winning actress Charlize Theron has faced a barrage of criticism after she compared press intrusion into her life with rape.

In today’s “rigged” US stock market, large investors such as Greenlight Capital are like “dumb tourists” led to a casino where the card games are fixed, according to Michael Lewis, whose book Flash Boys has touched off a national debate about high-frequency trading.

Germany’s US and European allies welcome Berlin’s promise of a more robust foreign and security policy, but with no appetite at home for troops to fight, it may mean little more than extra logistical help and tougher rhetoric.

Israeli warplanes attacked a shipment of Russian missiles inside a Syrian government stronghold, officials said yesterday.

Senator John McCain said Ireland still faces questions on how corporations use the country to lower taxes after Michael Noonan, the finance minister, moved to calm tensions triggered by Apple’s practices.

US Senator John McCain has insisted he is “more pro-Russian” than President Vladimir Putin, accusing him of corruption, repression and self-serving rule in an opinion piece for Pravda newspaper.

HOW formidable a potential candidate is Hillary Clinton?

Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore yesterday expressed hope that the momentum pushing the US towards immigration legislation would benefit the 50,000 Irish living in what he described as a “twilight zone”.

President Barack Obama has authorised sending weapons to Syrian rebels for the first time, US officials have said.

APPLE always seemed like the perfect company.

President Barack Obama defied Republican critics and named outspoken diplomat Susan Rice as his national security adviser, despite accusations that she misled the nation in the aftermath of the deadly attack on Americans in Libya.

US and Russian diplomats met yesterday to try to accelerate frustratingly slow peace efforts in Syria, where the signs point only to a worsening conflict.

Barack Obama has offered his most vigorous public defence of drone strikes, describing them as legal, effective and necessary.

Tim Cook’s tenure at the helm of Apple has been a crash course in crisis management.