A US air traffic controller was suspended after being asleep while a medical flight was landing in Nevada.

Two decades after the Exxon Valdez tanker disaster, a tugboat working to prevent another oil spill in Alaska’s Prince William Sound ran aground on the same reef and left a three-mile sheen of fuel oil on the water.

An American whose unauthorised visit to Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi led to her extended detention, has been released, the office of US Senator Jim Webb said today.

US Senator Edward Kennedy, who is being treated for brain cancer, has been taken to a hospital near his Cape Cod vacation home after complaining of feeling ill.

Former Taoiseach Bertie Ahern will be presented with an award to mark his contribution to the peace process at a gala dinner tonight.

PROFESSOR Brendan Drumm has become, in a relatively short time, an accomplished media performer. He is convincing and reassuring, authoritative, articulate and polished. He has probably been tutored to use the cut-’em-off-at-the-pass tactic of answering awkward questions before they are asked and answering them on his own terms.

Former British prime minister Tony Blair will be honoured at a gala dinner tonight attended by outgoing Taoiseach Bertie Ahern and rockstar Bono.

GERMAN chancellor Angela Merkel tops Forbes magazine’s list of the world’s 100 most powerful women for the second year in a row, as US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice slipped to fourth from second last year.

US Senator Edward Kennedy is to be briefed on the current situation in the Northern peace process later today.

Daredevil star Ben Affleck has been eyed for a new role - as a US Senator.

US senator Ted Kennedy has refused to meet with Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams this week due to ongoing IRA activity.

US Senator Hillary Clinton today hailed the Ireland as an example to the world in how to improve standards of life and declared: ‘‘The ties between us are only getting stronger.’’