Iran test-fired two ballistic missiles yesterday with the phrase “Israel must be wiped out” written in Hebrew on them, state media reported, a show of strength by the Islamic Republic as US Vice President Joe Biden visited Israel.

Here’s a briefing on some of the stories and issues highlighted on irishexaminer.com today.

Hundreds of officers outside the church where a funeral was being held for a policeman killed along with his partner in an ambush shooting turned their backs on New York’s mayor as he spoke during the service.

Barack Obama has vowed that the United States will not be “dragged back” into military action in Iraq as long as leaders in Baghdad refuse to reform a political system that has left the county vulnerable to a fast-moving Islamic insurgency.

Al-Qaida-inspired militants have pushed deeper into Iraq’s Sunni heartland, conquering Saddam Hussein’s hometown of Tikrit as soldiers and security forces yielded ground once controlled by US forces.

Ukraine’s government says it is drawing up plans to withdraw its troops from Crimea, where Russia is steadily taking formal control as its armed forces seize military installations across the peninsula.

There are reports a political deal to end the bloodshed in Ukraine has been reached following marathon crisis talks.

Barack Obama has sent Russia a clear message about its treatment of gays and lesbians with his choices to represent the United States at the Sochi Winter Olympics.

Soldiers dug through tons of mud and dirt in search of victims of a massive landslide, as Mexican authorities looked for a police helicopter that went missing while carrying out relief operations on the flood-stricken Pacific coast.

The CIA has confirmed it wanted one of the Boston bombing suspects placed on a terrorist database 18 months ago.

A visibly infuriated President Barack Obama surrounded himself with tear-stained parents of Connecticut school shooting victims and declared it a “pretty shameful day for Washington” after the Senate rejected a measure designed to make it tougher for criminals to get their hands on guns.

Two bombs exploded near the finish of the Boston Marathon today, killing two people, injuring 22 others and sending authorities rushing to aid wounded spectators at America’s oldest and most prestigous marathon.

US President Barack Obama called Boston mayor Tom Menino and Massachusetts governor Deval Patrick to offer federal assistance in responding to explosions that rocked the end of the Boston Marathon.

Pope Francis today offered intimate insights into the moments after his papal election, telling an audience with the press that he was immediately inspired to take the name of St Francis of Assisi because of his work for peace and the poor.

Iran’s supreme leader has strongly rejected proposals for direct talks with United States on its nuclear programme and other issues.

US President Barack Obama was inaugurated for his second term in office yesterday.

The top US gun lobby today rejected Obama administration proposals to reduce gun violence, saying it expects to have enough support in Congress to fend off a ban on assault weapons.

One student has been injured in a shooting at a rural high school in California today and another has been taken into custody, US officials said.

The 11th-hour US compromise deal satisfied few people fully and saw a vital vote on a $60bn aid package for Sandy victims delayed, giving an outraged Governor Chris Christie a chance to take centre stage, writes Kyran Fitzgerald

US politicians who hoped to resolve any uncertainty over the so-called “fiscal cliff” before financial markets reopen tomorrow ran into trouble today as the Republican-controlled House of Representatives objected to urgent legislation approved by the Senate in a New Year drama unlike any other in the history of Congress.

No legislation will be passed to implement any deal to avoid the sharp tax hikes and spending cuts of the US fiscal cliff before the midnight deadline, politicians said tonight.

The shape of a deal to avert the US "fiscal cliff" is emerging with just hours to go before a midnight deadline, Washington sources have said.

The White House and US Senate Republicans sorted through disputes over taxing the wealthy and cutting the Defence Department and other federal agencies as tonight’s midnight deadline for avoiding a “fiscal cliff” drew to within hours.

From his old school in Indonesia to a Japanese beach town that happens to share his name, people around the world have cheered Barack Obama’s re-election as US president today.

A cliffhanger vote went right down to the wire last night as Barack Obama and Mitt Romney sweated on results from the presidential election, with 130 million people across the US casting their ballot.

President Barack Obama and Republican rival Mitt Romney scurried through decisive swing states on Sunday, issuing promises of better days to come while castigating their opponent.

The superstorm ravaging the US East Coast laid waste to the campaign strategies of President Barack Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney with just a week remaining in their intensely close race for the White House.

Superstorm Sandy disrupted the US presidential race as President Barack Obama and Republican rival Mitt Romney both cancelled campaign events.

President Barack Obama today followed up on the last presidential debate by accusing his Republican challenger Mitt Romney of shifting his positions, as the two candidates entered the two-week home stretch before Election Day.

US President Barack Obama and Republican Mitt Romney vied aggressively for the support of female voters, accusing each other of failing America’s women as they fought to keep up the momentum after their contentious, finger-pointing debate.

US President Barack Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney clashed over taxes, deficits and how to revive the US economy last night as they shared the stage for the first time in a high-stakes debate with the power to reshape the race for the White House.

A former US serviceman arrested in Honolulu for sending emails from Thailand threatening to kill Vice President Joe Biden has pleaded guilty.

By Matt Spetalnick and John Whitesides, Washington Charlotte,North Carolina

Barack Obama urged wavering supporters not to give up on their dreams of change - or on him - as he accepted the Democratic Party's nomination for president in what promises to be a tough race against Republican Mitt Romney.

The US Treasury Department said that the national debt has topped US$16 trillion (€12.7 trillion), the result of chronic government deficits that have poured more than US$50,000 (€39,746) worth of red ink onto federal ledgers for every man, woman and child in the United States.

Democrats launched President Barack Obama on his uncertain bid for re-election as they opened their national convention.

Republican Mitt Romney’s selection of Representative Paul Ryan of Wisconsin as his running mate has not altered the race against President Barack Obama, and the campaign remains very close with less than three months to go, a new Associated Press-GfK poll shows.

Letters from Osama bin Laden’s last hideout show him worrying about mistakes made by his terror network and the need to regain the trust of potential Muslim supporters.

Kosovo’s prime minister says integration is the only option he will accept for his country’s aggrieved Serb population.

Taoiseach Enda Kenny will complete his five-day trip to the United States today with a visit to the White House.

The man destined to be China’s next leader won an extraordinary welcome across Washington in a finely scripted opening to one of the world’s most important relationships.

Seventeen people have been killed in two separate attacks in a province of north-eastern Iraq which was once an al-Qaida stronghold, officials said today.

President Barack Obama saluted Dr Martin Luther King today as a man who “stirred our conscience” and made the Union “more perfect”.

The alleged Iranian plot to kill Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to the United States is a “dangerous escalation” in Iran’s support for terrorism and must draw an international response, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said today.