AMERICA’S bats are dying in their hundreds of thousands due to a mysterious illness called white-nose syndrome, and efforts to save them could prevent billions of dollars in agricultural losses, scientists say.

A baby that fell from a second-storey window was caught by a passing postwoman in a million-to-one chance.

FORMER world heavyweight boxing champion Evander Holyfield has denied any links to an internet steroid distribution ring from which authorities say he was a customer.

Stocks soared today on news that Federal Reserve policymakers believed their run of interest rate hikes is probably nearing an end, propelling the Dow Jones industrials up nearly 200 points.

Wall Street overcame its recent caution today, with a raft of acquisitions propping up US stocks and lower-than-expected gross domestic product growth easing inflation fears.

AFTER undergoing major life-saving surgery, a young Limerick orphan has been sent to New York for further treatment.

A GIANT balloon at a Thanksgiving parade in New York snagged a street light in Times Square and caused part of it to fall into the crowd, injuring a woman and a child.

A giant balloon at a Thanksgiving parade in New York snagged a street light in Times Square and caused part of it to fall into the crowd, injuring a woman and a child, according to police and eyewitness accounts.

Stocks in the United States stumbled to a mixed finish today as the Federal Reserve kept to its policy of gradual interest rate rises but signalled increased concerns about inflation.

Gathering beneath a brilliant sky, thousands of pilgrims converged on St Peter’s Square today as cardinals held a Mass before shutting themselves inside the Sistine Chapel to begin their election of a new Pope.

WO people were arrested in a raid on an Albany, New York mosque late on Wednesday, following a sting operation involving the attempted purchase of a shoulder-fired missile, US media reported yesterday.

Two senior members of a mosque were reportedly arrested in the United States today on suspicion of plotting to buy shoulder-held missiles.

Snow and freezing rain swept across wide swathes of the north-eastern United States, causing hundreds of traffic accidents in which at least four people died.

TAOISEACH Bertie Ahern has given the strongest indication yet that Irish troops will be sent to Iraq if there is a new United Nations mandate.

A power cut struck New York and other cities in the north-eastern United States and Canada tonight.

A bald eagle which attacked a young girl and harassed other beach-goers at an American seaside resort has been captured, officials said.