USA: A flight was diverted after a man tried to kiss a sleeping girl next to him on the airplane.

A man who teaches classes on the outdoors is in hospital after he was mauled by a bear during a mountaineering lesson in the Alaska Panhandle.

USA: Felimina Rotundo works 11 hours a day, six days a week at a Buffalo laundry and says she has no plans to quit working even though she turned 100 two months ago.

Mere decoration won’t do much to improve this Ahakista West Cork house, called the Anchorage — it’s as close as you’ll get to sinking beyond rescue.

Police officers are being told to lighten up — with smiles-

GERMANY: An American exchange student who got stuck in a giant vagina sculpture was freed by firemen in southwestern Germany.

A massive wildfire fed by wind in Alaska’s Kenai Peninsula is continuing to explode in size, leading to 1,000 buildings being evacuated.

WITH immigration levels once again mirroring those of the 1980s, a new generation of Irish people has been forced to seek employment overseas. This Christmas, less than half of them will get to come home and celebrate the festive season.

Starting in about a decade, Kingston, Jamaica, will probably be off-the-charts hot — permanently.

The most gripping crime dramas often revel in the minutiae and onerous procedures of police work.

Dana Stabenow swapped a subsistence life style with a rifle and an axe for a keyboard — 29 novels later, she told Caroline O’Doherty about the journey

Crews aboard two aircraft which flew over an oil drilling ship that went aground in a severe Alaska storm say there is no sign that the vessel is leaking fuel or that its hull has been breached.

From the US to South Korea, the eyes of the world turned skyward today for the rare sight of the transit of Venus.

Two US Coast Guard members were shot dead at a communications station on an island off Alaska in what officials said appeared to be a double murder. They have yet to identify a suspect.

A spring snowfall has broken the nearly 60-year-old seasonal snow record of Alaska’s largest city.

The Alaska Volcano Observatory has downgraded the commercial airliner alert level for a volcano in the Aleutian Islands, a day after a small explosion sent ash 15,000 feet into the air.

A volcano on Alaska’s Aleutian Islands sent up an ash cloud today which prompted scientists to increase the alert level for commercial air traffic.

A US federal judge dismissed prosecutors’ argument that a BP subsidiary violated its probation after an oil spill because of another spill on Alaska’s North Slope.

More than 1,000 Occupy Wall Street protesters have blocked cargo trucks at some of the US West Coast’s busiest ports, forcing terminals in Oakland, California, Portland, Oregon, and Washington state to halt operations.

A KENYAN long-distance runner who spent more than two days in freezing winter temperatures without winter gear has had his feet amputated.

A KENYAN long-distance runner who spent more than two days lost in snow storms in the US state of Alaska has had his feet amputated just above the ankles.

A long-distance runner who spent more than two days in freezing winter temperatures without winter gear has had his feet amputated.

A Kenyan runner who disappeared over the weekend as two snowstorms hit the Alaskan city where he lives has been found alive with severe frostbite on both feet and severe hypothermia.

AN ALASKAN mother who sparked a furore when she was seen on the Dr Phil TV show pouring hot sauce into her adopted Russian-born son’s mouth as a punishment has been convicted of child abuse.

AN Irish climber has escaped death after a dramatic high-altitude rescue near the summit of one of the world’s most treacherous mountains.

An injured Irish climber was recovering in hospital today after being rescued by helicopter from Alaska’s Mount McKinley.

Oil giant BP is fighting charges that it violated probation for a 2006 oil spill on Alaska's North Slope by allowing another large spill in the area three years later.

The owner of an Alaska barber shop did not let an SUV crashing through the front of his store cause a bad hair day for a client.

An amphibious plane carrying former US Republican Senator Ted Stevens crashed into a remote mountainside during a fishing trip, killing Alaska's most beloved political figure and four others and stranding the survivors on a rocky, brush-covered slope overnight.

A former long-serving US senator and at least four other people were killed when a plane crashed near a remote fishing village in Alaska today.

A large cargo-type plane crashed in the US state of Alaska and burst into a deadly fireball that sparked a forest fire at Denali National Park, officials said.

A British woman and her American husband accused over a domestic terrorism plot have admitted lying about the existence of a hit list of possible targets.

No Way Down: Life & Death on K2

SHANNON Airport played a pivotal role in a successful world record attempt when an Italian aviator had to divert and refuel there last weekend after a volcanic eruption prevented him from making a scheduled stop in Iceland.

LEVI JOHNSTON is going for the ultimate exposure – the 19-year-old father of Sarah Palin’s grandchild will pose nude for Playgirl, his lawyer said.

A man is in custody after US authorities said he gave a teller his account number and showed her his picture ID before robbing an Alaskan bank.

OUTGOING Alaska governor Sarah Palin has laid the groundwork to take on a larger, national role after leaving state government, citing a “higher calling” with the aim of uniting the country along conservative lines.

The US government is suing BP Exploration’s Alaska operation, claiming the oil giant broke clean air and water laws with two major spills in 2006.

Bristol Palin, the teenage daughter of former Republican vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin, and Levi Johnston have broken off their engagement, he said - about two and a half months after the couple had a baby.

Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, last year’s Republican vice presidential candidate, will reimburse the state nearly $7,000 for costs associated with nine trips taken by her children, her attorney said.

Alaska will sue over increased US federal protections for beluga whales in Cook Inlet, officials announced.

Alaska governor Sarah Palin said an arson attack on her home church could have been linked to “undeserved negative attention” from her failed Republican vice-presidential campaign.

A NEW ethics complaint has been filed against Sarah Palin, accusing the Alaska governor of abusing her power by charging the state when her children travelled with her.

Damien Enright takes aim at Palin’s moose-killing boasts