Terrorist attacks, a military coup, EU disintegration, the rise of the far right, demise of political credibility — all amid mass migration, economic volatility, and deep divisions in the US. Caroline O’Doherty asks what’s going on and what does it mean for life as we know it?

A gunman who murdered three Louisiana police officers in an ambush "was seeking out police", investigators have confirmed.

A masked former US Marine murdered three Louisiana police officers in an apparent petrol station ambush, less than two weeks after a black man was shot dead in a confrontation that sparked nightly protests that reverberated throughout America.

US riot officers arrested dozens of people in Louisiana’s capital Baton Rouge during protests over the killings of black people by police. 

Around 130 people have been arrested in Baton Rouge as demonstrations continue over shootings by police.

A suspect in the gun attack on police in the heart of Dallas told officers he was upset over recent police shootings of black men and wanted to kill white people, particularly police, according to officials.

Responsibility for the murder of five police officers in Dallas has been claimed by a radical civil rights group called the Black Power Political Organization.

James Horner sadly passed away last month but he managed to leave behind a gift - a full score for a movie which hasn't shot yet!

Two Louisiana nursery workers were arrested after a 22-month-old girl was left in a hot vehicle for about two hours and died.

A young player from New Orleans, Odell Beckham Jr, stole the show on Sunday night with a three-fingered catch that will intrigue for years to come

THEY goin’ down,” John Boudreaux recalls telling a colleague as he recorded the watery cataclysm unfolding before him with an iPhone camera.

About 100 homes have been evacuated after a train carrying hazardous materials derailed in Louisiana.

At least 30 people have been taken to hospital after an explosion at a Louisiana chemical plant, officials say.

Tom Cruise said playing heroic loner Jack Reacher was “easy” because it reminded him of his own life.

SUNDAY’S opening night at the Corona Cork Film Festival will see the screening of The Great Flood, a film-music collaboration between avant garde filmmaker Bill Morrison and pioneering musician, Bill Frisell.

‘American Idol’ producers have pledged their support for the entire judging panel following this week’s furious bust up between Nicki Minaj and Mariah Carey.

Tropical Storm Isaac continued to lash New Orleans with heavy rain today despite being downgraded, as residents in cars and homes were stranded exactly seven years after Hurricane Katrina devastated the city.

Hurricane Isaac has lashed the Louisiana coast and is heading for a shuttered New Orleans, sending floodwaters surging and unleashing fierce winds.

THE MAJORITY of the 13-strong Irish contingent at the second stage of the European Tour School in Spain remain in contention for places in next week’s final Tour School.

THE golf industry may be in a state of flux in the current economic climate but three young Irishmen are managing to find their way in some of the most ideal circumstances — an exclusive country club in America’s Deep South.

NATIONAL champion, Sergiu Ciobanu shaved 20 seconds off the course record which he set last year to retain the Bord Gáis Energy Cork City Marathon title yesterday in 2:25:34 and now sets his sights on Olympic qualification.

ARMY engineers opened a key spillway along the bulging Mississippi River yesterday, deluging thousands of homes and farms in Louisiana’s Cajun country in order to avert a potentially bigger disaster in Baton Rouge and New Orleans.

Army engineers will open a key spillway along the bulging Mississippi River as early as today, deluging thousands of homes and farms in Louisiana’s Cajun country in order to avert a potentially bigger disaster in Baton Rouge and New Orleans.

LEGENDARY author JD Salinger whose novel, The Catcher in the Rye, shocked and inspired a world he increasingly shunned, has died at the age of 91.

A US man shot his estranged wife, son and two-year-old grandson to death and critically wounded his pregnant daughter-in-law at their rural Louisiana home, then killed himself as police tried to pull over his car 20 minutes later, authorities said.

A US man charged with threatening to kill President George Bush professed his innocence in court, then started sobbing after a federal magistrate ordered him to be jailed.

Hurricane Gustav crashed into a mainly-deserted US Gulf coast and delivered only a glancing blow to New Orleans as it weakened and headed inland today.

Hurricane Gustav crashed into a mainly-deserted US Gulf coast and delivered only a glancing blow to New Orleans as it weakened and headed inland today.

A gunman opened fire in a lecture hall at Northern Illinois University today, injuring at least 17 people before he killed himself.

A young woman shot dead two girl students in a classroom at a college in Louisiana today, then killed herself, police said.

A COMMON cold virus can help make people obese, research suggests.

A Congressman has hit back at former US disaster agency chief Michael Brown in an astonishing war of words after being described as “that little twerp”.

A doctor and two nurses were arrested overnight in connection with the deaths of patients at a New Orleans hospital in the days following Hurricane Katrina, officials said today.

IN a scene reminiscent of the darkest days following Hurricane Katrina, a convoy of 100 armed National Guard military police troops rolled into New Orleans yesterday to patrol the streets following a surge in violent crime.

A man has shot dead four people during a church service in the US before abducting his wife, whom he later shot dead at another location.

New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin said the city was laying off as many as 3,000 employees – or about half its workforce – because of the financial damage inflicted on the city by Hurricane Katrina.

Mayor Ray Nagin said today that the city was laying off as many as 3,000 employees – or about half the city’s workforce – because f the damage done to New Orleans’ finances by Hurricane Katrina.

Officials ended their door-to-door sweep for corpses, finding far fewer bodies than once feared and school children returned to classes as New Orleans revved up efforts to recover from Hurricane Katrina.

New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin, eager to welcome back his city’s residents, says he’s fighting a national impression “that we’re tainted, we’re not ready".