A weakened but still dangerous Hurricane Irene slammed into the New Jersey shore with 75mph winds today after dumping a foot of rain on North Carolina and Virginia, killing eight people and knocking out power to at least two million homes.

Hurricane Irene opened its assault on the Eastern Seaboard today by lashing the North Carolina coast with wind as strong as 115 mph and pounding shoreline homes with waves.

New York City's mayor has told residents who need to evacuate ahead of the anticipated arrival of Hurricane Irene that they should do so immediately.

Hurricane Irene has smashed into the North Carolina coast, forecasters said.

Tropical storm-force winds from Hurricane Irene have begun lashing the east coast of the US, with the potential to cause billions of dollars in damage.

IT WASN’T a hugely significant handball tournament but that didn’t matter to the two NFL stars who had travelled all the way to Seattle to lend their support to Eric Plummer in January, 2004.

President Mary McAleese will attend a special famine commemoration in New York this week as part of a four-day visit to the city.

A ruined 19th century West of Ireland cottage rebuilt in New York has been officially opened as a memorial to the Irish potato famine.

Reports say a memorial for the World Trade Centre victims may include a glass structure inscribed with all their names.

The number of people believed missing in the rubble of the World Trade Centre increased to 6,938 as rescue workers continued sifting through still-smoldering debris and uncovered a 10ft piece of jetliner fuselage.

With too many people missing for an accurate death count to begin, officials did their best yesterday to calculate the toll from the World Trade Centre attacks.