A woman has said how her father's repeated abuse and rape of her as a young girl was “a defining experience in my life that framed everything that follows and continues”.

Taylor Swift is being sued by a radio DJ accused of grabbing her butt.

A strange few days in many ways. New Zealand beaten for only the third time since lifting the 2011 World Cup, confirming you shouldn’t write off the Wallabies approaching next month’s global showpiece tournament.

Senator James Heffernan and Dr Chris Luke lay out the pros and cons for leagalising cannabis in Ireland. Have your say in our poll below.

Some 9,000 prospective jurors — the largest jury pool in US history — began arriving for the Batman cinema shooting trial.

A number of people have been found dead inside a house in Denver, Colorado.

Airline passengers have come to expect a tiny escape from the confined space of today’s packed planes: the ability to recline their seat a few inches.

Lady Gaga has been hospitalised.

NEW ZEALAND: The Wairarapa Times-Age reports New Zealander Harris James Davis was throwing a house party and ran into some vehicular problems. A car, belonging to a guest that left with the keys, was blocking the driveway.

A Cork business-woman is putting her balloon sculpting skills to the test this week at the World Balloon Convention. Jenny Murphy will be the first Irish person to compete in the event, which gets under way in Denver, Colorado tomorrow.

A teenager who may have had a grudge against a teacher opened fire with a shotgun at a US high school, wounding two students before killing himself.

The US man who became internationally famous after cutting off his arm to free himself when he became trapped by a boulder is in jail after being arrested over allegations of domestic violence.

US officials are destroying more than six tonnes of confiscated ivory tusks, carvings and jewellery – the bulk of the country’s “blood ivory” stockpile - to support the fight against a US $10bn (€7.5 bn) global trade that slaughters tens of thousands of elephants each year.

Simon Cowell is to sing on 'X Factor' USA.

Irishman Adam Lynch, a self-confessed prolific bank robber, has been sentenced to five-and-a-half years in a US federal prison after pleading guilty to a string of hold-ups.

Two children under 10 years old and a woman have been killed today in a shooting in Denver, Colorado, in the United States.

Catherine Shanahan says HSE red tape is delaying one woman’s vital treatment

Some states in the US have relaxed their marijuana laws, despite the federal government still refusing to co-operate or provide any support, reports John Riordan

An investigation into a flood of illegal anti-abortion robocalls to thousands of homes in Ireland could stall — because of free speech protections in the US.

Anxious parents are buying armoured backpacks for children and firearms enthusiasts are stocking up on semi-automatic rifles in anticipation of tighter gun control measures following the Connecticut school massacre.

It took Ian Lacey 452 days to travel from the northern most road of North America to the southern most road of South America, reports Megan Specia

A United Airlines flight from Denver, Colorado, was escorted to Washington DC by fighter jets after a passenger began praying in an aisle, it emerged today.

An Irishman dubbed the Ho Hum Bandit will finally plead guilty to a series of bank robberies in the US.

A US company is brewing beer made from bull testicles.

President Barack Obama is within reach of the 270 electoral votes needed to win a second term as Republican challenger Mitt Romney’s path to victory is narrowing, five weeks from US election day.

President Barack Obama and Republican rival Mitt Romney are embarking on a travel-heavy week through battleground US states, with both campaigns wrangling over unrest in the Middle East and who is best equipped to rejuvenate the economy.

Democrats kicked off their 2012 convention with first lady Michelle Obama firing the first shots of a three-day salvo aimed at breaking the electoral deadlock with Republicans.

The High Court has made orders allowing a journalist and a director of a charitable organisation give evidence as part of a multimillion dollar lawsuit in the United States involving lifestyle guru and businessman Tony Quinn.

Ice-T has defended people’s right to carry guns.

Warner Brothers Pictures has cancelled appearances by the cast and makers of new Batman film The Dark Knight Rises in Mexico and Japan after a gunman killed 12 people and injured at least 50 others during a midnight premiere in Denver, Colorado.

Investigators looking for clues to the motive behind a shooting rampage at a screening of the new Batman movie sought to enter the suspect's elaborately booby-trapped apartment today.

Bomb experts hope they will soon be able to enter the booby-trapped apartment of the suspect in yesterday's mass shooting at a screening of the new Batman film at a cinema in Denver, Colorado.

The head of an American firearms lobbying group has said the shooting at a cinema in Denver, Colorado is an opportunity to “loosen up gun laws”.

The Queen tonight sent her “heartfelt sympathy” to President Barack Obama and the US people after a horrific shooting spree at a cinema left 12 people dead.

Up to 14 people are feared dead after a shooting at a midnight screening of the latest Batman movie near Denver, Colorado, according to local police.

When wealthy and famous clients need a private plane or engagement ring, Ciara Egan has no problem sourcing them.John Daly reports

As an active 77-year-old, great-grandmother Edith Wilma Connor enjoys doing step aerobics with her great-granddaughter.

If similar surveys were undertaken in other countries, the results would be pretty much the same, writes Fr Seán McDonagh

An award-winning journalist in Alaska, Eowyn enjoyed her varied job, but being a reporter was never her passion. So she left, and worked in an independent bookshop; and it was there that she gained the energy and creative spirit to experiment with fiction. She spent five years working on a novel.

The High Court has today ordered Irish lifestyle guru Tony Quinn to give a sworn statement as part of a multimillion dollar lawsuit in Denver, Colorado.

IT’s 20 years since the iconic movie Thelma and Louise, a cult classic about two women’s wonderful road trip across the US.

US cardinal Justin Rigali, under pressure over his handling of a long-running priest sex-abuse scandal, is expected to step down after eight tumultuous years leading the Catholic Archdiocese of Philadelphia.

A dog, who went missing from his home last November, is back home with his owners after turning up more than 2,000kms away.