Eric Swalwell is ending his presidential bid, becoming the first candidate in the crowded 2020 Democratic primary to exit the campaign.

Brett Kavanaugh has been confirmed to the US Supreme Court after being confirmed by the Senate.

A brutal winter storm has dumped snow, sleet and freezing rain up the south-east seaboard of the United States, delivering snowy conditions some cities had not seen in decades.

Bone-chilling cold has gripped the middle of the US, putting paid to some new year's celebrations and leading to at least two deaths attributed to exposure to the elements.

President Donald Trump has signed a proclamation to scale back two sprawling national monuments in Utah, pledging to "reverse federal overreach and restore the rights of this land to your citizens".

All 31 upmarket homes are released at once, without phasing or a showhouse, says Tommy Barker

A fifth day of desperate firefighting in California wine country brought a glimmer of hope yesterday as crews battling the flames reported their first progress toward containing the massive blazes.

CRH is still tipped to win out in its plans to acquire US cement giant Ash Grove but will likely have to pay more than the $3.5bn (€2.98bn) it had planned for it to fend off an 11th-hour from a US rival.

A massive new rock fall has hit Yosemite National Park, cracking with a thundering roar off the El Capitan rock formation, injuring one person and sending huge plumes of white dust surging through the valley floor below.

A chunk of rock "the size of an apartment building" fell off the granite face of El Capitan in Yosemite National Park, killing one person and injuring another on the mountain at the height of climbing season, officials and witnesses said.

Shares in CRH rose 3% after the building-materials giant announced it was to buy a leading US cement manufacturer for $3.5bn (€2.93bn).

Wind has wreaked havoc with wildfires threatening two crown jewels of the US National Park Service

Ash rained down across Los Angeles on Sunday from a destructive wildfire that the mayor said was the largest in city history.

A wildfire in northern California has destroyed 10 homes and is threatening 800 more, authorities said, with a number of people forced to evacuate.

The lesson I take from ‘Whittled Away’ is to make this country a hostile environment for politicians of every hue who fail to protect our environment, writes Victoria White

Witnesses said he grabbed Ben Jacobs and slammed him to the ground after being asked about the Republican health care bill.

A candidate in a US congressional election has been charged with misdemeanor assault for grabbing a reporter by the neck and throwing him to the ground.

The Trump administration has issued a presidential permit to pipeline builder TransCanada to build the Keystone XL pipeline.

Damien Enright gives us a run down of his latest adventures in Namibia.

Stories regularly circulate about crashes and near misses involving motorists and out-of-control deer which get onto public roads from Killarney National Park, writes Donal Hickey. 

US President Donald Trump’s order temporarily banning refugees and immigrants from seven mostly Muslim countries is playing well in Trump Country, those places that propelled him to the White House.

Donald Trump has renewed his vow to stop radical terror groups and appeared to suggest he could move ahead with his campaign pledge to temporarily ban Muslim immigrants from coming to the US.

A mountain biker who worked for the US Forest Service has been killed by a grizzly bear near a Montana national park.

Black bear Takoda enjoys a soak in his tub on a hot day.

Claiming her place in history, Hillary Clinton declared victory in her bruising battle for the Democratic presidential nomination, becoming the first woman to lead a major American political party.

Three US states are preparing for the possible return of grizzly bear hunting in the Rocky Mountains for the first time in decades.

Canada has introduced a new assisted suicide law that will only apply to Canadians and residents.

 

In 1960, novelist John Steinbeck took to the byways of America to rediscover his native land. Geert Mak’s retracing of his tyre-tracks gives a fresh perspective to his travels.  compares the two odysseys.

It is not often you see a cow pushing a bale down a hill, but here is that very rare occasion when you do.

So they’re supposed to give up now. Just like any sensible group of Irish sportspeople should. They failed so they’re failures and would be better of failing to even try again, the nation’s sages in their self-appointed wisdom chortling Cleese that haven’t you forgotten, it’s the hope, not the despair, that kills you, old boy.

Kevin Stevens has written a book about tolerance. He talks to Sue Leonard about the fear caused by racial bias and misunderstanding in today’s world.

Molly Maybe’s Monsters by Kristina Stephenson (Simon and Schuster, €9.50) 

The Chef’s Table by Stefan Matz, Delphi Adventure Resort, Leenane, Connemara, Co Galway; 095-42208; delphiadventureresort.com

Here's what to watch on tonight's TV.