The gunman who murdered two New York City police officers in their squad car had a long criminal record, a hatred of police and the government and an apparent history of mental instability that included a suicide attempt a year ago, it has emerged.

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.

The niece of fashion icon Ralph Lauren last night arrived back home in the US after a three-night stay in Ireland that she will definitely want to forget.

Modern technology has fuelled hopes of finding the ‘real’ Paul Fronczak, writes Carol Channing

Grammy-winning singer Lauryn Hill compared her experience in the music business to the slavery her ancestors endured before a judge sentenced her to three months in prison for failing to pay about $1m (€763,110) in tax over the past decade.

30 years ago today Captain Ruben Ocana’s Gulfstream II made an unexpected landing on Mallow Racecourse, Ray Ryan recalls

John Mayer performed with The Rolling Stones last night.

The Rolling Stones are to perform with original bass player Bill Wyman for the first time in two decades when the rock veterans perform this weekend.

An off-duty pilot helped in the emergency landing of a jumbo jet at Dublin Airport after a co-pilot become ill.

Rolling Stones fans have been left fuming after realising they may end up shelling out thousands to see the band for their 50th anniversary shows.

Whitney Houston's mother is writing a tell-all book about the superstar.

A blind Chinese activist was hurriedly taken from a hospital today and boarded a plane that took off for the United States, closing a nearly month-long diplomatic tussle that had tested US-China relations.

A good friend lives on Dean Street and has watched with dread as this stadium has gradually risen almost literally on her doorstep.

Mariah Carey says Whitney Houston's funeral was a "class act".

Bobby Brown "kissed" Whitney Houston's coffin as he left her funeral.

Whitney Houston's former husband Bobby Brown has said he left her funeral today because he "did not want to create a scene".

Kevin Costner told Whitney Houston to go "sing before God" as he delivered an emotional eulogy to her at her funeral today.

Whitney Houston’s former husband dramatically walked out of her funeral today as some of the biggest names in the music industry gathered to pay tribute to her.

Family, friends and a host of celebrities will today attend the funeral of singer Whitney Houston.

Aretha Franklin and Stevie Wonder will be among stars singing at the private funeral for Whitney Houston at her childhood church.

Aretha Franklin and Stevie Wonder will sing at the private funeral for Whitney Houston on Saturday in what promises to be a very musical service.

Whitney Houston fans will be able to watch her funeral on the internet.

Whitney Houston was under water and apparently unconscious when she was found in a hotel bathtub, Beverly Hills police say.

During a 30-year career in which she established herself as one of the most-admired and influential singers of her time, Houston won six Grammys, 30 Billboard awards and 22 American Music Awards.

Two men at the centre of the controversy surrounding Amir Khan’s loss to Lamont Peterson will not appear in front of tomorrow’s International Boxing Federation hearing.

An airliner carrying 230 passengers from New York had to make an emergency landing in Warsaw today after its landing gear failed to open.

A freak October storm knocked out power to more than 3.1 million homes and businesses across north-east America, with close to 2ft of snow falling in some areas.

A helicopter carrying five people on a private tour for a birthday celebration crashed into the East River in New York shortly after take-off yesterday, killing a British woman and injuring three others.

THE powerful heat and humidity that plagued the eastern half of the United States for days started to fade on Sunday, to the relief of many sweltering residents, forecasters said.

The Transportation Security Administration is installing technology in some US airports to allow travellers to go through checkpoint security with a generic outline of the body instead of a naked body image.

UNFULFILLED potential is unforgivable in American sport.

A stolen car has been recovered 36 years later in the US.

TWO SONS of Ulster suffered lonely defeat on American soil this weekend but there was one sharp contrast in the circumstances of each loss.

Two men have been accused of stealing email addresses and other information from more than 100,000 Apple iPad users in the US.

FACEBOOK founder and chief executive Mark Zuckerberg has been named Time magazine’s Person of the Year for 2010.

Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg has been named Time magazine's "Person of the Year".

A seventh-generation high-wire daredevil has pedalled a bicycle across a precarious line strung between two hotel towers in an attempt to break his own world record.

TEARS filled the eyes of a Mexican teacher as she fulfilled the wish of her late father, Captain Ruben Ocaña.

Airline passengers diverted to a holding airport on a flight from London to the US were kept on board for hours without food or water, they claimed today.

TWO men arrested at New York’s JFK Airport have been charged with conspiring to commit an act of international terrorism.

AN American pilot who dismissed initial reports of what turned out to be the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor has died aged 96.

BOREDOM and terror were said to be the only two emotions associated with flying, but it now looks like hot passion could be added to the list.