THE iconic sites of Petra, Niagara Falls, the Tower of Piza, the Sydney Opera House, the Pyramids — these, and scores of other iconic buildings and monuments across the world, will be illuminated bright green on St Patrick’s Day.

Tourism Minister Leo Varadkar has defended Taoiseach Enda Kenny’s decision to march in the controversial St Patrick’s Day Parade in New York.

AT a coffee house, on a desert road, an ancient trade route where caravans once carried spices and silks from distant lands to Petra, I smoked my first hookah.

IT’S downhill all the way to the sea beneath at Derrynanebeg, one of the best scenic perches bar none on the Ring of Kerry.

Ricky Gervais's hapless sidekick Karl Pilkington has landed his own travel series visiting the Seven Wonders of the World, it was announced today.

Some of the world’s biggest classical and pop music stars are performing a private benefit concert in the ancient red-rock city of Petra in Jordan to honour the late Italian tenor Luciano Pavarotti, with proceeds going to aid Afghan refugees.

Two people have died in a cholera outbreak in an Iraqi province south of Baghdad, indicating that water quality and sanitation remain poor in a country that has endured years of war, health officials said today.

Newly-married French president Nicolas Sarkozy has filed a legal complaint over a media report saying he promised to call off his engagement if his ex-wife came back to him.

France’s newly married president, Nicolas Sarkozy, filed a legal complaint today over a media report saying he promised to call off his engagement if his ex-wife came back to him, his lawyer said.

French president Nicolas Sarkozy is reportedly planning to marry his girlfriend, Iralian model Bruni.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy toured the ancient Jordanian ruins of Petra today, hand-in-hand with his new girlfriend, supermodel-turned-singer Carla Bruni.

THE Great Wall of China, Rome’s Colosseum, India’s Taj Mahal and three architectural marvels from Latin America were among the new seven wonders of the world chosen in a global poll.

The Great Wall of China, the Colosseum in Rome and Peru’s Machu Picchu are leading contenders to be among the new seven wonders of the world, as a massive poll draws to a close.

Efforts to revive Israeli-Palestinian peacemaking will shift into higher gear in the coming week, with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert travelling to Jordan and his foreign minister heading to Cairo to discuss a sweeping Arab peace proposal, an Israeli official said today.

Efforts to revive Israeli-Palestinian peacemaking will shift into higher gear in the coming week, with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert travelling to Jordan and his foreign minister heading to Cairo to discuss a sweeping Arab peace proposal, an Israeli official said today.

Police today killed one of Jordan’s most wanted al-Qaida suspects and arrested a second in a pre-dawn raid that authorities said had thwarted a terror plot against this key US ally in the Middle East.

Police in Jordan killed one suspected al-Qaida member and detained a second in a crackdown today that foiled a terrorist plot against Jordan, the state news agency and officials said.

Jordan marked the first anniversary of al-Qaida’s triple hotel bombings today, voicing a fresh resolve to fight terrorism and commemorating the 60 people who lost their lives in the attacks.

The leaders of Jordan and Egypt held an emergency meeting in Cairo today as thousands demonstrated across the Arab world against Israel’s expanding assault on Lebanon – the worst Israeli attack on its neighbour in 24 years.

Israeli aircraft missed their target in Gaza for the second time in two days, hitting a house and killing two Palestinian civilians, intensifying international criticism of the army’s policy of striking militants from the air.

Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas will meet Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert on the sidelines of an economic conference in Jordan this week, Palestinian officials said today.

Jordanian police have foiled a planned suicide bombing by al-Qaida in the kingdom and arrested two Iraqi militants and a Libyan, state-run media said.

Jordan’s King Abdullah II appointed his national security adviser as prime minister today, asking him to form a new government in the wake of the Amman hotel bombings, state radio announced.

Mystery continued to surround a firefight that broke out when US and Iraqi forces surrounded a house in the northern Iraq city of Mosul that was believed used by members of al-Qaida in Iraq. Eight insurgents and four Iraqi policemen died in the assault, officials said.

AMERICAN soldiers mistakenly fired on a civilian vehicle outside an American base in a city north of Baghdad yesterday, killing three people, including a child, the military said.

Al-Qaida in Iraq chief Abu Musab al-Zarqawi is believed to have been killed in a military operation in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul, Iraq’s foreign minister said today.

Jordan’s King Abdullah II today threatened to crack down on supporters of terrorists following this week’s triple hotel bombings that killed at least 57 people.

Suicide bombers carried out nearly simultaneous attacks on three US-based hotels in the Jordanian capital last night, killing at least 57 people and wounding at least 115 in an al-Qaida-style assault on the Arab kingdom with close ties to the United States and a border with Iraq.

SUICIDE bombers attacked three hotels frequented by Westerners in the Jordanian capital last night, killing at least 53 people and wounding more than 300 in near- simultaneous explosions.

Two Royal Jordanian Air Force planes collided in mid air during training today, killing two pilots.

The US and its peace partners must help the Palestinians and Israelis resume talks aimed at achieving Palestinian statehood, Jordan’s prime minister told a top UN envoy yesterday.

A new breed of holiday for those with lavish whims and large wallets has been launched by special-trip company Voyana.

Nine Britons on a pilgrimage tour in Jordan were killed in a bus crash today.

Jordan’s King Abdullah today pardoned a Japanese journalist who had been jailed for 18 months for accidentally killing an airport security guard with a cluster bomb in his luggage.