US President Donald Trump has praised new Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch during a White House swearing-in ceremony as a jurist who will rule "not on his personal preferences but based on a fair and objective reading of the law".

With calls growing for him to quit, Bernie Sanders went to the White House for a meeting that President Barack Obama hoped to use to try to nudge the Vermont senator to accept defeat in the Democratic race.

Acting Taoiseach Enda Kenny has made an appeal to Fianna Fáil to act responsibly in the national interest and help form a Government.

HAVE you ever wondered what it might have been like when banquets were held in fairytale castles, and the mead flowed freely for ladies and lords of the manor? 

The only American soldier held prisoner in Afghanistan has been freed by the Taliban in exchange for the release of five Afghan detainees from the US prison at Guantanamo Bay.

Germans used to joke that Chancellor Angela Merkel’s penchant for communicating via fleeting text messages effectively marked the end of traditional historiography.

The difference between a politician and a statesman is that the latter approaches every issue with an open mind, a politician with an open mouth.

President Barack Obama defied Republican critics and named outspoken diplomat Susan Rice as his national security adviser, despite accusations that she misled the nation in the aftermath of the deadly attack on Americans in Libya.

A visibly infuriated President Barack Obama surrounded himself with tear-stained parents of Connecticut school shooting victims and declared it a “pretty shameful day for Washington” after the Senate rejected a measure designed to make it tougher for criminals to get their hands on guns.

Actress Eva Longoria has become one of the most influential Latinos in the USA — a Bono for the Hispanic community, writes Andrew Romano

BARACK OBAMA was gripping the telephone so tightly it looked as if he were about to pulverise it in his hand.

By John Riordan, New York

Mitt Romney said the attack on the US consulate in Libya is an issue in the presidential campaign because Americans wonder why it took the Obama administration so long to acknowledge it was a terrorist act.

Winner of his maiden in heavy ground over course and distance three weeks ago, the John Oxx-trained Hartani followed-up when producing a gutsy front-running display in the opening Follow TipperaryRaces On Twitter Race at Tipperary last night, sparking a double for champion jockey Johnny Murtagh.

President Barack Obama honoured the legacy of September 11 victims by personally tracing the trail of the terrorist attacks, proudly declaring that the decade since has proven “America does not give in to fear”.

No longer a hurricane, Irene spent the last of its fury and sloshed its way into Canada early today, inflicting relatively little damage to New York but leaving a trail of treacherous flooding and millions without power along America’s east coast.

OPERATIVES in Afghanistan and Pakistan who have worked for the US against the Taliban or al-Qaida may be at risk following the disclosure of thousands of once-secret US military documents, former and current officials said.

US AFGHAN commander Stanley McChrystal was sacked by Barack Obama last night for publicly criticising the President.

BP has agreed to finance a $20bn (€16bn) fund to pay the claims of people whose jobs and way of life have been damaged by the devastating oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, senior US officials said today.

US president Barack Obama is today set to nominate James Clapper, the Pentagon’s top intelligence official, to oversee the nation’s 16 spy agencies.

US FEDERAL authorities have opened criminal and civil investigations into the BP oil spill disaster.

PRESIDENT Barack Obama was upstaged by a rodent as he spoke on Wall Street legislation.

Barack Obama said he pressed Iraq's prime minister to make room in his government and security forces for all ethnic and religious groups to prevent a resurgence of the violence and turmoil that took the country to the verge of civil war.

The United Nations Security Council was this evening holding an emergency meeting to consider further possible sanctions against North Korea, after the secretive Communist state conducted a second nuclear weapons test.

This must be the world’s most exclusive club; every living US president and the man who is about to join their ranks together at the White House.

US president George Bush’s daughter Jenna shunned the opulence of the White House for her wedding today, opting instead for the family ranch in Texas.

BEWARE, John McCain. The money comes with a price.

President George Bush will give his blessing to John McCain in the race for the White House today, after the former Vietnam prisoner of war secured enough support to officially become the Republican nominee.

US President George Bush has announced he will visit the Middle East in early January.

US President George Bush told the leaders of Israel and the Palestinian territories he is personally committed to their mission of peace, urging them to stick with it and not lose sight of their goal.

US President George Bush today called for stiff sanctions on North Korea for its reported nuclear test and asserted that the US has “no intentions of attacking” the reclusive regime.

US President George Bush today faces questions about North Korea’s claimed nuclear test and the political fallout from a congressional intern scandal.

US President George Bush, who often teases members of the White House press corps, apologised after he poked fun at a reporter for wearing sunglasses without realising they were needed for vision loss.

US President George Bush said today the death of al-Qaida leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi in Iraq is “a severe blow” to the al-Qaida terrorist network and a decisive victory in the US-led campaign against terrorism.

PRESIDENT Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has warned that Iran would “cut off the hand of any aggressor” and insisted the country’s military must be prepared amid escalating tensions with the international community over its disputed nuclear programme.

US President George Bush today said that “all options are on the table” to prevent Iran from developing atomic weapons, but said he will continue to focus on the international diplomatic option to persuade Tehran to drop its nuclear ambitions.

The US is channelling tens of millions in additional dollars directly to the Palestinian Authority, overcoming some opposition in Congress in hopes of boosting the political fortunes of Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas.

US PRESIDENT George W Bush yesterday nominated Republican Porter Goss of Florida to head the CIA, saying the former undercover operative “knows the CIA inside and out” and can bolster its spy network.

US President George Bush praised as ”very constructive” the recommendations in the September 11 report, though his administration has reacted coolly toward a key proposal to establish a Cabinet-level national intelligence director.

President George Bush, struggling to control a growing crisis, apologised for the abuse of Iraqi prisoners by American soldiers and called it “a stain on our country’s honour”.

With a few carefully worded phrases, the US military is apparently stepping back from its strict demands on ending the siege of Fallujah, creating an opening for an Iraqi force to take control of the city from 1,000 or more guerrilla holdouts.

BRITISH Prime Minister Tony Blair and US President George Bush yesterday vowed not to waiver in their fight to build a free Iraq, despite recent bloodshed which has seen scores of coalition casualties.