Two girls are recovering from a lightning strike after their dog brought help to the site where they injured on a Utah mountain.

Trish Dromey talks to Dublin-based entrepreneur Aidan Duff, a pioneer of carbon fibre bikes

Manchester United have confirmed they will tour the United States this summer.

Peter Dowdall on the award-winning garden podcast set to land in Salt Lake City around St Patrick’s Day.

An air ambulance plane taking a heart disease patient to a Utah hospital has crashed and exploded in a car park in northern Nevada, killing all four people aboard.

USA: A teenager posing as a state senator toured a high school and spoke to a class, and school officials didn’t realise they were fooled until weeks later, authorities in Ohio said.

Two Air France flights bound for Paris from the US were diverted because of anonymous threats made after take-off.

USA: A New York man is building his own sovereign nation called Zaqistan on a remote piece of land in Utah.

A wall of floodwater swept away two vehicles carrying women and children in the western United States, killing at least seven people and leaving six others missing.

BRITAIN: Football fans have been asked to dig deep to put a smile back on the face of a non-league goalkeeper who lost four teeth on the pitch.

All the latest news from the world of music, film and entertainment.

ENGLAND: Police in England have warned locals to beware of a large, aggressive bird which has gone on the run saying it posed a “very real threat to the public”.

There were cheers in Abbotstown yesterday evening with FAI chief executive John Delaney describing events at Fifa headquarters in Zurich as a “good day for football”.

USA: A Utah woman says she has smashed the world record for catching bridal bouquets at weddings and is seeking recognition for it.

An American politician has questioned whether sex with an unconscious spouse constitutes rape.

ENGLAND: Chelsea are top of another league after their fans’ festive chant about manager Jose Mourinho was voted the funniest ever.

Thousands of people rallied in cities across the US including Los Angeles and New York to passionately but peacefully protest over a grand jury’s decision not to indict a white police officer who killed a black 18-year-old in Ferguson, Missouri.

Voice-activated smartphones and dashboard infotainment systems may be making drivers even more distracted, new studies have found.

A school teacher who was carrying a concealed firearm at school was struck by fragments from a bullet and a porcelain toilet when her gun accidentally fired in a bathroom, officials said.

USA: About 50 people volunteered to carefully grill a 100ft bratwurst without burning or breaking it at a bar in Illinois.

A Utah police officer who killed his wife, their two children, his mother-in-law and then himself received text messages from his wife just hours earlier threatening to leave him and take their children and confronting him for raping her, documents show.

Handball fans across the world have run out of superlatives for Paul Brady as the Cavan man put in yet another virtuoso display of almost perfect handball en route to claiming his ninth US Nationals title in Minneapolis.

A teenager driving a stolen car leads cops on a merry chase. Enter guy with truck.

The Federal Reserve’s annual stress tests found 29 of the 30 largest US banks could withstand a deep recession and still pay dividends, fuelling speculation about which firms will win approval next week to raise payouts.

A US truck driver kept sex slaves in his trailer for months at a time, filing down their teeth, forcing them to alter their appearance and beating them until they nearly passed out, authorities said.

USA: A rampaging, 22lb Oregon house cat with a “history of violence” attacked a baby and trapped a family and their dog in a bedroom at their Portland home before being captured by police, authorities said.

Eat, shave and drive for busy motorists

Gary Oldman did Bowie video for a sandwich

It’s not as prestigious as the track-and-field, but since its inception in 1924 there has been plenty of drama on the slopes, says Jonathan de Burca Butler

In February 2010, Seán Greenwood took a volunteering job at the Vancouver Winter Olympics.

Musical leads faithful back to the future

It’s unlikely there is an Olympian alive who can’t recall where they were when news filtered through that they had been selected to represent their country, but few can tell as unique a tale as Florence Bell.

Alpine skier Conor Lyne will lead a five-strong Ireland team to the Winter Olympics in Sochi next month.

Greencore is to adopta “two-pronged approach” of organic and acquisition-led growth in its US operations, telling shareholders yesterday that the prospects in that market are so strong that no opportunity can be ignored.

Two pilots who survived a deadly plane crash in Colorado are being treated for serious injuries in hospital.

IOC President Thomas Bach expressed full confidence yesterday that Russian authorities will deliver a “safe and secure” Winter Olympics in Sochi despite the two deadly suicide bombings in southern Russia that heightened concerns about the terrorist threat to the Games.

Town in a Santa tizzy as children see double

Despite being one of the most sought-after spine surgeons in the world whose work has led to great advances in his field, Patrick O’Leary does not feel he is deserving of the alumni achievement award with which University College Cork has honoured him.