Dzhokhar Tsarnaev went on trial for his life in the Boston Marathon bombing with his own lawyer bluntly telling the jury he committed the crime. But she argued he had fallen under the influence of his older brother.

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev has gone on trial over the Boston Marathon bombing, with prosecutors saying he used a backpack to plant a bomb designed to “tear people apart and create a bloody spectacle”.

A leading American professional handball promoter has described 21-year-old Cork sensation Catriona Casey as “the best female handball player that has ever lived”.

Handball

Embattled entertainer Bill Cosby has broken his silence over a series of rape and sex assault claims going back decades.

One person has died and two people were injured when a plane crashed at Aspen airport, police in Colorado have confirmed.

When you see an evening out at the golf club entitled “Five Shots Lower Without Changing Your Swing” it is usually enough to make any handicapper put down his remote control and go out into the night in search of a ticket.

Roscommon County Manager Frank Dawson has said he did not "sort out the penalty point issue" for Luke Ming Flanagan which saw penalty points wiped from the TD's licence.

Roscommon South Leitrim TD Luke Ming Flanagan has said he does not believe his quashing of penalty points is a resigning matter, though he accepted it was "corrupt and stupid".

Former champion Shane Lowry believes playing this year’s Irish Open on home ground at Carton House can help him regain the European Tour title he first won as an amateur four years ago.

The battery that caught fire in a Japan Airlines Boeing 787 Dreamliner was not overcharged, but US government investigators warned there could still be problems with wiring or other components.

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Former US congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords met families of victims of the Connecticut school massacre that left 26 people dead, nearly two years after she was critically wounded in a mass shooting.

Nasa rover Curiosity has beamed back pictures of bedrock that suggest a fast-moving stream, possibly waist-deep, once flowed on Mars – a find that the mission’s chief scientist called exciting.

The space shuttle Endeavour has landed in California where it will spend its retirement in a Los Angeles museum.

Michael Jackson's Estate want to partially-pay Janet Jackson's mortgage.

The suspect in a mass shooting that left a US congresswoman wounded has pleaded guilty to going on the rampage that killed six other people.

The mystery of Michael Jackson's mother's disappearance was resolved with the release of court papers that said she was kept from communicating with outsiders while at a resort and was unaware she had been reported missing.

A judge has appointed the son of Tito Jackson to serve as temporary guardian of Michael Jackson's children in the absence of the family matriarch and in the midst a feud over the pop superstar's estate.

The husband of Arizona Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords said he has ruled out running for her seat in 2012.

MARTIN FAGAN has been banned for two years by the Irish SportAnti-Doping Disciplinary Panel for using EPO.

An adjudication hearing has banned Mullingar athlete Martin Fagan for two years for taking performance enhancer E.P.O.

An FBI mole speaks for the first time about life in the seedy world of right-wing terror. Ross Schneiderman reports

Demand for cosmetic gynaecology has never been higher. For plastic surgeons, business is booming. Marie Myung-Ok Lee asks if it’s just a get rich quick scheme and do women really need it

A US gun club is offering children a chance to pose for photos with Santa while holding pistols and assault rifles.

THE first photos of US politician Gabrielle Giffords since she was shot in the head in a mass shooting five months ago were released yesterday.

The first photos of US politician Gabrielle Giffords since she was shot in the head in a mass shooting five months ago were released early today.

Sony has been hit by a second massive data breach, hackers claim, another potential embarrassment for a company that is struggling to restore its image following the loss of millions of credit card numbers through its PlayStation Network.

THE man accused of gunning down US congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords and killing six is mentally incompetent to stand trial, a judge ruled yesterday.

The 12 astronauts circling the Earth received a blessing from Pope Benedict XVI in the first ever papal call to space.

A space shuttle took flight for the next-to-last time as US Representative Gabrielle Giffords, still recovering from a gunshot wound and hidden from public view, watched her astronaut husband rocket through the clouds in a deafening roar.

ENDEAVOUR blasted off on NASA’s next-to-last shuttle flight, thundering through clouds into orbit as the mission commander’s wounded wife, Gabrielle Giffords, watched along with an exhilarated crowd estimated in the hundreds of thousands.

NASA has approved a launch attempt this morning for the space shuttle Endeavour after reviewing all the repairs for an electrical problem that grounded the next-to-last flight two weeks ago.

Nasa has approved a Monday morning launch attempt for the space shuttle Endeavour after reviewing all the repairs for an electrical problem that grounded the next-to-last flight two weeks ago.

The astronaut husband of wounded US Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords said that she wants to be at his shuttle launch next month.

A US Congresswoman seriously injured in a shooting spree wished her husband and brother-in-law a happy birthday – and also thanked the Houston hospital where she is undergoing intensive rehabilitation for a cake that featured the likeness of her astronaut husband.

Jackson Browne, Alice Cooper, David Crosby and Graham Nash are to perform in a concert in Tucson, Arizona, to raise funds for a charitable fund established after the shooting there which killed six people and wounded 13 others.

The astronaut husband of shot US congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords said she would embrace his decision to rocket into space in two months – and he expects her to be well enough to attend the launch.

THE astronaut husband of wounded Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords has decided to go ahead with his shuttle space flight in April.

The astronaut husband of wounded Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords has decided to go ahead with his shuttle space flight in April.

President Barack Obama called for unity with newly empowered Republicans in a State of the Union policy speech that laid the foundation for the second half of his presidential term and next year’s fight for re-election.

PRESIDENT Barack Obama last night tried to convince the American people and a divided Congress that he has a vision for speeding up job creation, promoting spending on the core of his agenda but promising to rein in a growing, staggering debt.

US President Barack Obama will tonight try to convince the American people that he has a vision for creating jobs while reining in the nation’s growing debt.

The husband of shot politician Gabrielle Giffords said today he believed for about 20 minutes that his wife was dead after seeing a TV news report that said wrongly that his wife had been fatally wounded.