Update 3.49pm: The brief state of lockdown at the US Capitol has ended.

Here’s a briefing on some of the stories and issues highlighted on irishexaminer.com today

The Obama administration is expected to release part of a secret chapter from a congressional inquiry into 9/11 that may shed light on possible Saudi connections to the 2001 attacks.

Police shot a man after he pulled a weapon at a US Capitol checkpoint as spring tourists thronged Washington.

Good morning. Here’s everything you need to know before you start your day.

The former US first lady Nancy Reagan died in California yesterday at the age of 94. 

The moment Barack Hussein Obama was inaugurated, the effort to destroy him and his presidency began in earnest, writes Bette Browne who looks back on his legacy

A man who piloted a gyrocopter through miles of America’s most restricted airspace before landing at the US Capitol will appear in court today, facing charges that carry up to nine and a half years in prison.

Gardaí have arrested a man on suspicion of selling illegal drugs in a Dublin nightclub outside which Anna Hick collapsed, Manchester Utd have entered the fray in the Raheem Sterling saga, Chris Pratt confirms Avengers appearance and A six-year-old wonder boy from Co Limerick has become the country’s youngest member of Mensa. These are some of the latest and most read news stories on irishexaminer.com this morning.

A man shot himself dead in front of the US Capitol on Saturday, sparking a temporary security lockdown at the complex on one of the busiest days for tourists in Washington.

The highest-level US delegation to Cuba in decades has kicked off two days of negotiations after grand promises by President Barack Obama about change on the island and a sombre warning from Cuba to abandon hopes of reforming the communist government.

A 20-year-old man’s Twitter posts sympathising with Islamic terrorists led to an undercover FBI operation and the man’s arrest on charges that he plotted to blow up the US Capitol and kill government officials.

Straight into a new year and it’s just as we left off in 2014 with Irish horticulture getting stronger and stronger.

Following her recent high-profile campaign blitz during the midterm elections, talk of Michelle Obama running for the US Senate is gaining momentum on Capitol Hill, writes Bette Browne

A man who went missing on New Year’s Day has been reunited with his family after his parents saw a newspaper picture of him warming himself on a steam grate in freezing Washington DC.

The mother of a woman shot dead by police after a car chase that began when she tried to breach a barrier at the White House said her daughter suffered from post-natal depression.

Police say the U.S. Capitol has been put on a security lockdown amid reports of possible shots fired outside the building.

Tom Clancy, whose hi-tech, Cold War thrillers such as The Hunt for Red October and Patriot Games made him the most widely read military novelist of his time, has died in the US aged 66.

A gunman who opened fire inside a US navy base in Washington, killing 12 people, was a full-time reservist from 2007 to 2011.

At least 12 people have died in a shooting rampage at a US navy yard in Washington DC, police said.

The US is struggling to fully realise the vision that civil rights leader Martin Luther King described in his ‘I have a dream’ speech 50 years ago, as the goal of economic security for all remains elusive, President Barack Obama said yesterday.

Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore yesterday expressed hope that the momentum pushing the US towards immigration legislation would benefit the 50,000 Irish living in what he described as a “twilight zone”.

The net was last night closing in on at least one individual believed to be responsible for the Boston Marathon bombings which claimed the lives of three people and injured 176 others in the worst attack on US soil since 9/11.

North Korea has produced another video showing the US under attack, this time with the White House and the US Capitol literally in the crosshairs.

President Barack Obama has told America it must make “hard choices” to reduce the cost of health care and the size of its financial deficit.

Burma democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi will be honoured in Washington and given the US Congress’ highest award, in the latest milestone in her remarkable journey from political prisoner to globetrotting stateswoman.

A man has been sentenced to 30 years in prison for plotting to detonate a suicide bomb at the US Capitol building in an undercover sting.

A Moroccan man who believed he was working with al Qaida was arrested near the US Capitol as he planned to detonate a "suicide vest", given to him by undercover officers.

A man has been arrested, accused of plotting an attack on the Pentagon and US Capitol using remote-controlled aircraft armed with explosives.

People around the globe stopped to remember the victims of the September 11 attack today, falling silent to mark the exact moment a decade ago that terrorists struck.

America will fall silent at 1.46pm Irish time as the nation unites to mark the 10th anniversary of the September 11 attacks.

Marking Osama bin Laden’s death where the terrorist inflicted his greatest damage, US President Barack Obama soberly laid a wreath at New York’s Ground Zero today and declared to the city and the world: “When we say we will never forget, we mean what we say.”

CHINESE President Hu Jintao heard concerns about China’s human rights and economic policies as he wrapped up his visit to Washington with meetings on Capitol Hill.

Barack Obama locked up enough Republican votes to ratify a new arms control treaty with Russia that will cap the former Cold War foes’ nuclear warheads and restart on-site weapons inspections.

US Representative Patrick Kennedy, son of the late Senator Edward Kennedy, decided not to seek re-election to Congress, saying his life is "taking a new direction".

Massive snowfall and strong winds again blasted Washington and much of the US east coast as the US capital struggled with the latest storm in its most difficult winter in memory.

Thousands of Americans marched to the US Capitol in Washington DC today, carrying signs with slogans such as "Obamacare makes me sick" as they protested against the president's health care plan and what they say is out-of-control spending.

Thousands of Americans marched to the US Capitol in Washington DC today, carrying signs with slogans such as "Obamacare makes me sick" as they protested against the president's health care plan and what they say is out-of-control spending.

Barack Obama will make history today when he is sworn in as the 44th president of the United States – the first black American to hold the post.

TAOISEACH Bertie Ahern will address the joint US Houses of Congress on April 30, becoming the sixth Irish leader to do so.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy ended a Washington visit marked by talk of cooperation on difficult international issues and strengthening relations between the United States and France.

The US has “gravely undermined” relations with China by giving the Dalai Lama an award, the Beijing government said today.