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Americas

Ileana Ros-Lehtinen: When a man sounding remarkably like President-elect Barack Obama called the Florida congresswoman, she assumed it was a crank call and hung up

Barack who? I just don't believe it...  new

Leonard Doyle: Ileana Ros-Lehtinen will forever be known as the woman who hung up on the most sought-after man in America.

Inside Americas

Yale University is so far holding out against the economic tide

Now the Crunch hits the Ivy League  new

Thursday, 4 December 2008

Stephen Foley: America's Ivy League universities are in a financial tangle after bets in the markets turned sour.

Half-brother boosts Obama's standing in China  new

Thursday, 4 December 2008

Chinese people were delighted by the election of Barack Obama to the highest office in the US, but the world is only now being introduced to the President-elect's family connections in China.

Corporate jets have long been a source of public relations trouble for
the executive class, particularly during economic downturns or when the company runs into trouble

End of the high life

Thursday, 4 December 2008

Stephen Foley: Corporate America, humbled by taxpayer bailouts, is ditching the company jet.

Guy Adams: Support for a strike is starting to sag

Thursday, 4 December 2008

LA Notebook

Al Franken, above, is closing in on Norm Coleman in a Minnesota Senate recount

37 down, 215 to go: Franken edges to victory in recount

Thursday, 4 December 2008

Comedian in epic struggle for Minnesota senate seat

Oscar-winning film director Roman Polanski had admitted underage sex

After 30 years' exile, Polanski challenges US rape charge

Thursday, 4 December 2008

Film director claims new evidence proves he was the victim of 'judicial misconduct'

Andrew Keen: In defense of sleazy lobbyists

Thursday, 4 December 2008

I really like what Tina Brown is doing at The Daily Beast. There's no hint of the crowd at the Beast - it's all Tina's sensibility, her wit and judgment. So I'm thrilled to now be contributing to the new website. My first piece, published today, is a defense of (sleazy) lobbyists - surely the loneliest and most misunderstood people in America today.

A Los Angeles city councilman wants to halt the construction of a new $39 million elephant habitat at the city zoo

Zoo’s $42m plan turns into great white elephant

Wednesday, 3 December 2008

Guy Adams: A 23-year-old elephant called Billy, with friends in the highest circles of Hollywood, is at the centre of a bitter custody battle in Los Angeles.

Newspaper steals Empire State building

Wednesday, 3 December 2008

A New York newspaper stole the Empire State Building in an attempt to expose a legal loophole.

Roman Polanski at a news conference to present his musical 'Tanz der Vampire' ('Dance of the Vampires') in Oberhausen where it opens on Sunday

Polanski seeks dismissal of child sex charge

Wednesday, 3 December 2008

Lawyers for Roman Polanski, a fugitive for 30 years in a notorious sex case involving a 13-year-old girl, filed a request in Los Angeles to dismiss the charge against him because of prosecutorial and judicial misconduct.

More americas:



On the campaign trail


    With Barack Obama now President-elect, we take a look back at an historic and memorable race for the White House.