ALASKA officials released thousands of pages of Sarah Palin’s emails from her first 21 months as governor, giving a fresh glimpse of her as she struggled with gossip about her family before she rose to national prominence as the Republican vice-presidential nominee.

US President Barack Obama’s Democrats are braced for an elections rout today, as a wave of 11th-hour polls showed Republicans on course for big gains in Congress amid deep voter anger at the sour economy.

ROBERT BYRD, the longest-serving member of Congress in US history, died at the age of 92 after almost six decades in office, his office announced yesterday.

Alaska governor Sarah Palin has inspired two of Hollywood's top screenwriters to fight for the right to make a movie about her life.

BARACK OBAMA, flush from his stunning victory in the Iowa caucuses, charged to New Hampshire yesterday fired up for the second leg of his fight to be America’s first black president.