Fareed Zakaria reports on the empty political debate concerning Obama’s healthcare reform plan

BOOKMAKER Paddy Power could be in a position to enter the potentially lucrative US market sooner than expected, with hopes rising that proposals for the legalisation of online gambling could be passed by the US government within the next 12 months.

The Obama administration wants the US government to have a say in how financial institutions pay their employees.

US talk show host Ellen DeGeneres has been named the most powerful gay celebrity by an American magazine.

US president Barack Obama will take his case to the nation tonight as his struggle to steer through an economic recovery package is proving to be a difficult test of his leadership.

President Barack Obama’s closest economic advisors are signalling that the financial crisis will require more money and more US government intervention to correct.

US Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke waged a stout defence of their management of a $700bn (€554bn) financial bailout today, just a week after abandoning the original strategy behind the rescue.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi “poisoned” the debate over a €487bn rescue package for the United States’ economy and caused the bill’s failure, Republicans said.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi “poisoned” the debate over a $700bn (€482bn) rescue package for the United States’ economy and caused the bill’s failure, Republicans said today.

A $700bn (€482bn) rescue package for the United States’ troubled economy was in tatters tonight after it was rejected by the lower house of the US Congress.

Key lawmakers who struck a post-midnight deal on a 700bn (€479bn) for the financial industry tonight predicted it would pass Congress, putting in place the largest US government intervention in markets since the Great Depression of the 1930s.

US President George Bush took aim today at the huge salaries and bonuses of corporate executives, going to Wall Street to say compensation packages should be tied to how good a job a CEO does for the shareholders.

Democrats in the House of Representatives defied newly elected Speaker-to-be Nancy Pelosi today by ignoring her recommendation and selecting Rep Steny Hoyer as Pelosi’s top lieutenant.