Attention, America: Paris has spoken. Paris Hilton, the blonde, doe-eyed celebrity thrust into the presidential campaign in an ad by Republican candidate John McCain, has issued a tart rebuttal, albeit in a scantily clad, tongue-in-cheek kind of way.

The flood-ravaged communities of the Midwest became a new battleground in the US presidential election as Democrat Barack Obama criticised Republican John McCain for opposing federal spending on flood prevention programmes, attacks Mr McCain’s campaign called typical partisan politics.

Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid has called US president George Bush “dangerously incompetent” and says the administration should be doing more to prevent increasing sectarian violence in Iraq.