A NEW YORK state judge has thrown out parts of Dan Rather’s $70 million (€44m) lawsuit against CBS but preserved several key elements, including the former news anchor’s breach of contract claim.

Hollywood writers will return to work today after voting overwhelmingly to end the three-month strike that has crippled the US entertainment industry.

Racist remarks by US radio host Don Imus got him fired by CBS yesterday, the finale to a stunning fall for one of the nation’s most prominent broadcasters.

YouTube announced deals to licence content from two major record companies just hours before the wildly popular US video website agreed to be bought by Google for $1.6bn (€1.27bn).

David Bauder, New York

American broadcasting giant CBS issued a damning independent review of mistakes over an investigative report on President George Bush’s National Guard service, sacking three news executives and a producer for their ”myopic zeal” in rushing it to air.

Following protests from Republicans, the CBS network has decided not to air its controversial mini-series The Reagans and will move the project to its pay cable arm, Showtime, according to television sources.

The husband of outspoken US Democrat supporter Barbra Streisand is to play Republican icon Ronald Reagan in a new film about the former US President.

CBS may have been wrong to raise the possibility of a TV movie while trying to bag an interview with former Iraq prisoner of war Jessica Lynch, the American broadcast giant has said.