AMERICAN presidential politics never really takes a break these days, so the circling contenders and their gurus are already focused on 2016.

Director Christopher Nolan has defended film fans irate over negative reviews of 'The Dark Knight Rises'.

Four years on, “Hope and Change” has become “Forward”, as President Barack Obama road tests a new campaign slogan to encapsulate his re-election bid.

Controversial US conservative talk show host Rush Limbaugh has apologised to a law student he branded a “slut” and “prostitute” amid a storm of criticism from Republican and Democrat politicians and advertisers who severed ties with his radio programme.

Music legend Elton John has slammed today’s songwriters as “pretty awful” and TV as “arse-paralysingly” boring.

Conservative talk radio show host Rush Limbaugh said tests showed nothing wrong with his heart after chest pains needed hospital treatment earlier this week.

TED KENNEDY was both the most loved and one of most hated and divisive politicians in the United States. Republicans frequently depicted him as the embodiment of evil and amorality, as well as a relic of the self-indulgent liberalism of the 1960s.

The US’s highest legal authority will have its first Hispanic voice following the confirmation of judge Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court today.

Former US president George Bush plans to write a “what would you have done?” book about the 12 toughest decisions he made in office.

Former campaign rivals President-elect Barack Obama and Senator John McCain met today to discuss working together in the future in their first meeting since the bitter election race.

The decision by American networks to send senior journalists to cover US presidential candidate Barack Obama's overseas tour has fuelled accusations of media bias in favour of the Democratic nominee-in-waiting.

DEMOCRATIC presidential candidate Barack Obama has shown the power of the internet for political fundraising. Now he is fighting its darker side as a vehicle for “smears” against his White House bid.

Democrat presidential hopeful Barack Obama has taken the unusual decision to fight back against internet rumours and innuendo being spread by his opponents.

SENATOR John McCain flunked his first ballot tests since becoming Republican nominee-in-waiting.

SNOW shovels, big print doorknob hangers and supermarket sandwiches may be the best investments Hillary Clinton will ever make.

Republican control of Congress was on the line today in a US election coloured by voters’ dismay over the Iraq war and misbehaviour in Washington.

Actor Michael J Fox laughed off criticism of his appearance in recent political ads in support of embryonic stem cell research, but said his mother was not as amused.

Moby has launched a scathing attack on Republican Russ Limbaugh after he poked fun at Michael J Fox's Parkinson Disease symptoms - branding him and other right wing figures as "the most evil people on this planet".

In a response to charges by conservative talk-show host Rush Limbaugh, actor Michael J Fox defended his appearance in recent political campaign ads, saying he was neither acting nor off his medication for Parkinson’s disease.

A right-wing radio host has come under fire in the US after suggesting Michael J Fox had exaggerated his Parkinson’s disease in a TV advert.

Actor Michael J Fox is appearing in adverts supporting the campaign for stem cell research.

The United Nations’ second highest-ranking official yesterday accused the US government of leaving Americans in the dark about the world body’s good works, a rare direct criticism that drew an angry response yesterday from US Ambassador John Bolton.

The United States today demanded UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan renounce a speech in which his No 2 official broke with tradition and accused the United States of undermining the United Nations.

U2 frontman Bono has been accused of cheating on his wife by controversial US radio host Rush Limbaugh.

Oprah Winfrey is the world’s most powerful celebrity, according to a list compiled by business magazine Forbes.

LATE on Tuesday of last week I got in to Dallas for the first time since I left there in 1973.

LATE as always, but still greeted by cheers and screams of “Bill, we love you,” former US President Clinton opened the year’s hottest book tour with a marathon signing at a midtown Manhattan Barnes & Noble.

Reviews have been discouraging and conservatives are on the attack, but booksellers still expected the best as they braced for today’s release of Bill Clinton’s My Life, the year’s most anticipated non-fiction book.