• • The biggest bet in the world

    G7 finance ministers hold meeting and devise five-point plan to restore calm to markets

    • Bush backs global response to financial crisis
    • Traders see no end to financial turmoil
    • Derivatives start to unwind
    • Iraq thrives in world slump
    • Interactive: Trace the global recession
    • Complete coverage of the credit crunch

  • Palin's Alaska vendetta adds to McCain's woe

    'Troopergate' scandal turns Alaskian Hockey Mom into a liability. Paul Harris reports

    • Palin fights back after Troopergate judgment
    • Palin found to have abused powers
    • Michael Tomasky: The verdict on Troopergate
    • A peek at the diary of Sarah Palin
    • Full elections coverage

  • Election pendulum swings back to Obama in Ohio's dying downtowns

    Sarah Palin may be making all the headlines but in Canton it has always been about the economy

    • Obama set to spend, spend, spend
    • Roanoke voices: 'Race relations ... are abominable'
    • Michael Tomasky: The heart of conservatism
    • Campaign diary: McCain confronts supporters
    • US elections 2008

• • Music

    State of Grace

    Miranda Sawyer gets more than she bargains for when she meets Grace Jones for dinner on the eve of her new album
    

  • Townships condemn feuding ANC

    South Africans are rapidly losing patience with a divided ruling party seen as arrogant and greedy

  • Haider killed in road crash

    Analysts say death of far-right politician Jorg Haider could lead to a wave of support for Austrian right

  • Crisis as top jobs seized by Mugabe

    Mugabe attempts 'ambush' power deal by claiming key cabinet posts and control of state security forces