Miami - As if it were a generational war, Florida's Cuban- Americans are divided by age over centre-left Democrat Barack Obama and centre-right Republican John McCain for the White House.

As in earlier elections, particularly the controversial vote in 2000 when the country was left hanging for weeks like so many ballot chads, Florida is likely to play a key role on November 4.

New York - The US has always been proud of the fact that for decades its museums, theatres and concert halls have lived almost exclusively off private donations.

But the financial crisis has caused the winds to shift, which means some money sources could run dry.

Small cultural facilities now fear for their survival and the traditional establishments face an uncertain future.

Tallinn - Estonia has already given the world the internet telephone service Skype and recently opened a NATO cyberdefence academy in its capital, Tallinn.

Now the Baltic nation, which is so in love with all things online that it sometimes brands itself "e-stonia," has come up with another internet first - a virtual travel fair.

The inaugural online travel fair, entitled "Travel Expo," runs October 27 through November 5. It is the idea of Estonian company Online Expo, run by young entrepreneurs Anna Lepp and Sergei Semjonov.

Bangkok ­ One thing is for sure: the next US president will come to the White House with some first-hand experiences in Asia.

Republican John McCain, 72, a decorated war hero, was shot down on a bombing mission in 1967 over North Vietnam, captured and tortured in the notorious "Hanoi Hilton," where he was kept as a prisoner of war until 1973.

Democrat Barack Obama, 47, spent part of his peripatetic youth in Indonesia, where he attended a public Muslim school - not a Madrassah as some of his critics have alleged - in Jakarta between 1969-71.

Washington - The director of the did not abuse his authority in an extramarital affair he had with a subordinate and the fund's board said Saturday it planned to continue with Dominique Strauss-Kahn at the helm.

The 24-member IMF executive board met Saturday to review an investigation into the matter and said in a statement it had "concluded that there was no harassment, favoritism, or any other abuse of authority by the managing director."