Kwame Kilpatrick, the mayor of Detroit, is set to be expelled from office after pleading guilty yesterday to two obstruction of justice charges. The plea bargain marks the culmination of an eight-month scandal that has embarrassed the Democratic party and rocked a city already reeling from incompetent civic management and a deep slump in the motor industry. Mr Kilpatrick, a supporter of Barack Obama, admitted he lied under oath about an extramarital affair.

Bernard Simon, Toronto