By Guy Adams

Like far too many inhabitants of this freeway-obsessed town, I barely knew Los Angeles boasted a commuter rail network prior to Friday's tragic Metrolink crash, in which 26 people have now been confirmed dead.

But with dust now settling on the disaster, victims are deciding who to blame (and therefore sue) for their troubles. Ambulance-chasing lawyers are advertising heavily for clients, and reports now suggest that the train operator’s damages will reach $200 million.

By Guy Adams

You can't move in LA these days without running into the tidal-wave of British actors, directors, presenters and producers who now dominate the local TV industry. But could our days as the pre-eminent migrant nation of American telly be numbered?

Some trusty Brit imports - American Idol, Kitchen Nightmares, America's Got Talent, and the like - are now feeling distinctly long in the tooth, and producers have been reduced to messing around with formats (this week, for example, they appointed an extra judge on American Idol) in an effort to shore-up ratings.

By Guy Adams

If dogs really are like their owners, Los Angeles has a serious image problem. In a revelation that will have the rest of America rolling its eyes, new research has established that city's most popular breed of pet really is the widely-derided Chihuahua.

According to an excellent new online database of LA's dog population, the yappy little pooches - most frequently seen under the fragrant armpit (or inside the handbag) of Paris Hilton - are now being brought in huge numbers by "civillians".

By Guy Adams

Whisper it quietly, but a pertinent question is doing the rounds of Hollywood: just how much did Heath Ledger’s tragic death have to do with Batman’s astonishingly successful launch?

By Guy Adams

Two of Britain’s foremost cultural exports - David Beckham and Catherine Zeta-Jones - this week made public pronouncements regarding their adopted city of Los Angeles.

First up, the former England football captain issued a statement on his official blog marking the first anniversary of his emigration to the US.

By Guy Adams

The impact of soaring oil prices on the American way of life knows no bounds. In recent weeks, $4.50-a-gallon "gas" been blamed (among many other things) for the decline of the truck industry, a consumer slump in Las Vegas, and bankrupting Nevada brothels popular with long-distance lorry drivers.

You know things have got really bad, though, when it starts affecting the US language. And recently, a new phrase has entered the Californian lexicon: “Lycra lout”.

By Guy Adams

It looks like Sacha Baron Cohen's next film will take a pop at two of America's most powerful lobbies: Israel, and the red-neck right.

This week came two revelations to that effect. First, on Monday, the Israeli blogger Yossi Alpher revealed that he'd recently been interviewed in Jerusalem by the satirist's latest alter ego: a gay fashion journalist called Bruno, who succeeded in confusing Hamas with houmus.

Then yesterday, police in Little Rock, Arkansas, complained of a near-riot at a local fairground after a large crowd turned-up to a cage-fighting event and were instead treated to a gay cabaret.