At the launch on Friday, Mr Silverstein said the building would be a "new icon of the New York skyline".

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In Daventry, the council part-owns the ICON Innovation Centre and is building 45 homes to rent out.

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He cited Ronald Reagan on Monday as he rallied building trade union members, trying to draw a distinction between the conservative icon and the Republican Party that the president is running against now.

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Jutting out of London's skyline in all its futuristic glory, the "Gherkin" building has managed in the last few years to embed itself in the city's psyche as an icon, an edifice that just looked as cool as a cucumber.

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