No drugs in Robin Williams suicide

7 November 2014 Last updated at 21:38

Robin Williams was not under the influence of drugs or alcohol at the time of his suicide, authorities in California have revealed.

The actor, 63, was found dead in his California home on 11 August in what authorities soon ruled a suicide.

A Marin County coroner's report released on Friday found Williams died from asphyxia due to hanging.

Williams, famed for roles in such films as Mrs Doubtfire and Good Will Hunting, had been treated for depression.

The entertainer was last seen alive by his wife on 10 August, and was found dead the following day.

On the morning he was found, the actor's personal assistant became concerned when he did not respond to knocks on the door, authorities say. The assistant entered the room and found Williams dead.

Williams won an Academy Award for his role in Good Will Hunting and starred in films including Good Morning Vietnam and Jumanji.

In the past Williams had talked, and even joked, about his struggles with alcohol and drugs. After his death, his representative said he had also been "battling severe depression".

He had earlier returned to a rehabilitation centre to "fine-tune" his sobriety, the Los Angeles Times reported in July.

In a statement following his death, Williams' wife Susan Schneider said she was "utterly heartbroken" and asked for privacy for the family.

"As he is remembered, it is our hope the focus will not be on Robin's death, but on the countless moments of joy and laughter he gave to millions," she said.

US President Barack Obama paid tribute to Williams, saying he "made us laugh. He made us cry."

"He gave his immeasurable talent freely and generously to those who needed it most - from our troops stationed abroad to the marginalised on our own streets."

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US researcher guilty of poisoning

8 November 2014 Last updated at 02:21

A US neuroscientist has been found guilty of murdering his wife by lacing her energy drink with cyanide.

Prosecutors said former University of Pittsburgh researcher Robert Ferrante concocted the plan to kill Autumn Klein after she pressured him to have a second child.

Ferrante now faces a mandatory life sentence.

Ms Klein's relatives burst into tears upon hearing the guilty verdict in the Pittsburgh court.

"Justice for Autumn," said her mother, Lois Klein, outside the court.

The jury deliberated for 15 hours over two days before finding Ferrante, 66, guilty of first-degree murder.

Ferrante hung his head when the verdict was read out.

Police said Ferrante had given the supplement to his wife on 17 April 2013. She died three days later.

Prosecutors described him as a "master manipulator" and said he may also have acted out of fear that she was having an affair or was planning to divorce him.

Ferrante had denied poisoning his wife, saying he had bought the cyanide for stem cell experiments.

Police said Ferrante used a university credit card two days before Ms Klein fell ill to buy more than 8oz (220g) of cyanide.

His lawyers made the case that Ms Klein, 41, might not have been poisoned at all, citing three defence experts who said poisoning couldn't be conclusively proved.

The prosecution, however, maintained that a test on Ms Klein's blood had revealed a lethal level of cyanide.

The blood was drawn while doctors tried for three days to save her life, although the results were not known until after she had died and her body was cremated.

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US row over who shot Osama Bin Laden

7 November 2014 Last updated at 06:05

A public row has arisen over which US commando fired the shot that killed Osama Bin Laden, more than three years after the al-Qaeda leader's death.

Ex-Navy Seal Robert O'Neill, 38, has told the Washington Post in an interview that he fired the fatal shot.

This contradicts the account of Matt Bissonnette, another former Seal involved in the raid, in a 2012 book.

The al-Qaeda leader was killed in a 2011 Navy Seal raid on his compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan.

Navy Seals usually abide by a code of silence that forbids them from publicly taking credit for their actions.

Mr O'Neill, who retired in 2012, had previously told his story anonymously to Esquire magazine.

He was scheduled to reveal his identity in a television interview later this month, but news of the interview angered other former Seals.

A website run by ex-special forces personnel published his name pre-emptively, apparently in protest at his decision to claim credit for the shooting.

Mr O'Neill said he and another member of the team - whose identity remains secret - climbed the stairs to the third floor of the compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, and saw Bin Laden poke his head outside the door of one of the rooms.

The unnamed commando, at the "point position" leading the column, fired at him but missed, according to Mr O'Neill.

An instant later, Mr O'Neill went into the room and killed the al-Qaeda leader with shots to the head, he says.

Seal Team 6 (ST6)

• Elite group of US Navy's Sea, Air, Land (Seal) Teams trained to carry out top secret operations
• Part of the Naval Special Warfare Development Group (DevGru) based in Virginia
• Led the 2009 rescue of US Captain Richard Phillips, kidnapped by Somali pirates in the Indian Ocean
• In 2012, several ST6 members were disciplined for working as paid consultants on a video game

Profile: Seal Team 6

However, in the book No Easy Day, Mr Bissonnette claimed it was the point man who killed Bin Laden.

On Thursday, Mr Bissonnette did not directly dispute Mr O'Neill's claim, in an interview with NBC News.

"Two different people telling two different stories for two different reasons," Mr Bissonnette told the broadcaster.

"Whatever he says, he says. I don't want to touch that."

Mr Bissonnette is scheduled to appear on the CBS news magazine programme 60 Minutes ahead of the publication of his second book, No Hero, about his service with the Seals.

Meanwhile, he is under investigation for potentially disclosing classified information in his first book, which is about the Bin Laden raid.

The official account of what happened is unlikely to be disclosed by the US government for many years.

Pentagon officials have neither confirmed nor denied Mr O'Neill's account, but senior special operations leaders sent a letter last week to all Navy Seals urging them to comply with their code of silence about operational details, including avoiding taking "public credit".

"We do not abide wilful or selfish disregard for our core values in return for public notoriety and financial gain," they wrote.

Bin Laden was confirmed killed in the raid and his body was buried at sea.

Darkness and close quarters inside the compound have made some Navy Seals question whether it is possible to determine whose bullets killed the al-Qaeda leader.

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US unemployment falls in October

7 November 2014 Last updated at 15:49

The US economy added 214,000 jobs in October, while the unemployment rate has fallen to 5.8%, official Labor Department figures show.

The number of jobs created is slightly below forecasts of about 230,000 new posts, but still indicates a healthy US jobs market.

The figures are a significant gauge of the health of the economy.

US employers have added at least 200,000 jobs for nine months in a row, the longest growth period since 1995.

Jobs figures for August and September were also revised higher.

Continue reading the main story

Anyone disappointed by the October number, which came in below expectations... needs to bear in mind that payrolls have now risen by more than 200,000 in each of the past nine months"

End Quote Chris Williamson Markit

The burst of hiring lowered the unemployment rate to 5.8% from 5.9%. That is the lowest rate since July 2008.

Search

Shares in New York were down shortly after the start of trading. The Dow Jones was 0.28% lower at 17505.28.

Chris Williamson, of financial information service Markit, said: "Anyone disappointed by the October number, which came in below expectations... needs to bear in mind that payrolls have now risen by more than 200,000 in each of the past nine months.

"This means that, so far this year, the economy has added some 2.285 million jobs, of which 2.225 million were in the private sector."

The number of unemployed in the US has dropped to 8.995 million, below nine million for the first time in six years.

The work force participation rate, which counts those with jobs and those actively seeking jobs, was barely changed in October at 62.8%.

The financial crisis of 2008 has dented that rate, with some people simply giving up the search for work.

Voters

Although economic growth has picked up this year and job opportunities with it, this week's mid-term elections revealed employment was voters' top worry, suggesting many Americans have not yet felt any improvement.

The US central bank, the Federal Reserve, ended its stimulus programme, known as "quantitative easing", last month.

Its aim was to boost spending and investment by buying bonds, thus keeping long-term interest rates low.

The Fed has indicated it will raise short-term interest rates if the economy continues to grow.

Its chairman, Janet Yellen, has given no firm date for the rise, but the Fed has said the move would be a "considerable time" after the stimulus programme ended.

Ms Yellen said in a speech on Friday afternoon that she did not intend to jolt the market with a move: "The Federal Reserve will strive to clearly and transparently communicate its monetary policy strategy in order to minimise the likelihood of surprises that could disrupt financial markets, both at home and around the world."

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Judge accepts Detroit bankruptcy plan

7 November 2014 Last updated at 19:05

US judge Steven Rhodes has approved of Detroit's plan to exit from bankruptcy, 16 months after the city became the largest ever in the US to go broke.

The plan includes a 4.5% cut to the pension plans of general retirees, spending $1.7bn to demolish abandoned buildings and other measures to erase nearly $7bn of debt.

Judge Rhodes said he found the plan fair and reasonable.

The verdict was expected after most major creditors struck deals.

In announcing his approval, Judge Rhodes said that the plan, which limits cuts to city retirees, "borders on miraculous".

After Detroit initially filed for bankruptcy, many unions had staged protests demanding that any deal with the city's creditors spared pensions as much as possible.

End in sight

Detroit's population has dwindled down to 688,000 from 1.2 million in 1980.

A series of bad deals, corrupt mismanagement by previous mayors and unreasonable promises to pensioners exacerbated the city's debt woes, just as tax revenue from the shrinking population declined drastically.

That made Detroit's bankruptcy filing almost inevitable.

In order to appease creditors, the city has struck a variety of deals, including handing over the management of the Detroit Red Wings hockey team to one firm that had been demanding the city auction off the many masterpieces held by the Detroit Institute of Arts (DIA).

That deal spared the DIA's collection, as did an unusual agreement in which the state of Illinois, foundations and private philanthropists agreed to donate money to the city to keep the institution safe as well as to prevent draconian cuts to retirees.

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High court to hear health law case

7 November 2014 Last updated at 19:44

The US Supreme Court will hear a second legal challenge to President Barack Obama's signature 2010 healthcare law, the court has said.

The court will determine whether the law allows health insurance subsidies to millions of Americans.

The challenge was brought by conservatives who argue that only states, not the federal government, can pay such subsidies.

Residents of 36 states rely on the federal government for the payments.

The sweeping healthcare reform law, the Affordable Care Act, established health insurance exchanges run by the federal government and by 16 states that provide subsidies to help Americans purchase insurance premiums.

In 2014, more than eight million people signed up for coverage on the exchanges.

The law's conservative opponents argue a close reading of the statute only allows subsidies to be paid by states that have their own healthcare exchanges, not by the federal government, which serves residents of states that have not established their own.

Currently, 36 states do not have exchanges of their own. Should the Supreme Court find in favour of the plaintiffs, more than five million people could find their insurance costs rise dramatically.

In July, the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia ruled in favour of the law's opponents, but later threw the ruling out so it could rehear the case.

The Supreme Court is expected to hear arguments in March, with a decision in June.

On Friday, the White House dismissed the lawsuit as a partisan attempt to undermine the law.

"These lawsuits won't stand in the way of the Affordable Care Act and the millions of Americans who can now afford health insurance because of it," White House press secretary Josh Earnest said in a statement. "We are confident that the financial help afforded millions of Americans was the intent of the law and it is working as Congress designed."

The law, also known as Obamacare, passed with no Republican votes in 2010, and has been a focus of conservative outrage ever since.

In 2012, the Supreme Court upheld the central provision of the law requiring Americans to carry health insurance or pay a penalty, in a 5-4 decision.

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White House holds cross-party talks

7 November 2014 Last updated at 20:55

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Obama said the Republicans had had a "good night" in Tuesday's election and pledged to hear their ideas

US President Barack Obama and leaders in the House and Senate have held cross-party talks aimed at ending political gridlock in Washington.

Friday's White House luncheon came after the Republicans won control of the Senate in Tuesday's elections.

Mr Obama, a Democrat, and heads of both parties in the House of Representatives and Senate were to explore avenues of compromise after years of rancour.

Republicans have called their victory a rebuke of Mr Obama's policies.

On Friday, the president was joined for lunch by 16 senior legislators including presumptive incoming Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Republican House Speaker John Boehner.

"The American people just want to see work done here in Washington," Mr Obama said, flanked at the dining table by Mr Boehner, outgoing Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Mr McConnell, and Democratic House minority leader Nancy Pelosi.

"They are frustrated by the gridlock. They'd like to see some co-operation, and I think all of us have the responsibility - me in particular - to try and make that happen."

Mr Obama said he hoped to discuss university affordability, infrastructure investment, overhaul of the tax system, and deficit reduction.

"Those are all going to be areas where I'm very interested in hearing and sharing ideas," he said.

But the talks were not entirely conciliatory, said Republican Senator John Cornyn. The Texas politician said he spoke out during the lunch against Mr Obama's proposal to use his unilateral presidential authority to ease the deportation threat against some illegal immigrants.

Mr Obama has vowed to act on his own if Congress fails to pass an immigration overhaul.

"I made clear to the president that we should tackle immigration reform together on a step-by-step basis, beginning with border security and respect for the rule of law," Mr Cornyn said.

"Unfortunately the president's promise to unilaterally go around Congress ignores the message voters sent on Election Day."

On Tuesday, the Republicans won control of the Senate and solidified their hold on the House of Representatives.

With the Republicans in control of both houses of Congress, the party can complicate, if not block completely, Mr Obama's agenda in the last two years of his tenure in the White House.

Control of the Senate could also enable the Republicans to stymie his ability to name new federal judges, cabinet members and senior government officials.

Analysis, Jon Sopel, BBC North America editor

Barack Obama has said he's prepared to sit down and drink bourbon with Kentucky's Mitch McConnell, and is even prepared to allow the leader of the House, John Boehner, to let him win at golf again.

So on what other issues might we see progress?

Mr Obama has wavered over the Keystone XL pipeline that will run from Canada down to the Gulf of Mexico for fear of offending environmental campaigners, even though business is desperate for the measure and it would create jobs.

The president could trade that for Republican support to back greater spending on infrastructure - roads, bridges and the like.

Corporate tax reform is firmly on the Republican agenda, but the president would not want to concede this without something back. Perhaps it would be movement on increasing the minimum wage, something that was backed in ballot initiatives in a number of Republican states on the night of the mid-term elections.

Obama and Republicans playing nicely for now

The new Congress will be sworn in on 3 January.

Following the election, Mr Obama and senior Republicans pledged to work together to end the political gridlock that has virtually paralysed Congress and that reached its culmination with the shutdown of the US government in a budget stalemate last year.

The mid-term election campaign was characterised by widespread frustration expressed by voters about the inability of the two parties to work together.

In the wake of the Republican gains, Mr McConnell vowed to make the Senate function and pass bills, after sessions that were the least productive in the chamber's history.

Mr Obama on Wednesday said he was "eager to work with the new Congress to make the next two years as productive as possible".

But on immigration, he warned he would consider acting on his own to reduce deportations.

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Obama names attorney general choice

8 November 2014 Last updated at 01:09

US President Barack Obama has chosen New York federal prosecutor Loretta Lynch to replace Eric Holder as US attorney general, the White House says.

If the Senate confirms her appointment, Ms Lynch will be the first African-American woman to head the US Justice Department.

Mr Holder, who resigned from the post six weeks ago, was the first African-American to serve as attorney general.

The White House said Ms Lynch would be formally nominated on Saturday.

Correspondents say Ms Lynch, 55, is known for her low-key personality and has stirred little controversy during her two tenures as US attorney for the Eastern District of New York.

"Ms Lynch is a strong, independent prosecutor who has twice led one of the most important US Attorney's Offices in the country," White House spokesman Josh Earnest said in a statement.

Her nomination comes after Republicans won control of the Senate in Tuesday's mid-term elections.

Ms Lynch - a North Carolina native and Harvard-trained lawyer - was one of several candidates Mr Holder had recommended to succeed him.

She has experience in both civil rights and corporate fraud cases.

Mr Holder led the justice department for six years, earning praise from President Obama who called him "the people's lawyer".

However, Mr Holder frequently clashed with Republicans in Congress over issues including gun control and same-sex marriage.

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Fourth US school attack victim dies

8 November 2014 Last updated at 07:44

A fourth victim who was wounded in a US school shooting in Washington state last month has died.

Andrew Fryberg, 15, was a cousin of the killer and had been critically ill since the 24 October attack.

Jaylen Fryberg opened fire with a handgun in the cafeteria of Marysville-Pilchuck High School, near Seattle, before shooting himself dead.

Another cousin of the killer who was also injured in the incident was released from hospital on Thursday.

Jaylen Fryberg texted five friends to meet him for lunch, authorities said. Once seated at a table in the school's main cafeteria, he opened fire with a Beretta handgun.

The family of Andrew Fryberg paid tribute to the "amazing support from the community" after his death was announced on Friday and said that they had been "overwhelmed with the love and care" since the shootings.

Three girls, Gia Soriano, Zoe Galasso and Shaylee Chuckulnaskit, all aged 14, also died as a result of the attack.

The Frybergs are a prominent Tulalip Indian Reservation family. Jaylen was described as a popular, outgoing student prior to the attack though messages he posted online before it happened suggested he had been "broken" by an unspecified event.

One pupil at the school told the Reuters news agency that the attack was related to a "fight over a girl".

Reports have emerged about the heroics of one teacher, Megan Silberberger, who ran to the scene of the shooting and "did everything possible to protect students", according to a statement from her union.

It was unclear whether Fryberg had killed himself deliberately or whether the gun had been fired by accident as he struggled with the teacher.

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Obama to double US forces in Iraq

8 November 2014 Last updated at 09:26

The US is to send 1,500 more non-combat troops to Iraq to boost Iraqi forces fighting Islamic State (IS) militants, nearly doubling the US presence.

The Pentagon said the troops would train and assist Iraqi forces.

President Barack Obama authorised the deployment following a request from Iraq's government, the Pentagon added.

IS militants control large areas of Iraq and Syria but have been targeted by hundreds of air strikes by a US-led coalition since August.

The 1,500 additional US troops will join the 1,600 military advisers that are already in Iraq to assist the country's army.

A statement from the Pentagon said the troops would be establishing several sites to train nine Iraqi army and three Kurdish Peshmerga brigades.

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Rear Admiral John Kirby says the troops will be in a "non-combat role"

The US military would also be setting up two "advise and assist operations centres" outside Baghdad and the northern city of Irbil, the statement added.

"US troops will not be in combat, but they will be better positioned to support Iraqi security forces as they take the fight" to IS, White House spokesman Josh Earnest told reporters.

He said President Obama would also be asking Congress for $5.6bn (£3.5bn) to support the ongoing operations against IS fighters in both Iraq and Syria.

The announcement came hours after Mr Obama met congressional leaders in Washington for the first time after the Republicans won control of the Senate in Tuesday's elections.

Analysis: Tom Esslemont, Washington Correspondent

In the eyes of the Pentagon, the Iraqi armed forces are responding well to the training they have already been given.

Its spokesman Rear Admiral John Kirby said they had "stiffened their spine". So the expansion of the training programme to the north, south and west of Iraq is designed to build on what is being labelled as progress.

But others may see this deployment differently. There are those who recall how, earlier this year, the US-trained and equipped Iraqi armed forces simply crumbled in the face of Islamic State militants.

Rear Adm Kirby blamed the previous Iraqi government for that, and said that the Iraqis were now making gains and that the situation was completely different this time.

The Obama administration has said its aim was to "degrade and ultimately destroy" Islamic State militants, who control large parts of the country after launching an offensive in the north in June.

A US-led coalition has launched more than 400 air strikes on the group in Iraq since August, and more than 300 across the border in Syria.

The strikes have destroyed hundreds of the group's armed vehicles and several of its bases, but Islamic State has continued its campaign to establish a caliphate.

Last week, officials in Iraq's western Anbar province said IS militants had killed at least 322 members of a Sunni tribe who had tried to resist the jihadists.

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US row over who shot Osama Bin Laden

7 November 2014 Last updated at 06:05

A public row has arisen over which US commando fired the shot that killed Osama Bin Laden, more than three years after the al-Qaeda leader's death.

Ex-Navy Seal Robert O'Neill, 38, has told the Washington Post in an interview that he fired the fatal shot.

This contradicts the account of Matt Bissonnette, another former Seal involved in the raid, in a 2012 book.

The al-Qaeda leader was killed in a 2011 Navy Seal raid on his compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan.

Navy Seals usually abide by a code of silence that forbids them from publicly taking credit for their actions.

Mr O'Neill, who retired in 2012, had previously told his story anonymously to Esquire magazine.

He was scheduled to reveal his identity in a television interview later this month, but news of the interview angered other former Seals.

A website run by ex-special forces personnel published his name pre-emptively, apparently in protest at his decision to claim credit for the shooting.

Mr O'Neill said he and another member of the team - whose identity remains secret - climbed the stairs to the third floor of the compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, and saw Bin Laden poke his head outside the door of one of the rooms.

The unnamed commando, at the "point position" leading the column, fired at him but missed, according to Mr O'Neill.

An instant later, Mr O'Neill went into the room and killed the al-Qaeda leader with shots to the head, he says.

Seal Team 6 (ST6)

• Elite group of US Navy's Sea, Air, Land (Seal) Teams trained to carry out top secret operations
• Part of the Naval Special Warfare Development Group (DevGru) based in Virginia
• Led the 2009 rescue of US Captain Richard Phillips, kidnapped by Somali pirates in the Indian Ocean
• In 2012, several ST6 members were disciplined for working as paid consultants on a video game

Profile: Seal Team 6

However, in the book No Easy Day, Mr Bissonnette claimed it was the point man who killed Bin Laden.

On Thursday, Mr Bissonnette did not directly dispute Mr O'Neill's claim, in an interview with NBC News.

"Two different people telling two different stories for two different reasons," Mr Bissonnette told the broadcaster.

"Whatever he says, he says. I don't want to touch that."

Mr Bissonnette is scheduled to appear on the CBS news magazine programme 60 Minutes ahead of the publication of his second book, No Hero, about his service with the Seals.

Meanwhile, he is under investigation for potentially disclosing classified information in his first book, which is about the Bin Laden raid.

The official account of what happened is unlikely to be disclosed by the US government for many years.

Pentagon officials have neither confirmed nor denied Mr O'Neill's account, but senior special operations leaders sent a letter last week to all Navy Seals urging them to comply with their code of silence about operational details, including avoiding taking "public credit".

"We do not abide wilful or selfish disregard for our core values in return for public notoriety and financial gain," they wrote.

Bin Laden was confirmed killed in the raid and his body was buried at sea.

Darkness and close quarters inside the compound have made some Navy Seals question whether it is possible to determine whose bullets killed the al-Qaeda leader.

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Russia rejects claim over Putin ally

6 November 2014 Last updated at 18:44

US allegations of money laundering against a close associate of Vladimir Putin amount to another attack on the Russian president, the Kremlin's spokesman has said.

"The West does it continuously and we cannot express anything but bewilderment," Dmitry Peskov said.

It follows a US report that Gennady Timchenko, co-founder of trading house Gunvor, was being investigated.

A spokesman for Mr Timchenko denied any wrongdoing by the businessman.

Earlier, the Wall Street Journal said: "The prosecutors are probing transactions in which the Geneva-based commodities firm Mr Timchenko founded, Gunvor Group, purchased oil from Russia's OAO Rosneft and later sold it to third parties."

The newspaper said prosecutors in New York were investigating whether funds related to allegedly corrupt deals in Russia were transferred through the US financial system.

When contacted by the BBC, the prosecutor's office for the Eastern District of New York declined to comment.

A statement issued by Mr Timchenko's holding company Volga Group said: "Mr Timchenko has not received any notification from the US law enforcement bodies (including the US Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of New York or the US Department of Justice) on any investigation into his activities.

"Mr Timchenko has always conducted his business activities in strict compliance with the law and the highest standards of business ethics."

'Political crossfire'

Gunvor said it had not been notified of any probe into the company and did not act as an intermediary between buyers and sellers.

A spokesman said there was no evidence to support allegations against the company, which he said had been "caught in the political crossfire".

One source quoted by the Wall Street Journal said investigators were also seeking to establish whether the alleged transactions had any connection with Mr Putin's personal wealth.

Gunvor said: "When it comes to President Putin, he does not and never has had any ownership, beneficial or otherwise in Gunvor. He is not a beneficiary of Gunvor or its activities, directly or indirectly."

Mr Peskov was quoted by the Moscow Echo website as saying it was "absurd to speculate" about financial ties between Mr Putin and Mr Timchenko.

Mr Timchenko, who is estimated by Forbes to be worth about $13bn (£8bn), is a long-standing friend of Mr Putin.

He is one of the main targets of US sanctions imposed on Russian individuals and businesses in response to the annexation of Crimea and the crisis in eastern Ukraine.

Several companies linked to Mr Timchenko have faced US sanctions, including gas producer Novatek, investment strategy firm Volga Group and the construction holding company Stroytransgaz Group.

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US strikes target militants in Syria

6 November 2014 Last updated at 19:20

The US military says it has carried out air strikes against the al-Qaeda-linked Khorasan group in north-western Syria.

The US hit five targets related to the group, including several vehicles and buildings, near the border with Turkey.

The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which monitors the violence, said several militants and two children had died in the attack.

It is the second time US strikes have targeted Khorasan, whom it accuses of planning attacks on the US and Europe.

In a statement, the US Central Command (Centcom) said Thursday's strikes near the town of Sarmada had hit vehicles and buildings used for training and to produce explosive devices.

A senior US official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told reporters that one of the targets was a French militant called David Drugeon, who had joined the group.

The official said it was unclear as to whether he had been killed in the strikes, but added: "We think we got him."

Little is known about Khorasan other than information released by US officials.

They say the group is made up of veteran fighters from the Afghanistan and Pakistan region who have embedded within al-Qaeda's Syria branch, the al-Nusra Front.

'Planning major attacks'

Centcom said the group was using Syria as a base to attack the West, rather than seeking to overthrow Syrian President Bashar al-Assad or helping the Syrian people.

The first strikes on the group were on 23 September during the US-led coalition's first raids against Islamic State (IS) fighters in Syria.

At the time, Pentagon's operations chief Lt Gen William Mayville said Khorasan militants were in "the final stages of plans to execute major attacks".

The US-led coalition has launched several air strikes in Syria since September, mostly targeting IS fighters.

Syria's civil war, which is in its fourth year, has claimed more than 200,000 lives.

President Assad's government has been battling against an armed and increasingly fragmented uprising.

As well as fighting the government, rebel groups such as the Nusra Front and IS have also been fighting among themselves.

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US leaders pledge to work together

6 November 2014 Last updated at 04:51

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President Barack Obama: "It is time for us to take care of business"

The US Senate's new Republican leader and President Barack Obama have both promised to end the political gridlock that has so frustrated American voters.

Republicans made historic gains in the mid-term elections and now control both legislative chambers.

Incoming Senate leader Mitch McConnell said he would make the ineffective Senate function and pass bills.

Mr Obama said he was "eager to work with the new Congress to make the next two years as productive as possible".

The election campaign was characterised by widespread frustration expressed by voters about the inability of Congress to work together.

To the Americans who voted for change, the president said: "I hear you."

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"We're going to go back to work and actually pass legislation"

He told a White House news conference that both parties must address those concerns, but he admitted that as president he had a "unique responsibility to try to make this town work".

On Friday, he will host a meeting at the White House with Democratic and Republican leaders.

"We can surely find ways to work together," Mr Obama said. "It's time for us to take care of business."

But he warned he would act on his own to reduce deportations and improve border security - action he had delayed until after the election, to the fury of some Latino voters.

Earlier on Wednesday, Mr McConnell pledged to make the Senate more productive.

"The Senate in the last few years basically doesn't do anything," he said. "We're going to go back to work and actually pass legislation."

He also vowed to "work together" with Mr Obama on issues where they can agree, such as trade agreements and tax reform.

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Rajesh Mirchandani explains what the results mean for Obama presidency

Working within a two-party political system did not mean "we have to live in perpetual conflict", he added.

Also on Wednesday, the chairman of the Republican National Committee called resounding Republican mid-term victories a "direct rejection of the Obama agenda".

"[Americans] want nothing to do with the policies of Barack Obama," Reince Priebus told reporters.

Analysis, Jon Sopel, BBC North America editor

Barack Obama's unpopularity in the run-up to these mid-term elections is hard to exaggerate. One of the things that is lost in the big picture of the night is some of the sidebar poll findings - the American people are fed up with all their politicians. It's not just the occupant of the White House, though as Harry Truman most famously noted, the buck stops with the president.

Mitch McConnell will be conscious of that, and will know that in two years' time, when it is not just the Senate but the presidency in play, the American people could be venting their spleen on him. Be fearful of the blame game.

That leaves the Kentucky senator with some important tactical decisions to make.

Sopel: Obama's mid-term headache

Mitch McConnell: DC insider with a mission

Throughout the campaign, Republicans focused on voter dissatisfaction with Mr Obama, a Democrat, describing the vote as a referendum on his presidency.

As the first results came in late on Tuesday, it became clear they had made the six gains they needed to win control of the Senate.

The Republicans won in Arkansas, Colorado, Iowa, Montana, North Carolina, South Dakota and West Virginia. The party now controls 52 seats, and is tipped to win at least one more as votes are counted in other states.

Continue reading the main story

Their victory came on the back of a wave of discontent expressed by voters on the campaign trail - unhappy with an economic recovery they fail to feel the benefits of, and frustrated by political gridlock in Congress, which has already reached historic levels.

But echoing his successor's sentiment of unity, current Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid congratulated Mr McConnell in a short statement.

"The message from voters is clear - they want us to work together," said Mr Reid of Nevada, whose role in the soon-to-be Democratic minority remains uncertain.

"I look forward to working with Senator McConnell to get things done for the middle class."

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Winners and losers: "We are going to make them squeal"

The Republicans are also projected to increase their majority - by at least 10 seats - in the House of Representatives to levels not seen since before World War Two.

They also made gains among the 36 governorships up for re-election.

The Republicans will now have the power to complicate, if not block completely, Mr Obama's agenda in the last two years of his tenure in the White House.

Control of the Senate will also enable the Republicans to stymie his ability to name new federal judges, cabinet members and senior government officials.

Explore interactive results map

In the governor's races, Republican incumbents survived some tough re-election battles and scored some surprising victories, cementing their success across several levels of government.

Voters approved ballot measures legalising cannabis in Oregon and Washington DC.

And three states - South Dakota, Arkansas and Nebraska - approved increases in the minimum wage.

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Man held over 'murder pictures' post

6 November 2014 Last updated at 11:37

A US man accused of murdering his girlfriend and posting grisly pictures of her body online has been arrested.

David Michael Kalac, 33, had warned he was hoping the authorities would find and kill him.

But police in Wilsonville, Oregon, tweeted that he was detained "without incident".

The body of Mr Kalac's girlfriend, Amber Lynn Coplin, was discovered by her 13-year-old son at their home in Washington state on Tuesday.

After the killing, the authorities began receiving tips about graphic images of a woman's body posted on the online forum 4chan.

The person who posted the pictures, which police said "in all likelihood" was Mr Kalac, described how the victim was killed.

Mr Kalac, driving the dead woman's car, was briefly involved in a high-speed chase with police before evading capture. But he was later arrested in Wilsonville, about 20 miles (32km) south-west of Portland.

Police said Mr Kalac had a long history of violent crime in Washington state and Virginia.

He has been charged with second-degree murder.

4chan has gained notoriety as one of the most anarchic corners of the internet. Earlier this year hundreds of nude photos of celebrities were posted on the site.

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Kuwaiti Guantanamo inmate sent home

6 November 2014 Last updated at 04:46

One of the longest-held detainees at the US facility at Guantanamo Bay, a Kuwaiti man, has been sent home, officials say.

Fawzi al-Odah, 37, was released after a US review panel concluded he was not a "continuing significant threat".

He had been at the US facility in Cuba since 2002 after his arrest in Pakistan on suspicion of links to al-Qaeda and the Taliban - a charge he denies.

He had challenged America's right to detain him in the US Supreme Court.

'Excitement and joy'

Mr Odah boarded a Kuwaiti government plane on Wednesday morning US time.

"There's no bitterness, there's no anger," his lawyer Eric Lewis was quoted as saying by the Associated Press news agency.

"There's just excitement and joy that he will be going home."

The release came after Guantanamo's Periodic Review Board in July determined "that continued law of war detention of (Mr Odah) does not remain necessary to protect against a continuing significant threat to the security of the United States".

But he now faces at least a year at a militant rehabilitation centre in Kuwait, according to the terms of the release.

The Kuwaiti government had pushed hard for the release of all Kuwaiti detainees at Guantanamo.

Mr Odah had argued that he travelled to Afghanistan and Pakistan to teach the Koran and provide humanitarian aid.

He is the first inmate to be freed since May, when five Taliban detainees were exchanged for US Sgt Bowe Bergdahl, who had been kept by the insurgents in Afghanistan.

Mr Odah's release brings down the total number of inmates at the US naval base to 148.

The US opened the facility in January 2002, following the 11 September 2001 attacks in America.

President Barack Obama has repeatedly promised to shut it down.

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Medal of Honor for Civil War soldier

6 November 2014 Last updated at 17:39

The US has bestowed its highest military honour on a soldier killed in the Civil War Battle of Gettysburg.

First Lt Alonzo Cushing fought for the Union Army in the 1863 battle, often viewed as a turning point in the war.

US President Barack Obama presented the award to members of Cushing's extended family at the White House.

Recommendations for the honour must usually be made within two years of the heroic act, but an exemption for Cushing was granted by Congress.

"Sometimes even the most extraordinary stories can get lost in the passage of time," Mr Obama said during the medal ceremony on Thursday.

"This medal is a reminder that no matter how long it takes, it is never too late to do the right thing."

Born in Wisconsin, Cushing attended the US Military Academy at West Point and later commanded 110 men and six cannons for the Union army during the battle.

His small force was barraged by heavy artillery bombardment and nearly 13,000 advancing enemy soldiers.

Cushing, wounded in the shoulder and stomach, refused to move to the rear and ordered his guns to the front lines of the fight before his death at the age of 22.

Since the 1980s, the soldier's descendants have pushed for him to receive the Medal of Honor - created during the Civil War in which Cushing fought.

The award is granted to service members who risk their lives in acts of personal bravery.

Cushing and two of his brothers, Naval Cmdr William Cushing and Army First Lt Howard Cushing, have a monument to their service in their hometown of Delafield, Wisconsin.

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US retailer lost 53m emails in hack

6 November 2014 Last updated at 23:14

US retail giant Home Depot says hackers who stole payment-card details of millions of customers also stole 53 million email addresses.

It said hackers accessed its network with a vendor's username and password between April and September.

The company had previously revealed that 56 million debit and credit card details were also stolen in the hack.

Analysts say it is one of the largest data breaches on record, surpassing a similar incident at retailer Target.

Home Depot insisted on Thursday that the file containing the email addresses did not contain passwords or other sensitive personal information.

But it warned customers to be on guard against further phishing scams that might trick them into sharing personal information.

Customers that have been affected in the US and Canada will be notified and offered credit monitoring, the company added.

The latest update came just weeks after Home Depot disclosed the data breach, saying 56 million credit and debit card details were taken.

The company said it was still investigating the incident.

It follows a similar case involving Target, another US retailer, which was targeted by hackers in December 2013.

Target said payment and personal data from as many as 70 million customers was taken.

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Four state gay marriage bans upheld

7 November 2014 Last updated at 02:53

A US appeals court has upheld bans on gay marriage in four states, a ruling that increases the chances the Supreme Court will soon rule on the issue.

Judge Jeffrey Sutton of the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals wrote definitions of marriage should not be changed by the courts.

The 2-1 decision is the first at the appeals court level in favour of gay marriage opponents.

It affects Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio and Tennessee.

In recent months, four other appeals courts have struck down state bans on same-sex marriage, ruling they violated the US constitution's guarantee of equal protection under the law.

Last month, the US Supreme Court declined to hear challenges against those decisions, effectively ratifying them and leading to same-sex nuptials in several more states.

But the high court did not make its own ruling on the matter, in large part because at the time there was no dispute among the appeals courts.

Gay marriage is now legal in 32 states and in Washington DC.

On Tuesday, Judge Sutton and Judge Deborah Cook upheld the four state bans, arguing in their opinion that states had the right to set their own rules for marriage.

Continue reading the main story

Because the correct result is so obvious, one is tempted to speculate that the majority has purposefully taken the contrary position to create the circuit split"

End Quote Judge Martha Craig Daugherty Dissenting judge

"Surely the people should receive some deference in deciding when the time is ripe to move from one picture of marriage to another," Judge Sutton wrote, adding the plaintiffs had not convinced the majority it should be the court's responsibility to intervene.

While the ruling said "gay couples, no less than straight couples, are capable of raising children and providing stable families for them" the judges argued marriages had been created an as "incentive for two people who procreate together to stay together for purposes of rearing offspring" and was "still relevant".

Judge Sutton also argued a constitutional right to same-sex marriage could be used in support of legalised polygamy.

"If it is constitutionally irrational to stand by the man-woman definition of marriage, it must be constitutionally irrational to stand by the monogamous definition of marriage," he wrote.

In a sharp dissent, Judge Martha Craig Daugherty wrote, "the author of the majority opinion has drafted what would make an engrossing TED Talk or, possibly, an introductory lecture in political philosophy.

"But as an appellate court decision, it wholly fails to grapple with the relevant constitutional question in this appeal."

Judge Daugherty suggested the majority had deliberately upheld the ban in order to force the Supreme Court to take up the matter.

"Because the correct result is so obvious, one is tempted to speculate that the majority has purposefully taken the contrary position to create the circuit split," she wrote, adding a Supreme Court ruling would put "an end to the uncertainty of status and the interstate chaos that the current discrepancy in state laws threaten".

In a statement, Evan Wolfson, president of pro-gay marriage group Freedom to Marry, said the decision was out of step with the majority of Americans.

"This anomalous ruling won't stand the test of time or appeal," Mr Wolfson said.

A lawyer for two of the couples represented in the case said he would appeal against the decision to the Supreme Court.

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Obama sent 'secret letter' to Iran

7 November 2014 Last updated at 09:59

US President Barack Obama is said to have written a secret letter to Iran's supreme leader describing a shared interest in fighting Islamic State.

The letter, reported by the Wall Street Journal, also urges Ayatollah Ali Khamenei toward a nuclear agreement.

The US president stresses any co-operation on fighting IS is contingent on Iran reaching such an agreement by a 24 November diplomatic deadline.

The White House has declined to comment on Mr Obama's "private correspondence".

But Republican senators John McCain and Lindsey Graham said it was "outrageous" that the president would approach Iran, given its support for the Syrian government and Shia groups such as Lebanon's Hezbollah.

"The administration needs to understand that this Iranian regime cares more about trying to weaken America and push us out of the Middle East than cooperating with us," they said in a joint statement.

"The consequences of this ill-conceived bargain would destroy the Syrians' last, best chance to live in freedom from the brutal Assad regime."

Fourth letter

The US has ruled out inviting Iran to join an international coalition it has assembled against IS, but has said Iran has a role to play in the fight against IS.

Islamic State, a Sunni jihadist group, poses a threat to Shia-majority Iran and has taken over large parts of Iran's Shia-dominated ally Iraq.

The group's militants currently control large areas of Iraq and Syria and have carried out mass killings across the region.

But Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has ruled out co-operating with the US against IS, accusing Washington of having created the jihadist group as a tool against Iran.

The letter, sent last month, is at least the fourth time Mr Obama has written to the Iranian leader since taking office in 2009 and underscores his view that Iran is important in an emerging campaign against IS.

Analysis, Kim Ghattas, BBC News

America's Arab allies are bound to be dismayed by news of the letter. Foreign diplomats said US administration officials they spoke to did not deny its existence.

And key Gulf countries who are part of the current military coalition against IS were not informed about the letter in advance, which diplomats said could undermine trust between US and its partners at a crucial moment.

When the US started secret negotiations with Iran in 2012, it did not inform countries like Saudi Arabia or Israel. They were outraged when news surfaced of the secret channel. This letter will be seen as another example of Mr Obama acting with little regard for his allies as he doggedly pursues a deal with Iran.

American officials will argue they are doing what's best in America's national security interest.

Deal or no deal?

Officials with the Obama administration have recently talked down the chances of a deal on Iran's nuclear programme, rating it at only 50-50, according to the Wall Street Journal.

US Secretary of State John Kerry is scheduled to begin negotiations on the issue with Iranian counterpart Javad Zarif this weekend in Oman.

World powers suspect Iran of trying to make a nuclear bomb, a claim it denies.

An interim deal agreed late last year gave Iran some relief from sanctions in return for curbs on nuclear activity.

But talks later stalled on the extent of uranium enrichment Iran would be allowed and on the timetable for sanctions to be lifted.

On Thursday, White House spokesman Josh Earnest declined to comment directly on the secret letter.

"I can tell you that the policy that the president and his administration have articulated about Iran remains unchanged," he said in response to questions.

Also on Thursday, Republican speaker of the House John Boehner said he did not trust Iran's leaders and said they should not be brought into the fight against IS.

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Obama 'to ask for $6bn Ebola fund'

5 November 2014 Last updated at 20:33

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Clive Myrie reports as an Ebola treatment centre opens in Sierra Leone

President Barack Obama is to ask Congress for $6.2bn (£3.9bn) to fight Ebola in West Africa and to avoid it spreading in the US, officials say.

He is requesting $4.5bn in immediate response funds and more than $1.5bn for a contingency fund.

The request comes as the World Health Organization (WHO) released its latest report, putting the number of cases at 13,042 and the deaths at 4,818.

All but 27 of the deaths have been in Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone.

The death toll represents a second consecutive downward revision by the WHO, as it continues to adjust its reporting.

In Guinea, the figures show a rise in cases from 1,667 in the 31 October report to 1,731 now. Deaths rose from 1,018 to 1,041.

Analysis: James Gallagher, Health editor, BBC News website

This is not just the biggest Ebola outbreak in history, it is bigger than every other outbreak combined. The world was slow to respond and for many months the virus spread out of control in West Africa.

But the first glimmers of hope are now being witnessed. There is cautious talk that the number of new cases is beginning to level off and it is hoped they will not go above their current level of around 1,000 per week.

The WHO says the number of new cases may already be falling in Liberia.

If the huge investment on the ground can genuinely start to reduce the rate of new infections then it will be the first time in this deadly outbreak that the response has actually matched the virus.

Are cases levelling off?

How many people have died?

There was a fall in cases in Sierra Leone from 5,338 to 4,759, with reported fatalities down from 1,510 to 1,070.

In Liberia, the hardest-hit nation, cases fell from 6,535 to 6,525 but deaths rose from 2,413 to 2,697.

The WHO continues to warn that there may be under-reporting of deaths.

In other developments on Wednesday:

• A 92-bed British-run facility to treat people with Ebola is opening in Sierra Leone
• German doctors treating an Ebola patient say his condition has significantly improved. The man - believed to be a Ugandan aid worker - was in a critical condition when he was flown to a hospital in Frankfurt from West Africa four weeks ago
• Teresa Romero, the Spanish nurse who became the first person known to have contracted Ebola outside West Africa in the latest outbreak, has given an emotional account of her ordeal as she left hospital

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Journalists cheered Teresa Romero as she held a news conference

WHO director

Mr Obama's request for funding is the first since Republicans made significant gains in the mid-term elections.

White House officials said Mr Obama wanted at least $2bn for the US Agency for International Development; at least $2.4bn for the Department of Health and Human Services and more than $1.5bn for the contingency fund. The Pentagon would also get more cash.

Republican House Speaker John Boehner's office said the request would be assessed.

"We'll continue to work with our members and the administration to ensure we are doing everything we can to protect the public from a deadly disease,'' Mr Boehner's spokesman Kevin Smith said.

The WHO says there have been four cases of Ebola in the US, including a Liberian man who died in Texas in October.

Two nurses who treated him contracted Ebola and have since recovered.

A US doctor who returned from Guinea is still being treated in New York.

The WHO on Wednesday also announced it had elected a new director for Africa, Matshidiso Moeti.

Dr Moeti is from Botswana and a veteran WHO official.

She said after the election was announced in Benin: "I hope that the situation will be improved by the time I take office in February."

Dr Moeti will replace Luis Gomes Sambo, who has been in the post since 2005.

A leaked internal WHO report last month criticised the organisation for underestimating the impact of Ebola in its early stages and for arguments with medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres.

US and international treatment centres

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Canadian seeks world travel partner

4 November 2014 Last updated at 22:25

A Canadian man is offering free plane tickets to a female compatriot to fly "around the world", but on one condition - his fellow traveller must be called Elizabeth Gallagher.

Jordan Axani, 28, broke up with his girlfriend, Elizabeth Gallagher, in March and needs someone with the same name who can use the tickets.

He wants to give the tickets away rather than change the name on them.

Mr Axani said it would be "the headache or money to cancel" them.

The itinerary for the trip to Europe, the US and India includes stops in Milan, Prague, Paris, New York and Delhi between December and January.

Mr Axani has advertised the tickets on Reddit.

"I need your help," he wrote. "You see, in March I booked a fairly wicked trip around the world for this Christmas for my ex and I.

"While our relationship has come to a close, I am still planning on going on the trip and she is not (naturally).

"And because I hate the idea of a ticket around the world going to waste, I am looking for a Canadian named Elizabeth Gallagher who could use the ticket."

He told the BBC that since posting his advert, he has received "dozens" of emails from Canadians named Elizabeth.

But he added that "no one has been selected yet".

Mr Axani explained that he created the advert because the "archaic system that is modern air travel" meant changing the name on the ticket would be "damn near impossible".

He describes himself as "a totally normal 28-year-old guy living in Toronto". and insists that he is "not looking for anything in return".

"I am not looking for companionship, romance, drugs, a trade, or to take selfies with you in front the Christmas market in Prague," Mr Axani wrote.

Contacted by Vice, Mr Axani said his "dream outcome" would be that someone gets to travel to places they thought they would never get to see.

"My hope is that it'll be an epic life experience that they'll tell their kids about one day," he said.

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US leaders pledge to work together

6 November 2014 Last updated at 04:51

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President Barack Obama: "It is time for us to take care of business"

The US Senate's new Republican leader and President Barack Obama have both promised to end the political gridlock that has so frustrated American voters.

Republicans made historic gains in the mid-term elections and now control both legislative chambers.

Incoming Senate leader Mitch McConnell said he would make the ineffective Senate function and pass bills.

Mr Obama said he was "eager to work with the new Congress to make the next two years as productive as possible".

The election campaign was characterised by widespread frustration expressed by voters about the inability of Congress to work together.

To the Americans who voted for change, the president said: "I hear you."

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"We're going to go back to work and actually pass legislation"

He told a White House news conference that both parties must address those concerns, but he admitted that as president he had a "unique responsibility to try to make this town work".

On Friday, he will host a meeting at the White House with Democratic and Republican leaders.

"We can surely find ways to work together," Mr Obama said. "It's time for us to take care of business."

But he warned he would act on his own to reduce deportations and improve border security - action he had delayed until after the election, to the fury of some Latino voters.

Earlier on Wednesday, Mr McConnell pledged to make the Senate more productive.

"The Senate in the last few years basically doesn't do anything," he said. "We're going to go back to work and actually pass legislation."

He also vowed to "work together" with Mr Obama on issues where they can agree, such as trade agreements and tax reform.

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Rajesh Mirchandani explains what the results mean for Obama presidency

Working within a two-party political system did not mean "we have to live in perpetual conflict", he added.

Also on Wednesday, the chairman of the Republican National Committee called resounding Republican mid-term victories a "direct rejection of the Obama agenda".

"[Americans] want nothing to do with the policies of Barack Obama," Reince Priebus told reporters.

Analysis, Jon Sopel, BBC North America editor

Barack Obama's unpopularity in the run-up to these mid-term elections is hard to exaggerate. One of the things that is lost in the big picture of the night is some of the sidebar poll findings - the American people are fed up with all their politicians. It's not just the occupant of the White House, though as Harry Truman most famously noted, the buck stops with the president.

Mitch McConnell will be conscious of that, and will know that in two years' time, when it is not just the Senate but the presidency in play, the American people could be venting their spleen on him. Be fearful of the blame game.

That leaves the Kentucky senator with some important tactical decisions to make.

Sopel: Obama's mid-term headache

Mitch McConnell: DC insider with a mission

Throughout the campaign, Republicans focused on voter dissatisfaction with Mr Obama, a Democrat, describing the vote as a referendum on his presidency.

As the first results came in late on Tuesday, it became clear they had made the six gains they needed to win control of the Senate.

The Republicans won in Arkansas, Colorado, Iowa, Montana, North Carolina, South Dakota and West Virginia. The party now controls 52 seats, and is tipped to win at least one more as votes are counted in other states.

Continue reading the main story

Their victory came on the back of a wave of discontent expressed by voters on the campaign trail - unhappy with an economic recovery they fail to feel the benefits of, and frustrated by political gridlock in Congress, which has already reached historic levels.

But echoing his successor's sentiment of unity, current Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid congratulated Mr McConnell in a short statement.

"The message from voters is clear - they want us to work together," said Mr Reid of Nevada, whose role in the soon-to-be Democratic minority remains uncertain.

"I look forward to working with Senator McConnell to get things done for the middle class."

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Winners and losers: "We are going to make them squeal"

The Republicans are also projected to increase their majority - by at least 10 seats - in the House of Representatives to levels not seen since before World War Two.

They also made gains among the 36 governorships up for re-election.

The Republicans will now have the power to complicate, if not block completely, Mr Obama's agenda in the last two years of his tenure in the White House.

Control of the Senate will also enable the Republicans to stymie his ability to name new federal judges, cabinet members and senior government officials.

Explore interactive results map

In the governor's races, Republican incumbents survived some tough re-election battles and scored some surprising victories, cementing their success across several levels of government.

Voters approved ballot measures legalising cannabis in Oregon and Washington DC.

And three states - South Dakota, Arkansas and Nebraska - approved increases in the minimum wage.

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Spaceship pilots' actions analysed

4 November 2014 Last updated at 09:45 By Jonathan Amos Science correspondent, BBC News

Investigators probing the Virgin SpaceShipTwo accident have established a "human performance" team to help them understand the actions of the pilots.

The new group will look at how the men interacted with the vehicle, and the design and layout of the systems they used to control the craft.

SpaceShipTwo broke apart just seconds after igniting its rocket engine for a test outing above California on Friday.

Pilot Peter Siebold parachuted clear; co-pilot Michael Alsbury was killed.

Their ill-fated flight was to be part of a series of sorties that Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic company hoped would finally lead to a commercial passenger service to sub-orbital space being introduced next year.

US National Transportation Safety Board acting chairman Christopher Hart told reporters in his final on-site briefing in Mojave that investigators were still waiting to interview Mr Siebold, who was seriously injured.

Mr Hart added a few more details to the information he put in the public domain on Sunday, when he revealed the vehicle's descent system was activated prematurely.

This "feathering" technology, which is designed to slow and orientate the craft on its return to Earth, should not have been unlocked so early in the flight, and certainly should not have engaged at the time it did - on an accelerating ascent.

Mr Hart laid out a detailed timeline for SpaceShipTwo's last catastrophic moments.

'Uncommanded' deployment

The vehicle, he said, was dropped from its carrier aircraft, WhiteKnightTwo, at an altitude of almost 50,000ft at 10:07:19 US Pacific time.

The ship's hybrid rocket motor was then ignited just a couple of seconds later, at 10:07:21.

Eight seconds after that (10:07:29), the vehicle was travelling just under the speed of sound (Mach 0.94). Two further seconds into the flight (10:07:31), it was travelling at Mach 1.02.

It is in that period between Mach 0.94 and Mach 1.02 that Michael Alsbury is seen on recovered cockpit video moving a lever to unlock the feathering system - an action that in the pilots' checklist was not called for until the vehicle had reached Mach 1.4.

Investigators have previously described how the feathering system then deployed, apparently "uncommanded" by the pilots. It is probable that aerodynamic forces deployed the mechanism, resulting in the break-up of the ship. This is timed at 10:07:34 - the instant at which video and telemetry were lost.

One line of inquiry will be to ascertain whether the pilots were getting the correct information on their cockpit display throughout this critical period.

Data 'rich'

Mr Hart also revealed that small, lightweight pieces of wreckage have been found up to 30-35 miles (55km) northeast of the crash site in the Mojave desert.

His investigators expect to finish their work at the site in the next few days.

The largest item of wreckage, a piece of fuselage and wing, will be cut into smaller pieces to be transported away for further analysis.

Mr Hart said the NTSB's full report would take many months to produce.

"It may be helped by the rich data sources that we have; we may be able to move a little more rapidly," he explained.

"But we would anticipate taking as a much as 12 months to complete the analysis that would end up with a probable cause determination, as well as recommendations… in order not to have an incident like this again."

Pressing on

Virgin Galactic issued a statement in which it committed to full and open co-operation with the NTSB over the course of the investigation.

The company also stated its desire to continue with its space venture.

"While this has been a tragic setback, we are moving forward and will do so deliberately and with determination," the statement said.

"We are continuing to build the second SpaceShipTwo (serial number two), which is currently about 65% complete and we will continue to advance our mission over the coming weeks and months.

"With the guidance of the NTSB and the assurance of a safe path forward, we intend to move ahead with our testing program and have not lost sight of our mission to make space accessible for all."

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'Russian Taliban' in US court trial

5 November 2014 Last updated at 02:52

A former Russian army officer who is alleged to have fought for the Taliban in Afghanistan has appeared in court in the United States on terrorism charges.

Irek Ilgiz Hamidullin - believed to be about 55 - faces 12 charges including the attempted murder of a US citizen.

He was seized in 2009 after an attack on Afghan border police and US forces. He was held for five years at Bagram air base before being sent to the US.

He is the first military detainee to be brought to the US from Afghanistan.

Mr Hamidullin, shackled and heavily guarded by federal agents, appeared in a federal court in Richmond, Virginia, on Tuesday.

According to a 19-page indictment, Mr Hamidullin served as an officer in the Soviet army during the war in Afghanistan in the 1970s-80s.

He then stayed in Afghanistan and later joined the Taliban.

The indictment says he commanded three groups of insurgents that attacked the Afghan police and US forces at Camp Leyza, Khost province, in 2009.

He is believed to have directed insurgents armed with anti-aircraft machine guns to fire at US military helicopters responding to the initial attack. The defendant also reportedly used a machine gun to shoot at US troops.

Mr Hamidullin said little during his initial appearance. The next court session is scheduled for Friday.

He was one of 13 foreigners held by the US authorities in Afghanistan.

Washington plans to transfer all the remaining detainees by the end of December, when the US-led Nato combat mission ends.

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VIDEO: US woman found safe after kidnapping

A woman whose abduction was caught on CCTV has been safely found in the US state of Maryland, police have said.

Carlesha Freeland-Gaither, 22, was snatched from a Philadelphia street on Sunday night - but was spotted in a car with her abductor near Baltimore and later rescued.

The man left a trail of video evidence and has now been arrested.

Lana Zak reports for ABC News.

Video courtesy of ABC News

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Leaking sinks force plane landing

4 November 2014 Last updated at 05:46

A Virgin Australia aircraft bound for Sydney was forced to turn back to Los Angeles and land after sinks on board leaked.

Passengers claimed the stench was "unbearable" and said human waste had reached the aisles, however the airline denied this.

Virgin Australia said the flight was turned around for the comfort of those onboard.

The airline said safety of passengers was never called into question.

"In accordance with standard operating procedures, the captain made the decision to return to port as a precautionary measure after two of the sinks on board were leaking," the airline said in a statement.

It did not reveal what had caused the problem.

A resident of Christchurch, where the plane was headed after Sydney, said the smell was "unbearable".

"We could see it [human waste] it go through the aisles, like it was very obvious," Julia Malley told New Zealand radio.

However, Virgin has denied there was leakage from the toilets onboard.

"The onboard toilets operate on a completely separate drainage system," the airline told the Sydney Morning Herald.

"As the issue was with the aircraft sink, and not the toilets, there was no incident of leaked human waste."

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NFL star admits assaulting his son

4 November 2014 Last updated at 21:10

NFL running back Adrian Peterson has pleaded no contest to the misdemeanour charge of recklessly assaulting his four-year-old son.

The Minnesota Vikings star will avoid a jail sentence after reaching a plea agreement with a court in Texas.

Peterson, who used a wooden implement to discipline his son in the Texas town of Spring in May, was put on probation and fined $4,000 (£2,500).

The player has been on paid leave pending resolution of the case.

He had been facing a possible two years in prison but the judge in Conroe, 40 miles (64 km) north of Houston, accepted the plea agreement.

Peterson will also do 80 hours of community service.

'Loving father'

The footballer was said to have punished his son after the boy pushed another of his children off a motorbike video game.

The "whooping" - how Peterson allegedly referred to the incident in a police interview - resulted in cuts and bruises to the boy's back, buttocks, legs and scrotum, local media reported.

Peterson's defence attorney Rusty Hardin earlier described his client as a "loving father" who had "used the same kind of discipline with his child that he experienced as a child growing up in east Texas".

"It is important to remember that Adrian never intended to harm his son and deeply regrets the unintentional injury," he said.

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Kuwaiti Guantanamo inmate sent home

6 November 2014 Last updated at 04:46

A Kuwaiti terror suspect - one of the longest-held detainees at the US detention facility at Guantanamo Bay - has been sent home, officials say.

Fawzi al-Odah, 37, was released after a US review panel concluded he was not a "continuing significant threat".

He had been at the US facility in Cuba since 2002 after his arrest in Pakistan on suspicion of links to al-Qaeda and the Taliban - a charge he denies.

He had challenged America's right to detain him in the US Supreme Court.

'Excitement and joy'

Mr Odah boarded a Kuwaiti government plane on Wednesday morning US time.

"There's no bitterness, there's no anger," his lawyer Eric Lewis was quoted as saying by the Associated Press news agency.

"There's just excitement and joy that he will be going home."

The release came after Guantanamo's Periodic Review Board in July determined "that continued law of war detention of (Mr Odah) does not remain necessary to protect against a continuing significant threat to the security of the United States".

But he now faces at least a year at a militant rehabilitation centre in Kuwait, according to the terms of the release.

The Kuwaiti government had pushed hard for the release of all Kuwaiti detainees at Guantanamo.

Mr Odah had argued that he travelled to Afghanistan and Pakistan to teach the Koran and provide humanitarian aid.

He is the first inmate to be freed since May, when five Taliban detainees were exchanged for US Sgt Bowe Bergdahl, who had been kept by the insurgents in Afghanistan.

Mr Odah's release brings down the total number of inmates at the US naval base to 148.

The US opened the facility in January 2002 to hold terror suspects after the 11 September 2001 attacks in America.

President Barack Obama has repeatedly promised to shut it down.

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Man held over 'murder pictures' post

6 November 2014 Last updated at 11:37

A US man accused of murdering his girlfriend and posting grisly pictures of her body online has been arrested.

David Michael Kalac, 33, had warned he was hoping the authorities would find and kill him.

But police in Wilsonville, Oregon, tweeted that he was detained "without incident".

The body of Mr Kalac's girlfriend, Amber Lynn Coplin, was discovered by her 13-year-old son at their home in Washington state on Tuesday.

After the killing, the authorities began receiving tips about graphic images of a woman's body posted on the online forum 4chan.

The person who posted the pictures, which police said "in all likelihood" was Mr Kalac, described how the victim was killed.

Mr Kalac, driving the dead woman's car, was briefly involved in a high-speed chase with police before evading capture. But he was later arrested in Wilsonville, about 20 miles (32km) south-west of Portland.

Police said Mr Kalac had a long history of violent crime in Washington state and Virginia.

He has been charged with second-degree murder.

4chan has gained notoriety as one of the most anarchic corners of the internet. Earlier this year hundreds of nude photos of celebrities were posted on the site.

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Canadian seeks world travel partner

4 November 2014 Last updated at 22:25

A Canadian man is offering free plane tickets to a female compatriot to fly "around the world", but on one condition - his fellow traveller must be called Elizabeth Gallagher.

Jordan Axani, 28, broke up with his girlfriend, Elizabeth Gallagher, in March and needs someone with the same name who can use the tickets.

He wants to give the tickets away rather than change the name on them.

Mr Axani said it would be "the headache or money to cancel" them.

The itinerary for the trip to Europe, the US and India includes stops in Milan, Prague, Paris, New York and Delhi between December and January.

Mr Axani has advertised the tickets on Reddit.

"I need your help," he wrote. "You see, in March I booked a fairly wicked trip around the world for this Christmas for my ex and I.

"While our relationship has come to a close, I am still planning on going on the trip and she is not (naturally).

"And because I hate the idea of a ticket around the world going to waste, I am looking for a Canadian named Elizabeth Gallagher who could use the ticket."

He told the BBC that since posting his advert, he has received "dozens" of emails from Canadians named Elizabeth.

But he added that "no one has been selected yet".

Mr Axani explained that he created the advert because the "archaic system that is modern air travel" meant changing the name on the ticket would be "damn near impossible".

He describes himself as "a totally normal 28-year-old guy living in Toronto". and insists that he is "not looking for anything in return".

"I am not looking for companionship, romance, drugs, a trade, or to take selfies with you in front the Christmas market in Prague," Mr Axani wrote.

Contacted by Vice, Mr Axani said his "dream outcome" would be that someone gets to travel to places they thought they would never get to see.

"My hope is that it'll be an epic life experience that they'll tell their kids about one day," he said.

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