The US car industry is in need of resuscitation

US politicians have told the crisis-hit "Big Three" carmakers to come up with their own viable recovery plan if they want a $25bn (£17bn) government rescue.

The leaders of both houses of Congress said Ford, General Motors and Chrysler had until 2 December to present a plan.

Their comments came after four senators - Republicans and Democrats - said they had agreed a bipartisan aid deal.

The White House said President George W Bush favoured their deal, which would have used an energy department loan.

"This is an agreement the president could support," said White House spokeswoman Dana Perino. "We encourage the Congress to pass it as soon as possible."

But House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said there would be no bail-out without a plan showing that the money would make the firms financially viable.

"Until they show us the plan, we cannot show them the money," she said.

Harry Reid, the Senate majority leader, said that motor industry leaders needed "to get their act together".

"The executives of the auto industry have not been able to convince the American people or the Congress that this bail-out would be their last," he added.

After the car industry executives return to Washington on 2 December, Congress could be reconvened the following week to vote on a bail-out bill.

But time is short: the car-makers have suffered a collapse in sales and General Motors says it will run out of money by early next year.

'Disappointed'

Earlier on Thursday, Democratic Senators Carl Levin and Debbie Stabenow, from Michigan, the heart of the US car industry, and Republicans Kit Bond of Missouri and George Voinovich of Ohio said they had a bipartisan deal, but this did not garner wider support.

Their deal called for using a $25bn energy department loan to the motor industry, which was originally designed to spur the development of fuel-efficient vehicles.

The idea was that as the industry recovered, it would replenish the fund and the money would be used for its original purpose.

This was the approach favoured by the Bush administration.

"Their plan provides assistance from already-appropriated funds and has strong taxpayer protections," Ms Perino said.

Senator Levin said she and her three colleagues were "obviously... disappointed".

Jobs risk

The chief executives of General Motors, Ford and Chrysler pleaded for the $25bn bail-out before two congressional committees this week, but came away empty-handed.

They were lambasted for making the trip to Washington by private jet.

The car firms say they risk collapse, which could lead to millions of Americans losing their jobs.

Democrats have demanded that the White House and the Treasury carve out $25bn in funding from the already-agreed $700bn finance industry bail-out to support the car firms.

Meanwhile, the United Auto Workers president, Ron Gettelfinger, said on Thursday that politicians needed to take immediate action on a $25bn bridge loan bill to support the US car industry, otherwise he said one or more firms could fail.

Mr Gettelfinger, who testified on Tuesday and Wednesday to congressional committees in support of the loans, said action was needed "now, today".

The US space shuttle Endeavour has launched on the final orbiter mission of 2008, carrying cargo bound for the International Space Station (ISS).

Endeavour is taking equipment to refit the ISS for six crew members, instead of the current three, and will also drop off astronaut Sandra Magnus.

Four spacewalks on the 15-day flight are planned, including repairs to joint damage on the station's solar arrays.

The shuttle lifted off from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 0055 GMT.

It settled safely into orbit about nine minutes later.

MISSION STS-126 Repair and servicing of the space station solar arrays Installation of new crew quarters and water system Drop off astronaut Sandra Magnus and pick up Greg Chamitoff New water system for ISS

The mission, STS-126, has been titled "Extreme Home Improvements".

During the 15 days, the crew will conduct four spacewalks, to work on the space station's solar power system.

Working in teams of two, astronauts will emerge from the space station's Quest airlock and work on the two large rotary joints, which turn the station's massive solar array "wings" towards the Sun.

They are to service the starboard side joint and perform preventative maintenance on the port side joint.

This graphic depicts Endeavour's undocking and initial separation from the ISS

With regards to "home improvement", the crew will install new equipment, including new crew quarters, with an additional bathroom, and a galley.

This includes two new sleeping compartments, more exercise gear, and a second toilet.

Nasa plans to double the station's crew size from three to six as early as May.

Sandra Magnus (left) will stay aboard the ISS until the spring

"With six people, you really do need to have a two-bathroom house. It's a lot more convenient and a lot more efficient," said Endeavour crew member, Sandra Magnus.

Ms Magnus will swap places with current station resident Greg Chamitoff, and stay on the ISS until the spring.

Also among the cargo is a water regeneration system that distils, filters, ionises and oxidises wastewater - including urine - into fresh water for drinking.

The equipment has been packed inside refrigerator-sized racks that require forklifts to lift them on Earth; but in space, a single astronaut can move a rack around with little problem.

Endeavour and its crew are to due to land back at Kennedy on 30 November.

The flight is the fourth and final mission of the year.

Nasa had hoped to fly a servicing call to the Hubble Space Telescope last month but delayed the mission to May 2009 to prepare for some additional repair work on the observatory.

In all, Nasa plans 10 more shuttle flights before the fleet is retired in 2010.

As Mr Obama broke through the winning threshold there were scenes of delight at a park in Chicago, where tens of thousands of supporters were gathered.

Mr Obama is expected to address the crowd soon.

His rival John McCain accepted defeat, saying "I deeply admire and commend" Mr Obama. He called on his supporters to lend the next president their goodwill.

BBC North America editor Justin Webb says: "On every level America will be changed by this result - its impact will be so profound that the nation will never be the same."

Mr Obama captured the key battleground states of Pennsylvania and Ohio, before passing the essential figure of 270 electoral college votes at 0400 GMT, when projections showed he had also taken California and a slew of other states.

LOSSES AND GAINS Key states Projected gains for Obama in former Republican states of Ohio, New Mexico, Iowa, Virginia, Florida, Colorado, Nevada Senate seats Virginia: Democrat Mark Warner replaces retiring Republican John Warner New Hampshire: Democrat Jeanne Shaheen unseats Republican John Sununu North Carolina: Democrat Kay Hagan replaces Republican Elizabeth Dole New Mexico: Democrat Tom Udall replaces retiring Republican Pete Domenici In pictures: Result reaction Send us your views Guide to US election night

Then came the news that he had also seized Florida, Virginia and Colorado - all of which voted Republican in 2004 - turning swathes of the map from red to blue.

Several other key swing states are hanging in the balance.

In Indiana and North Carolina, with most of the vote counted, there was less than 0.5% between the two candidates.

However, the popular vote remains close. At 0440 GMT it stood at 51.1% for the Democratic Senator from Illinois, against 47.7% for Arizona Senator McCain.

The main developments include:

• Mr Obama is projected to have seized Ohio, New Mexico, Iowa, Virginia, Florida, Colorado and Nevada - all Republican wins in 2004.
• He is also projected to have won: Vermont, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Delaware, Massachusetts, District of Columbia, Maryland, Connecticut, Maine, New Jersey, Michigan, Minnesota, Wisconsin, New York, Rhode Island, California, Hawaii, Washington, Oregon.
• Mr McCain is projected to have won: Kentucky, South Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Arkansas, Alabama, Kansas, North Dakota, Wyoming, Georgia, Louisiana, West Virginia, Texas, Mississippi, Utah, Arizona, Idaho, South Dakota.
• Turnout was reported to be extremely high - in some places "unprecedented".
• The Democrats made early gains in the Senate race, seizing seats from the Republicans in Virginia, North Carolina, New Hampshire and New Mexico.
• Exit polls suggest the economy was the major deciding factor for six out of 10 voters.
• Nine out of 10 said the candidates' race was not important to their vote, the Associated Press reported. Almost as many said age did not matter.

Several states reported a high turnout. It was predicted 130 million Americans, or more, would vote - more than for any election since 1960.

Many Americans said they felt they were voting in a historic election, not least because of the possibility of choosing the first African-American president.

Faton Fall, 40, a black voter queuing at a Baptist church in Chicago, said: "It means a lot to me. I'm overwhelmed. I can't say more."

Congressional race

There are also elections to renew the entire US House of Representatives and a third of US Senate seats.

Democrats are expected to expand majorities in both chambers.

They need to gain nine Senate seats to reach a 60-seat majority that would give them extra legislative power.

In the presidential vote, under the US Electoral College system, states are allocated votes based on their representation in Congress.

In almost every state, the winner gets all these college votes.

To become president, a candidate needs to win a majority across the country - 270 college votes out of a possible 538.

The presidential election has been the most expensive in US history - costing $2.4bn, according to the non-partisan Center for Responsive Politics.

Killings, rapes and looting have been reported around Goma

Fierce fighting between government and rebel forces in the Democratic Republic of Congo is causing a humanitarian catastrophe, the Red Cross has said.

It said the number of displaced people was growing by the hour and that the precarious security situation was making it difficult to deliver aid.

Intense diplomatic efforts are under way to end the crisis, which has displaced a total of 250,000 people.

A tense ceasefire is holding in and around the eastern city of Goma.

Rebel leader General Laurent Nkunda says he is fighting to protect his Tutsi community from attack by Rwandan Hutu rebels, some of whom are accused of taking part in the 1994 Rwandan genocide.

The Congolese government has often promised to stop Hutu forces from using its territory, but has not done so.

Gen Nkunda has also objected to government plans for foreign involvement in exploiting the country's vast mineral wealth.

The Congolese government has refused to negotiate with Gen Nkunda, calling him a terrorist.

'Extremely unsafe'

With the lull in the fighting and a desperate shortage of food and water in Goma, thousands of people who sought refuge there have been leaving the city, heading to the village of Kibati, about 12km (7.4 miles) to the north.

The BBC's Peter Greste in Goma says the road from the city is choked with human misery.

For mile after mile, it is full of families bent forward with their lives on their backs: stoves, food, clothes, bedding and children.

Aid agencies have all but stopped work because of security fears.

"The whole population in Goma, and around Goma are feeling extremely unsafe," Red Cross spokesman Marcal Izard told the BBC.

"They need food, water, shelter and, most of all, protection, [and] some sense of knowing that they will not be attacked, that they will be spared by this new round of clashes."

A spokesman for the UN's refugee agency, the UNHCR, told the BBC that the situation was "extremely critical".

A Congolese aid-worker based in Goma, Godefroid Marhenge, told the BBC's Network Africa programme that some displaced people were without water or shelter, and "in desperate need of humanitarian assistance".

Oxfam and other leading international aid agencies have suspended operations in the city, where a main hospital as well as numerous businesses and homes have been looted.

Gen Nkunda said on Thursday that he was opening a "humanitarian corridor" for people to return to their homes, and so that aid could reach those trapped between his forces and UN soldiers backing up government troops in the city.

Our correspondent said that instead of an open corridor, he found people hurrying back to Goma.

"Someone has been shooting at us," one breathless woman said. "We can't go any further."

But those who did reach Kibati told the BBC that they had more chance of getting food in the forests and bushes around the village than inside Goma.

Aid group Mercy Corps has begun to distribute water to the new arrivals.

Further north, the UNHCR says that it has received reports that several camps for internally displaced people near Rutshuru, about 90km (56 miles) north of Goma, have been forcibly emptied, looted and burned.

About 50,000 people are living in camps in the area, and aid workers are in the process of trying to verify the reports, the UNHRC said.

Overstretched peacekeepers

After several days of fighting, Gen Nkunda declared the ceasefire late on Wednesday, and his Tutsi forces are positioned some 15km (nine miles) from Goma - the provincial capital of North Kivu.

However, Gen Nkunda has threatened to take the city unless UN peacekeepers guarantee the ceasefire and security in Goma.

Looting, killings and rapes were reported in the city on Thursday, much of it blamed on retreating Congolese troops.

Meanwhile, intense international diplomatic efforts are going in a bid to maintain the ceasefire and bring an end to the fighting:

• The parliament in DR Congo has called on government to negotiate with Gen Nkunda, although President Joseph Kabila has previously refused to do so

• UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has said he is "deeply concerned" about the situation, and has called on regional leaders to take concrete measures to broker a peace deal

• EU are diplomats meeting in Brussels to discuss whether to send troops to back up UN peacekeepers, after EU envoy Louis Michel met Mr Kabila and his Rwandan counterpart Paul Kagame

• The EU is also to discuss sending troops to the area to aid the humanitarian effort

• An African Union (AU) Peace and Security Council is to hold crisis talks at AU headquarters in Addis Ababa

• US Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Jendayi Frazer has held talks with Mr Kabila in DR Congo's capital, Kinshasa.

President George W Bush has announced that the US government is to buy stakes in the country's largest banks.

In a move expected to cost $250bn (£143bn), the US government is moving to try to return stability to the American banking sector.

Federal authorities will also temporarily insure most new debt issued by American banks.

"This is an essential short-term measure to ensure the viability of America's banking system," he said.

"This is not intended to take over the free market, but to preserve it."

Mr Bush also said that the Federal Reserve would finalise work on a new programme that would make it the buyer of last resort for companies' short-term debt, known as commercial paper.

Further, government insurance is being expanded to cover accounts used by small businesses.

'Restore normality'

The money will come from the $700bn bail-out package approved by US lawmakers earlier this month.

The US plan - effectively part-nationalisation - comes after the bosses of the country's largest banks were summoned to a special meeting at the US Treasury on Monday.

Speaking overnight, US Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke said he was confident the moves would be successful.

"These steps will allow us to restore more normal market functioning and encourage private capital to further support the reinvigoration of financial markets," he said.

Share surges

Anticipation of the US announcement has had a major impact on global shares:

• Japan's main Nikkei index closes Tuesday up 1,171 points or 14% at 9,448, the biggest one-day rise in its history

• The UK's FTSE 100 was up 243 points or 5.7% at 4,500 in early afternoon trading in London.
• Germany's Dax had advanced 274 points or 5.4% at 5,336, while France's Cac had added 187 points or 5.3% at 3,719
• Wall Street's Dow Jones ended Monday up 936 points or 11% at 9,388
• Australian shares advance 431 points or 4%

'Too small'

The US government is expected to buy preference shares in the banks.

Preference shares pay a fixed rate of interest instead of a dividend, which has to be paid before other shareholders receive anything, but they do not carry voting rights.

US taxpayers may even end up making a profit from the shares if the rescue packages work and the banks recover, but that is not guaranteed.

Despite the big rises in global shares, some analysts have questioned whether the US move is bold enough.

"The actual amount [of the plan] is still a little small," said Nagayuki Yamagishi, a strategist at Mitsubishi UFL Securities.

European lead

America's move comes a day after the UK said it would inject up to £37bn of taxpayers cash into British banks Royal Bank of Scotland, Lloyds TSB and HBOS.

And European governments that share the euro are putting aside more than 1 trillion euros to protect banks through guarantees and other emergency measures.

The bulk of the money will be used to guarantee lending between banks.

The cash will also be used to take stakes in ailing banks.

OJ Simpson has been found guilty on 12 charges of armed robbery, conspiracy to kidnap and assault with a deadly weapon by a court in the US city of Las Vegas.

The former US football star and actor was accused of robbing two sports memorabilia dealers a year ago.

The armed robbery charges carry a mandatory jail sentence, and kidnapping carries a possible life term.

Simpson, 61, who denied the charges, was acquitted of murder in 1995 in what was dubbed "the trial of the century".

CHARGES AGAINST OJ SIMPSON Conspiracy to commit a crime: guilty Conspiracy to kidnap: guilty Two counts of first degree kidnapping: guilty Burglary in possession of a deadly weapon: guilty Two counts of armed robbery: guilty Two counts of assault with a deadly weapon: guilty Two counts of coercion with use of a deadly weapon: guilty

The charges in the latest trial centred on an incident in the Palace Station hotel in Las Vegas in September 2007.

Simpson was accused - and convicted - of kidnapping two sports memorabilia dealers and holding them in the hotel.

The former National Football League running back seized the pair in an attempt to reclaim items in their possession related to his sporting career, which Simpson claimed still belonged to him.

Handcuffed

Asked by reporters on his way into court for the latest verdict, which was read late on Friday night local time, Simpson said he was prepared for the judgement.

"You gotta be ready," the former Buffalo Bills star running back told journalists.

Inside the court both Simpson and his accomplice, Clarence Steward, were found guilty on all charges by the Las Vegas jury.

Simpson blew out his cheeks and nodded as the verdicts were read out.

He was then led away with his hands cuffed by police. He will be sentenced in December.

The judge refused to grant him bail pending sentencing.

In his previous trial, Simpson was accused of murdering his former wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ronald Goldman in 1994.

The not-guilty verdict came 13 years to the day before his conviction in Las Vegas, and shocked many in America.

Mr Simpson was later found liable for the deaths in a civil case and ordered to pay $33.5m (£19m) to Mr Goldman's family.