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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Apec agrees anti-corruption network

8 November 2014 Last updated at 10:24

Countries of Asia and the Pacific region have agreed to set up a network to share information on corruption.

Apec members said in a statement that the purpose of the agreement, proposed by China, was to deny safe haven to anyone engaged in corruption.

It comes amid efforts by Chinese President Xi Jinping to clamp down on corrupt officials, including those who try to escape abroad.

Apec leaders are expected to back the deal at a summit in Beijing next week.

US Secretary of State John Kerry hailed the move as a "major step forward".

"Corruption not only creates an unfair playing field, it not only distorts economic relationships, but corruption also steals from the people of every country the belief that the system can work for everybody," he told journalists.

Extradition concerns

The Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) group statement said it had set up the Network of Anti-Corruption Authorities and Law Enforcement Agencies (ACT-NET).

The network commits its 21 member states to "deny safe haven to those engaged in corruption, including through extradition, mutual legal assistance and the recovery and return of proceeds of corruption".

It will also "establish measures and systems to protect whistleblowers".

Officials say that the proposal was initiated by China and backed by the US.

But correspondents say it is not clear how the agreement will work between countries that do not have bilateral extradition treaties.

The US, Canada and Australia - all seen as friendly to Chinese emigrants - have no extradition treaties with China because of concerns about capital punishment and the alleged use of torture in the Chinese judicial system.

China is currently involved in a huge campaign to root out corruption at all levels of society.

More than 13,000 Chinese officials were found guilty of corruption and bribery in the first nine months of 2014 alone.

This year saw the launch of Operation Fox Hunt, widening the scope of the campaign to include officials who have fled abroad.

President Xi has warned that the campaign would target both "tigers" and "flies", indicating that no-one, even senior party members, was exempt from the crackdown.

Since he came to power, some of China's biggest political heavyweights, including the vice-chairman of China's parliament and the former security chief have been targeted.

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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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Memorial plaque removed in Colombia

8 November 2014 Last updated at 01:04

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Cartagena residents felt the plaque unveiled by Prince Charles, was "ignorant of history"

A controversial plaque unveiled last week by Prince Charles in the Colombian port city of Cartagena has been removed after local opposition.

The plaque memorialises a British naval officer and his troops who laid siege to the city in 1741 in an attempt to take it from the Spanish.

But Cartagena Mayor Dionisio Velez ordered its removal after it was criticised by residents.

They were angry that it did not mention the Spanish troops who also died.

Some were galled that it was placed near a statue of the Colombian hero who repelled the attack by the British.

Local journalists and writers said the plaque glorified colonial warfare and commemorated an attack by invaders whom they described as "English pirates".

It was unveiled by Prince Charles on his visit to the city last week, but was damaged by a local protester with a hammer.

Cartagena Mayor Dionisio Velez, who attended the unveiling with Prince Charles, had said it had never been his intention to "stir this controversy, or hurt the feelings of people".

The plaque, in front of the 16th Century San Felipe fortress, recalled "the valour and suffering of all those who died in combat while seeking to take the city and the fortress of San Felipe under the command of Admiral Edward Vernon".

One of the largest British fleets ever assembled arrived in Cartagena in 1741 and tried to take the rich port city from the Spaniards.

They were eventually repelled by a small force of Spanish soldiers, militia and local residents under the command of Gen Blas de Lezo.

Gen de Lezo became known as a master strategist thanks to his successful defence of Cartagena in the face of forces almost 10 times bigger than his.

A statue to Gen de Lezo, also known as Pegleg, stands at the entrance of the San Felipe fortress.

The Siege of Cartagena

• Admiral Edward Vernon arrived at Cartagena on 13 March 1741
• He headed a powerful flotilla of 186 ships carrying around 28,600 troops. His orders were to take the city
• He faced Spanish opposition and some 3,600 troops
• The British retreated after about two months, after suffering heavy losses from fighting and yellow fever
• According to historians at the time, the Spanish lost most of their troops in defence of the city

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Philippines marks Haiyan anniversary

8 November 2014 Last updated at 07:45

Thousands of people have taken part in a memorial walk on the anniversary of Typhoon Haiyan which ravaged central parts of the Philippines a year ago.

Crowds marched through the city of Tacloban as sirens sounded and bells rang at the exact time the storm hit.

There were also anti-government protests at what some see as the slow pace of rebuilding.

President Benigno Aquino has denied moving too slowly. More than 7,000 people were killed in the disaster.

Haiyan, known as Yolanda in the Philippines, hit on 8 November last year sending huge storm swells into inland areas and destroying wide swathes of central Philippines.

More than four million people were displaced, many of whom are still living in temporary shelters.

'Vicious abandonment'

Ceremonies were held on Saturday at mass graves in Tacloban where several thousand victims of the storm are buried.

Thousands marched by candlelight through the city at dawn, passing through areas devastated by the typhoon.

Gathering at the graves, mourners wrote names of loved ones on white crosses planted symbolically to represent unidentified victims.

"It's important that we make it meaningful, so for the next generation's people will remember this," city mayor Alfred Romualdez said, quoted by Reuters news agency.

Hundreds also staged protests in the city and in the capital Manila at what they regard as a lack of progress in reconstruction.

"We have felt a year's worth of the government's vicious abandonment, corruption, deceit and repression, and have seen a year's worth of news and studies that confirm this situation," Reuters quoted Efleda Bautista, a leader of survivors' group People Surge, as saying.

The protesters burned an effigy of the president in the middle of Tacloban.

President Aquino has been accused of showing a lack of urgency in the reconstruction, with plans to find safe land away from the coast and build new homes falling behind schedule.

Mr Aquino says the plan will take time.

"I would hope we can move even faster and I will push everybody to move even faster, but the sad reality is the scope of work you need to do can really not be done overnight," said the president.

There is little faith in such promises, reports the BBC's Rupert Wingfield-Hayes in Tacloban.

It is notable that he has decided not to come here to mark the anniversary, our correspondent adds, although he visited the typhoon-hit Eastern Samar province on Friday.

Tacloban is a stronghold of the president's political enemies - it is the birthplace of former First Lady, Imelda Marcos.

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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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Mexico gang 'admits student deaths'

8 November 2014 Last updated at 09:44

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Mexican Attorney General Jesus Murillo: ''I know that the information we have obtained causes great pain in the families''

Suspected gang members have confessed to killing more than 40 students missing for six weeks, Mexican Attorney General Jesus Murillo has said.

He said three alleged gang members claimed the students were handed over to them by police.

They said some were already asphyxiated and they shot the others dead, before setting fire to all the bodies.

A total of 43 students went missing after clashing with police on 26 September in the town of Iguala.

A spokesman for their families said they would not accept they were dead until it had been officially confirmed by Argentine forensic scientists working on the case.

Bags found near river

The suspects from the Guerreros Unidos drug gang were recently arrested in connection with the disappearances.

Relatives of the missing said they had been told that six bags of unidentified human remains had been found along a river near where the students vanished.

Mr Murillo warned that it would be difficult to identify the charred remains and that authorities would continue to consider the students as missing until DNA tests confirmed the identities.

Previous searches have uncovered mass graves in the area, but initial tests suggested they did not contain the remains of the students.

Mr Murillo showed videotaped confessions by the suspects who said they had loaded the students into dumper trucks and taken them to a landfill site in Cocula, a city near Iguala.

About 15 of the students were already dead when they arrived and the rest were shot, according to the suspects.

Mr Murillo said the bodies were then burned with petrol, tyres, firewood and plastic in an inferno that lasted for 14 hours.

"The fire lasted from midnight to 2pm the next day. The criminals could not handle the bodies (for three hours) due to the heat," he said.

He said that the suspects then crushed the remains, stuffed them into bags and tossed them in a river.

Mr Murillo showed videos of investigators combing through small pieces of burned remains that were found in black plastic bags.

The suspects said they were not sure how many students they had taken but one said there were more than 40, Mr Murillo added.

"The high level of degradation caused by the fire in the remains we found make it very difficult to extract the DNA that will allow an identification,'' he added.

At the scene: Will Grant, BBC News Mexico correspondent

In what was at times a very graphic press conference, Attorney General Jesus Murillo laid out his office's findings into the disappearance of the students.

When they were handed over to the gang, around 15 of the students had already died from asphyxiation, he said. The remaining students were shot dead near a rubbish dump.

At that point, members of the gang - according to their own testimony, video clips of which were shown by the attorney general - burnt the students' bodies in a pyre.

Human remains from the river are now to be identified by experts in Austria, but Mr Murillo said it wasn't clear how long the process would take.

However, relatives of the missing remained sceptical. The families have been highly critical of the investigation into the students' disappearance.

"As long as there are no results, our sons are alive," Felipe de la Cruz, the father of one of the disappeared, said in a statement.

"Today they're trying to close the case this way... a blatant way to further our torture by the federal government."

The case has shocked Mexico. Thousands have staged protests over what they say is collusion between officials and organised crime, along with government inaction.

President Enrique Pena Nieto has faced widespread criticism and on Friday he vowed to hunt down all those responsible for the "horrible crime".

The students from a teacher training college in Ayotzinapa, in Guerrero state, had travelled to nearby Iguala to protest against what they said were discriminatory hiring practices, and to collect funds for their college.

But they went missing after clashes with the police.

Six people were also killed after police opened fire and witnesses described seeing the students being bundled into police cars.

More than 70 people have been arrested in connection with the disappearances, including the Mayor of Iguala, Jose Luis Abarca, and his wife, Maria de los Angeles Pineda, who were detained in Mexico City on Tuesday.

Mexican officials accused Mr Abarca of ordering police to confront the students to prevent them from disrupting a public speech given by his wife.

Timeline: Iguala disappearance

26 Sept: Students from a teacher training college in Ayotzinapa travel to Iguala to protest and raise funds

Night of 26 Sept: Police stop the students, 6 people are shot dead, 43 students disappear

30 Sept: Iguala mayor Jose Luis Abarca asks for leave from his post, which is granted

4 Oct: Mass graves are found near Iguala containing 28 bodies

19 Oct: Federal police are deployed to Iguala and replace the municipal force

22 Oct: Mexico's prosecutor general says an arrest warrant has been issued for Mr Abarca, his wife and the town's police chief

23 Oct: Guerrero state governor Angel Aguirre resigns

29 Oct: President Enrique Pena Nieto meets the relatives of the missing students and promises a "renewed search plan"

4 Nov: Mr Abarca and his wife are arrested in Mexico City

7 Nov: Three gang members confess to killing students and burning their bodies, according to Mexico's attorney general

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Indian army in rare Kashmir apology

8 November 2014 Last updated at 11:46

The Indian army has issued an unusual apology for shooting dead two teenage boys in Indian-administered Kashmir.

The army says it made a mistake in firing at a car they were travelling in on the outskirts of Srinagar on Monday.

Correspondents say it is rare for the army to admit such an error in such speedy and unambiguous terms.

A senior army commander based in the Jammu region flew especially to Srinagar to address the media in the aftermath of the deaths.

"We take responsibility for the death of the two boys in Kashmir," the chief of the army's northern command, DS Hooda, told reporters late on Friday.

"We admit a mistake was made... There was some information about a white car with terrorists. Obviously, the identity was mistaken in this case," he said.

Gen Hooda promised an enquiry into the deaths would be carried out with "the highest standard of transparency".

Anger has been rising in the Muslim-majority Kashmir valley over the killings. Indian newspapers including the Hindustan Times have reported that the army's swift apology was aimed at dampening public anger.

The newspaper reports that the car in which the teenagers were travelling was hit by 32 bullets. It quotes a senior army officer as saying it should not have been shot at with automatic weapons when no threat was posed to the soldiers concerned.

Families of the youths killed have turned down the army's offer of one million rupees ($16,283) as compensation.

"The blood of my 14-year-old son is not so cheap that I would barter it. I reject this compensation," Mohammad Yousuf Bhat, one of the fathers, was quoted by the Times of India newspaper as saying on Saturday.

The territory of Kashmir - roughly two-thirds of which is in India and one-third in Pakistan - is claimed by both countries in its entirety.

It has been a flashpoint for more than 60 years and the South Asian rivals have fought two wars and a limited conflict over the region.

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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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Japan governor backs reactor restart

7 November 2014 Last updated at 09:49

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Protestors holding 'No' signs drowned out the final vote to restart the reactor

Two reactors at Japan's Sendai nuclear plant are set to become the first to be restarted since the 2011 meltdown at the Fukushima nuclear facility.

The governor of Japan's Kagoshima prefecture gave his approval, marking the final hurdle for the restart, which is now likely to happen next year.

Before the accident, caused by a massive quake and tsunami, about 30% of Japan's power was nuclear-generated.

All 48 plants were shut down but PM Shinzo Abe has lobbied for a restart.

Mr Abe's government has argued that the shutdown has hurt the economy, forcing Japan to import expensive fossil fuels to make up the power shortfall.

Despite public anxiety, earlier this year Mr Abe approved an energy plan backing the use of nuclear power.

Local authorities were given the final say on whether to restart their commercial plants. The plant's host town, Satsumasendai, had already voted in favour.

"I have decided that it is unavoidable to restart the No. 1 and No. 2 Sendai nuclear reactors," Kagoshima Governor Yuichiro Ito told a news conference on Friday, reported Reuters news agency.

"I have said that assuring safety is a prerequisite and that the government must ensure safety and publicly explain it thoroughly to residents."

The reactors, operated by Kyushu Electric Power, will likely restart next year as further operational checks need to be passed.

In a vote on Friday 38 out of 47 of the Kagoshima's prefectural assembly backed the restarting of the reactors.

Protesters present in the assembly hall stood up before the vote with pink signs that said "NO restart", reported Reuters. Yelling from opponents drowned out the final vote.

In September, Japanese regulators gave the Sendai reactors their final approval saying safety standards introduced after the Fukushima disaster had been met.

Timeline: Nuclear energy in Japan

• 11 March - a magnitude 8.9 earthquake strikes off the east coast of Japan followed by a large tsunami. The Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant loses power leading to a meltdown of reactors.
• December 2011 - Fukushima plant shutdown is achieved.
• May 2012 - Japan's last remaining nuclear reactor shuts down leaving the country entirely nuclear-free for the first time in 42 years.
• July 2012 - Kansai Electric Power Company restart reactors at the Oi power plant in Fukui Prefecture.
• September 2012 - Japan announces that it plans to abandon nuclear power by 2030 and will not begin construction on new nuclear reactors.
• December 2012 - Shinzo Abe is elected as prime minister saying nuclear energy is needed to turn around the economy.
• September 2013 - The last reactor at the Oi nuclear power plant is shut down meaning Japan is nuclear power free.
• April 2014 - Japan approves an energy plan that backs the use of nuclear power, reversing the earlier decision.
• September 2014- Japan's nuclear regulator gives safety sign-off for two reactors at the Sendai nuclear plant to restart.

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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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AC/DC murder plot charge dropped

7 November 2014 Last updated at 10:31

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Jon Donnison says Phil Rudd is understood to be considering legal action against the police

The Australian drummer of hard rock group AC/DC, Phil Rudd, has had a charge of attempting to arrange a murder dropped in New Zealand.

He will still face charges of drugs possession and making threats to kill.

The U-turn by authorities, announced less than 24 hours after Mr Rudd appeared in court, was because of a lack of evidence, his lawyer said.

Paul Mabey said the charge should never have been laid, and that his client was considering "any possible remedies".

He added that Mr Rudd had suffered "incalculable" damage from the publicity surrounding the allegation and its sensational reporting.

Mr Mabey described the drug charges as "minor" offences and said the musician would defend the charge of making threats to kill, which carries a maximum sentence of seven years in jail.

AC/DC had earlier issued a statement saying its planned tour would not be affected by news of the charges.

The band is one of the highest grossing music acts of all time.

'Family man, not hit man'

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In an interview to be broadcast in December, Johnson and Young said AC/DC was planning a tour

On Thursday, the 60-year-old musician appeared in court after a police raid on his waterfront house in Tauranga, on New Zealand's North Island. He was released on bail and told he must not contact anyone involved in the alleged murder plot.

But on Friday, prosecuting lawyer Greg Hollister-Jones said his office had reviewed the case and found there was "insufficient evidence to proceed with the charge of attempting to procure murder".

The initial charge of attempting to procure murder was made by police, but after Mr Rudd's court appearance, Crown prosecutors took on the case.

Local media reports said at the time that the alleged plot targeted two men. The judge ruled that their names as well as that of the alleged hit-man could not be revealed.

The man allegedly named in court papers as the "intended hitman" told The New Zealand Herald newspaper he believed the matter had been blown out of proportion.

Describing himself as a "family man", not a hitman, he said the charges against Mr Rudd - whom he considered a friend - were simply "hot air". However, the man refused to blame police, who he said were just doing their job.

The BBC's Jon Donnison in Sydney says the episode will prove embarrassing for the New Zealand police.

Mr Rudd, who has lived in New Zealand for over two decades, is next due in court on 27 November. AC/DC launches its new album on 2 December.

The drummer was kicked out of the band in 1983 and rejoined in 1994.

But his absence from a recent photo of band members prompted online speculation about whether he was still in the band.

Profile: AC/DC

• One of Australia's biggest music exports and among the highest grossing music acts of all time.
• Known for top hits such as Highway to Hell, You Shook Me All Night Long, Back in Black, Hell's Bells and Dirty Deeds Done Cheap.
• The band was founded by brothers Malcolm and Angus Young in 1973, who named it after the abbreviation for "alternating current direct current" - hence the lightning bolt on their logo.
• Angus, the lead guitarist, is known for his schoolboy outfits which he still wears for performances.
• The Young brothers were the only original members in the band for decades until Malcolm's departure in 2014 after he was diagnosed with dementia.
• More than a dozen people have been part of the band over the years, including late singer Bon Scott who died of alcohol poisoning in 1980.
• The band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2003.

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Huge raid shuts 400 'dark net' sites

7 November 2014 Last updated at 11:37 By Jane Wakefield Technology reporter

Silk Road 2.0 and 400 other sites operating on the Tor network - a part of the internet unreachable via traditional search engines - have been shut down.

The joint operation between 16 European countries and the US saw 17 arrests.

Tor is home to thousands of illegal marketplaces, trading in drugs, child abuse images as well as sites for extremist groups.

Experts believe the shutdown represents a breakthrough for fighting cybercrime.

Among those arrested was Blake Benthall, who is said to have been behind Silk Road 2.0, a marketplace for the buying and selling of illegal drugs.

The site launched in October last year after the original Silk Road site was shut down and its alleged owner arrested.

'Serious organised crime'

The operation also saw the seizure of Bitcoins worth approximately $1m (£632,000).

"Today we have demonstrated that, together, we are able to efficiently remove vital criminal infrastructures that are supporting serious organised crime," said Troels Oerting, head of Europol's European cybercrime centre.

"And we are not 'just' removing these services from the open internet; this time we have also hit services on the dark net using Tor where, for a long time, criminals have considered themselves beyond reach," he added.

The BBC understands that the raid represented both a technological breakthrough - with police using new techniques to track down the physical location of dark net servers - as well as seeing an unprecedented level of international co-operation among law enforcement agencies.

The so-called deep web - the anonymous part of the internet - is estimated to be anything up to 500 times the size of the surface web.

Within that experts refer to the dark net - the part of the network which Tor operates on. There are approximately three million Tor users but the number of sites may be smaller.

Alan Woodward, a security consultant who advises Europol, said that the shutdown represents a new era in the fight against cybercrime.

"Tor has long been considered beyond the reach of law enforcement. This action proves that it is neither invisible nor untouchable," he said.

But, he added, it did not mean copycat sites would not spring up, or that the police had thrown light on the dark net.

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China and Japan smooth islands row

7 November 2014 Last updated at 11:54

China and Japan have agreed to try to reduce tensions over a disputed chain of islands in the East China Sea.

Beijing officials said a crisis management mechanism had been set up to prevent the situation from worsening.

The strategically important islands, known as Diaoyu by China and Senkaku by Japan, are controlled by Japan.

Meanwhile Japanese PM Shinzo Abe said the ground was being laid for a bilateral meeting between him and Chinese President Xi Jinping next week.

"Both Japan and China are coming to the view that it would benefit not just the two countries but regional stability if a summit is held," he said, quoted by Reuters news agency.

The meeting is expected to take place on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) summit in Beijing on Monday and Tuesday.

If it happens it will be the first proper exchange between the two leaders since they came to power, in 2012 and 2013 respectively.

The Chinese foreign ministry said in a statement that senior Chinese and Japanese officials had reached a four-point agreement, which included a recognition of their "different positions" over the islands.

They had agreed "to prevent the situation from aggravating through dialogue and consultation and establish crisis management mechanisms to avoid contingencies," the statement added.

However, Reuters later quoted Mr Abe as saying that Japan's position on the islands was unchanged.

The dispute over the islands has become particularly acrimonious over the last two years.

The BBC's Martin Patience in Beijing says it has inflamed nationalistic sentiment in both countries and damaged economic ties.

The islands are close to important shipping lanes, offer rich fishing grounds and lie near potential oil and gas reserves.

In 2012 Japan moved to purchase the islands from their private owners, sparking violent anti-Japanese protests in China.

In November 2013, China announced the creation of a new air defence identification zone, which would require any aircraft in the zone - which covers the islands - to comply with rules laid down by Beijing.

Japan labelled the move a "unilateral escalation" and said it would ignore it.

The two countries also differ over Japan's actions in China during World War II.

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Tax trial confirmed for Spain royal

7 November 2014 Last updated at 12:02

Spanish court drops money laundering charge against Princess Cristina, but presses on with tax fraud prosecution

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Ukraine says tanks cross from Russia

7 November 2014 Last updated at 12:03

An armoured column including 32 tanks and 30 trucks has crossed into eastern Ukraine from Russia, Kiev says.

The trucks were carrying ammunition and fighters, said a military spokesman, but the BBC cannot confirm his report.

A fragile ceasefire has been in place since 5 September, although hundreds of people have been killed since then.

More than 4,000 people have died since fighting erupted in April after pro-Russian separatists seized control in the regions of Donetsk and Luhansk.

The European OSCE monitoring mission has warned that the "bloodletting" is still going on, with numerous incidents of shelling.

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UN 'lacks resources' to fight Ebola

6 November 2014 Last updated at 10:35

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Tony Banbury: "We definitely do not have the response capability on the ground"

The head of the UN mission charged with fighting Ebola in West Africa has told the BBC he does not yet have the resources necessary to defeat it.

Tony Banbury said more help was urgently needed, despite significant contributions from the UK, China, Cuba and the US.

But he was hopeful of achieving the target of 70% bed space for new cases and 70% safe burials by December.

The confirmed death toll is now 4,818, says the World Health Organization.

The numbers are down since the WHO previously reported figures last Friday, as it says it has changed the way the figures are collated.

But it said in the countries worst affected by the outbreak - Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea - transmission remained "persistent and widespread, particularly in the capital cities".

In other developments:

• West African heads of state are due to meet on Thursday in Ghana for a special meeting to review the regional response to the crisis.
• The International Finance Corporation, part of the World Bank, has announced an initiative to provide at least $450m (£281m) in commercial financing to enable trade, investment, and employment in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.

'Mixed picture'

Mr Banbury was speaking at the UN headquarters for Ebola response in Ghana, which has not been affected by the epidemic, at the end of a regional tour.

He told the BBC it was difficult to say if the spread of the disease is slowing as it was a "very mixed picture".

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Anne Soy reports on medics in Mali taking part in an Ebola vaccine trial

In Liberia's capital, Monrovia, there was a decline but there was "significant acceleration" elsewhere.

The WHO says that of the planned 4,707 beds in Ebola treatment centres, only 22% are operational - blaming delays on insufficient numbers of foreign medical teams.

"The bed space issue is huge," Mr Banbury admitted, but he said he hoped that by reducing the numbers of people becoming infected, the UN would eventually be able to reach its targets.

He said his organisation did not yet have the capacity to defeat the disease.

"It's not here yet. There are still people, villages, towns [and] areas that [are] not getting any type of help right now and we definitely don't have the response capability on the ground now from the international community," he said.

At the same time he mentioned contributions from the UK, which opened a new Ebola centre in Sierra Leone on Wednesday.

'Ultimate price'

Mr Banbury said the US, China and Cuba which had all sent significant numbers of soldiers or medics.

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Body collectors like Mariatu Kagbo in Sierra Leone face a difficult task

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

They said he was requesting $4.5bn in immediate response funds and more than $1.5bn for a contingency fund.

In Liberia, a 25-bed Ebola centre set up by the US army to treat health care workers was officially opened in Monrovia on Wednesday by President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf.

According to the WHO, 546 healthcare workers have been infected with Ebola since the outbreak began, of whom 310 have died.

The Liberian president said these frontline staff would now have a "refuge".

"You all know that those have suffered - we say 'most' - because they were trained to preserve life and they gave life," she said.

"The doctors and the nurses and... key healthcare workers who actually went out there not knowing what they were dealing with but demonstrating their professionalism and their service and they paid the ultimate price."

US and international treatment centres

Have you been affected by the issues raised in this article? Share your experience by emailing haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk

Have your say

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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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AC/DC drummer on murder plot charge

6 November 2014 Last updated at 08:33

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The BBC's Jon Donnison says Rudd entered no plea during his brief appearance in court

The drummer of the hard rock group AC/DC, Phil Rudd, has appeared in a New Zealand court on charges of attempting to arrange a murder.

Mr Rudd, who was born in Australia, has also been charged with possessing the drugs methamphetamine and cannabis, and of making threats to kill.

The musician's waterfront house in Tauranga, on New Zealand's North Island, was raided on Thursday morning.

AC/DC are due to release a new album later this year.

Mr Rudd, 60, was released on bail after a brief appearance at Tauranga district court.

As part of his bail conditions, he must not have any contact with anyone involved in the alleged murder plot.

Local media reports say that the alleged plot targeted two men. The judge ruled that their names as well as that of the alleged hit-man cannot be revealed.

Mr Rudd will appear in court again on 27 November. He has yet to enter a plea.

Under New Zealand law, the charge of attempting to "procure" a murder carries a jail sentence of up to 10 years.

A police official quoted by the SunLive news website said the information that led to the raid on the house was provided by a member of the public.

Mr Rudd was kicked out of the band in 1983 and rejoined in 1994.

But he did not appear in a new photo of band members released last month to promote their upcoming album Rock Or Bust, and was reportedly absent from the filming of a new music video, prompting online speculation about whether he was still in the band.

Profile: AC/DC

• One of Australia's biggest music exports and among the highest grossing music acts of all time.
• Known for top hits such as Highway to Hell, You Shook Me All Night Long, Back in Black, Hell's Bells and Dirty Deeds Done Cheap.
• The band was founded by brothers Malcolm and Angus Young in 1973, who named it after the abbreviation for "alternating current direct current" - hence the lightning bolt on their logo.
• Angus, the lead guitarist, is known for his schoolboy outfits which he still wears for performances.
• The Young brothers were the only original members in the band for decades until Malcolm's departure in 2014 after he was diagnosed with dementia.
• More than a dozen people have been part of the band over the years, including late singer Bon Scott who died of alcohol poisoning in 1980.
• The band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2003.

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China officials in 'ivory spree'

6 November 2014 Last updated at 09:05

Officials travelling to Tanzania with Chinese President Xi Jinping went on a buying spree for illegal ivory, an environmental activist group has said.

In a report, the Environmental Investigation Agency cited two ivory merchants who said the arrival of the delegation in 2013 fuelled demand.

The amount of ivory purchased by them sent local prices soaring, it added.

Conservationists say demand for ivory, where China is seen as the biggest market, is fuelling poaching in Africa.

The Chinese use ivory in traditional crafts and carvings are prized as status symbols, correspondents say.

In recent years poaching has increased across sub-Saharan Africa with criminal gangs slaughtering elephants for ivory.

China's government has not yet made any public comment on the allegations in the report.

'Security checks averted'

The EIA report cited a trader in Tanzania's main port city, Dar es Salaam, named as Suleiman Mochiwa, who met undercover investigators.

He said that when the Chinese government and business delegation arrived ivory prices in the local market doubled to $700 (£438) per kilo during the visit.

"The [delegation]... used the opportunity to procure such a large amount of ivory that local prices increased," the report says.

Investigators alleged that the Chinese could take advantage of a lack of security checks for those in the country on a diplomatic visit.

"The two traders claimed that a fortnight before the state visit, Chinese buyers began purchasing thousands of kilos of ivory, later sent to China in diplomatic bags on the presidential plane," the report added.

It was Xi Jinping's first foreign tour as head of state.

Traders told the group that similar ivory sales took place on an earlier trip by China's former President Hu Jintao.

The ivory trade was banned in 1989 by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (Cites). Both China and Tanzania are signatories.

China does have around 150 legal, government-licensed ivory shops, which sells ivory collected prior to this. They are the only places allowed to sell ivory to individual buyers.

Earlier this year China for the first time destroyed a large quantity of confiscated ivory, in a public event described by conservation groups as a landmark move.

Just over six tonnes of carvings, ornaments and tusks amassed over the years were fed into crushing machines.

Nevertheless officials warn that demand for ivory across Asia has led to thousand of elephants being killed in Africa.

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New Nato chief arrives in Kabul

6 November 2014 Last updated at 09:38

The new Nato Secretary-General, Jens Stoltenberg, has arrived in Afghanistan for his first trip to the country since taking office last month.

The former Norwegian prime minister visited a training centre for Afghan forces and addressed Afghan troops.

He reinforced Nato's commitment to training and advising local forces once Nato combat troops withdraw by the end of this year.

About 12,500 soldiers, mostly American, will remain to continue training.

"The secretary general will meet with President Ashraf Ghani and Chief Executive Officer Abdullah Abdullah to discuss Nato-Afghanistan cooperation," Nato said in a statement.

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Burkina Faso agrees transition plan

6 November 2014 Last updated at 10:33

Burkina Faso's political parties have agreed that the country's political transition should last a year, followed by elections in November 2015.

But the crisis talks in the capital Ouagadougou ended without a deal on who would head a transitional government.

The military has been in charge since President Blaise Compaore was forced to quit last week amid mass protests.

The African Union (AU) on Monday gave the military two weeks to hand power to a civilian ruler or face sanctions.

Lt Col Isaac Zida - the interim leader backed by the army - later promised to comply with the deadline. He was previously second-in-command of the presidential guard.

Analysis: Thomas Fessy, BBC West Africa correspondent

President John Mahama of Ghana, President Goodluck Jonathan of Nigeria and President Macky Sall of Senegal thought that by the end of the day, the "Country of the Upright Men" - the meaning of the country's name - would have a civilian transitional leader.

That would have been hailed as a great success at Thursday's Ecowas summit in Accra - West African leaders solving a West African problem.

The leaders gave political parties and civic groups two hours on Wednesday to submit names, hoping to speed things up. Late in the evening, they were forced to admit that "there was no use to rushing" the process, in President Sall's words.

The African Union two-week deadline now seems more realistic.

The opposition doesn't want to sit down with the ousted president's party, which has governed the country for nearly three decades. But they will need a consensual decision.

If anything, the opposition resembles a group of divided politicians who appear overwhelmed to finally be able to have a say.

The only thing they have been able to agree on so far is the need to have a civilian interim president who will lead the country to an election in November 2015.

'Chaos'

Wednesday's crisis talks in Ouagadougou were also attended by civil society groups and tribal chiefs, according to a statement issued after the meeting.

The presidents of Ghana, Nigeria and Senegal mediated the talks.

The statement added that all parties in the negotiations wanted an "eminent civilian personality" to head the transition, without providing further details.

At one stage, the meeting descended into chaos as opposition politicians stormed out.

"We do not want to talk with the old governing party. They represent Blaise Compaore," Rose-Marie Compaore, parliamentary leader of the main opposition group, was quoted as saying by the AFP news agency.

But the opposition was later persuaded to return to the negotiating table.

'Welcome to stay'

The AU sanctions could include suspension of Burkina Faso's AU membership and a travel ban on military officials. The AU's Peace and Security Council is expected to meet again later this month to discuss the crisis.

Under Burkina Faso's constitution, the head of the National Assembly should take office if the president resigns.

Mr Compaore first seized power in a coup in 1987, and thereafter won four disputed elections.

The protests were triggered by his plan to amend the constitution so that he could run for office again in elections next year.

Mr Compaore was forced to flee to neighbouring Ivory Coast and is currently staying in the capital Yamoussoukro.

France - the former colonial power - has admitted helping in the evacuation of Mr Compaore.

Ivorian leader Alassane Ouattara has said Mr Compaore is welcome to stay as he helped bring peace to Ivory Coast during unrest following elections in 2010.

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Apple malware affects Chinese users

6 November 2014 Last updated at 11:25 By Rajeshni Naidu-Ghelani & Leo Kelion BBC News

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The BBC's John Sudworth explains how the malware affects Apple products

New malware targeting Apple products is mostly affecting Chinese users, warned an online security researcher.

US-based Palo Alto Networks said WireLurker which is infecting Apple's desktop and mobile operating systems appears to have originated in China and is mostly infecting devices there.

The malware spreads through apps uploaded from a third-party store and can steal information.

More than 400 infected apps have been downloaded over 350,000 times, it said.

"WireLurker is unlike anything we've ever seen in terms of Apple iOS and OS X malware," said Ryan Olson, the company's intelligence director.

"The techniques in use suggest that bad actors are getting more sophisticated when it comes to exploiting some of the world's best-known desktop and mobile platforms."

WireLurker has the ability to transfer from Apple's Mac computer to mobile devices through a USB cable.

The security firm said the malware was capable of stealing "a variety of information" from mobile devices it infects and regularly requested updates from the attackers' control server.

"This malware is under active development and its creator's ultimate goal is not yet clear," the company added.

Work apps

According to Palo Alto Networks, WireLurker was first noticed in June when a developer at the Chinese firm Tencent realised there were suspicious files and processes happening on his Mac and iPhone.

Further inquiries revealed a total of 467 Mac programs listed on the Maiyadi App Store had been compromised to include the malware, which in turn had been downloaded 356,104 times as of 16 Oct.

Infected software included popular games including Angry Birds, The Sims 3, Pro Evolution Soccer 2014 and Battlefield: Bad Company 2.

Once the malware was on the Mac, it communicated with a command-and-control server to check if it needed to update its code, and then waited until an iPhone, iPad or iPod was connected.

When an iOS device was connected the malware would check if it was jailbroken - a process used by some to remove some of Apple's restrictions.

If it was jailbroken, WireLurker backed up the device's apps to the Mac, where it repackaged them with malware, and then installed the infected versions back on to the iOS machine.

If it was not jailbroken - which is the case for most iOS devices - WireLurker took advantage of a technique created by Apple to allow businesses to install special software on their staff's handsets and tablets.

This involved placing infected apps on the device that had been signed with a bogus "enterprise certificate" - code added to a product that is supposed to prove it comes from a trustworthy source.

To ensure the devices accepted this certificate, a permissions request was made to pop up on the targeted iOS device on the user's first attempt to run an infected app.

It simply asked for permission to run the app, but if the user clicked "continue" it installed code called a "provisioning profile", which told the iOS device it could trust any other app that had the same enterprise certificate.

Palo Alto Networks remarked that while this technique was not a new concept, it was the only known example of it being used to target non-jailbroken iOS devices in the wild.

Once active, the malware is used to upload information about the machine to the hackers, including phone numbers from its Contacts app, and the user's Apple ID.

Different versions of WireLurker also automatically installed new apps on the devices - including a video game and a comic book reader.

While these were innocuous, experts warn they could represent a test run for other more damaging software.

"People have got very used to iOS being secure and there is a danger they may be complacent about the risk this presents," said Prof Alan Woodward, from the University of Surrey.

"Now Apple knows what it's looking for, it should be able to shut it down relatively easily. But it shows that people are trying to attack Apple's operating system and the firm can't take security for granted."

Under attack

News of the attack comes after tech giant Apple's iCloud storage service in China was attacked by hackers trying to steal user information just last month.

Chinese web monitoring group Greatfire.org said that hackers intercepted data and potentially gained access to passwords, messages, photos and contacts. They believed the Beijing government was behind the move.

But, the Chinese government denied the claims and was backed by state-owned internet provider China Telecom, which said the accusation was "untrue and unfounded".

China is home to the world's biggest smartphone market and Apple saw its iPhone sales there jump 50% in the April to June quarter from a year earlier.

To minimise the risk of attack, Palo Alto Networks has recommended that users:

• Do not download Mac apps from third-party stores
• Do not jailbreak iOS devices
• Do not connect their iOS devices to untrusted computers and accessories, either to copy information or charge the machines
• Do not accept requests for a new "enterprise provisioning profile" unless it comes from an authorised party, for example the employer's IT department

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No Israel charge over Gaza ship raid

6 November 2014 Last updated at 12:11

The International Criminal Court's chief prosecutor says she will not take action over Israel's deadly commando raid on a Gaza-bound ship in 2010.

Fatou Bensouda said this was despite a "reasonable basis to believe that war crimes... were committed".

But she said the ICC had to prioritise war crimes committed on a large scale.

Nine Turkish activists were killed on the ship as it attempted to breach a blockade of the Palestinian territory.

In total there were six ships in the flotilla that was boarded in international waters, about 130km (80 miles) from the Israeli coast on 31 May 2010.

Commandos landed on the largest ship, the Turkish-owned Mavi Marmara, by descending on ropes from helicopters.

Clashes broke out immediately and the Israeli commandos opened fire.

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Kim Jong-un seen walking unaided

5 November 2014 Last updated at 04:08

North Korean media have published photos of leader Kim Jong-un walking without a stick at an army meeting, following speculation about his health.

Mr Kim was not seen in public for nearly six weeks before appearing at an event using a walking stick last month.

South Korean intelligence said he had surgery to remove an ankle cyst.

Mr Kim's health has been the subject of much rumour in recent years, with some saying he may be suffering from gout or hip problems.

The latest pictures, which came out in newspaper Rodong Sinmun on Wednesday, show Mr Kim meeting with military commanders.

North Korea agency KCNA said Mr Kim had attended the army meeting on Monday and Tuesday and posed with participants for photographs.

He was accompanied by right-hand man Hwang Pyong-so and other top leaders.

Mr Kim missed a key political event in October - the anniversary of his ruling party. But South Korea said it believed he remained in control.

South Korean intelligence later said that Mr Kim had developed a cyst on his left ankle in May, pinching a nerve and causing the ankle to swell.

A team of European medical experts were said to have flown to Pyongyang in September or October to operate on Mr Kim's left ankle and remove the growth.

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Stranded pilot whales dead in NZ

5 November 2014 Last updated at 07:26

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Volunteers managed to save 21 of the whales but many perished in the bay

About 36 pilot whales that had become stranded in the Eastern Bay of Plenty in New Zealand have died.

Two whale pods beached themselves in the Ohiwa harbour on the north-east coast on Monday.

Wildlife conservationists launched a rescue operation and helped one pod to be refloated on Tuesday, while 21 more whales were successfully herded out to sea on Wednesday.

The reasons for mass pilot whale strandings are not well understood.

Pilot whales are particularly prone to stranding behaviour. The largest known pilot whale stranding involved an estimated 1,000 whales at the Chatham Islands in 1918, according to the DOC.

Steve Brightwell from the DOC said the whales came into Ohiwa harbour after one of them was unwell and beached itself, reported Radio New Zealand.

Eleven of the whales were euthanized on welfare grounds on Tuesday, the Department of Conservation (DOC) said. About 25 pilot whales were found dead early Wednesday morning.

'Great effort'

At about 05:00 local time on Wednesday (16:00 GMT Tuesday) volunteer medics from Project Jonah, a non-profit organisation, along with the DOC began an operation to guide those whales that were still alive back out to sea.

"We did it! All 22 whales were shepherded through the mouth of the harbour to the ocean and were last seen heading towards deeper water," Project Jonah said on Facebook.

New Zealand on average has more whales stranding themselves than any other country in the world, Daren Grover, general manager of Project Jonah told the BBC.

"It's something we have lived with and we are quite geared up to respond to," he said. "Today was a great effort - all those that were alive were refloated."

Scientists believe individual whales strand themselves because they have a disease and are coming to the end of their life.

However, there are numerous theories around mass stranding including their highly sociable behaviour. One theory is that as one whale becomes stranded the other members of its pod try to help and become stranded themselves.

Pilot whales are the largest member of the dolphin family. They get their name from the fact that researchers believe that each pod follows a "pilot" in the group.

Their distinguishing feature is a large bulbous forehead, which protrudes beyond the mouth and small beak.

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Republicans win control of US Senate

5 November 2014 Last updated at 07:52

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Rajini Vaidyanathan looks back at how the night unfolded

The Republicans have won control of the Senate in the US mid-term elections, increasing their power in the final two years of Barack Obama's presidency.

The party won in Arkansas, Colorado, Iowa, Montana, North Carolina, South Dakota and West Virginia.

And it is expected to post more gains as votes are counted in other states.

Republican Senator Mitch McConnell, poised to lead the chamber, said the result was a vote against "a government that people can no longer trust".

In the mid-terms, so-called because they fell half way into Mr Obama's second four-year term in office, about one-third of the Senate, the entire House of Representatives, 36 of 50 state governors, and countless state and local offices were up for election.

Continue reading the main story

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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 convincing gains in the chamber.

With the votes still being counted in many states, the Republican Party easily won the six seats it needed to win control of the Senate.

The party now controls 52 seats, and is tipped to win more.

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

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Rajesh Mirchandani explains the mid-term election results and what they mean for the Obama presidency

As well as taking the Senate, the Republicans are projected to increase their majority 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.

When the new Congress is sworn in in January, it will mark the first time the Republicans have held both chambers since 2006.

They 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.

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"We are heading to Washington, and we are going to make them squeal" - successful Iowa Republican Senator-elect Joni Ernst

In addition to seats the party won from the Democrats, the Republicans retained seats in at least a dozen other states.

In Louisiana, neither of the top two candidates gained 50% of the vote, forcing a run-off election in early December.

In Virginia, Democrat Mark Warner was expected to retain his Senate seat amid a much tighter than expected race with Republican ex-lobbyist Ed Gillespie.

In other developments:

• Voters approved ballot measures legalising cannabis in Oregon and Washington DC, while Florida rejected a medical marijuana proposal
• Three states - South Dakota, Arkansas and Nebraska - approved increases in the minimum wage and a fourth - Alaska - was poised to do so as well
• Michael Grimm, under federal indictment for fraud, was re-elected to his House seat from New York City
• Republican Scott Brown has now lost Senate races in two states - New Hampshire on Tuesday and Massachusetts in 2012
• Utah's Mia Love has become the first black Republican woman to be elected to the House

One of the night's key early results came in Kentucky, where Mr McConnell, the Republican Senate minority leader, fended off Democrat Alison Lundergan Grimes.

Mr McConnell will now become the Senate majority leader, giving him control over the chamber's legislative agenda and floor proceedings.

"It wasn't about me or my opponent," he told supporters as he declared victory, "it was about a government that people can no longer trust."

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."

In the governor's races, Republican incumbents survived tough re-election battles in Florida, Maine and Wisconsin.

Two other results illustrate the breadth of the Republican sweep - the party's candidates won in Maryland and Massachusetts, two of the most Democratic-friendly states in the nation. Republican Bruce Rauner also won in Illinois - Mr Obama's home state - against incumbent Democratic Governor Pat Quinn.

Political gridlock in Congress has already reached historic levels and was a major concern among voters, with many expressing their frustration with the lack of progress on the most pressing issues facing the nation.

Analysts say the Republicans' victory could make the situation even worse ahead of the presidential poll in 2016.

Republican leaders have already pledged to move forward on their key policy priorities, pressing Mr Obama to negotiate on their terms

"It's time for government to start getting results and implementing solutions to the challenges facing our country, starting with our still-struggling economy," said Republican House Speaker John Boehner.

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