Democrats are heading towards an even heavier defeat than previously forecast in November's midterm elections for Congress, political analysts say. Such an outcome promises big trouble not just for President Obama, but also for Republican leaders as they struggle to run what is likely to be an unruly majority on Capitol Hill.

Four Greenpeace activists who clung to an oil rig off western Greenland using rock-climbing gear have been arrested after an Arctic storm forced them to abandon their protest.

Prime Minister Julia Gillard edged closer to retaining power in Australia yesterday when an independent lawmaker said he would support her centre-left Labor Party to form Australia's first minority government in almost seven decades.

An Arizona lawman who refused for more than a year to hand over records to an investigation into allegations that his department discriminated against Hispanics was sued by the US Justice Department yesterday.

Hindu devotees lost their balance yesterday as they try to form a human pyramid in Mumbai to break the "Dahi handi", an earthen pot filled with curd hung 20-30ft from the ground.

South Africa's government is withdrawing the special status granted to illegal Zimbabwean immigrants who fled their country's economic meltdown and political violence, a spokesman said yesterday.

Spanish highway patrol officers who are issuing fewer speeding fines to protest a pay cut have been asked by their boss to "please, enforce the law".

Investors are bracing themselves for another grim snapshot of the US labour market today, when the government is expected to confirm that unemployment is again on the rise.

Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian President, yesterday opened the first face-to-face Middle East peace talks in two years by demanding an end to Jewish settlements in the West Bank. In response, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu insisted that any agreement must assure Israel's security as a Jewish state.

A mile-long oil sheen has spread from an offshore petroleum platform burning in the Gulf of Mexico off Louisiana, west of the site of BP's massive spill.