The US is on track to post an all-time high annual shortfall of $1tn (€764bn) or more after it was revealed that the government ran a record budget deficit in November.

President Bush today defended his build-up of forces in Iraq and pledged to “hang in there” with Iraqis despite calls from Congress to get troops home.

Congressional investigators set up a bogus company in the US and obtained a licence from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission that allowed them to buy enough radioactive material for a small “dirty bomb”.

America’s Homeland Security Department is breaking the law by not telling the public how personal information is used to screen international travellers, government investigators say.

US health officials said tonight they have ruled out the abortion pill RU-486 in one of two deaths in women who had taken the drug. The second is still under investigation.

Dozens of terror suspects were legally allowed to buy guns in the United States last year, it was reported today.