The political future of a state governor who visited his mistress in Argentina after indicating he was off hiking in the US hung in the balance today.

SOUTH Carolina Governor Mark Sanford returned to the US yesterday from a secret private trip to Argentina, ending days of speculation over his whereabouts and raising questions about his judgment.

Tropical Storm Hanna sped toward the Carolinas today, promising to deliver gusty winds and heavy rain during a dash up America’s Eastern Seaboard that could wash out the weekend for millions of people.

Tropical Storm Hanna knocked out power to the southern Bahamas and authorities from Nassau to South Carolina warned residents to prepare for evacuation as it moved north, growing into a hurricane.

Programming errors and inexperience dealing with electronic voting machines frustrated poll workers in hundreds of precincts in today’s US elections, delaying voters in several states and forcing some to use paper ballots instead.

A US freight train carrying chlorine gas struck a parked train, killing eight people and injuring more than 240 others, nearly all of them sickened by a toxic cloud that persisted over this small textile town of Graniteville, South Carolina.