Americans who had cast their votes for the next president early on November 8 appeared to be worried about the direction of the country, and were looking for a "strong leader who can take the country back from the rich and powerful," according to an early reading from the Reuters/Ipsos. 

Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Hillary Clinton waged a tight battle in several crucial battleground states on November 8 in their bitter race for the White House, although opinion polls showed Clinton had an edge in the closing hours of the campaign.

Almost 700 migrants arrived at the Italian port town of Augusta on November 7 after being rescued from their perilous boat journey across the Mediterranean Sea.

Israel on November 7 formally rejected France's invitation to take part in a Middle East peace conference in Paris later this year, saying it was a distraction from the goal of direct negotiations with the Palestinians.

Personnel from the US Justice Department's civil rights division will be deployed to polling sites in 28 states to monitor November 8's election, five more than it monitored in the 2012 election, the department said on November 7.

The US presidential campaign neared its end on November 7 in the same angry tone it began, with Republican Donald Trump calling Democrat Hillary Clinton a "phony" and Clinton accusing him of splitting the country, as a new Reuters/Ipsos opinion poll showed Clinton with a strong chance of winning.

Libyan forces in the final stages of a six-month campaign to recapture Sirte from Islamic State said they freed 14 civilians on November 6 from a small residential area where some militants are holding out.

A US-backed alliance of Syrian armed groups has launched an operation to retake the northern city of Raqqa, the de facto capital of Islamic State in Syria, the group said on November 6.

The FBI said on November 6 it stood by its earlier finding that no criminal charges were warranted against Democrat Hillary Clinton for using a private email server for government work, lifting a cloud over her presidential campaign two days before the U.S. election.

Two Somali soldiers died and five others were injured when a car bomb claimed by Islamist group al Shabaab exploded on November 5 near the parliament in the capital Mogadishu, police said.