November 4, 2009 - Republicans retake governorship of Virginia and oust Democratic governor in New Jersey on day of elections across the US (by Ewen MacAskill in Washington for guardian.co.uk)

Barack Obama suffered a double blow last night when the Republicans secured stunning victories in the first electoral test since he won the White House a year ago.

The Republicans celebrated a comeback that reverses a trend of Democratic victories stretching back to 2005, winning the governorship of Virginia, the state where Obama's victory last year in the presidential race was one of the high points of his campaign.

U.S. President Barack Obama will appoint today Judge Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court of the United States, according to an official of the White House. She will be, if confirmed, the first Hispanic judge to hold that position.

She will replace Justice David Souter, 69, appointed by George W. Bush in 1990 and who resigned a few weeks earlier.

The U.S. president, Barack Obama, invites the leaders of Israel, Palestinian territories and Egypt for a new round of negotiations on the peace process between Arabs and Israelis.

Although no specific date has been fixed for these negotiations, the White House spokesman, Robert Gibbs, announced yesterday that the reunion will be held "in coming weeks."

Washington invited the new Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas and Egypt President, Hosni Mubarak. Egypt was the first Arab country to officially recognized the Jewish state in the Camp David agreements of 1978.

Yesterday, Barack Obama opened the Summit of the Americas in Trinidad and Tobago with a historic offer of reconciliation with Cuba.

"I think we can manage the relations between United States and Cuba in a new direction," said the U.S. president.

"United States seeks a new start with Cuba," said Obama. "I know there is a long road ahead to end decades of mistrust, but there are steps we can take toward a new day." "In the last two years I have indicated, and I repeat today, that I'm ready for my administration to get involved with the Government of Cuba in a wide range of issues, from human rights to freedom of expression, democratic reforms, drugs and economic affairs. "

"Let me say clearly," concluded the American president, "I am not interested in talking for talking. But I think we can bring the relationship between United States and Cuba into a new direction."

Being a spy may involve assumed identities and coded messages, but becoming a spy isn't exactly top-secret business. These days, in fact, all you have to do if you're interested in this particular career path is turn up your radio. The CIA is running ads on stations across the country for jobs in its clandestine service.

"Are you a person of curiosity and integrity?" asks one spot. "Are you ready for a world of challenge ... a world of ambiguity and adventure?"

The agency won't say how much it's spending on the ad campaign, but CIA spokesman George Little told TIME via e-mail, "We continue to seek highly qualified candidates to support the mission of America's premier intelligence agency." (See the top 10 Secret Service code names.)

The campaign is the first by the agency under its new director, Leon Panetta, who has said he would like to recruit more people with foreign-language skills as well as more minorities.