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It is a "fair assumption" that Russian President Vladimir Putin was behind US election hacks, secretary of state nominee Rex Tillerson has said. The former CEO of Exxon Mobil told his Senate confirmation hearing the intelligence report on Russian tampering "clearly is troubling". His comments came after Senator Marco Rubio pressed Mr Tillerson to admit Mr Putin's role in the cyber-breach. Mr Tillerson's reported good ties with Mr Putin have alarmed some in the US. The 64-year-old former corporate titan, who has never worked in government, faced tough questions from the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Wednesday. In a heated exchange, Mr Rubio grilled him on whether intelligence reports about Russia's involvement in  hacks of the US Democratic party  were accurate and if Mr Putin had directed the attacks. Mr Tillerson said he had no inside information on the detailed intelligence about Russia's hacking, but he had read the declassi

President-elect Donald Trump is to make son-in-law Jared Kushner one of his senior advisers. The 35-year-old played a key role in the presidential campaign and his new White House job will cover both domestic and foreign policy. Mr Kushner, who is married to Ivanka Trump, is a property developer with a wide range of business interests. His appointment will be controversial because of nepotism laws and concerns over potential conflicts. The news was confirmed by Trump spokeswoman Kellyanne Conway,  who described it as  the "best news of the day". Members of Mr Trump's team have argued that a law barring officials from giving government jobs to relatives does not apply to White House positions. There are also federal ethics laws that mean government employees cannot profit from any businesses. Mr Kushner's lawyer has said he would step down as boss of his family's real estate business if he took a White House job, and extricate himself from some

Four people have been killed in Jerusalem by a driver who rammed a lorry into a group of soldiers, in what police say was a terrorist attack. Three women and one man, all in their twenties, were killed and at least 13 more were wounded, medics say. Police said the driver had been shot dead by soldiers from the group. Over the past 15 months there have been many attacks on Israelis by Palestinians - using knives, guns and sometimes vehicles. A bus driver who witnessed the attack on Sunday told Israeli radio that the driver ploughed into the group before reversing over victims. Israel's police chief Roni Alsheich told reporters the attacker was from an Arab neighbourhood in east Jerusalem. The attack took place on the popular Armon Hanatziv promenade overlooking the walled Old City of Jerusalem. Images from the scene showed a lorry with bullet holes riddled across the windscreen. The Palestinian militant group Hamas praised the attacker. Spokesman