US car giant Ford says it has started consultations on closing its factory at Genk in Belgium with the loss of 4,300 jobs to cut costs.

The firm told the unions it was looking to close the factory, which makes the Mondeo and S-Max models, in 2014.

Separately, Ford would neither confirm nor deny reports that it is to close its plant in Southampton which makes the Transit van and employs 500 people.

However, the BBC understands that its closure will be announced on Thursday.

The company issued a statement saying it was “premature to discuss” details of what the plans may be for the Southampton plant, but the announcement that it is to shut is expected following a meeting between the company and UK union officials.

The Swaythling plant has been open since 1972.

Last month, Ford warned of job cuts in Europe in response to weak sales.

Ford said its European operations could suffer losses of $1bn (£630m) this year, so it would review “all areas of the business to address the near-term challenges while ensuring we are building a strong business for the future”.

Unite assistant general secretary, Tony Burke said: “This is a very worrying time for the UK workforce. Unite is currently working hard alongside its European colleagues to get clarity about Ford’s plans but the union will not be adding to the current speculation.”

US officials have arrested a man for plotting to detonate what he thought was a massive bomb in front of the Federal Reserve building in New York.

Quazi Mohammad Rezwanul Ahsan Nafis, 21, of Bangladesh, travelled to the US with the intent of planning a terrorist attack, the FBI said.

Mr Nafis was arrested after he allegedly attempted to detonate what he thought was a 1,000lb (454kg) bomb.

There was never a threat, the FBI said, as Mr Nafis had been closely watched.

Mr Nafis is charged with attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction and attempting to provide material support to al-Qaeda.

He entered no plea when brought before a federal court on Wednesday.

Mr Nafis travelled to the US in January 2012 and sought out contacts to help him with the attack, officials said in a complaint filed in New York on Wednesday.

One of the people he contacted turned out to be a source working for the FBI, US federal prosecutors said.

President Barack Obama and Republican rival Mitt Romney have made a series of lighthearted jabs at themselves and each other at a charity fundraiser.

At the event organised by the Catholic Archdiocese of New York, Mr Obama said his first debate performance – which he was judged to have lost – had been a “long nap” to prepare for the second.

Mr Romney mocked his own wealth.

Referring to his Mormon faith. he said he had prepared for the debates by “not drinking alcohol for 65 years”.

Earlier, Mr Obama made an appearance on the Daily Show with Jon Stewart.

He said the US would “fix” security overseas after a deadly Libya attack.

Stewart asked Mr Obama about the administration’s “confused” response to the attack on a US consulate in Benghazi, Libya on 11 September.

The US ambassador to Libya and three other Americans died in the attack, which remains at the centre of the campaign debate ahead of a foreign policy debate in Florida on Monday.

Mr Obama told Stewart his administration was still piecing together the evidence.

“The government is a big operation. At any given time, something screws up and you make sure you find out what’s broken and you fix it,” he said.

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney has derided US President Barack Obama, saying his rival has “no agenda” worthy of a second term in office.

At a campaign rally in Florida, he said the Obama campaign had been “reduced to petty attacks and silly word games”.

Hours earlier, Mr Obama decried Mr Romney for shifting his positions as election day draws nearer, saying the Republican suffers from “Romnesia”.

The two meet for their final debate, on foreign policy, in Florida on Monday.

Mr Romney and the Republicans are continuing to focus on the Obama administration’s handling of a deadly attack in Benghazi, Libya, in which four Americans including the US ambassador were killed.

The incident provoked a flashpoint during Tuesday’s second debate, and is likely to be hotly debated again in Boca Raton.

A man who opened fire at a beauty spa in the US state of Wisconsin killed three women, including his wife, and injured four others on Sunday.

Radcliffe Haughton, 45, was found dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound at the Azana Salon & Spa in Brookfield, where his wife, Zina, had worked.

He had recently been given a restraining order after being accused of slashing his wife’s car tyres.

Of the four women injured, one remained in critical condition on Monday.

A Wisconsin medical examiner confirmed Mrs Haughton as one of the three victims on Monday. The others were identified as 35-year-old Cary Robuck and 38-year-old Maelyn Lind.

Their audacious topless stunts have earned them high-value exposure in the West – but with an approaching election at home in Ukraine, can the women’s rights group Femen make a real difference?

The door to Femen headquarters is adorned with a large pair of sculpted breasts, painted in blue and yellow, the Ukrainian colours.

Despite complaining of police harassment and making plenty of enemies, they clearly have no intention of being discreet.