There are no great expectations in Washington that a second-term Bush administration will have a radically different complexion from the first term. George Bush values loyalty and prefers to stick to a tried and tested team. However, after four years in office, much of it at war, some of his Cabinet are anxious to move on.

Crucial evidence for the forthcoming trials of Saddam Hussein and other senior Iraqi officials is likely to have been lost or tainted because United States-led forces have failed to safeguard official documents and the remains of victims in mass graves, the New York-based group Human Rights Watch says in a report out on Thursday.

President George Bush on Wednesday promised to reunite the United States as he declared victory in a bitterly fought presidential election and laid claim to the popular mandate that eluded him four years ago. ”America has spoken,” the president said.

Tri-Nations champions South Africa begin their bid to complete an historic Grand Slam against Wales in Cardiff at the Millennium Stadium on Saturday in a buoyant mood. It is 20 years since Australia became the last southern-hemisphere side to achieve the feat, but it is South Africa who are the Slam specialists.

Formula-one supremo Bernie Ecclestone has given South African motor-racing fans a boost by promising to stage a grand prix in Cape Town within three years. ”We are definitely coming to Cape Town,” Ecclestone told Cape Town daily Die Burger on Thursday.

Buoyed by the surge of public support for his policies on Iraq, the most controversial issue of the campaign, United States President George W Bush will continue his strategy there with renewed vigour. From the war in Iraq to wider foreign policy, the economy, social policy and energy issues, Guardian writers explore what the next four years will mean for the US and the rest of the world.