Continue reading the main storyJohn Boehner (top left), who will take over as House speaker, was greeted by members of Congress

by Biodun Iginla, BBC News

The 112th US Congress has been called to order, starting a new legislative session in which resurgent Republicans aim to cut the size of the US government and its spending.

The new Congress is being sworn in two months after mid-term elections which saw President Obama's Democrats suffer heavy losses to the opposition.

Republican John Boehner is set to take over the key role of House speaker.

A BBC correspondent says the stage is now set for ideological battle.

In remarks prepared for when he takes office on Wednesday afternoon, Mr Boehner said the objective of Republicans was to give government back to citizens of the US and provide honesty and accountability.

"No longer can we kick the can down the road. The people voted to end business as usual, and today we begin carrying out their instructions," the remarks said.

The Republicans control the House for the first time in more than four years, while the Democrats have only a slim lead in the Senate.

The BBC's Paul Adams, in Washington, says there are tough fights ahead as the president, determined to press ahead with his reform agenda, locks horns with a Republican Party emboldened by its successes in November.

Republican leaders have vowed to slash spending by as much as $100bn, scrap "job-killing" government regulations, overhaul the tax code, crack down on undocumented immigration, cut diplomatic and foreign aid funds, and investigate the administration.

As soon as next week, the Republicans will launch what is being seen as a symbolic move to repeal President Obama's most ambitious legislative effort so far: the reform of America's healthcare system.

The move is expected to pass in the House, but fail in the Senate, but will be followed by a protracted attempt to pick the reform to pieces, our correspondent says.

Add to this a series of bitter debates over spending and how to control the country's budget deficits, and the scene is set for a tempestuous political season, our correspondent adds.

The House of Representatives was called to order shortly after 1200 local time (1700GMT). Members will formally vote to accept Mr Boehner whereupon the speaker-elect will deliver some remarks before being sworn in.

Earlier on Wednesday Republican and Democratic leaders took part in a by a bipartisan prayer service at St Peter's Catholic Church in Washington.

On Thursday, the Republicans will have the US Constitution read aloud in the House chamber as it gets down to business, a gesture in line with many conservatives' view that Democrats have overstepped their constitutional authority in passing sweeping regulations.

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“Start Quote

Some Democrats are rubbing their hands in glee at the prospect of being the opposition in the House”

Mark MardellBBC North America editor

• Mardell: There will be tears

The Republican Party seized control of the House in the November mid-term elections thanks in part to the anti-government Tea Party movement, which sprang to life in 2009 in protest against Mr Obama's economic stimulus effort and bid to reform healthcare.

Speaking as he flew back from holiday in Hawaii on Tuesday, Mr Obama said he expected Republicans "to play to their base for a certain period of time".

He added: "I'm pretty confident that they're going to recognise that our job is to govern and make sure that we are delivering jobs for the American people and that we're creating a competitive economy for the 21st Century; not just for this generation but the next one."

But AB Stoddard, a columnist with the congressional newspaper, The Hill, told the BBC Congress was more polarised than ever.

"We have a different makeup in a new Congress controlled on the House side by Republicans, a lot more conservative, Tea Party backed freshmen coming in.

"They are not in the mood to help President Obama and the Democrats with any of their initiatives, so the dynamic will shift dramatically."

Continue reading the main storyJerry Brown promised Californians a "painful" but honest budget proposal

 by Rochelle van Amber, BBC News, for the BBC's Biodun Iginla

Jerry Brown has been sworn in as the new governor of the US state of California, taking over from the departing Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Mr Brown, a Democrat who also served as California's governor from 1975 to 1983, will be only the second person to lead the state for three terms.

He said the year ahead would "demand courage and sacrifice" if California was to overcome its fiscal problems.

Among his first tasks will be to present a new budget plan.

The state faces a $28bn (£18bn) budget shortfall over the next 18 months.

Voters may be asked to agree to the extension of temporary taxes that were brought in in 2009 and are due to expire in July.

Mr Brown, 72, will need the backing of some Republicans in the state legislature if he is to put any tax measures to voters.

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Brown faces huge challenges. California, which would be eighth in world economic ranking if it was a country, faces bankruptcy”

Mark MardellBBC North America editor

• Read Mark's thoughts in full

Speaking at his inauguration ceremony in the state capital, Sacramento, Mr Brown urged the state's politicians to "rise above ideology" to take the action needed for the good of the state.

"There's no other way forward in this crisis. We simply have to learn to work together as Californians first and members of a political party second," he said.

While vowing to tackle waste in government, Mr Brown pointed out that government spending on services would also have to be scrutinised.

He promised to be truthful about the state's finances, saying there would be "no more smoke and mirrors", to put any proposed tax rises before voters and to return more powers to local bodies.

"The budget I present next week will be painful but it will be an honest budget," he said.

Mr Brown defeated billionaire Republican candidate Meg Whitman in the November US mid-term elections to win office.

When he last held the governorship, Mr Brown became known as "Governor Moonbeam" for what were then viewed by some as outlandish ideas.

In the intervening years he twice pursued the Democratic nomination for president, campaigned for the US Senate and most recently served as state attorney general.

Mr Schwarzenegger, a Republican, leaves after seven years at the helm of the country's most populous state.

The 63-year-old former action movie star, best known for his role in the Terminator films, has not yet confirmed what he plans to do next.

He was not eligible to run for governor again because of term limits.

Continue reading the main storyWill West African leaders convince Laurent Gbagbo (left) to cede power?

by Rashida Adjani, BBC News, for the BBC's Biodun Iginla

A delegation of African leaders is in Ivory Coast in a new effort to persuade its incumbent president to step down following disputed elections.

Leaders from Benin, Cape Verde, Sierra Leone and Kenya are expected to make an amnesty offer to Laurent Gbagbo if he quits, the BBC has learned.

West African states have said they will remove him by force if he does not.

The UN and the African Union regard Mr Gbagbo's rival, Alassane Ouattara, as the winner of the 28 November election.

The heads of state who travelled to Ivory Coast are Benin's Boni Yayi, Sierra Leone's Ernest Bai Koroma and Cape Verde's Pedro Pires - who represent the Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas).

It is their second visit in less than a week. Last Tuesday they flew to Abidjan, Ivory Coast's commercial capital, but failed to convince Mr Gbagbo to stand down.

On Monday they were joined by Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga, representing the African Union.

"He will seek a peaceful settlement to the election crisis... and seek an assurance of safety and security for Mr Laurent Gbagbo and his supporters, if he agrees to cede power," Mr Odinga's office said in a statement.

He was one of the first African leaders to call for military intervention to oust Mr Gbagbo.

Sierra Leone's Information Minister, Ibrahim Ben-Kargbo, said the leaders would tell Mr Gbagbo to step down and did not intend to negotiate with him.

But a source within the African delegation told the BBC that the incumbent would be offered a legal amnesty, as well as a guarantee that his financial assets would be secure if he left office.

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Analysis

John JamesBBC News, Abidjan

Few observers have any hope that a compromise can be found that would see Laurent Gbagbo hand over power to his rival, Alassane Ouattara.

The Ecowas mission will almost certainly go over the various deals that have been offered for exile and amnesty but, in his New Year message, Mr Gbagbo said he would not cede power and insisted that he was the rightfully elected president.

He still has control of state television and the public backing of the army, but Mr Ouattara has the support of most West African leaders, who have already told the West African central bank to give him control over the state accounts.

The leaders will report back to the current chairman of the Ecowas region, Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan, on Tuesday, at which point a decision will be made on the way forward.

However a spokesman for Mr Gbagbo, Ohoupa Sessegnong, told the BBC the offer would be rejected.

"It's not about Laurent Gbagbo seeking some sort of offer. It's about Laurent Gbagbo having won the elections in the Cote D'Ivoire," Mr Sessegnong told the BBC. "Now it appears that the opposition supported by the French and their allies do not want to accept that."

The UN says some 200 people have been killed or have disappeared in the past month - mostly supporters of Mr Ouattara.

UN peacekeepers in the country say security forces have twice blocked them from visiting the site of one of two alleged mass graves.

The UN has also expressed concern that some of the homes of opponents to Mr Gbagbo have been marked to identify the ethnicity of their occupants.

The Gbagbo camp has denied sanctioning abuses.

UN peacekeepers are protecting Mr Ouattara, who is holed up at a hotel in Abidjan. Mr Gbagbo has called on the 10,000-strong UN force to leave the country.

The election was intended to reunify Ivory Coast - the world's leading cocoa producer - which has been divided since a 2002 conflict.

Mr Ouattara was initially proclaimed the winner by the country's election commission - a verdict backed by the UN, which helped organise the poll.

But the Constitutional Council, headed by an ally of Mr Gbagbo, said he had won, citing irregularities in the north which is controlled by former rebels supporting Mr Ouattara.

Both men have been sworn in as president.