Rivals for the US vice presidency clashed in a live debate on nationwide television in the US on Thursday.

Joe Biden, US Vice President and Democratic Party vice presidential candidate, and Paul Ryan, Republican Party vice presidential candidate and US congressman, took the stage for a wide-ranging debate.

It included the recent attack on the US consulate in Benghazi, Libya, the possibility of war between Israel and Iran over Iran's nuclear programme, and talk of US action to thwart any Iranian nuclear ambitions.

Biden promised that the men who attacked the US consulate in Benghazi would be tracked down and brought to justice.

But Ryan countered that the attack had shown the US as weak, in not protecting its personnel.

The US will go to the polls on November 6th.