FBI recommends no charges against Hillary Clinton over emails

The FBI has announced it will not recommend criminal charges against Hillary Clinton over her use of private email while she was secretary of state.

FBI Director James Comey said "no reasonable prosecutor" would pursue a case but said the likely Democratic presidential nominee was "extremely careless" with classified information.

The decision ends the legal uncertainty that has dogged the Clinton campaign.

However, Mr Comey was highly critical of Mrs Clinton and her staff.

There was no clear evidence that Mrs Clinton intended to violate laws governing the handling of classified information, Mr Comey said.

But he added: "There is evidence that they were extremely careless in their handling of very sensitive, highly classified information."

The FBI's key findings:

• it is possible that "hostile actors" gained access to Mrs Clinton's email account
• there were more than 100 emails that contained classified information when they were sent or received, contrary to her claims
• Mrs Clinton employed multiple email servers and devices
• the FBI said Mrs Clinton did not delete emails in an effort to conceal them