North Dakota

The US will produce more oil than it imports beginning late this year for the first time in 18 years, the Energy Information Administration said Wednesday.

The odd couple is getting odder: first, Dennis Rodman and North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un took in a hoops game side-by-side. Now they're planning a holiday together.

Three months after Newtown, the prospects for President Barack Obama's ambitious gun control measures have dimmed, as hopes for expanded background checks clash with stubborn political realities.

A massive winter storm pounding the northern United States grounded 2,600 flights, closed hundreds of schools and made roadways and highways impassible.

A massive winter storm pounding the northern United States grounded 2,600 flights, closed hundreds of schools and made roadways and highways impassible.

A massive winter storm pounding the northern United States grounded over 1,200 flights, closed hundreds of schools and made roadways and highways impassible Tuesday.

A massive winter storm pounding the northern United States grounded over 1,100 flights, closed hundreds of schools and made roadways impassible Tuesday.

Two powerful winter storms blanketed huge swaths of the central United States Monday and threatened to bury much of the northern portion of the country in the coming days.

President Barack Obama praised the humble heroism of US soldier Clinton Romesha on Monday, awarding him a Medal of Honor for his actions in one of the most desperate firefights of the Afghan war.

President Barack Obama praised the humble heroism of US soldier Clinton Romesha on Monday, awarding him a Medal of Honor for his actions in one of the most desperate firefights of the Afghan war.

The White House has defended drone strikes against Al-Qaeda suspects as legal, ethical and wise and insisted they complied with US law and the Constitution, even if they targeted Americans.

US oil production will jump 23 percent over the next two years to a quarter-century high by 2014, reducing demand for foreign supplies from the world's largest oil importer, according to a new official forecast.

State-owned Norwegian oil major Statoil said on Wednesday that it had bought 70,000 acres (283 square km) of land in the US Marcellus shale gas field for $590 million.

More than 100 openly gay candidates won election to public offices across the United States on Tuesday. More than 100 openly gay candidates won election to public offices across the United States on Tuesday. On a national level, six and as many as seven openly LGBT candidates are headed to Congress, including Wisconsin Senator-elect Tammy Baldwin, the first openly gay member of the U.S. Senate. ?This wasn't incremental progress. This was a breathtaking leap forward,? said Chuck Wolfe, president and CEO of the Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund, a group which supports openly gay candidates. ?Tammy Baldwin's victory in the face of tens of millions of dollars in super PAC spending against her is a testament to the enormous power of people who believe in and fight for progress, fairness and equality. LGBT candidates and their allies this year showed we are willing to engage fully in the political process to win the freedom we deserve.? (Related: Six openly gay candidates elected to Congress; seven

President Barack Obama's Democratic Party has increased its majority in the US Senate, defying odds after a series of wins in Republican-leaning states, results showed Wednesday.

Democrats held the Senate and Republicans retained the House of Representatives, projections said Wednesday, raising the likely prospect of more partisan gridlock in a divided US Congress.

This ends AFP's Live Report on the reelection of Barack Obama to a second term as president of the United States.

0418 GMT: There is silence in the hall of Romney headquarters as the results are announced. Some supporters begin to leave.

From legalizing marijuana and gay marriage to wiping outdated segregation laws off Alabama's state constitution, US voters have a lot more to decide on Tuesday than simply picking the next president.

From legalizing marijuana and gay marriage to wiping outdated segregation laws off Alabama's state constitution, US voters have a lot more to decide next week than simply picking the next president.