Two Iranian fighter jets fired on an unarmed U.S. drone in the Gulf last week and missed, the Pentagon said Thursday, warning that the United States stood ready to protect its forces in the region.

The incident occurred on November 1 -- less than a week before America's presidential election -- but the Pentagon kept it quiet until now.

Wisconsin on Tuesday elected Tammy Baldwin as the first openly gay U.S. senator, sending to Washington a liberal voice who has advocated for peace in the Middle East and greater access to health care.

Baldwin, who has served seven terms in the House of Representatives in the district around the state capital Madison, edged out longtime former governor Tommy Thompson in one of the most bitterly fought races for the Senate.

Republican Paul Ryan lost Tuesday in his bid to be the next U.S. vice president but kept his seat in the House of Representatives, leaving the young conservative with a platform for potential future ambitions.

With most results in, Ryan was winning 56 percent of the vote in his district in Wisconsin even though President Barack Obama carried the Midwestern state. Ryan, 42, faced Rob Zerban, a former county official in Kenosha.

U.S. President Barack Obama was re-elected late Tuesday, making history when he won a second term in the White House and defeated his Republican challenger Mitt Romney, networks projected.

Here is a tally of partial results from Tuesday's U.S. presidential election, based on projections by television networks. Key battleground state Florida has yet to be called in a tight race, with counting halted until later Wednesday.

Iran on Wednesday gave a lukewarm reaction to the re-election of the U.S. President Barack Obama, warning that the result would not lead to a normalization of ties but not ruling out hope altogether.

"Four years ago, Obama was elected on a platform for change and said he was extending his hand for cooperation with Iran, but he acted otherwise and unprecedented sanctions were imposed," Fars news agency quoted judiciary chief Ayatollah Sadeq Larijani as saying, in Tehran's first official reaction.

Taliban insurgents told re-elected President Barack Obama Wednesday to admit that the United States has lost the war in Afghanistan and pull its troops out now.

"Obama must by now know that they have lost the war in Afghanistan," spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said in a statement posted on the Islamists' website.

U.N. leader Ban Ki-moon urged President Barack Obama Wednesday to act quickly on ending the war in Syria and reviving the Middle East peace process as he congratulated the U.S. leader on his re-election.

The United Nations "will continue to count on the active engagement of the United States" on key global issues "as it strives to meet the hopes and expectations of people around the world," Ban said through a spokesman.

Newly re-elected U.S. President Barack Obama is to visit Yangon later this month, a Myanmar government official said Wednesday, in the latest sign of Washington's support for reforms in the former pariah state.

"Obama will come to Yangon on November 19. He will meet with the President and Daw Aung San Suu Kyi here," the official told Agence France Presse on condition of anonymity, adding further details were unavailable because of security concerns.

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday congratulated Barack Obama with his victory in a tightly-fought U.S. presidential election vote that was greeted with relief in Moscow.

The Kremlin said Putin had reacted "positively" to Obama's victory over Mitt Romney after a campaign that saw the Republican Party challenger refer to Moscow as Washington's chief geopolitical foe.

The main opposition Syrian National Council voiced hope on Wednesday that resolving the conflict in Syria would figure at the top of re-elected U.S. President Barack Obama's agenda.

"We hope President Obama places Syria among the priorities in his foreign policy to put an end to the crisis and achieve the aspirations of the Syrian people to choose their own government and their own president, just like the American people did," leading SNC member Radwan Ziadeh told Agence France Presse.