Republican nominee Mitt Romney chided President Barack Obama Saturday for calling on Americans to vote for "revenge" as the battle for the White House raced to an ill-tempered climax.

Three days before voters choose between giving Obama a second term or sending him packing back to Chicago, the rivals chased one another through a handful of states that will decide Tuesday's too-close-to-call election.

A British businessman pleaded guilty in a U.S. court on Thursday to attempting to smuggle a key component of the Hawk air defense missile to Iran, officials said.

Christopher Tappin, 66, faces 33 months in jail after reversing his not guilty plea at a federal court hearing in El Paso, Texas.

A grim routine set in Friday as superstorm Sandy's U.S. victims struggled to adjust to gas lines, power outages and temporary housing while the death toll from the monster cyclone approached 100.

New York's famed subway lurched back to life with limited service Thursday, offering some relief from the storm-battered city's gridlock, but East Coast residents faced long lines at filling stations and lingering blackouts.

Timing is everything in show business, but the director of the first movie about the commando raid that killed Osama bin Laden doubts its television premiere Sunday will swing the U.S. election.

"SEAL Team Six: The Raid on Osama bin Laden" raised eyebrows when it was announced last month that it would screen for the first time on the National Geographic cable channel just two days before America votes.

Israel may be openly hoping that Republican challenger Mitt Romney will end up stealing the presidency from Barack Obama, but for the Palestinians it makes little difference who takes over the White House.

With the U.S. presidential race drawing to a close, Israelis have come out strongly in favor of the Republican nominee who they believe is likely to be a better friend to the Jewish state than President Obama.

U.S. Acting Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Elizabeth Jones completed her several-day visit to Lebanon on Thursday after holding talks with senior officials on “the political, economic, and security situation in Lebanon and other regional issues,” the U.S. embassy said in a statement.

Accompanied by U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon Maura Connelly, Jones met on Thursday with Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat, Army Commander General Jean Qahwagi, Acting Internal Security Forces Director General Brig. Gen. Robert Jabbour, U.N. Special Coordinator for Lebanon Derek Plumbly, U.N. Resident Coordinator Robert Watkins, and U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Resident Representative Ninette Kelley. 

Three years after he promised a rapt Cairo audience a shift in his country's unpopular Middle East policy, U.S. President Barack Obama goes to the polls leaving disappointment in a region swept by the Arab Spring.

Obama's critics say he has not honored his pledges, such as settling the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, or improving relations with Muslim countries.

At least four people were wounded overnight in a shooting on the campus of the University of Southern California, police said early Thursday.

An officer with the Los Angeles Police Department confirmed there had been a shooting on campus and said four people had been taken to hospital, but could not immediately provide further details.

The head of the main opposition Syrian National Council on Thursday blamed the international community's failure to react to the country's conflict for fueling Islamic extremist sentiment.

The comments came a day after U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the opposition should "strongly resist the efforts by the extremists to hijack the Syrian revolution".

White House hopeful Mitt Romney is wasting little time returning to full campaign mode after canceling events due to superstorm Sandy, with three rallies Wednesday in key toss-up state Florida.

The Republican nominee challenging President Barack Obama in next week's U.S. election on Tuesday held what his campaign described as a "storm relief event" in Ohio, where Romney took donations of food and supplies to be distributed to victims of the massive storm wreaking havoc on the East Coast.