PORTLAND, Ore. - A masked gunman wearing camouflage opened fire Tuesday in a busy Portland, Oregon, mall, leaving the gunman and two others dead and forcing the mall's Santa Claus and hundreds of Christmas shoppers and employees to flee or hide among store displays.

North Korea successfully fired a long-range rocket on Wednesday, defying international warnings as the regime of Kim Jong Un took a big step forward in its quest to develop a nuclear missile.

Airlines have found a way to take the edge off the stress of flying and make a few extra bucks along the way: fancy new cocktails, craft beers and elegant wines.

Contractors worked through the night to remove and replace an 800-foot swath of Interstate 77 that turned from asphalt to cinder in a massive natural gas line explosion that also flattened four homes and damaged five more but caused no deaths.

In a dizzyingly short time span, Republicans have converted Michigan from a seemingly impregnable fortress of organized labor into a right-to-work state, leaving outgunned Democrats and union activists with little recourse but to shake their fists and seek retribution at the ballot box.

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi says a bipartisan deal to avert a "fiscal cliff" is more likely if Democrats and Republicans don't try to over-reach on spending cuts.

The first section of a spire that will rise atop the World Trade Center's tallest building is set to be lifted into place on Wednesday.

The Federal Reserve is wrapping up 2012 the way it began the year, searching for ways to help a U.S. economy that is still struggling with high unemployment and sub-par growth.

Your daily look at late-breaking news, upcoming events and stories that will be talked about today:

Contractors worked throughout the night to remove and replace an 800-foot swath of Interstate 77 that turned from asphalt to cinder in a massive natural gas line explosion that also flattened four homes and damaged five more but caused no deaths.

Playing both sides, President Barack Obama is trying to balance his public pressure campaign on Republicans over the looming "fiscal cliff" with his private negotiations with GOP leaders.

A federal court ruling tossing out Illinois' ban on concealed weapons might end the last such gun prohibition in the country, but not without a fight.

During her two decades living in Houston, Caroline Oliver, like any urban dweller, frequently encountered people in the streets asking for money. She struggled with how to respond. She wanted to help, but in a useful way.

A Chicago man who pleaded guilty to a plot to attend a Somalia training camp with the dream of becoming a suicide bomber was sentenced Tuesday to nearly 10 years in prison.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Negotiations to avert the "fiscal cliff" ahead of a year-end deadline intensified as President Barack Obama and U.S. House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner spoke by phone on Tuesday after exchanging new proposals. It was latest sign of possible progress in efforts to...

Family members of a man who was gunned down in a brazen ambush in midtown Manhattan are urging anyone with information on the killing to contact New York City police detectives.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A large portion of American consumers now know about the "fiscal cliff" and a sizeable number of them expect the debate over it to curb their holiday spending, according to the chief executive of Wal-Mart Stores Inc. In the week before last month's U.S. presidential election,...

TALLAHASSEE, Florida (Reuters) - Florida executed a former police officer on Tuesday for a 1986 killing spree in which he murdered nine people whom he described in court as "parasites" and "leeches" and had "no right to live," a spokeswoman for Governor Rick Scott said. Manuel Pardo, 56, was exec...

A California Indian tribe said Tuesday it will hold candlelight vigils for the rest of the week to honor five family members who were slain over the weekend.

A Michigan sixth-grader will put aside her nerves and get her ears pierced on her 12th birthday. Two law-enforcement officials will exchange wedding vows at 12:12 p.m. in Pittsburgh's federal courthouse. And gamblers can take advantage of promotions some casinos are using to lure in patrons who w...