"The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey" fought off all comers at the North American box office over the New Year holidays, beating two Oscar-tipped movies to the top spot.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton left a New York hospital late Wednesday after three days of treatment and is expected to make a full recovery from a rare blood clot in her head.
President Barack Obama said Tuesday he had fulfilled a campaign promise to make the US tax system fairer with a deal to avert the fiscal cliff crisis that passed after a fierce duel in Congress.
Playboy magazine founder Hugh Hefner has tied the knot for the third time, marrying a former Playmate 60 years his junior in an intimate New Year's Eve ceremony at the Playboy Mansion.
The House of Representatives will vote late Tuesday on a bill already approved by the Senate to avert huge New Year tax hikes and spending cuts known as the "fiscal cliff".
A million people crammed into New York's Times Square on Tuesday to greet the New Year in a global party that kicked off in Australia before rolling around the world in a non-stop chain of firework displays.
Two days of last-gasp talks produced no deal Sunday between US political leaders struggling to averting a fiscal calamity due to hit the American and world economy within hours.
The US gave strong support to Argentina on Friday in the Latin American country's legal battle with hedge funds over the repayment of $1.3 billion to holders of defaulted bonds.
President Barack Obama enacted a law Friday to counter Iran's alleged influence in Latin America, through a new diplomatic and political strategy to be designed by the State Department.
The Senate approved a five-year extension Friday of a George W. Bush-era surveillance law that allows US spy agencies to conduct wiretapping on foreign citizens without a warrant.
President Barack Obama said Friday he was "modestly optimistic" a last-minute deal was possible with Republicans to avert a "fiscal cliff" crisis that could spark a recession and rock global markets.
Apple has agreed to drop its patent claims against Samsung's Galaxy S III Mini after the South Korean rival said it would not sell the gadget in the United States.
The number of murders in New York this year fell to its lowest point in 50 years, mayor Michael Bloomberg said Friday -- a bit of good news as the United States tries to combat rampant gun violence.
Outgoing US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who fell ill in early December and hasn't been seen in public since, will be back at her desk on Monday.
The US northeast was battered by heavy snow and strong winds Thursday as a mighty storm carved a violent arc across several states, killing more than a dozen people and snarling holiday travel.
US authorities on Thursday arrested a woman accused of trying to profit from the massive public outpouring of support over the Newtown school massacre by posing as an aunt of one of the victims.
The United States evacuated its embassy in the Central African Republic as the nation's embattled leader appealed for French and US help after rebels seized large swathes of the mineral-rich country.