By Samuel P. Jacobs WASHINGTON | Wed Nov 7, 2012 7:21pm EST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - As television networks began declaring that President Barack Obama had won re-election, the most captivating televised drama Tuesday evening played out on Fox News, where Republican strategist Karl Rove refused to believe the race between Obama and Mitt Romney was ...

By Alina Selyukh WASHINGTON | Wed Nov 7, 2012 6:50pm EST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A record number of women will serve in the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives after sweeping victories in Tuesday's election that challenged the traditional male makeup of the U.S. legislative branch. Twenty women will serve in the 100-member Senate and at least...

By Patrick Rucker and David Adams WASHINGTON/MIAMI | Wed Nov 7, 2012 6:13pm EST WASHINGTON/MIAMI (Reuters) - Strong support from Hispanics, the fastest-growing demographic in the United States, helped tip President Barack Obama's fortunes as he secured a second term in the White House, according to Election Day polling. Obama's support among Hisp...

By Nichola Groom and Braden Reddall LOS ANGELES/SAN FRANCISCO | Wed Nov 7, 2012 6:02pm EST LOS ANGELES/SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Energy producers braced for tighter regulation in President Barack Obama's second term, with coal companies expecting more emissions restrictions and drillers anticipating less access to federal land even as his platfor...

By Alina Selyukh WASHINGTON | Wed Nov 7, 2012 5:18pm EST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Millions of dollars were raised and spent, swing states reeled from endless political ads, and now that President Barack Obama has been re-elected, the soul searching begins. What happened to the powerful Republican "Super PACs" and advocacy groups that staked all in ...

By Steve Holland WASHINGTON | Wed Nov 7, 2012 4:37pm EST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republicans reeling from their second presidential loss in a row engaged in some soul-searching on Wednesday but were at odds on how far the party must change to remake its image. Divisions that were stitched up during the presidential campaign in a show of unity agai...

By David Morgan and Anna Yukhananov WASHINGTON | Wed Nov 7, 2012 4:37pm EST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama's re-election erased the last major threat to his signature healthcare reform law, but left questions about implementation as the national focus shifts to tackling the mounting U.S. deficit. The 2010 Patient Protection and Aff...

By Rodrigo Campos and Steven C. Johnson NEW YORK | Wed Nov 7, 2012 12:45pm EST NEW YORK (Reuters) - Investors hit trading floors Wednesday morning with the same president and the same problems in gridlocked Washington, and expected the same solution as always to a looming budget crisis that threatens the economy: punt and deal with it later. Shar...

By Matt Spetalnick and Steve Holland WASHINGTON | Wed Nov 7, 2012 11:52am EST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Fresh from a decisive re-election win, President Barack Obama returns from the campaign trail on Wednesday with little time to savor victory, facing urgent economic challenges, a looming fiscal showdown and a still-divided Congress able to block h...

A Central Bank study published in the national newspaper La Nacion gives good news for taxpayers here. The Social Security health system (Caja) has led other agencies in improving financial conditions. The Caja, last year teetering on the brink of disaster until it was bailed out by a special government grant, has apparently stabilized its finances this year through a combination of cutting bur...

Wed Nov 7, 2012 7:39am EST (Reuters) - Democrats were on track to capture more state legislative seats than Republicans in Tuesday's election, as President Barack Obama's re-election spilled into local races, the National Conference of State Legislatures reported on Wednesday. "Democrats will almost certainly net more seats...

By Mary Slosson and Gerry Shih SACRAMENTO/SAN FRANCISCO | Wed Nov 7, 2012 6:48am EST SACRAMENTO/SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - California Democrats appeared to be within striking distance of gaining a supermajority in both houses of the state legislature on Tuesday, crowning a sweeping election triumph for Governor Jerry Brown and his allies. A superm...

By David Bailey MINNEAPOLIS | Wed Nov 7, 2012 6:47am EST MINNEAPOLIS (Reuters) - Representative Michele Bachmann of Minnesota, known for controversial comments and a bid for the Republican presidential nomination, was projected to win re-election over Democratic challenger businessman Jim Graves early on Wednesday. Bachmann led Graves by 3,256 vo...

By Richard Cowan WASHINGTON | Wed Nov 7, 2012 6:45am EST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - It may have been the most unpopular House of Representatives in modern times, but that did not stop voters on Tuesday from leaving it firmly in Republican hands, according to projections. While more than 18 incumbent House members from both parties were defeated, acco...

By John Whitesides and Steve Holland WASHINGTON | Wed Nov 7, 2012 6:27am EST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Emboldened by a resounding election victory, President Barack Obama immediately pledged to reach across America's political divide and seek deals on stubborn issues that dogged his first term. Obama scored a clear win over Republican challenger Mit...

By Jennifer Dobner RENO, Nevada | Wed Nov 7, 2012 6:12am EST RENO, Nevada (Reuters) - Nevada Republican Dean Heller narrowly held on to his U.S. Senate seat on Tuesday in a closely watched race against Democratic Congresswoman Shelley Berkley, who became the target of a U.S. House of Representatives ethics probe earlier this year. Heller, 52, him...

By Terril Yue Jones BEIJING | Wed Nov 7, 2012 5:55am EST BEIJING (Reuters) - China's official media said on Thursday that ties with the United States were uneven in President Barack Obama's first term and mutual trust was "whittled down", but his re-election offered an opportunity to put the relationship back on track. A commentary issued by stat...

By Nick Carey COLUMBUS, Ohio | Wed Nov 7, 2012 5:20am EST COLUMBUS, Ohio (Reuters) - For a brief moment on Tuesday evening, it appeared that U.S. television networks might have called the presidential election too early for President Barack Obama as doubts crept in about whether the Democrat had won Ohio as TV networks projected. But despite quib...

By Tim Reid WASHINGTON | Wed Nov 7, 2012 5:12am EST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Growing optimism about the economy and a big turnout of the core Democratic coalition sealed President Barack Obama's re-election victory. After years of bleak economic news, enough Americans now believe better days lie ahead for the U.S. economy. The coalition of young, f...

By Jazmine Woodberry TUCSON, Arizona | Wed Nov 7, 2012 5:09am EST TUCSON, Arizona (Reuters) - A Republican challenger had a slight edge over Representative Ron Barber, a former aide to Gabrielle Giffords, in the race for a House of Representatives seat from Arizona, although the election was too close to call early on Wednesday. Barber, a 66-year...

By Steve Holland and John Whitesides WASHINGTON | Tue Nov 6, 2012 6:49pm EST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A neck-and-neck White House race reached a frantic conclusion on Tuesday as voters chose between President Barack Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney in a decision that will set the course for two starkly different visions for the country. ...

NEW YORK | Tue Nov 6, 2012 6:48pm EST NEW YORK (Reuters) - New Jersey voters displaced by Superstorm Sandy and emergency responders working on relief and recovery efforts will have until 8 p.m. on Friday (0100 GMT on Saturday) to fax or email their election ballots, authorities said on Tuesday. State authoriti...

WASHINGTON | Tue Nov 6, 2012 5:22pm EST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Move over, America. It's a wide world out there, and as Americans cast their votes on Tuesday there are plenty of international endorsements for both candidates to gloat over - or sweep under the rug. Venezuelan socialist President Hugo Chavez may be a ferocious critic of U.S. policy, but he ...

By Susan Cornwell WASHINGTON | Tue Nov 6, 2012 4:53pm EST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Sporadic complaints about voting procedures surfaced from Pennsylvania to Florida on Tuesday, while long lines in many states posed their own challenges in what could be one of the closest presidential elections in U.S. history. It was unclear what impact controversi...

By Philip Barbara BAY HEAD, New Jersey | Tue Nov 6, 2012 3:05pm EST BAY HEAD, New Jersey (Reuters) - It was far from an ordinary Election Day in the exclusive seaside community of Bay Head, but residents were determined that the destruction and chaos left by the massive storm Sandy would not deter them from voting. Bay Head has no power. Parts of...

By Patricia Zengerle and Jeff Mason CLEVELAND/CHICAGO | Tue Nov 6, 2012 2:05pm EST CLEVELAND/CHICAGO (Reuters) - President Barack Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney battled down to the wire on Tuesday, mounting a last-minute Election Day drive to get their supporters to the polls in a handful of states that will decide the winner in a ne...

CLEVELAND, Ohio | Tue Nov 6, 2012 1:52pm EST CLEVELAND, Ohio (Reuters) - If there was any doubt that the U.S. presidential fight hinges on Ohio, an awkward campaign airplane traffic jam at the Cleveland airport made it clear on Tuesday. Minutes after Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney touched down on the tarmac, Vice President Joe Biden swoope...

By Jeff Mason CHICAGO | Tue Nov 6, 2012 1:38pm EST CHICAGO (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama congratulated Republican rival Mitt Romney on Tuesday for running a hard-fought race for the White House and expressed confidence he would win re-election during a stop at a local campaign office to thank volunteers. "I ... want to say to Governor R...

By Edith Honan NEW YORK | Tue Nov 6, 2012 1:23pm EST NEW YORK (Reuters) - Sharon Brown was so determined to cast her vote that she returned to her flooded home the night before in order to be within walking distance of her voting precinct in the Rockaway Park neighborhood on Election Day. "Living through that storm, watching that water come up, i...

By Patricia Zengerle BELMONT, Massachusetts | Tue Nov 6, 2012 10:53am EST BELMONT, Massachusetts (Reuters) - Republican presidential challenger Mitt Romney cast his vote in a Boston suburb on Tuesday morning, saying he felt good about his chances of winning the presidency. After voting, Romney kissed his wife, Ann, goodbye and headed out for last...

In the past The Costa Rica Star has published about uncontrolled land development and zoning in San Jose. Few people, other than La Nacion reporters, remember that back in late 2003, a plan was set afoot, with great gravity and fanfare, to bring order to the chaos that is the Greater Metropolitan Area. Studies, of course, didn't get started until nearly a year later. Well, reported La Nacion...

By John Whitesides WASHINGTON | Tue Nov 6, 2012 9:02am EST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - After a long and bitter White House campaign, Americans began casting their votes on Tuesday with polls showing President Barack Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney neck-and-neck in an election that will be decided in a handful of states. Polling stations op...

By Lisa Richwine LOS ANGELES | Tue Nov 6, 2012 9:00am EST LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - U.S. television networks face a new challenge in covering this year's excruciatingly close presidential election: prevent closely guarded exit poll results from leaking onto Twitter, Facebook and other social media platforms. The major TV news networks agreed to shi...

CARACAS | Tue Nov 6, 2012 8:59am EST CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuela President Hugo Chavez, one of the U.S. government's leading critics, said there was little hope for change in American foreign policy regardless of the winner of Tuesday's vote for the White House. The recently re-elected Chavez wants Barack Obama to beat Republican challenger Mitt Romney...

By Rodrigo Campos NEW YORK | Tue Nov 6, 2012 8:37am EST NEW YORK (Reuters) - Traders and investors seem to agree on one thing about Tuesday's U.S. presidential election: The markets want a clear winner by Wednesday morning. The most recent Reuters/Ipsos tracking poll shows a tight national race, with Democratic President Barack Obama up two point...

Eighty-six days after Paul Ryan was introduced as Mitt Romney's running mate aboard the U.S.S. Wisconsin in Norfolk, Virginia, the Republican vice presidential candidate returned to his home state of Wisconsin late Monday night, putting an end to a marathon stretch of campaigning with one final rally.     "We were in Nevada. We were in Iowa. We were in Ohio. We were in Colorado,...

By Jeff Mason DES MOINES, Iowa | Tue Nov 6, 2012 12:36am EST DES MOINES, Iowa (Reuters) - An emotional President Barack Obama ended his final campaign on Monday in Iowa, the place that launched his first White House bid and that could hold the key to his political future. After two days of nearly round-the-clock travel to the battleground states ...

By Nick Edwards BEIJING | Mon Nov 5, 2012 11:00pm EST BEIJING (Reuters) - Presidential candidate Mitt Romney would lack the legal power to label China a currency manipulator on his first day in office should he win Tuesday's election, offering him a way out of what experts say is the weakest claim on the issue for years. The authority to make the...

By Thomas Ferraro WASHINGTON | Mon Nov 5, 2012 9:18pm EST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - If President Barack Obama wins re-election, he's expected to move quickly, perhaps within a day, to renew his bid for a bipartisan deal to avert a "fiscal cliff" that threatens to push the United States into recession, top Senate Democratic aides said on Monday. A vi...

By Patricia Zengerle and Jeff Mason COLUMBUS, Ohio | Mon Nov 5, 2012 8:24pm EST COLUMBUS, Ohio (Reuters) - President Barack Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney engaged in frantic get-out-the-vote efforts and made final pleas to voters in a sprint through battleground states that will determine who wins their agonizingly close White House ...