Mitt Romney vows energy independence by 2020

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney has pledged North American energy independence for the US by 2020, as he sought to deflect attention from a Republican congressman's recent comments on rape and abortion.

Speaking at a campaign stop in the western state of New Mexico, the former governor of Massachusetts declared energy to be his number one objective.

The goal was "achievable, not some pie in the sky kind of thing", Mr Romney told a group of supporters.