US '10 days from debt disaster'

Barack Obama told top politicians they must hammer out a deal within the next 10 days to avoid an unprecedented default on US debt.

Mr Obama and the eight top House of Representatives and Senate leaders assembled in the White House Cabinet Room for about 90 minutes during a rare late-night Sunday session, less than 24 hours after House speaker John Boehner abandoned plans to negotiate a massive four trillion-dollar deal for reducing the debt. The group will meet again today.