Republicans are ready to offer the government a temporary debt limit extension, the leader of the US House of Representatives says.

The US Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew has urged Congress to raise the government’s borrowing limit before October 17, warning that a Republican idea to prioritise payments with cash on hand could cause “irrevocable damage” to the economy.

Barack Obama is hosting senior Republicans today to seek an opening in an impasse that has shut down much of the government and threatens a catastrophic federal default.

THE deepening divisions in Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi’s coalition over how Italy can meet EU demands for more robust efforts to tame a $2 trillion debt are fuelling calls for early elections.

US President Barack Obama is leading his Democratic allies in an all-out campaign to win over wavering lawmakers ahead of a cliffhanger vote tomorrow on his historic healthcare overhaul.

US treasury secretary Timothy Geithner is to face a congressional grilling about suppressed details about deals that funnelled billions to big investment banks while he was president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

President Barack Obama’s plan to overhaul the US health care system passed a “critical milestone” after a key Senate panel cleared the reform bill.

President Barack Obama’s plan to overhaul the US health care system overcame a major political hurdle today after a key Senate panel cleared the reform bill.

Health care reform – President Barack Obama’s top domestic policy priority – is poised for a critical but far-from-final vote today.

TRUMPETING nurses’ support for a healthcare overhaul while lamenting a worsening toll of uninsured, US President Barack Obama kept up the pressure yesterday for congressional action.

PRESIDENT Barack Obama was expected to tell the nation in a prime-time address precisely how he wants to expand healthcare, pitching a fresh argument – but, to liberal disappointment, no demand – for a government-run insurance option.

President Barack Obama’s whirlwind start to his administration continued today with orders to close Guantanamo Bay and ban the use of torture.

US President George Bush’s stance on a Democratic agreement to set a timetable on the Iraq war has not changed: he will not accept it.

Enron has agreed to release its tax returns since 1985, and those of its affiliates and partnerships.