Any plans to alleviate the plight of the undocumented in the US would be supported by the Government, said Taoiseach Enda Kenny in Manhattan last night.

President Barack Obama acknowledged that US intelligence agencies underestimated the threat from Islamic State militants and overestimated the ability and will of Iraq’s army to fight.

President Barack Obama has acknowledged that US intelligence agencies underestimated the threat from Islamic State militants and overestimated the ability and will of Iraq’s army to fight.

The old gods are resurgent

US House Majority Leader Eric Cantor of Virginia lost to a Tea Party challenger in a stunning Republican primary upset that sent shockwaves through Congress and gave the conservative movement a landmark victory.

Taoiseach Enda Kenny has held out hope for 55,000 undocumented Irish living in the United States, telling representatives from Congress — where legislation on the issue has stalled — to “get on with it”.

Noodle challenge not that hard to stomach

The focus of efforts to end the government shutdown and prevent a US default has shifted to the Senate, where leaders were in talks aimed at resolving the twin stalemates.

Republicans are offering to pass legislation to avert a debt default and end the partial government shutdown as part of a package that includes cuts in benefit programmes, officials in the House of Representatives say.

The White House has said no decision has been made on budget provisions after discussions with senior Republicans.

Republicans in the US House of Representatives unveiled a plan yesterday that would avert a looming default, in a sign that lawmakers may end a standoff that has rattled markets and thrown the country’s future creditworthiness into question.

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

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.

President Barack Obama turned up the political pressure on Republicans yesterday, saying he would be willing to negotiate on budget issues only after they agree to re-open the federal government and raise the debt limit with no conditions.

A possible US national default is looming closer as the partial federal government shutdown continued, rattling markets in the US and overseas.

The White House has signalled that it would be open to a short-term hike in the US debt limit as the United States moved a step closer to its first-ever default while a separate impasse, a partial government shutdown, entered its second week.

The United States has moved closer to the possibility of the first-ever default on the government’s debt as Speaker John Boehner adamantly ruled out a House vote on a straightforward bill to boost the borrowing authority without concessions from President Barack Obama.

President Barack Obama is cancelling a trip to Asia next week because of the US government shutdown.

The US government was on the brink of shutting down last night after the House of Representatives approved a Republican bill seeking to delay President Barack Obama’s health care law.

A US Senate resolution authorising President Barack Obama to use military force against Syria would bar American ground troops fro combat operations and set a deadline for any action.

US President Barack Obama will today send Congress his 2014 budget, in an effort to achieve an elusive “grand bargain” to tame runaway deficits that have soared above 1 trillion dollars (€761bn) for each of the past four years.

The White House and Republican congressional leaders offered no meaningful proposals for rolling back automatic spending cuts that will slash €64bn from the national budget.

President Barack Obama reluctantly set in motion huge spending cuts that will hit the US military and an array of other programmes today, after he and Republican opponents failed to reach a compromise that would have blocked the $85bn move.

President Barack Obama set up high-stakes clashes with Republicans over guns, immigration, taxes, and climate change in a state of the union address that showcased his determination to mark his legacy.

House of Representatives Republican leaders have offered President Barack Obama a three-month reprieve to a looming, market-rattling debt crisis.

The 11th-hour US compromise deal satisfied few people fully and saw a vital vote on a $60bn aid package for Sandy victims delayed, giving an outraged Governor Chris Christie a chance to take centre stage, writes Kyran Fitzgerald

The White House and a divided US Congress avoided the “cliff” – and can now move on to the next fiscal crisis, with more explosive battles looming over taxes, spending and debt.

President Barack Obama and congressional Republicans yesterday looked ahead to the next round of even bigger budget fights after reaching a hard-fought fiscal cliff deal that narrowly averted potentially devastating tax hikes and spending cuts.

US politicians who hoped to resolve any uncertainty over the so-called “fiscal cliff” before financial markets reopen tomorrow ran into trouble today as the Republican-controlled House of Representatives objected to urgent legislation approved by the Senate in a New Year drama unlike any other in the history of Congress.

President Barack Obama has asked congressional leaders to convene today at the White House for last-minute talks on a “fiscal cliff” deal that avoids automatic tax increases and broad spending cuts that threaten the economy’s nascent recovery.

US president Barack Obama cut short his holiday and returned to Washington yesterday as a senior Democrat warned that the US appeared to be heading over the year-end fiscal cliff of higher taxes and deep spending cuts.

President Barack Obama was cutting short his holiday and returning to Washington today as a senior Democrat warned that the US appeared to be heading over the year-end “fiscal cliff” of higher taxes and deep spending cuts that could spin the still-fragile economy back into a recession.

President Barack Obama and members of Congress prepared for one last try to avert across-the-board tax increases and spending cuts known as the fiscal cliff, as the US Treasury Department warned that it will begin taking action to prevent the government from hitting its debt limit.

Senators bickered over who was to blame for lurching the US towards an end-of-year “fiscal cliff”, bemoaning the lack of a deal days before the deadline but bridging no differences in the debate.

Barack Obama issued a stern summons to congressional leaders to approve legislation before the end of the year to prevent tax increases on millions of middle-class Americans and prevent long-term unemployment benefits for the jobless expiring.

The task of picking up the pieces of the fiscal cliff talks — and reassuring global financial markets — is likely to fall largely to President Barack Obama after Republicans abandoned their own proposed fix championed by House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner.

Republicans in the House of Representatives confronted with a revolt among the party’s rank and file abruptly delayed a vote on legislation to avert a fast-approaching “fiscal cliff”.

US stocks dipped, recording their first loss of the week as President Barack Obama and Republicans in Congress sniped at each other and a deadline to avoid sweeping tax increases and government spending cuts drew closer.

Stocks rose on Wall Street as investors were encouraged by signs of progress in budget talks in Washington.

US President Barack Obama and Washington’s top Republican, John Boehner, met at the White House yesterday to try to reach a budget deal that would head off steep tax hikes and spending cuts that could push the economy into recession next year.

US President Barack Obama and the leading Republican in Congress negotiated at the White House in “frank” talks aimed at breaking a deadlock and steering the nation away from an economy-threatening “fiscal cliff”.

US President Barack Obama and the top Republican in Congress appear no closer to giving ground in negotiations aimed at avoiding the December 31 austerity measures of big tax increases and deep spending cuts that threaten to push the nation into a new recession.

Stocks edged higher today on Wall Street after a strong sales report from McDonald's offset concerns about the surprise resignation announcement of Italy's Prime Minister.

Barack Obama and House of Representatives speaker John Boehner met at the White House amid talks to avert America’s impending “fiscal cliff” as a growing number of Republicans in Congress appeared to be veering towards accepting the president’s demand that the wealthy must pay more tax.