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.

THE controversial healthcare bill at the heart of US president Barack Obama’s domestic agenda looked set to go through late last night.

California’s governor-elect Arnold Schwarzenegger introduced key members of his transition team and gave them his first order – to conduct an audit to find out the true extent of the state’s budget deficit.

Former South African leader Nelson Mandela were among the first people to congratulate Arnold Schwarzenegger on his election as governor of California, the movie star said.

PRESIDENT George W Bush is moving swiftly to revamp his economic team, with California financier Gerald Parsky among those under consideration for treasury secretary and former Goldman Sachs chief Stephen Friedman set to become White House economic adviser.