A US$1.1 trillion (€882.5m) spending Bill is on its way to US president Barack Obama for his signature.

Republicans were last night on course to make major gains and possibly recapture control of the US Senate in mid-term elections that could serve as a public referendum on President Barack Obama’s job performance.

In a high-stakes address to the nation, President Barack Obama outlined a broad expansion of the US military role in combating extremists in Iraq and Syria, including a call for arming Syrian opposition forces and potentially launching air strikes in both countries.

TV newcomer Harry Reid is heading to Albert Square to play bad boy Ben Mitchell - the fifth actor to take on the role in EastEnders.

US president Barack Obama and congressional leaders believe he does not need authorisation from Congress for some steps he might take to quell insurgency in Iraq, the Senate’s top Republican and congressional aides have said.

Barack Obama and US political leaders believe the president does not need Congress’ permission to take certain measures to quell the al Qaida-inspired uprising sweeping through Iraq, the Senate’s top Republican and others have said.

Senate leaders on both sides of the US political divide have reached a deal to avoid financial default and end the government shutdown.

Senate leaders took command of efforts to avert a US Treasury default and end the partial government shutdown last night after a last big effort by Republicans abruptly collapsed.

US politicians in both houses of Congress have been trying to agree separate plans to reopen the government and avoid a federal financial default that could tip the global economy back into recession.

US Senate leaders are nearing a deal in talks to reopen the government and prevent a default on debt that could tip the global economy back into recession.

Hopes are growing for a deal to head off a US government default and end a partial government shutdown after encouraging comments from the congressional leaders at the centre of the talks.

The United States moved closer to a default that could seriously harm the economy and a partial government shutdown entered its third week as Senate Democratic and Republican leaders remained at odds over spending in their last-ditch negotiations to end the crises gripping the nation.

Congressional negotiations to end a US fiscal crisis gripping Washington and spooking financial markets hung by a thread last night after bipartisan talks broke down in the House of Representatives and shifted to Senate leaders.

Republicans and Democrats have hit an impasse in the US senate over spending in their last-ditch struggle to avoid a debt default in just four days and end a partial government shutdown that enters its third week.

US Senate leaders have taken the helm in the search for a deal to end the partial government shutdown and avert a federal default.

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.

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

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

Politicians on both sides of the US congressional stalemate have been summoned for talks with president Barack Obama as the partial government shutdown showed little sign of a breakthrough.

The US political stalemate in Congress is showing no signs of easing, leaving government services from informational websites, to international war graves, closed.

Much of the vast machinery of the US government has ground to a halt as Democrats and Republicans blamed each other for a partial shutdown that closed federal agencies, national parks and research facilities across the nation.

The political stalemate that partially shut down the US government has worsened with Democrats rejecting the latest Republican effort to negotiate over efforts to derail the health care overhaul.

Republicans and Democrats are trading blame for the impasse on a temporary bill to keep agencies open as the US government teeters on the brink of a partial 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.

The United States is braced for a partial government shutdown on Tuesday after the White House and congressional Democrats declared they would reject a bill approved by the Republican-led House to delay implementing President Barack Obama’s health care reform.

Barack Obama said tonight a proposal to put Syria’s chemical weapons under international control to avoid US military strikes could be a potential breakthrough.

Charges have been dropped against a US man accused of sending ricin-laced letters to president Barack Obama, while authorities searched another man’s home in connection with the case.

US officials said a package containing what is thought to be ricin has been found at a military mail sorting facility in Washington DC.

Gun control supporters in the US Senate have won the first showdown over how to respond to the December school shootings in Connecticut, defeating an effort by conservatives to derail firearms restrictions before debate could even start.

The US senate cleared the way yesterday for a weeks-long debate on proposals to curb gun violence, rejecting an effort by Republicans to block consideration of gun-control legislation prompted by December’s Newtown school massacre.

The US Senate is ready to launch an emotion-charged debate on new gun restrictions, four months after the carnage at a Connecticut elementary school spurred President Barack Obama and Congress to address firearms violence.

Conservative senators from both political parties are backing wider background checks for gun buyers, but it remains unclear if President Barack Obama can push significant weapon controls through the US Congress.

Barack Obama urged politicians to remember child shooting victims and not weaken in the face of a powerful gun lobby as he reached out to moderate members of his own party before a Senate vote on gun controls expected next month.

President Barack Obama has urged US lawmakers to remember the children gunned down in America and not get “squishy” in the face of powerful forces up against gun control legislation, as supporters struggle to win over moderate Democrats before a Senate vote expected next month.

The head of Colorado state’s prison system was shot and killed at his home, just hours before the governor signed landmark gun control legislation drafted in response to a series of mass shootings.

A combative US president Barack Obama has blamed Republican lawmakers for failing to stop automatic spending cuts of $85bn (€65bn) that were due to begin kicking in last night, calling the cuts “dumb, arbitrary”.

Prominent Washington journalist Bob Woodward said a senior White House official threatened him he would “regret” publishing a story challenging the White House’s account of how the idea for automatic spending cuts originated.

Strong earnings from technology giants nudged the US stock market to a five-year high today.

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

The White House and US Senate Republicans sorted through disputes over taxing the wealthy and cutting the Defence Department and other federal agencies as tonight’s midnight deadline for avoiding a “fiscal cliff” drew to within hours.

US senate leaders sought a last-minute compromise to avoid middle-class tax increases and possibly prevent deep spending cuts at the dawn of the new year as President Barack Obama warned that failure could threaten the nation’s economic recovery.

US President Barack Obama, pushing for a deal to avoid the looming tax hikes and spending cuts known as the “fiscal cliff”, entered last-minute talks with US Senate leaders saying he still believed an agreement could be reached before the January 1 deadline.

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.