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 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.

President Barack Obama goes before Congress tonight to argue for his new plan to urgently create jobs for the millions of out-of-work Americans, a way forward that some opposition Republicans have rejected before hearing the details and members of the Democratic base view as too timid.

CHINESE President Hu Jintao heard concerns about China’s human rights and economic policies as he wrapped up his visit to Washington with meetings on Capitol Hill.

US PRESIDENT Barack Obama has blasted Republican leaders for what he sees as an uncompromising stance and urged cooperation between the two political parties regardless of the outcome of tomorrow’s 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.

A politically-shaken White House promised a sharper focus on jobs and the economy, but was less sure-footed on health care reform.

The Obama administration may revamp and restart the Bush-era military trial system for suspected terrorists as it struggles to determine the fate of detainees held at Guantanamo Bay and fulfil a pledge to close the prison by January.

American politicians have approved a bill to slap punishing taxes on big employee bonuses from firms bailed out by taxpayers.

Leading US politicians said they were confident that an amended $700bn (€482bn) rescue package for the nation’s troubled economy would be passed in the US Senate tonight.

IDAHO Senator Larry Craig is considering resigning, Republican officials said yesterday, after days of public and private pressure stemming from his arrest in June in a police undercover operation at an airport toilet.

Breaking a parliamentary roadblock, the US Senate today voted to begin its first formal debate on the Iraq war since Democrats took control of US Congress in January.

New York’s Republican Party leaders were meeting behind closed doors today to sort out who should run for governor and whether Jeanine Pirro should abandon her struggling campaign to challenge Senator Hillary Clinton.

US President George W Bush, stung by the collapse of his previous choice, nominated veteran judge Samuel Alito yesterday in a bid to reshape the Supreme Court and mollify his conservative allies.

President George Bush is stepping up his defence of his Iraq policy as he faces declining public support for the war and a crucial test in Iraq with the October 15 constitutional referendum.

A MAIL distribution centre was evacuated in Tacoma, Washington, and four workers hospitalised, after powder found on a sorting table tested positive for biotoxins, officials said yesterday.

George Bush’s popularity helped the Republicans to an historic victory in the mid-term elections today and provided a major boost to his hopes of re-election in 2004.