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 Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld defended military interrogation techniques in Iraq today, rejecting complaints that they violated international rules and may endanger Americans taken prisoner.

The US Congress is considering plans to hire hundreds of new food inspectors and lab technicians and allow the government to seize or recall tainted products and inspect food makers’ records, to deter new bioterror attacks.