BARACK OBAMA

Stocks suffered their worst day in nearly a month on Monday as concern about the stalemate in U.S. budget talks and growing debt problems in the euro zone prompted investors to hedge against further losses.

President Barack Obama on Monday increased pressure on Republican lawmakers to make concessions for a deal to avoid an August 2 debt default and said both sides must pull off the Band-aid and make sacrifices.

Stocks suffered their worst day in nearly a month on Monday as concern about the stalemate in U.S. budget talks and growing debt problems in the euro zone prompted investors to hedge against further losses.

U.S. policymakers seeking an answer to the country's stubbornly high unemployment rate should not expect relief from small businesses, said a survey released on Monday by a powerful business lobbying group.

House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, did not mince words Monday regarding who the American people should blame, if the U.S. Government defaults on its debt and Congress fails to raise the debt ceiling: President Obama and Congressional Democrats.

After months of effort, President Barack Obama and congressional Republicans are right back where they started as they try to avert a looming debt default: arguing over taxes.

Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani will announce after a swing through New Hampshire whether he will run for U.S. president in 2012.

Stocks slumped more than 1 percent on Monday as worries about the U.S. budget talks and the euro-zone debt crisis sent a shudder through markets and overshadowed the start of earnings season.

President Barack Obama pushed congressional leaders for the largest possible deficit-reduction deal on Monday that would involve changes to popular entitlement programs, asking: If not now, when?

Wall Street fell more than 1 percent on Monday as fears over the U.S. budget and European debt crises sent a shudder through markets and overshadowed the start of corporate earnings reports.

President Barack Obama on Monday reiterated that Congressional Republicans and Democrats will resolve the debt ceiling and that the U.S. Government would not default on its debt -- but the key, he underscored, is a GOP compromise on the revenue component. Major cuts in spending are already a part of the deal.

Space shuttle Atlantis arrived at the International Space Station on Sunday to deliver a last batch of supplies to the orbiting outpost on the final flight of the U.S. shuttle program.

President Obama said today that a debt deal with Congress needs to be devised within the next 10 days and will meet with top lawmakers at the White House tonight. Aides aid that the president will make one last push for major deficit reduction deals.

President Barack Obama is pushing for deeper cuts in the U.S. budget that some key Republicans.

What is it about Sarah Palin? Support her or not, the Republican side of the U.S. political community has not seen as personable a public figure in decades, which is why the 2012 GOP nomination for U.S. president will not be decided until her intentions are known.

House Speaker John Boehner said on Saturday that he will pursue a smaller deficit reduction deal, opting for a $2 trillion goal instead the larger on that the White House is pushing.

U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta says America is close to defeating Al Qaeda in the war against the terrorist group that's been fought for a decade.

A look back at the life of Former First Lady Betty Ford

President Barack Obama said on Saturday political sacrifices will be needed by both Democrats and Republicans to break a budget impasse and avoid a looming debt default.

NASA space shuttle Atlantis blasted off on Friday from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, despite a stormy weather with a 70 percent chance of thunderstorm and rain that threatened to delay the launch.

Dismal unemployment figures on Friday complicated efforts to avert a looming U.S. debt default, and a top Republican said negotiators were not close to a deal that would ensure continued borrowing.