BARACK OBAMA

President Barack Obama held an urgent round of budget talks with U.S. congressional leaders on Wednesday evening to try to avert a government shutdown.

U.S. congressional leaders saw signs of hope on Wednesday for a budget deal that would cut billions of dollars in spending in time to prevent a government shutdown.

President Barack Obama and allied Senate Democrats are sparring with House Republicans on non-budget related items attached to a budget measure that would keep the government funded for the rest of the fiscal year and avoid a shutdown of non-essential government services.

Investors are facing two possible U.S. government shutdown scenarios, one of limited impact on markets, and another so potentially devastating that analysts are struggling to fully assess it.

Moammar Gaddafi has sent U.S. President Barack Obama a three-page letter in which he asked the western coalition to stop bombing Libya.

'Nonstop' negotiations on passing a federal budget for the remainder of the fiscal year were continuing ahead of a Friday deadline to avert a shutdown of a big portion of the government, as House Republicans and Senate Democrats allied with President Obama sought to break an impasse that could put hundreds of thousands of workers on leave without funding in place.

President Barack Obama's late entry into a budget battle that could shut the government marks an attempt both to play dealmaker and avoid blame if Republicans and Democrats fail to forge agreement in time.

Congressional negotiators on Wednesday raced against a looming deadline to craft a budget deal that would cut billions of dollars in spending and keep the government operating beyond Friday.

Congressional negotiators on Wednesday raced against a looming deadline to agree on billions of dollars in spending cuts in a budget deal that keeps the federal government operating beyond Friday.

The European Union (EU) and Palestinians have condemned a plan by the Israel government to construct hundreds of homes in an area claimed by Palestinians.

With a government shutdown looming, congressional negotiators plan to meet again on Wednesday but remain billions of dollars apart in their search for a budget deal to keep federal agencies running beyond Friday.

Sen. Charles Schumer, D-NY on Wednesday said some progress was made in afternoon talks Tuesday meant to break an impasse on the 2011 fiscal year federal budget between House Republicans and Senate Democrats ahead of another possible meeting with President Barack Obama at the White House.

Futures on the S&P 500 hit their highest level in more than a month on Wednesday as investors bet the upcoming earnings season and more merger activity will continue to lift equities higher.

Wall Street was set to extend recent gains that have seen key indexes hit their highest since 2008, on optimism for economic recovery, and mergers and acquisitions activity.

President Barack Obama and the Republican Congressional leaders, who met at the White House a for a marathon discussion on the proposed budget cuts, failed on Tuesday to resolve the crisis which now threatens a government shutdown in a week's time.

With time running short, President Barack Obama failed on Tuesday to break a deadlock in budget talks between his Democrats and Republicans that threatens a partial shutdown of the government.

With time running short, President Barack Obama failed on Tuesday to break a deadlock in budget talks between his Democrats and Republicans that threatens a partial shutdown of the government.

With time running short, President Barack Obama failed on Tuesday to break a deadlock in budget talks between his Democrats and Republicans that threatens a partial shutdown of the government.

The White House, locked in a battle on the 2011 budget, weighed in on the 2012 Republican proposal unveiled on Tuesday, saying it did not do enough to spread the sacrifice needed to reduce the federal budget deficit in the coming years.

President Barack Obama said on Tuesday that if House and Senate leaders could not reach a deal on the 2011 fiscal budget, he wants to meet with them again Wednesday until the matter is settled.

President Barack Obama warned on Tuesday that a federal government shutdown would seriously disrupt the U.S. economy, after Republican and Democratic leaders failed to make headway on a budget deal.