ELECTIONS

The debt-ceiling deal hammered out by the Republicans and the Democrats in the Capitol has averted the risk of calamitous cuts in federal spending, while ensuring failure to service debt will not arise. However, analysts say some big questions remain to be answered.

Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg urged Parliament Monday to preserve the democratic values of Norway as public pressure grew for stiffer sentences for serious crimes after an anti-immigration zealot's bloody rampage.

Observers say President Barack Obama should have pushed Republicans harder in debt deal negotiations. But the big mistake of Obama and Democrats wasn't raising the debt ceiling when they still controlled Congress in 2010.

Opinion polls have provided the Labour Party (Arbeiderpartiet) with enormous levels of support, just one week after Breivik murdered scores of Labour members on Utøya island, outside of Oslo.

"The leaders of both parties, in both chambers, have reached an agreement that will reduce the deficit and avoid default," President Obama announced Sunday night. The long-awaited and momentous agreement would cut 1 trillion dollars from a 10-year budget and raise the debt ceiling to beyond the 2012 elections.

It was John Lennon who said there are no problems, only solutions, and on Sunday Congressional Democrats and Republicans continued to work on a bill that would avert a dreaded U.S. Government default. If the two sides continue to make progress, a vote on the bill could occur as early as Sunday night.

Top congressional Republicans said on Saturday they were in serious talks with President Barack Obama to break a U.S. debt limit deadlock and were confident the risk of default by the world's largest economy could be avoided.

A bitter mood prevailed on Capitol Hill as lawmakers struggled on Saturday to find a compromise measure to lift the nation's $14.3 trillion debt limit three days before the deadline to avert a ruinous default.

Following the sudden resignations of Turkey?s four most senior military commanders, the president of the country insisted the government is not facing a crisis, although he conceded that this has created an ?extraordinary? situation.

Facing a deadline to avoid a ruinous default, congressional leaders on Saturday braced for a tense weekend of negotiations to try to reach a compromise on a measure to increase in the country's $14.3 trillion debt limit.

Senate Democrats aimed to seize the initiative in efforts to head off a ruinous debt default by pushing their deficit-cutting plan on Saturday toward a possible compromise with a divided Republican Party.

The mouthpiece of the Chinese Communist Party has castigated the United States' handling of its debt crisis as "irresponsible" and "immoral," saying in a Saturday editorial that the U.S. democratic system was to blame for the "farce."

The latest poll conducted by Pew Research Center for the People & the Press, from July 20-24 among 1,501 adults and 1,205 registered voters, shows that 41 percent of registered voters would like to see Barack Obama reelected, while 40 percent would prefer to see a generic Republican candidate.

They have been accused of holding Washington hostage by pushing the United States to the brink of a damaging debt default. The world is watching anxiously as the debt impasse drags on.

Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero will push elections up by four months.

Not only is the Singaporean Prime Minister, Lee Hsien Loong, the highest paid elected leader in the world (bringing home a cool $2.4-million per year), but most of his top ministers earn in excess of $1-million annually (not including generous perks and pensions).

Republican leaders will scramble to rescue their budget deficit-cutting plan on Friday after conservatives mounted a rebellion that heaped uncertainty on efforts to avert a catastrophic debt default.

Urgent efforts to avoid an unprecedented U.S. debt default suffered a new blow on Thursday when some fiscally hardline Republicans blocked a budget deficit plan proposed by their own congressional leaders.

House of Representatives Republican leader Eric Cantor Thursday challenged the Democratic-led Senate to accept a House-passed bill raising the debt limit or suffer the consequences of default.

A judge blocked a controversial ballot measure that would have banned the circumcisions of minors in San Francisco, citing religious freedom and laws regulating medical procedures in deciding it had "no legitimate purpose."

Republican presidential front-runner Mitt Romney has been on a glide path toward the 2012 primary elections, serving up a steady diet of soundbites and campaign material attacking President Barack Obama on jobs and the economy.