Barack Obama and Republican opponents to hold talks
PRESIDENT Obama and Republican opponents will hold crunch talks this week to try to avert what would be the first national debt default in US history.
Both sides need to agree to raise the national debt ceiling, the country’s legal borrowing requirement, beyond its $14.3trillion (£8.8trillion) limit by August 2. If they fail, the US will run out of cash, triggering global turmoil.
Negotiations broke down on Friday with Republican House Speaker John Boehner saying that Mr Obama had “moved the goalposts” by demanding a tax rise.