Hollywood and Silicon Valley erupted into all-out war over competing visions of intellectual property rights law. The dispute centered on the controversial legislation known as "SOPA" that would introduce dramatic new laws designed to punish those who illegally share copyrighted files.
The US Senate on Saturday passed a $1 trillion-plus bill to cover the costs of most federal agency activities and maintain President Barack Obama's social agenda until February.
The Senate failed to pass President Barack Obama's plan to tackle 9.1% unemployment Tuesday following strong Republican opposition. The $447 billion bill now faces the prospect of being dismantled as Democrats seek to pass its provisions one by one.
A plan to avert a US debt default and slash government spending has been signed into law by President Obama, but no one in Washington is claiming outright victory after months of bruising negotiations.
Today, the press and blogosphere have called the 74-page agreement between Democrats and Republicans to raise the US debt ceiling by 2.4 trillion dollars "a disastrous compromise", "the result of extortion" and even "a sugar-coated Satan sandwich" (by Democrat Emmanuel Cleaver). Laura Baines asks her guests if Obama has given away too much, and if such a divided Washington will able to deal with the major economic challenges ahead.
US President Barack Obama signed a bipartisan deal on raising the debt ceiling into law on Tuesday, soon after the Senate approved the measure and just hours ahead of a midnight deadline that would have triggered an unprecedented US default.
A bipartisan deal that would raise the $14.3 trillion limit on US debt is expected to pass a final vote in the Senate on Tuesday, just hours before a midnight deadline would have triggered an unprecedented US default.
The final instalment of the Harry Potter films smashed all box office records by selling over $168 million in tickets over the weekend, the best ever three-day opening in North America, distributor Warner Bros. said Sunday.
The US Senate voted unanimously on Tuesday to confirm CIA head Leon Panetta (pictured) as the new secretary of defence. Panetta, who was nominated by President Barack Obama in April, will replace outgoing Pentagon chief Robert Gates.
Western governments began pressuring Syria Wednesday for its deadly crackdown on anti-government protests: EU countries mulled sanctions against Damascus and the US led a call for a special session of the UN Human Rights Council on the crisis.
