Palestinian finance minister resigns
The Palestinian finance minister in the West Bank has announced his resignation in a show of frustration over the government's widening budget deficit

Kerry: Divided Egypt needs political compromise
Egypt's bickering government and opposition need to overcome their differences to create "a sense of political and economic viability" if the country ...
Bernanke defends Fed's low-interest-rate policies
Chairman Ben Bernanke is standing by the Federal Reserve's low-interest-rate policies, cautioning that any move to raise rates prematurely could ...

Cuts in place, Obama and GOP brace for next fight
Severe spending cuts now the law of the land, President Barack Obama and congressional Republicans refused Saturday to concede any culpability for ...

Budget cuts to hit military school districts first
Public schools everywhere will be affected by the government's automatic budget cuts, but few may feel the funding pinch faster than those on and ...

Boehner after Obama meeting: No new taxes
House Speaker John Boehner, emerging Friday from a White House meeting with President Barack Obama and congressional leaders, declared that higher ...

Gridlock: No budging at the budget-cuts deadline
Gridlocked once more, President Barack Obama and Republican congressional leaders refused to budge in their budget standoff Friday as $85 billion in ...

AP Exclusive: DHS released over 2,000 immigrants
The Homeland Security Department released from its jails more than 2,000 illegal immigrants facing deportation in recent weeks due to looming budget ...
Farm bill would save less than previously thought
Farm bills passed by the Senate and a House committee last year would save far less money than previously thought, according to a new estimate ...

Hagel: budget cuts won't erode US military power
Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel lamented $46 billion in automatic defense budget cuts as "abrupt and arbitrary" but expressed confidence Friday that the ...

Jump in factory growth lifts hopes for US economy
Busier factories and growing optimism among consumers could help the U.S. economy withstand the drag from government spending cuts and tax increases ...

Beam me up, Yoda: Obama flubs 'Star Trek' term
He's not a dictator and won't entertain the idea of a "Jedi mind-meld" with opponents. There's no "secret formula or special sauce" he can slip foes ...
Stocks eke out gains as manufacturing improves
Stocks are edging higher on Wall Street, closing out a volatile week, as an upturn in manufacturing outweighed the threat of looming cuts to ...

NY court eyeing Argentine swap offer in debt case
A New York court ordered Argentina on Friday to explain how it would issue new bonds rather than comply with a $1.3 billion cash judgment to resolve ...
Health care overhaul rolls on despite budget havoc
Airline schedules, food inspections, IRS taxpayer assistance and deployments of Navy ships could all be hampered by the government's automatic ...
Stingier inflation gauge can cut deficit by $340B
A stingier definition of inflation across the government would cut the deficit by $340 billion over the coming decade according to a new estimate ...

US consumer spending up 0.2 percent in January
U.S. consumers increased spending modestly in January but cut back on major purchases that signal confidence in the economy. The decline in spending ...

Italy behind rise in eurozone jobless to record
Italy's voters gave their verdict on the austerity medicine they've been forced to take when they went to the polls earlier this week. By Friday, one ...

US futures swing lower to cap volatile week
U.S. stock futures slid Friday as $85 billion in mandatory federal spending reductions began to roll out on the same day that the government reported ...

Army chief of staff decries budget uncertainty
The Army chief of staff said Friday that the protracted fight over the budget is having a severe impact on Army training. Gen. Ray Odierno said the ...
Cuts could endanger US 'rebalancing' toward Asia
Stiff budget cuts that take effect Friday could crimp U.S. military activity in the Asia-Pacific region, just as Washington seeks to reassure friends ...

Workers anxious as cuts set to take effect
They don't care which side caused Washington's latest crisis. Five hundred miles from Capitol Hill, the men and women of the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard ...

Automatic cuts will have to wait until midnight
The White House says automatic spending reductions set to kick in will be put off until as close to midnight Friday as possible. The law, passed by ...
How budget cuts could affect you
Automatic spending cuts scheduled to take effect Friday are expected to touch a vast range of government services. Some examples: DEFENSE One of the ...