Updated: 1:44 AM Senate Democratic aide: White House and GOP Reach deal on Fiscal Cliff.

Posted: 1:35 PM The House will miss the midnight Monday deadline lawmakers set for voting to avoid the "fiscal cliff."

Updated: 3:04 PM Obama says deal to avert fiscal cliff is 'within sight' but not done yet.

Updated: 12:21 PM Democrats and Republicans say signs of progress are emerging in urgent negotiations to avert the looming 'fiscal cliff' ahead of a midnight deadline.

Posted: 11:53 PM Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton has been admitted to a New York hospital after the discovery of a blood clot stemming from the concussion she sustained earlier this month.

Updated: 12:16 AM President Barack Obama is voicing skepticism about proposals to place armed guards at schools in the aftermath of the mass shooting in Newtown, Connecticut.

Updated: 12:05 AM President Barack Obama is applying pressure on Republicans to negotiate a fiscal deal, arguing that GOP leaders have rejected his past attempts to strike a bigger and more comprehensive bargain.

Posted: 12:26 AM A spokesman says former President George H.W. Bush's condition continues to improve and that he was moved Saturday out of intensive care and into a regular hospital room.

Posted: 3:12 PM President Barack Obama says "the hour for immediate action is here" on a deal to avert the fiscal cliff.

Posted: 8:25 AM A Senate Democrat says he believes "odds are better than people think" that a deal can be reached to avoid automatic tax increases and spending cuts next week.

Posted: 5:12 PM George H.W. Bush's chief of staff says the former president is getting excellent medical treatment in Houston and that he would ask that people "put the harps back in the closet."

Updated: 12:15 AM Massachusetts U.S. Rep. Edward Markey says he'll run for John Kerry's U.S. Senate seat if Kerry is confirmed as the nation's new secretary of state.

Updated: 6:08 PM Aides to President Barack Obama are disputing reports that he is sending lawmakers a scaled-down plan to avoid the "fiscal cliff."

Posted: 8:32 AM Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid says the government appears headed over the so-called fiscal cliff because of a lack of progress in bipartisan negotiations.

Posted: 8:32 AM President Obama and lawmakers are running out of time to work out an agreement to stave off the across-the-board tax increases and budget cuts that are set to take effect next week.

Updated: 4:34 PM Lt. Gov. Brian Schatz of Hawaii has been appointed to succeed the late U.S. Sen. Daniel Inouye.

Updated: 6:11 PM A spokesman says former President George H.W. Bush is in the intensive care unit at a Houston hospital.

Updated: 6:21 PM A spokesman says the fever that kept former President George H.W. Bush in a Houston hospital over Christmas has worsened, and doctors have put him on a liquids-only diet.

Updated: 8:32 AM Starbucks is using its coffee cups to jump into the political fray in Washington.

Updated: 8:36 AM Ben Affleck is taking his name off the list of possible candidates for U.S. Sen. John Kerry's seat, which would be open if the Democratic senator from Massachusetts is confirmed as secretary of state.

Posted: 8:36 AM President Barack Obama is cutting short his traditional Christmas holiday in Hawaii, planning to leave for Washington on Wednesday evening as he and lawmakers consider how to prevent the economy from going over the so-called fiscal cliff.

Posted: 1:31 PM Former President George H.W. Bush will spend Christmas in a Houston hospital after developing a fever and weakness following a monthlong, bronchitis-like cough.

Posted: 6:10 AM A Marine veteran jailed for months in Mexico after trying to carry an heirloom shotgun across the border had to be hospitalized on his way home to Florida.

Posted: 6:02 AM The late U.S. Sen. Daniel Inouye is being praised as a humble leader who embodied honor, dignity and duty during a public visitation at Hawaii's state Capitol.

Posted: 5:58 AM Sweden's royal family says Princess Madeleine's wedding will take place on Saturday, June 8, at the Royal Palace chapel in downtown Stockholm.