Obama to look at more spending cuts

President Barack Obama is hailing a last-minute deal that avoids the so-called "fiscal cliff" but insists it is just one step in a broader effort to boost the economy and shrink federal deficits. Mr Obama said in his radio and internet address today that the new law - approved by Congress on New Year's Day and signed on Thursday - raises taxes on the wealthiest Americans while preventing a middle-class tax hike that could have thrown the economy back into recession. With the "fiscal cliff" crisis barely over, Mr Obama faces new battles in Congress over raising the country's 16.4 trillion dollars borrowing limit, as well as more than 100 billion dollars in automatic spending cuts for the military and domestic programs which were delayed by two months under the compromise. Lawmakers promise to replace those across-the-board cuts with more targeted steps that could take longer to implement. Mr Obama - speaking from Hawaii, where he is on holiday with his family - said he is willing to consider more spending cuts and tax increases to reduce the deficit. But he said he "will not compromise" over his insistence that Congress lift the federal debt ceiling without negotiations. The...