US President Barack Obama returned to the White House last night and called on his Republican opponents to work with him to avert a looming fiscal crisis.

Mr. Obama faces an uphill battle to end the partisan gridlock of a bitterly divided US Congress.

A combination of dramatic spending cuts and tax increases totaling US$700 billion are due to take effect on January 1st 2013.

Split Congress

However Democrats and Republicans cannot agree on how to reduce the US budget deficit.

The economy was rated the top issue by US voters.

That is now top of the Obama political agenda now and it caused markets in the US and Europe to fall yesterday.

Celebrations over his surprisingly comfortable re-election have been short but sweet.

The 44th President of the United States still faces the challenge of working with a split Congress and a divided nation as well as the issue of national debt.