Budget cuts 'compromise' urged to save US shipyard jobs
President Barack Obama has urged Congress to pass a bill to avert massive new spending cuts of $85bn (£56bn) which will be triggered automatically at the end of this week unless it is approved.
The cuts were designed to be so damaging that they would force Democrats and Republicans to agree a plan to tackle the country's budget deficit, but so far there has been no agreement.
Meanwhile the president has visited a naval shipyard in Virginia, where thousands of workers face being laid off. Mark Mardell reports.