Obama seeks deal as US 'fiscal cliff' looms

President Barack Obama has cut short his holiday and was returning to Washington as no deal appeared in sight to avoid the year-end "fiscal cliff" of higher taxes and deep spending cuts that could spin the still-fragile economy back into a recession.

The US treasury secretary warned on Thursday that the government would hit its borrowing limit on Monday, the final day of the year.

Al Jazeera's Tom Ackerman reports from Washington D.C.