Washington - Coming together in the early hours of 2013, the US Senate overwhelmingly passed a last-gasp bill on Tuesday to avert huge tax increases and draconian spending cuts making up the so-called "fiscal cliff".
Lawmakers voted 89-9 to approve the measure, which now goes to the House of Representatives where it faces a less certain fate, although the chamber's Republican Speaker John Boehner said he would bring the bill to the floor soon.