U.S. lawmakers will work on New Year's Eve for the first time in more than 40 years in a last-ditch attempt to save the United States from a fiscal calamity that will result in stiff tax hikes and drastic spending cuts.

Senate Democratic Majority Leader Harry Reid has ordered the Senate back into session at 11:00 am (1600 GMT) Monday, the last day before the deadline know as the "fiscal cliff."

China's manufacturing activity surged to a 19-month high in December, British bank HSBC said Monday, adding to signs of recovery in the world's second-largest economy.

The year's final purchasing managers' index (PMI) from the lender hit 51.5, up from 50.5 in November when the figure returned to growth after 12 consecutive months of contraction.

Last minute talks stalled Sunday between top U.S. political leaders aimed at averting a fiscal calamity due to hit within hours, as Democrats and Republicans blamed each other for a lack of progress.

Top Democrats and Republicans groped for a compromise before a punishing package of government spending cuts and tax hikes come into force on January 1 which could roil global markets and send the U.S. economy back into recession.

Prime Minister Hisham Qandil said on Sunday that Egypt wants to resume talks with the International Monetary Fund in January on a $4.8-billion loan frozen this month because of political tensions and unrest.

"We have invited (the IMF) to resume talks during January," Qandil told a news conference in Cairo.

With the clock ticking toward a New Year's time bomb of huge tax increases and spending cuts, U.S. lawmakers worked feverishly Saturday to keep America from tumbling off that so-called fiscal cliff.

The stakes in the game of holiday-interrupting brinkmanship are huge. Economists agree the $500 billion in fiscal pain due to kick in as soon as the new year starts will stifle the gathering U.S. economic recovery and send the United States back into recession, spelling bad news for the global economy as well.

Saudi Arabia's council of ministers on Saturday agreed a record consolidated budget for 2013 with revenues expected to hit $221 billion (167 billion euros), state television Al-Ekhbariyah said.

Revenues in the oil-rich Gulf state are projected to reach 829 billion riyals ($221.06 billion), while expenditure is planned at 820 billion riyals ($218.7 billion), the news channel reported.

An Iranian cargo ship sank in UAE waters due to rough weather, while its crew of six was airlifted to safety by a rescue helicopter, a newspaper reported on Saturday.

The Al-Jasourah went down on Friday some 10 nautical miles off the coast of the northern emirate of Umm Al-Quwain soon after it had left the neighboring emirate of Sharjah, said Gulf News.

The U.S. gave strong support to Argentina on Friday in the Latin American country's legal battle with hedge funds over the repayment of $1.3 billion to holders of defaulted bonds.

Shortly before a court-imposed deadline, the U.S. filed a "friend of the court" brief backing Argentina's attempt to overturn a ruling ordering it to make good on the bonds held by U.S. hedge funds.

The head of Japan's central bank has vowed to work with the nation's new government to tackle deflation, according to an interview published Saturday.

"The Bank of Japan, not just the government, will support efforts to strengthen growth potential," Masaaki Shirakawa told the Nikkei business daily.

The Saudi aviation authority has awarded Qatar Airways and Bahrain's Gulf Air licenses to operate domestic flights in the vast desert kingdom.

The national carriers of the two neighboring Gulf states will be the first foreign airlines to operate domestic flights in the oil-rich nation, competing mainly with the government-owned Saudia and budget carrier NAS.