A partial US government shutdown has taken effect after US lawmakers failed to break a budget impasse.
President Donald Trump, who has to sign off on any deal, is insisting at least $5 billion be included for his long‑promised wall along the Mexican border.
In the absence of a deal, funding for about a quarter of US federal agencies lapsed at midnight (05:00GMT Saturday).
Congress began rare Saturday sessions at about noon local time to try to resolve the issue.
Meanwhile, nine of 15 federal departments, including State, Homeland Security, Transportation, Agriculture and Justice are now partially shutting down.
Hundreds of thousands of federal employees will have to work unpaid or are furloughed, a kind of temporary leave. This is the third time US federal funding has lapsed so far this year, although the other two were brief.
[Source: BBC]