(Bloomberg Photo)WASHINGTON: A partial shutdown of the US government took hold early Saturday after Democrats refused to meet President Donald Trump’s demands for $5 billion to start erecting his cherished Mexican border wall. “This is our only chance that we’ll ever have, in our opinion, because of the world and the way it breaks out, to get great border security,” he said Friday. Early this week, the Senate approved a bipartisan deal keeping government open into February and providing $1.3 billion for border security projects but not the wall. In a GOP victory on Thursday, the House rebelled and approved a package temporarily financing the government but also providing $5.7 billion for the border wall. “The biggest problem is, we just don’t know what the president will sign,” said Sen Jeff Flake, an Arizona Republican.

Source: Bangkok Post December 22, 2018 01:07 UTC