New shutdown threat as US budget talks stall

US: Budget talks have hit another impasse over immigration, a key Republican negotiator said Sunday, raising the prospect of a second government shutdown if no agreement is reached by this week’s deadline. “I think the talks are stalled right now,” Richard Shelby, the chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, said on Fox News Sunday. The deadline for an agreement on funding to keep the government open is Friday, raising the specter of a repeat of the 35-day partial shutdown that ended January 25. (AFP)