US government close to shutdown after talks stall

THE US federal government moved closer to a shutdown as House of Representative speaker John Boehner and president Barack Obama failed to reach a deal to keep the government running.

Talks will continue as the House’s plan for a stopgap measure was met with a veto threat by Obama.

After the second round of talks in less that 12 hours ended, Boehner, said: “All of us sincerely believe that we can get to an agreement.” Senate majority leader Harry Reid, also in the negotiations, said there would be another meeting with the president.