The US Congress remains deadlocked over the funding bill

US Senate Majority leader Harry Reid has warned that his Democratic-led chamber will reject a House Republican bill to avert a government shutdown. The Senate passed its own bill to fund government until 15 November - ahead of the 1 October shutdown deadline. Agencies are making contingency plans as the two parties remain deadlocked. In a statement, Senator Reid said that "after weeks of futile political games from Republicans, we are still at square one". He added that Republican efforts to pass the House bill - that would delay the healthcare law for a year and repeal a tax on medical devices - were pointless.