US shutdown halts Barack Obama's Malaysia trip

       US shutdown halts Barack Obama's Malaysia trip

Obama accused Republicans of demanding ransom over Obamacare

 

President Barack Obama has called off his trip to Malaysia to tackle the US government shutdown, the office of Malaysia's PM Najib Razak has said.

Secretary of State John Kerry will represent him next week instead, the office said.
The US government has partially shut down after the two houses of Congress failed to agree a new budget.
More than 700,000 federal employees face unpaid leave, and national parks, museums and many buildings are closed.
Mr Obama earlier vowed not to allow Republicans to undermine his signature healthcare legislation as a condition to restart the US government.
"They demanded ransom," Mr Obama said.

Four-nation trip

Mr Najib's office said Mr Obama had called the prime minister on Wednesday to inform him that Mr Kerry would address an entrepreneurship conference in Kuala Lumpur on 11 October in his place.
Mr Obama had been scheduled to begin a four-nation Asian trip on Saturday to boost economic ties.
It would also have taken in Indonesia, Brunei and the Philippines
There has been no confirmation yet of what Mr Obama intends to do with the rest of the itinerary.Sourced from:www.bbc.co.uk