No sign of progress in ending US shutdown

As the federal government's partial shutdown enters its second day, there are few discernible signs that US lawmakers are on track to speedily resolve their standoff, reports npr.org.

Instead, the two sides spent Saturday digging in and getting their message out. Republicans reiterated that they will not negotiate on immigration and the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) programme while the government is shut down.

And Democrats said a spending deal would also have to protect the immigrants who came to the country illegally as children and have been shielded from deportation by the DACA programme.

On Capitol Hill, rare Saturday sessions in both chambers were characterised by recriminations rather than negotiations, including a procedural fight in the House over the wording on a sign used as a prop during a floor debate.

There were few signs that either side was feeling conciliatory.

In the midst of the stalemate, President Trump's re-election campaign released an ad declaring that "Democrats who stand in our way will be complicit in every murder committed by illegal immigrants," a stance that did little to improve the negotiating climate.

Senate Democrats gave no indication that they have softened their requirement that any deal to re-open the government must come with a side agreement on immigration. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., accused the president of essentially acting in bad faith after the two met one-on-one at the White House on Friday.

"What's even more frustrating than President Trump's intransigence is the way he seems amenable to these compromises before completely switching positions and backing off. Negotiating with President Trump is like negotiating with Jell-O," Schumer said Saturday.

Aside from a morning flurry of tweets attacking Democrats' position on immigration, the president mostly used Twitter to celebrate his first year in office. Remaining in D.C. because of the shutdown, Trump had no public appearances or interviews.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., scheduled an early Monday morning vote for a short-term funding plan to keep the government open through February 8.

Aside from lasting three weeks instead of four, the bill is virtually identical to the measure that failed very early Saturday to get the 60 votes needed to overcome a filibuster just as the midnight deadline to avoid a shutdown passed.

Reuters adds: Hundreds of thousands of women and their male supporters turned out on Saturday for the second Women's March, a nationwide series of protests against US President Donald Trump marking the end of his tumultuous first year in office.

The coordinated rallies in Washington, New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and about 250 other cities featured speakers who blasted Trump for policies that many said hurt women and urged voters to turn out for congressional elections in November. Sister rallies were staged in cities overseas.

"Your vote is the most powerful tool at your individual disposal," actress Eva Longoria told the Los Angeles rally. "Everybody who has the privilege of voting must do so."

Trump responded on Twitter by touting what he said were economic gains of the past year that benefited women.

"Beautiful weather all over our great country, a perfect day for all Women to March," he wrote. "Get out there now to celebrate the historic milestones and unprecedented economic success and wealth creation that has taken place over the last 12 months. Lowest female unemployment in 18 years!"

Joblessness among women was 3.7 per cent in December, below the overall US unemployment rate of 4.1 per cent, according to the Labour Department.

Even so, Katie O'Connor, a 39-year-old lawyer from Knoxville, Tennessee, who traveled to Washington's National Mall, said she wanted Trump out. "I don't believe this administration is going to do anything good for women," she said.

Many of the protesters wore pink knit "pussy hats," which were created for last year's march as a reference to a comment made by Trump about female genitalia. The caps quickly became a symbol of women's empowerment and opposition to the new president in the early days of his administration.