The federal government is expected to shut down at 12:01 a.m. on Wednesday unless lawmakers strike a last-minute compromise, marking nearly seven years since the previous time the government went dark...

US senators have failed to pass a last-minute bill to avert a government shutdown, all but guaranteeing funding will cut off at midnight ET (04.00 GMT) - here's how we got to this point

The decision means the already cloudy picture of the US economy gets even less clear.