New York: Hundreds of flights, including several private jet services, have been cancelled, millions of federal workers have not received their salaries, and millions of poor Americans are losing access to free or subsidised food.

That illustrates the crisis hitting the entire spectrum of US life because the Republican-Democrat standoff in the Senate over a resolution to temporarily fund the government is paralysing most government operations.

Only the most essential government operations are continuing. Many of those running them, like air traffic controllers, have not been paid. As a result, many are not coming to work. This led to the cancellation of about 1,000 flights on Saturday, after the government ordered a ten per cent reduction in flights at 40 major airports.

The Senate met

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