US Senate has Rare Sunday Session Days Amid Fiscal Impasse

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, center, accompanied by Democratic leaders, gestures during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington,

The U.S. Senate holds a rare Sunday session just days before a deadline to raise the country's debt ceiling, and nearly two weeks into a partial government shutdown.
Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid said he and Republican leader Mitch McConnell held positive talks Saturday, but that the two sides still had a long way to go.
Reid criticized Senate Republicans who rejected a Democratic plan that would have raised the government's borrowing limit through next year. Republicans said they wanted any extension to include spending cuts.
The International Monetary Fund's policy committee Saturday pleaded with U.S. leaders to take "urgent action to address short-term fiscal uncertainties," echoing calls from G-20 financial leaders a day earlier. And the head of the World Bank (Jim Yong Kim) urged lawmakers to avert the crisis, or "it could be a disastrous event for the developing world," and also greatly hurt developed countries.
President Barack Obama has warned that the economy could be hurt if Washington fails to pay its bills for the first time in history. The deadline to raise the debt ceiling is Thursday.
Democratic legislative leaders met with the president Saturday, searching for a way forward, but there was no apparent progress made toward a deal.
Meanwhile, the partial government shutdown entered its 13th day Sunday with no obvious end in sight as legislators continue to squabble.
However, officials at three of the most famous U.S. national parks - the Statue of Liberty, the Grand Canyon and Mount Rushmore - have announced they are reopening. The move comes after state governors agreed to provide the money needed to operate the parks.

Sources