Government shutdown: Stalemate over Trump’s border fence sets new record, while US’s most revered national parks suffer

A paraplegic climber is helping protect the celebrated Joshua Tree National Park, one of thousands of individual action as the government shutdown, triggered by the failure of Donald Trump and Democrats to reach an agreement over border funding heads for the record books. As up to 800,000 federal employees – more than half of them still working – missed their first pay cheque as a result of the funding freeze, the president was reportedly edging closer to declaring a national emergency to obtain the border wall he has demanded, without congressional support. Included in the impacts of the shutdown has been the closure of all, or part of, 388 of the nation’s 737 parks, historic sites, and national monuments.