U.S. Senate reaches a deal to end shutdown

U.S. Senate leaders have reached a deal to avert a threatened treasury default and re-open the government.

The bi-partisan deal will end the 16-day partial government shutdown and comes the day before the U.S. would default on its loans and be unable to pay its bills as they came due.

Negotiations were strained as hard-line Republicans insisted on making Obama care an issue, and in the end they didn’t get any of the concessions they were hoping for.

The deal would reopen the government through January 15 and increase the nation’s borrowing authority through February 7th.