President Barack Obama has called off his trip to Malaysia to tackle the US government shutdown, the office of Malaysia's PM Najib Razak has said.

Secretary of State John Kerry will represent him next week instead, the office said. The US government has partially shut down after the two houses of Congress failed to agree a new budget.

More than 700,000 federal employees face unpaid leave, and national parks, museums and many buildings are closed.

Obama accused Republicans of demanding ransom over Obamacare

Mr Obama earlier vowed not to allow Republicans to undermine his signature healthcare legislation as a condition to restart the US government.

Mr Najib's office said Mr Obama had called the prime minister on Wednesday to inform him that Mr Kerry would address an entrepreneurship conference in Kuala Lumpur on 11 October in his place.

Mr Obama's visit would have been the first by a US president to Malaysia since Lyndon B Johnson in 1966.
Mr Obama had been scheduled to begin a four-nation Asian trip on Saturday to boost economic ties.

This is the third time in three years Mr Obama has called off Asian trips.

(Source: BBC)