[U.S. Republican Leader Accuses Democrats of Full Responsibility for Government Shutdown] Reported by Golden Finance, U.S. Senate Republican leader Thune sternly stated that Democrats must bear full responsibility for the current government shutdown. He emphasized that any disruption to key food assistance programs, as well as all other negative impacts caused by the shutdown, should be blamed on the Democrats. "Because we must remember... the sole reason for the government shutdown is the Democrats' refusal to accept a clean, bipartisan funding extension bill, a clean, bipartisan funding extension bill. We are not asking Democrats to accept any new Republican policies," Thune said. (Jin10)