First Thing: Debt ceiling deal within sight as Biden and Republicans continue to negotiate

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Good morning.

Joe Biden and Republican lawmakers yesterday appeared to beryllium nearing a woody to chopped spending and rise the indebtedness ceiling, with small clip to spare to debar a imaginable default that could wreak havoc connected the system and planetary markets.

The woody nether information by negotiators would rise the government’s $31.4tn indebtedness ceiling for 2 years portion capping spending connected astir items, a US authoritative told Reuters. It would besides summation backing for discretionary spending connected subject and veterans portion fundamentally holding non-defense discretionary spending astatine existent twelvemonth levels, the authoritative said.

The statement would specify the full magnitude the authorities could walk connected discretionary programs including lodging and education, according to a idiosyncratic acquainted with the talks. The 2 sides, who met virtually connected Thursday, are conscionable $70bn isolated connected a full fig that would beryllium good implicit $1tn, according to different source.

Republican negotiators person backed disconnected plans to summation subject spending portion cutting non-defense spending and alternatively backed a White House propulsion to dainty some fund items much equally. Conversations are acceptable to proceed into the night.

  • What did McCarthy accidental yesterday? The Republican House talker told reporters past nighttime that the 2 sides person not reached a deal. “We knew this would not beryllium easy,” helium said.

  • What did Biden say? “Speaker McCarthy and I person had respective productive conversations, and our staffs proceed to conscionable – arsenic we speak, arsenic a substance of information – and they’re making progress,” Biden said past nighttime astatine the White House. “There volition beryllium nary default, and it’s clip for Congress to enactment now.”

Joe Biden’s advisers accidental helium doesn’t privation to resistance Pacific allies into ‘headlong clash’ betwixt US and China

Joe Biden
Joe Biden’s advisers accidental the president understands helium cannot fortify relations with Pacific allies by jamming ‘our views down their throat’. Photograph: Susan Walsh/AP

Joe Biden’s elder advisers person acknowledged countries successful the Indo-Pacific don’t privation to beryllium “trampled by a headlong clash” betwixt the US and China.

In a webinar successful beforehand of an Australian assemblage connected Friday, elder White House nationalist information assembly (NSC) officials said the US president wanted to springiness allies and different adjacent partners “breathing space” to prosecute with China constructively.

Edgard Kagan, the NSC’s elder manager for eastbound Asia and Oceania, said Biden had been listening to the region’s concerns.

“I deliberation the president is precise focused connected the information that we cannot fortify our relations with allies and partners if we conscionable effort and jam our views down their throat,” Kagan said. “That’s not who helium is.”

  • What has China said? Beijing has accused the G7 countries of collaborating to “smear and attack” it astatine past weekend’s acme successful Hiroshima, Japan, aft leaders outlined beardown concerns astir China’s actions successful the region.

  • What has Biden said? After attending the summit, Biden told reporters to expect improvements successful the US-China relationship, adding: “In presumption of talking with them, I deliberation you’re going to spot that thaw precise shortly.”

Far-right Oath Keepers laminitis sentenced to 18 years implicit January 6 attack

Stewart Rhodes
Stewart Rhodes pictured successful 2017. Other members of the Oath Keepers are owed to beryllium sentenced this week and next. Photograph: Susan Walsh/AP

Stewart Rhodes, the laminitis of the far-right Oath Keepers militia, was sentenced yesterday to 18 years successful prison, aft being convicted of seditious conspiracy for his relation successful the January 6 onslaught connected Congress.

Prosecutors sought a 25-year term. Lawyers for Rhodes said helium should beryllium sentenced to clip served, since his apprehension successful January 2022.

Before handing down the sentence, the US territory judge, Amit Mehta, told a defiant Rhodes helium posed a continued menace to the US government, saying it was wide helium “wants ideology successful this state to devolve into violence”.

“The infinitesimal you are released, whenever that whitethorn be, you volition beryllium acceptable to instrumentality up arms against your government,” Mehta said.

Rhodes claimed the prosecution was politically motivated. “I’m a governmental captive and similar President Trump my lone transgression is opposing those who are destroying our country,” helium said.

  • What did helium bash connected January 6? He said ne'er went wrong the Capitol connected January 6 and insisted helium ne'er told anyone other to bash truthful but members of the Oath Keepers took an progressive relation connected 6 January 2021, erstwhile a mob incited by Donald Trump smashed its mode into the Capitol, attempting to halt certification of Joe Biden’s predetermination win. Prosecutors successfully made the lawsuit that Rhodes and his radical prepared an equipped rebellion, including stashing arms astatine a Virginia hotel, meant for speedy transportation to Washington DC.

In different quality …

Jessica Lange and Jack Nicholson successful  Bob Rafelson’s 1981 movie  of The Postman Always Rings Twice, by James M Cain
Jessica Lange and Jack Nicholson successful Bob Rafelson’s 1981 movie of The Postman Always Rings Twice, by James M Cain. Photograph: TCD/Prod.DB/Alamy
  • A New York exertion and literate detective is celebrating the find and merchandise of an unpublished abbreviated story by James M Cain, 1 of the greats of American noir, a “poet of the tabloid murder” whose works made celebrated connected movie see The Postman Always Rings Twice and Double Indemnity.

  • An FBI record relating to a sojourn to the US by the precocious Queen Elizabeth II has revealed a potential crippled to assassinate her. The document, disposable connected the FBI’s online vault, outlines what appears to beryllium quality provided to national agents astir a menace to the queen’s beingness successful California 40 years ago.

  • Neuralink, Elon Musk’s brain-implant company, said yesterday it had received a greenish airy from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to kickstart its archetypal in-human objective study, a captious milestone aft earlier struggles to summation approval.

  • The genitor down Amanda Gorman’s poem prohibition successful a Florida schoolhouse appears to person attended Proud Boys rallies and has antecedently posted antisemitic memes online. In 1 photo, Daily Salinas appears to beryllium lasting adjacent to Enrique Tarrio, the far-right group’s neo-fascist leader.

Stat of the day: More than 5,000 caller taxon discovered successful Pacific deep-sea mining hotspot

Scientists person discovered much than 5,000 caller species surviving connected the seabed successful an untouched country of the Pacific Ocean that has been identified arsenic a aboriginal hotspot for deep-sea mining, according to a reappraisal of the biology surveys done successful the area. It is the archetypal clip the antecedently chartless biodiversity of the Clarion-Clipperton Zone (CCZ), a mineral-rich country of the water level that spans 1.7m sq miles betwixt Hawaii and Mexico successful the Pacific, has been comprehensively documented. The probe volition beryllium captious to assessing the hazard of extinction of the species, fixed contracts for deep-sea mining successful the near-pristine country look imminent. Most of the animals identified by researchers exploring the portion are caller to science.

Don’t miss this: ‘I privation my near oculus back’: those injured by 2020’s constabulary unit talk out

A protester is arrested connected  Fifth Avenue by NYPD officers during a march successful  June 2020 successful  Manhattan
A protester is arrested connected Fifth Avenue by NYPD officers during a march successful June 2020 successful Manhattan. Photograph: John Minchillo/AP

“You don’t retrieve from thing similar this. That’s not a happening you do,” said writer Linda Tirado, who was partially blinded aft being fired connected by the constabulary portion covering the protests that engulfed Minneapolis for months aft George Floyd was dilatory murdered successful plain nationalist presumption by a elder constabulary serviceman successful the city. Tirado is 1 of galore who were injured successful the protests that twelvemonth and won a ineligible lawsuit against the city, which has already agreed to wage retired astatine slightest $5.1m successful settlements to demonstrators – utilizing metropolis funds – and is estimated to beryllium facing an further $100m much successful imaginable payouts arsenic a effect of lawsuits. Her colony is conscionable 1 of galore that adhd up to what experts deem record level of payouts crossed the US arsenic a effect of convulsive policing of the 2020 protests, with astir apt galore much to come, writes Gloria Oladipo.

… oregon this: ‘We don’t bash heavy affectional discussions’: wherefore men suffer their friends – and however they tin marque more

Garrie Coleman, who joined a scooter nine  to marque   friends
Running with the battalion … Garrie Coleman, 54 (centre), joined a scooter nine to marque friends. Photograph: Christoper Owens/The Guardian

Is determination a quality successful men’s and women’s friendships? Dr Robin Dunbar, an anthropologist and evolutionary psychologist, and a apical researcher into friends and friendship, says determination is, though immoderate mightiness not privation to judge it. Women’s friendships thin to beryllium much personalised and dyadic: who you are is the astir important thing. “Men’s friendships are much clubby, and successful immoderate consciousness anonymous – it matters much what you are than who you are,” helium says. A caller survey successful the US recovered that men person less societal ties than they utilized to, with lone 27% saying they person astatine slightest six adjacent friends. In 1990, this fig was 55%. During that period, the fig of men reporting nary adjacent friendships has risen from 3% to 15%. It would look determination is, for men astatine least, a relationship recession. But adjacent successful mediate age, wherever the ‘friendship recession’ hits hardest, it’s possible to subordinate the trend.

Climate check: Seaweed could avert nutrient situation caused by utmost weather

Sea lettuce
Scientists judge Ulva tin go a staple harvest via undersea farming – erstwhile radical get a sensation for it. Photograph: FLPA/Alamy

Extreme upwind events person been reducing harvest yields crossed the satellite and galore countries that import a batch of their nutrient could soon look a crisis. Politicians hardly look bothered astir this but thankfully scientists deliberation they person recovered a solution – undersea farming. This is not for food but seaweed, which they telephone seawheat. People person been eating seaweed for thousands of years but the scientists judge wide accumulation of a taxon called Ulva, arsenic a staple crop, volition beryllium indispensable to support countries from nutrient shortages. They realise that shifting radical from eating wheat to seaweed is not conscionable a method question of the champion mode to wide production, but is simply a large taste shift, and truthful person called successful chefs to make recipes for salads, stir-fries and soups.

Last Thing: ‘Truth is sacred’: Tom Hanks gives keynote code and receives honorary grade from Harvard

Tom Hanks
Tom Hanks received an honorary doc of arts grade from Harvard University during its 372nd commencement connected Thursday. The histrion besides received a volleyball successful tribute to his relation successful Castaway. Photograph: Brian Snyder/Reuters

As the US grapples with a disinformation crisis, Tom Hanks told graduates of Harvard yesterday to beryllium superheroes successful their defence of information and American ideals, and to defy those who twist the information for their ain gain. “For the information to immoderate is nary longer empirical. It’s nary longer based connected data, nor communal sense, nor adjacent communal decency,” the two-time Academy Award-winner said during his keynote address. He invoked the Latin connection for truth, “veritas”, Harvard’s motto. “Telling the information is nary longer the benchmark for nationalist service,” helium said. “It’s nary longer the salve to our fears, oregon the usher to our actions. Truth is present considered malleable, by sentiment and by zero-sum endgames.” That near the much than 9,000 graduates astatine Harvard’s 372nd commencement with a prime to make, said the Hollywood icon.

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