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Tag: COVID-19 pandemic

  • Author Haruki Murakami says pandemic, war in Ukraine create walls that divide people

    Author Haruki Murakami says pandemic, war in Ukraine create walls that divide people

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    TOKYO — Japanese writer Haruki Murakami says walls are increasingly built and dividing people and countries after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the COVID-19 pandemic fueled fear and skepticism.

    “With feelings of suspicion replacing mutual trust, walls are continually being erected around us,” Murakami said in late April at Wellesley College. That speech, “Writing Fiction in the Time of Pandemic and War,” was released Wednesday in The Shincho Monthly literary magazine published by Shinchosha Co.

    “Everybody seems to be confronted with a choice — to hide behind the walls, preserving safety and the status quo or, knowing the risks, to emerge beyond the walls in search of a freer value system,” he said.

    Like the protagonist in his new novel.

    “The City and Its Uncertain Walls” was released in April in Japan and an English translation is expected in 2024. The protagonist, as Murakami described, faces a tough choice between two worlds: an isolated walled city of tranquility with no desire or suffering, and the real world beyond the walls filled with pain and desire and contradictions.

    The novel is based on a story he wrote for a magazine soon after becoming a novelist but was never published in book form. He said he knew it had important ideas and put it aside because he wanted to rewrite it.

    Some 40 years later, he discovered “this tale fits perfectly with the age we live in now.”

    Murakami started rewriting the book in March 2020, soon after COVID-19 began spreading around the world, and finished it two years later, as the war in Ukraine passed its one-year mark.

    “The two big events combined and changed the world in dramatic ways,” he said.

    The sense of safety that came with a common belief in globalism and mutual economic and cultural dependency “crumbled with Russia’s sudden invasion of Ukraine,” Murakami said, spreading fear of similar invasions elsewhere. Many countries, including his home Japan, have since bolstered their military preparedness and budgets.

    As the war continues without an end in sight, so do the high walls being built around people, between countries and individuals, Murakami said. “It seems to me that the psychic condition — if someone isn’t your ally, he is your enemy — continues to spread.”

    “Can our trust in each other once more overcome our suspicions? Can wisdom conquer fear? The answers to these questions are entrusted to our hands. And rather than an instant answer, we are being required to undergo a deep investigation that will take time,” Murakami said.

    He says that, while there’s not much a novelist can do, “I sincerely hope that novels and stories can lend their power to such an investigation. It’s something that we novelists dearly hope for.”

    Murakami has made other efforts to encourage people to think, combat fear or tear down walls. He hosted the radio show “Music to put an end to war” a month after Russia’ invaded Ukraine. His Japanese translation of “The Last Flower,” former New Yorker cartoonist James Thurber’s 1939 anti-war picture book, will be released later this month from Poplar Sha.

    Did the protagonist stay inside the walls? “Please try reading the book yourselves,” Murakami said.

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  • World Bank offers dim outlook for the global economy in face of higher interest rates

    World Bank offers dim outlook for the global economy in face of higher interest rates

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    WASHINGTON — The global economy is likely slowing sharply this year, hobbled by high interest rates, the repercussions of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the lingering effects of the coronavirus pandemic.

    That’s the latest outlook of the World Bank, a 189-country anti-poverty agency, which estimates that the international economy will expand just 2.1% in 2023 after growing 3.1% in 2022.

    Speaking to reporters Tuesday, Indermit Gill, the World Bank’s chief economist, called the latest findings “another gloomy report.” The bank, he said, expects “last year’s sharp and synchronized slowdown to continue to this year into a sharp slowdown.”

    “By the end of next year, a third of the developing world will not meet the per-capita income level that they had at the end of 2019,” he said.

    Still, the bank’s latest Global Economic Prospects report marks an upgrade from its previous forecast in January. That estimate had envisioned worldwide growth of just 1.7% this year.

    The Federal Reserve and other major central banks have been aggressively raising interest rates to combat a resurgence of inflation, set off by a stronger-than-expected rebound from the pandemic recession, persistent supply shortages and energy and food price shocks caused by the Ukraine war.

    But the global economy has proved surprisingly resilient in the face of higher borrowing costs, and the World Bank predicts that growth will accelerate to 2.4% in 2024.

    The United States has continued to generate unexpectedly robust job gains — employers added 339,000 workers in May, far more than economists had forecast — even though the Fed has raised its benchmark rate 10 times in the past 15 months. In its report Tuesday, the World Bank upgraded its forecast for U.S. economic growth this year to 1.1%. Though weak, that is more than double the growth the World Bank had envisioned in January.

    The eurozone, which represents the 20 countries that share the euro currency, is expected to post collective growth of 0.4% this year. That, too, marks a slight upgrade: In January, the World Bank had expected no growth at all for the eurozone this year. Europe, struggling with higher energy prices caused by the Ukraine war, enjoyed relief from a surprisingly warm winter, which reduced demand for heat.

    The World Bank upgraded its 2023 outlook for China after Beijing late last year relaxed its draconian zero-COVID policies, which had restricted travel and hammered its economy. The world’s second-biggest economy is now expected to grow 5.6% in 2023, up from 3% last year. The World Bank envisions Japan’s growth decelerating to 0.8% this year from 1% in 2022. It foresees India’s growth slowing to a still-strong 6.3% from 7.2% last year.

    The bank predicts that global trade will slow markedly this year. It foresees a sharp drop in the price of energy and other commodities this year and next.

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  • World Bank offers dim outlook for the global economy in face of higher interest rates

    World Bank offers dim outlook for the global economy in face of higher interest rates

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    The global economy is likely slowing sharply this year, hobbled by high interest rates, the repercussions of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the lingering effects of the coronavirus pandemic

    ByPAUL WISEMAN and FATIMA HUSSEIN Associated Press

    File – The World Bank building in in Washington, Monday, April 5, 2021. The global economy is likely slowing sharply this year, hobbled by high interest rates, the repercussions of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the lingering effects of the coronavirus pandemic according to the latest outlook of the World Bank. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File)

    The Associated Press

    WASHINGTON — The global economy is likely slowing sharply this year, hobbled by high interest rates, the repercussions of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the lingering effects of the coronavirus pandemic.

    That’s the latest outlook of the World Bank, a 189-country anti-poverty agency, which estimates that the international economy will expand just 2.1% in 2023 after growing 3.1% in 2022. Still, the bank’s latest Global Economic Prospects report, which it issued Tuesday, marks an upgrade from its previous forecast in January. That estimate had envisioned worldwide growth of just 1.7% this year.

    The Federal Reserve and other major central banks have been aggressively raising interest rates to combat a resurgence of inflation, set off by a stronger-than-expected rebound from the pandemic recession, persistent supply shortages and energy and food price shocks caused by the Ukraine war.

    But the global economy has proved surprisingly resilient in the face of higher borrowing costs, and the World Bank predicts that growth will accelerate to 2.4% in 2024.

    The United States has continued to generate unexpectedly robust job gains — employers added 339,000 workers in May, far more than economists had forecast — even though the Fed has raised its benchmark rate 10 times in the past 15 months. In its report Tuesday, the World Bank upgraded its forecast for U.S. economic growth this year to 1.1%. Though weak, that is more than double the growth the World Bank had envisioned in January.

    The eurozone, which represents the 20 countries that share the euro currency, is expected to post collective growth of 0.4% this year. That, too, marks a slight upgrade: In January, the World Bank had expected no growth at all for the eurozone this year. Europe, struggling with higher energy prices caused by the Ukraine war, enjoyed relief from a surprisingly warm winter, which reduced demand for heat.

    The World Bank upgraded its 2023 outlook for China after Beijing late last year relaxed its draconian zero-COVID policies, which had restricted travel and hammered its economy. The world’s second-biggest economy is now expected to grow 5.6% in 2023, up from 3% last year. The World Bank envisions Japan’s growth decelerating to 0.8% this year from 1% in 2022. It foresees India’s growth slowing to a still-strong 6.3% from 7.2% last year.

    The bank predicts that global trade will slow markedly this year. It foresees a sharp drop in the price of energy and other commodities this year and next.

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  • Officials to reveal 3D models showing what a Las Vegas shooting memorial could look like

    Officials to reveal 3D models showing what a Las Vegas shooting memorial could look like

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    LAS VEGAS — The white angel wings jut upright from the earth with a warm glow of light, towering above the site of modern America’s deadliest mass shooting.

    As the sun sets over the Las Vegas Strip, painting a purple horizon, visitors gaze up at the monument erected in the same place where 58 people were shot and killed and hundreds more were injured on the final night of a country music festival on Oct. 1, 2017. Two survivors later died from their gunshot wounds.

    This scene is depicted in one of five design renderings for a permanent memorial to be built on the site of the shooting to honor victims, survivors and first responders.

    Clark County is set to unveil 3D models of each design at a new exhibit in downtown Las Vegas later Monday morning, marking a major step in an arduous planning process that began more than three years ago and had been stalled by the COVID-19 pandemic.

    The exhibit at Clark County’s government center will be open until early September.

    “These concepts show in vivid detail the power of what this memorial effort means to so many in five unique ways,” Jim Gibson, chairman of the Clark County Commission, said in a statement. Gibson’s district includes the site of the shooting.

    Each of the five potential designs includes a garden element, with trees along walking paths or flower beds framing the memorial. One design showcases large horse statues. Another is centered around a cluster of light poles, each with photos of a victim.

    Later this month, a committee tasked with planning the memorial will collect public input on the design proposals that they say will help them craft their final plan for a memorial. The committee is set to submit its plan to the county commission for approval ahead of the massacre’s sixth anniversary.

    “No matter which design concept gets recommended, we can be proud of the process our committee put into place and amazing ideas inspired by it,” Commissioner Marilyn Kirkpatrick said in a statement.

    Kirkpatrick and former Gov. Steve Sisolak formed the planning committee in 2019. It includes a survivor of the shooting and the sister of victim Neysa Tonks, a 46-year-old mother of three from Las Vegas.

    Each of the proposed memorials on display at the exhibit were put together by a different design team with community input that the committee gathered in a series of earlier surveys, including one that found a clear majority of respondents wanted the permanent memorial to be built at the site of the massacre.

    In response, MGM Resorts International donated 2 acres (0.8 hectares) of the 15-acre (6.1-hectare) property for the memorial in August 2021. The casino company recently sold the remaining land to the Three Affiliated Tribes of the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation based in central North Dakota.

    The permanent memorial will be separate from a community healing garden in downtown Las Vegas built by more than 1,000 volunteers in the days after the shooting.

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  • Here’s how to prepare to start paying back your student loans when the pandemic payment freeze ends

    Here’s how to prepare to start paying back your student loans when the pandemic payment freeze ends

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    NEW YORK — A three-year pause on student loan payments will end this summer regardless of how the Supreme Court rules on the White House plan to forgive billions of dollars in student loan debt.

    If Congress approves a debt ceiling deal negotiated by House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and President Joe Biden, payments will resume in late August, ending any lingering hope of a further extension of the pause that started during the COVID pandemic. Even if the deal falls through, payments will resume 60 days after the Supreme Court decision.

    That ruling is expected sometime before the end of June. No matter what the justices decide, more than 40 million borrowers will have to start paying back their loans by the end of the summer at the latest.

    Here’s what to know to get ready to start paying back loans:

    HOW SHOULD I PREPARE FOR STUDENT LOANS PAYMENTS TO RESTART?

    Betsy Mayotte, President of the Institute of Student Loan Advisors, encourages people not to make any payments until the pause has ended. Instead, she says, put what you would have paid into a savings account.

    “Then you’ve maintained the habit of making the payment, but (you’re) earning a little bit of interest as well,” she said. “There’s no reason to send that money to the student loans until the last minute of the 0% interest rate.”

    Mayotte recommends borrowers use the loan-simulator tool at StudentAid.gov or the one on TISLA’s website to find a payment plan that best fits their needs. The calculators tell you what your monthly payment would be under each available plan, as well as your long-term costs.

    “I really want to emphasize the long-term,” Mayotte said.

    Sometimes, when borrowers are in a financial bind, they’ll choose the option with the lowest monthly payment, which can cost more over the life of the loan, Mayotte said. Rather than “setting it and forgetting it,” she encourages borrowers to reevaluate when their financial situation improves.

    WHAT’S AN INCOME-DRIVEN REPAYMENT PLAN?

    An income-driven repayment plan sets your monthly student loan payment at an amount that is intended to be affordable based on your income and family size. It takes into account different expenses in your budget, and most federal student loans are eligible for at least one of these types of plans.

    Generally, your payment amount under an income-driven repayment plan is a percentage of your discretionary income. If your income is low enough, your payment could be as low as $0 per month.

    If you’d like to repay your federal student loans under an income-driven plan, the first step is to fill out an application through the Federal Student Aid website.

    TALK TO AN ADVISER

    Fran Gonzales, 27, who is based in Texas, works as a supervisor for a financial institution. She holds $32,000 in public student loans and $40,000 in private student loans. During the payment pause on her public loans, Gonzales said she was able to pay off her credit card debt, buy a new car, and pay down two years’ worth of private loans while saving money. Her private student loan payment has been $500 a month, and her public student loan payment will be $350 per month when it restarts.

    Gonzales recommends that anyone with student loans speak with a mentor or financial advisor to educate themselves about their options, as well as making sure they’re in an income-driven repayment plan.

    The Federal Student Aid website can help direct you to counselors, as well as organizations like the Student Borrower Protection Center and the Institute of Student Loan Advisors.

    “I was the first in my family to go to college, and I could have saved money with grants and scholarships had I known someone who knew about college,” she said. “I could have gone to community college or lived in cheaper housing … It’s a huge financial decision.”

    Gonzales received her degree in business marketing and says she was “horrible with finances” until she began working as a loan officer herself.

    Gonzales’s mother works in retail and her father for the airport, she said, and both encouraged her to pursue higher education. For her part, Gonzales now tries to inform others with student loans about what they’re taking on and what their choices are.

    “Anyone young I cross paths with, I try to educate them.”

    CAN I SET UP A PAYMENT PLAN FOR MY STUDENT LOANS?

    Yes — payment plans are always available. Even so, some advocates encourage borrowers to wait for now, since there’s no financial penalty for nonpayment during the pause on payments and interest accrual.

    Katherine Welbeck of the Student Borrower Protection Center recommends logging on to your account and making sure you know the name of your servicer, your due date and whether you’re enrolled in the best income-driven repayment plan.

    WHAT IF I CAN’T PAY?

    If your budget doesn’t allow you to resume payments, it’s important to know how to navigate the possibility of default and delinquency on a student loan. Both can hurt your credit rating, which would make you ineligible for additional aid.

    If you’re in a short-term financial bind, according to Mayotte, you may qualify for deferment or forbearance — allowing you to temporarily suspend payment.

    To determine whether deferment or forbearance are good options for you, you can contact your loan servicer. One thing to note: interest still accrues during deferment or forbearance. Both can also impact potential loan forgiveness options. Depending on the conditions of your deferment or forbearance, it may make sense to continue paying the interest during the payment suspension.

    HOW CAN I REDUCE COSTS WHEN PAYING OFF MY STUDENT LOANS?

    — If you sign up for automatic payments, the servicer takes a quarter of a percent off your interest rate, according to Mayotte.

    — Income-driven repayment plans aren’t right for everyone. That said, if you know you will eventually qualify for forgiveness under the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program, it makes sense to make the lowest monthly payments possible, as the remainder of your debt will be cancelled once that decade of payments is complete.

    — Reevaluate your monthly student loan repayment during tax season, when you already have all your financial information in front of you. “Can you afford to increase it? Or do you need to decrease it?” Mayotte said.

    — Break up payments into whatever ways work best for you. You could consider two installments per month, instead of one large monthly sum.

    ARE STUDENT LOANS FORGIVEN AFTER 10 YEARS?

    If you’ve worked for a government agency or a nonprofit, the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program offers cancellation after 10 years of regular payments, and some income-driven repayment plans cancel the remainder of a borrower’s debt after 20 to 25 years.

    Borrowers should make sure they’re signed up for the best possible income-driven repayment plan to qualify for these programs.

    Borrowers who have been defrauded by for-profit colleges may also apply for borrower defense and receive relief.

    These programs won’t be affected by the Supreme Court ruling.

    ___

    The Associated Press receives support from Charles Schwab Foundation for educational and explanatory reporting to improve financial literacy. The independent foundation is separate from Charles Schwab and Co. Inc. The AP is solely responsible for its journalism.

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  • Why are people in Britain talking about Boris Johnson’s WhatsApp messages?

    Why are people in Britain talking about Boris Johnson’s WhatsApp messages?

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    LONDON — Critics accuse the British administration of running “government by WhatsApp” because of the popularity of the messaging app with politicians and officials.

    So it feels inevitable that a tussle over WhatsApp messages is at the heart of Britain’s official inquiry into how the country handled the COVID-19 pandemic.

    Thousands of messages exchanged during the pandemic between then Prime Minister Boris Johnson and government ministers, aides and officials form key evidence for the investigation chaired by retired judge Heather Hallett. The Conservative government, now led by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, wants to be able to edit the messages before handing them over, saying some are personal and irrelevant to the inquiry. It has filed a legal challenge against Hallett’s order to surrender the unredacted messages.

    WHAT IS THE INQUIRY INVESTIGATING?

    More than 200,000 people have died in Britain after testing positive for COVID-19, one of the highest tolls in Europe, and the decisions of Johnson’s government have been endlessly debated. Johnson agreed in late 2021 to hold an investigation after pressure from bereaved families.

    Hallett’s inquiry is due to scrutinize the U.K.’s preparedness for a pandemic, how the government responded and whether the “level of loss was inevitable or whether things could have been done better.”

    Public hearings are scheduled to begin June 13 and last until 2026, with the former prime minister and a host of senior officials due to give evidence.

    WHAT’S UP WITH WHATSAPP?

    The Meta-owned messaging service has become a favorite communications tool among U.K. government officials and the journalists who cover them. It’s easy to use for both individual and group chats, and its end-to-end encryption offers users a sense of security that messages will be private.

    That confidence has sometimes proved misguided. Former Health Secretary Matt Hancock, who helped lead Britain’s response to the virus, gave tens of thousands of his messages to a journalist who was helping him write a memoir. The journalist passed them to a newspaper, which splashed embarrassing details in a series of front-page stories.

    Hallett has asked to see messages exchanged between Johnson and more than three dozen scientists and officials over two years from early 2020. She also wants to see Johnson’s notebooks and diaries from the same period.

    WHAT’S THE GOVERNMENT’S POSITION?

    The government of Sunak, who took office after Johnson resigned amid scandals in mid-2022, argues that some of the messages are “unambiguously irrelevant” to the COVID-19 inquiry. It says publishing them would be “an unwarranted intrusion into other aspects of the work of government,” and into individuals’ “legitimate expectations of privacy and protection of their personal information.”

    On Thursday, the government’s Cabinet Office filed court papers seeking to challenge Hallett’s order for the documents. The next step will be a hearing at the High Court in the coming weeks.

    Many lawyers think the government will lose the challenge. Under the terms of the inquiry, agreed upon with the government at the outset, Hallett has the power to summon evidence and question witnesses under oath.

    “The government has an uphill task,” Jonathan Jones, a former head of the government legal service, wrote in a blog post for the Institute for Government. “The likelihood is that the court will say the inquiry chair should be the one to decide how she goes about it, and what material she needs to see for that purpose.”

    WHAT DOES BORIS JOHNSON SAY?

    Johnson has a history of friction with successor Sunak, whose resignation from the government in July 2022 helped topple Johnson from power.

    Johnson has distanced himself from the government’s stance by saying he is happy to hand over his messages. On Friday, he said he has sent the WhatsApp messages directly to Hallett’s inquiry.

    But — in another twist — they cover only part of the requested period. Johnson hasn’t passed on any messages from before April 2021. That period includes the early days of the pandemic — when the government made fateful and still-contested decisions — as well as three periods of national lockdown and the dates of rule-breaking parties in government buildings that led to scores of people, including Johnson, being fined by police.

    Johnson says the messages are on a phone he was ordered to stop using after journalists noticed that his number had been publicly available online for 15 years.

    Johnson says the security services told him to quit using the phone and never to turn it on again. He told Hallett on Friday that he had “asked the Cabinet Office for assistance in turning it on securely so that I can search it for all relevant material. I propose to pass all such material directly to you.”

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  • Court: No lawsuit immunity for Michigan official who had rifle during online meeting

    Court: No lawsuit immunity for Michigan official who had rifle during online meeting

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    A lawsuit can go forward against a Michigan official who flashed a rifle during a public meeting over video conference

    ByED WHITE Associated Press

    DETROIT — A lawsuit can go forward against a Michigan official who flashed a rifle during a public meeting over video conference, a federal appeals court said Wednesday.

    Patricia MacIntosh is suing Ron Clous, alleging he tried to silence her right to free speech when he displayed the rifle during a 2021 meeting of Grand Traverse County commissioners.

    Clous has no governmental immunity at this stage of the litigation, the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said in a 2-1 opinion.

    “Virtually smirking and displaying a high-powered rifle at someone during a tension-filled public meeting is pregnant with dangerous meaning,” said judges Jane Stranch and Stephanie Dawkins Davis.

    The incident occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic when the county board met over video conference. During the public comment period, MacIntosh urged commissioners to make a statement opposing anti-government militia groups, a few weeks after the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol.

    That’s when Clous, a commissioner who was participating from home, left the screen and returned with a rifle.

    In response to the lawsuit, an attorney for Clous argued that displaying the rifle was his own “expressive conduct” protected by the Constitution. But the appeals court said it could be considered an “adverse action.”

    Clous didn’t seek reelection in 2022 and is no longer a county commissioner.

    In a dissent, Judge Jeffrey Sutton said no legal precedent fits to keep MacIntosh’s free speech retaliation lawsuit alive.

    “Think of what happened,” he said. “A side view of Commissioner Clous’s lawfully possessed rifle. In that official’s own home. For a few seconds. During a virtual Board of Commissioners meeting. With everyone participating from the safety of their own homes.”

    ___

    Follow Ed White at http://twitter.com/edwritez

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  • UK government fights demand to hand over Boris Johnson’s messages to COVID-19 inquiry

    UK government fights demand to hand over Boris Johnson’s messages to COVID-19 inquiry

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    LONDON — As Britain’s prime minister, Boris Johnson established an independent public inquiry into his government’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic.

    Now the inquiry wants to see, in full, what Johnson wrote to other U.K. officials as the outbreak raged — but the government is fighting a demand to hand over the material.

    Inquiry chairwoman Heather Hallett, a retired judge, has asked the Conservative government, now led by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, to produce full copies of Johnson’s WhatsApp messages and notebooks, after initially being given redacted versions.

    Government officials said they only cut out material that was “unambiguously irrelevant” to the investigation, but Hallett wants to be the judge of that. She said “the entire contents of the specified documents are of potential relevance to the lines of investigation being pursued by the inquiry.”

    Hallett — who has the power to summon evidence and question witnesses under oath — set a deadline of 4 p.m. (1500 GMT) Tuesday for the government to hand over the documents, covering a two-year period from early 2020.

    But hours before the deadline, the government asked for more time, claiming it didn’t have Johnson’s WhatsApp messages or notebooks. Hallett denied a request to move the deadline to Monday, but agreed to extend it by 48 hours, until Thursday.

    The inquiry said if the WhatsApp messages and notebooks can’t be produced, the government must provide witness statements from senior officials setting out what efforts have been made to find them.

    Sunak, who took office after Johnson left office in September – to be succeeded, for a few weeks, by Liz Truss — said the government had already handed over tens of thousands of documents to the inquiry and was “considering next steps carefully.” The government is worried about the precedent that disclosing Johnson’s full, unredacted conversations might set.

    “We are firmly of the view that the inquiry does not have the power to request unambiguously irrelevant information that is beyond the scope of this investigation,” the Cabinet Office, a government department, said in a statement. “This includes the WhatsApp messages of government employees’ which are not about work but instead are entirely personal and relate to their private lives.”

    Johnson’s office said the former leader had “no objection to disclosing material to the inquiry,” but that decisions on redactions were for the Cabinet Office to make.

    Bob Kerslake, a former head of the civil service, said that the government was likely resisting disclosure “to save embarrassment of ministers” — an approach he called “misguided.”

    The U.K. has recorded more than 200,000 deaths among people with COVID-19, one of the highest tolls in Europe, and the decisions of Johnson’s government have been endlessly debated. Johnson agreed in late 2021 to hold an inquiry after pressure from bereaved families.

    Hallett’s inquiry is due to investigate the U.K.’s preparedness for a pandemic, how the government responded, and whether the “level of loss was inevitable or whether things could have been done better.” Public hearings are scheduled to start in June, and Johnson is among the senior officials due to give evidence.

    The inquiry has already landed Johnson in hot water. He was one of dozens of people fined last year for breaking his own government’s pandemic lockdown rules in the so-called partygate scandal. Earlier this month, government-appointed lawyers helping Johnson prepare his submissions and testimony came across evidence of more potential breaches of COVID-19 restrictions.

    The new evidence relates to alleged visits to Chequers, the prime minister’s official country retreat, as well as potential breaches in the leader’s Downing Street residence.

    Civil servants reported the information to police, who say they are assessing the new evidence. Johnson denies wrongdoing.

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  • DeSantis kicks off presidential campaign in Iowa as he steps up criticism of Trump

    DeSantis kicks off presidential campaign in Iowa as he steps up criticism of Trump

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    WASHINGTON — WASHINGTON (AP) — Ron DeSantis plans to kick off his presidential campaign in Iowa on Tuesday, the start of a busy week that will take him to 12 cities in three states as he tests his pitch as the most formidable Republican challenger to former President Donald Trump.

    The Florida governor’s two-day trip to the leadoff caucus state — starting at a suburban Des Moines megachurch and ending at a Cedar Rapids racetrack — comes after a stumbling online announcement last week that formalized his long-anticipated entry into the growing Republican field. It will be followed by stops in early primary states New Hampshire and South Carolina.

    DeSantis’ scheduled Tuesday evening stop at Eternity Church in Clive is a conspicuous nod to the evangelical Christians who wield outsize influence in Iowa’s Republican presidential caucuses. His visit will give voters an opportunity to meet the new candidate just as he has been stepping up his criticism of Trump.

    “He’s got a big hill to climb — and I think everybody would agree with that — to be able to convince people that he can overcome Trump, that he can do a job as good as, if not better than, Trump,” said Bernie Hayes, the Republican chair in Linn County where DeSantis plans to wrap up his Iowa jaunt Wednesday.

    DeSantis, assailed by Trump for months, pivoted from oblique swipes to direct questioning of the former president’s conservative credentials during a round of interviews with friendly media last week, notably his handling of the coronavirus pandemic and his record on criminal justice.

    DeSantis called a bipartisan bill Trump signed in 2018 that reduced mandatory minimum federal prison sentences and allows a pathway for non-violent offenders to reduce prison time “a jailbreak bill.” As a member of Congress, DeSantis voted for an early version of the measure but had left Congress after he was elected governor and before the final, less strict bill passed.

    DeSantis also said Trump wrongly “turned the country over to Fauci,” referring to Anthony Fauci, the former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases who helped lead the country’s COVID-19 pandemic response.

    DeSantis announced his campaign May 24 during an online conversation with Twitter CEO Elon Musk. The audio stream crashed repeatedly, making it difficult for most users to hear the announcement in real time, a stumble campaign officials and others quickly dismissed as a minor setback.

    DeSantis was undeterred in laying out his message, that conservative legislative victories this year in Florida, chiefly on cultural topics such as restricting sexual orientation discussion in schools, are the antidote for what he calls a nation controlled increasingly by the extreme left. He also has gone after Disney, seeking to strip the state’s entertainment giant of its self-governing authority for opposing the state law that critics have dubbed the “Don’t Say Gay” law.

    “American decline is not inevitable — it is a choice,” DeSantis said during the glitchy audio stream. “And we should choose a new direction — a path that will lead to American revitalization.”

    DeSantis has a running start in Iowa and other early voting states, thanks to Never Back Down, a super political action committee that is using money the group can receive in unlimited sums from wealthy contributors to begin organizing support for him. Campaign finance law requires the group to do its work without coordinating with DeSantis.

    Iowans should see staff and volunteers for the group working the perimeter of DeSantis’ church event in Clive on Tuesday, as well as events Wednesday in conservative western Iowa’s Sioux City and Council Bluffs and the manufacturing and college city of Pella in east-central Iowa before the finale in Cedar Rapids. By making his bid official, DeSantis gives the group a rallying figure whose events it can attend, even if cannot coordinate with DeSantis’ official campaign group.

    The tack, untested and not without risks, is aimed at maximizing super PAC dollars. It’s also a way of helping DeSantis race in Iowa to catch Trump, whose campaign says it has banked thousands of supporters thanks to a more disciplined, data-driven outreach effort than Trump’s seat-of-the-pants 2016 campaign. That operation landed him in second place but with thousands of potential supporters left uncontacted by the campaign.

    And Trump, besides his regular social media broadsides attacking DeSantis, has attempted to shadow him in Iowa to demonstrate his own popularity. In March, Trump headlined an event at a Davenport theater three days after DeSantis spoke to an audience and took questions from Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds during the Florida governor’s tour promoting his memoir.

    Two weeks ago, Trump scheduled a rally in Des Moines to take place the same day DeSantis was headlining Iowa Republican events in western and eastern Iowa as the guest of Rep. Randy Feenstra and the state GOP. However, Trump scrubbed the outdoor event the day he was to arrive due to threats of severe weather.

    Turning the tables on Trump, DeSantis swooped into Des Moines that evening for an impromptu appearance that helped his campaign create the desired impression of him dancing in the ring with the heavyweight.

    Trump is scheduled to return to Iowa on Thursday, the day after DeSantis’ tour, and is expected to hold events in the Des Moines area, meet influential conservatives and sit for an interview that evening with Fox News Channel host Sean Hannity.

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  • South African president appoints judge to oversee weapons-for-Russia inquiry

    South African president appoints judge to oversee weapons-for-Russia inquiry

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    CAPE TOWN, South Africa — South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has appointed a judge to oversee an inquiry into allegations that the country supplied arms to Russia on a ship that docked secretly at a naval base in December.

    The allegations were made this month by the United States’ ambassador to South Africa, who said he was sure that weapons and ammunition were loaded onto the Russian-flagged cargo ship Lady R when it docked at the Simon’s Town naval base near Cape Town late last year.

    Ambassador Reuben Brigety indicated that the U.S. had intelligence to sustain the allegation and he said he would bet his life on the accuracy of his claim that weapons were loaded onto the ship.

    The Lady R container-carrying ship is under U.S. sanctions for being tied to a company that has transported weapons to aid the Russian war effort in Ukraine.

    South Africa has denied there was any government-sanctioned deal to provide weapons to Russia, although it hasn’t categorically ruled out that an unofficial transaction took place involving another entity.

    Judge P.M.D. Mojapelo, a former Supreme Court of Appeal judge, was appointed chairman of a three-member panel to investigate the incident, Ramaphosa’s office said in a statement on Sunday. A lawyer and a former minister of justice were also appointed.

    The panel has six weeks to complete its investigations and another two weeks from then to provide a report to Ramaphosa, the president’s office said.

    “The panel has been tasked to establish persons who were aware of the cargo ship’s arrival, and, if any, the contents to be off-loaded or loaded, the departure and destination of the cargo,” Ramaphosa’s office said.

    Ramaphosa ordered the inquiry because of the seriousness of the allegations and “the impact of this matter on South Africa’s international relations,” his office said.

    South Africa could be in breach of international law and its own laws regarding weapons sales if it is found to have supplied arms to Moscow for the war in Ukraine.

    The incident has strained relations between the U.S. and South Africa, which is Africa’s most developed economy and a key Western partner on the continent.

    South African Defense Minister Thandi Modise has said the Lady R was visiting to deliver an ammunition shipment from Russia that was ordered by South Africa in 2018 but was delayed because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

    Modise has refused to release cargo documents related to the visit by the Lady R after requests by opposition parties, saying they are classified. She said she will release them to the inquiry, though.

    ___

    More AP Africa news: https://apnews.com/hub/africa

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  • South African president appoints judge to oversee weapons-for-Russia inquiry

    South African president appoints judge to oversee weapons-for-Russia inquiry

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    CAPE TOWN, South Africa — South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has appointed a judge to oversee an inquiry into allegations that the country supplied arms to Russia on a ship that docked secretly at a naval base in December.

    The allegations were made this month by the United States’ ambassador to South Africa, who said he was sure that weapons and ammunition were loaded onto the Russian-flagged cargo ship Lady R when it docked at the Simon’s Town naval base near Cape Town late last year.

    Ambassador Reuben Brigety indicated that the U.S. had intelligence to sustain the allegation and he said he would bet his life on the accuracy of his claim that weapons were loaded onto the ship.

    The Lady R container-carrying ship is under U.S. sanctions for being tied to a company that has transported weapons to aid the Russian war effort in Ukraine.

    South Africa has denied there was any government-sanctioned deal to provide weapons to Russia, although it hasn’t categorically ruled out that an unofficial transaction took place involving another entity.

    Judge P.M.D. Mojapelo, a former Supreme Court of Appeal judge, was appointed chairman of a three-member panel to investigate the incident, Ramaphosa’s office said in a statement on Sunday. A lawyer and a former minister of justice were also appointed.

    The panel has six weeks to complete its investigations and another two weeks from then to provide a report to Ramaphosa, the president’s office said.

    “The panel has been tasked to establish persons who were aware of the cargo ship’s arrival, and, if any, the contents to be off-loaded or loaded, the departure and destination of the cargo,” Ramaphosa’s office said.

    Ramaphosa ordered the inquiry because of the seriousness of the allegations and “the impact of this matter on South Africa’s international relations,” his office said.

    South Africa could be in breach of international law and its own laws regarding weapons sales if it is found to have supplied arms to Moscow for the war in Ukraine.

    The incident has strained relations between the U.S. and South Africa, which is Africa’s most developed economy and a key Western partner on the continent.

    South African Defense Minister Thandi Modise has said the Lady R was visiting to deliver an ammunition shipment from Russia that was ordered by South Africa in 2018 but was delayed because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

    Modise has refused to release cargo documents related to the visit by the Lady R after requests by opposition parties, saying they are classified. She said she will release them to the inquiry, though.

    ___

    More AP Africa news: https://apnews.com/hub/africa

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  • Debt ceiling deal: What’s in, what’s out of the bill to avert US default

    Debt ceiling deal: What’s in, what’s out of the bill to avert US default

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    WASHINGTON — The details of the deal between President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy were released Sunday in the form of a 99-page bill that would suspend the nation’s debt limit through 2025 to avoid a federal default while limiting government spending.

    The Democratic president and Republican speaker are trying to win over lawmakers to the plan in time to avert a default that would shake the global economy. But Congress will be scrutinizing and debating the legislation, which also includes provisions to fund medical care for veterans, change work requirements for some recipients of government aid and streamline environmental reviews for energy projects.

    McCarthy said the House will vote on the legislation Wednesday, giving the Senate time to consider it before June 5, the date when Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said the United States could default on its debt obligations if lawmakers did not act in time.

    Some hardline conservatives have expressed early concerns that the compromise does not cut future deficits enough, while Democrats have been worried about proposed changes to work requirements in programs such as food stamps.

    With the details of the deal now clear, here’s what’s in and out:

    TWO-YEAR DEBT LIMIT SUSPENSION, SPENDING LIMITS

    The agreement would keep nondefense spending roughly flat in the 2024 fiscal year and increase it by 1% the following year, as well as suspend the debt limit until January 2025 — past the next presidential election.

    For the next fiscal year, the bill matches Biden’s proposed defense budget of $886 billion and allots $704 billion for nondefense spending.

    The bill also requires Congress to approve 12 annual spending bills or face a snapback to spending limits from the previous year, which would mean a 1% cut.

    The legislation aims to limit federal budget growth to 1% for the next six years, but that provision would not be enforceable starting in 2025.

    Overall, the White House estimates that the plan would reduce government spending by at least $1 trillion, but official calculations have not yet been released.

    VETERANS CARE

    The agreement would fully fund medical care for veterans at the levels included in Biden’s proposed 2024 budget blueprint, including a fund dedicated to veterans who have been exposed to toxic substances or environmental hazards. Biden sought $20.3 billion for the toxic exposure fund in his budget.

    UNSPENT COVID MONEY

    The agreement would rescind about $30 billion in unspent coronavirus relief money that Congress approved through previous bills. It claws back unobligated money from dozens of federal programs that received aid during the pandemic, including rental assistance, small business loans and broadband for rural areas.

    The legislation protects pandemic funding for veterans’ medical care, housing assistance, the Indian Health Service, and some $5 billion for a program focused on rapidly developing the next generation of COVID-19 vaccines and treatments.

    IRS FUNDING

    Republicans targeted money that the IRS was allotted last year to crack down on tax fraud. The bill bites into some IRS funding, rescinding $1.4 billion.

    WORK REQUIREMENTS

    The agreement would expand work requirements for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, formerly known as food stamps — a longtime Republican priority. But the changes are pared down from the House-passed debt ceiling bill.

    Work requirements already exist for most able-bodied adults between the ages of 18 and 49. The bill would phase in higher age limits, bringing the maximum age to 54 by 2025. But the provision expires, bringing the maximum age back down to age 49 five years later, in 2030.

    Democrats also won some new expanded benefits for veterans, homeless people and young people aging out of foster care. That would also expire in 2030, according to the agreement.

    The agreement would also make it slightly harder for states to waive work requirements for SNAP for certain individuals. Current law allows states to issue some exemptions to the work rules on a discretionary basis, but limits how many people can be exempted. The agreement would lower the number of exemptions that a state can issue and curb states’ ability to carry over the number of exemptions they can hand out from month to month.

    The agreement would also make changes to the Temporary Assistance to Needy Families program, which gives cash aid to families with children. While not going as far as the House bill had proposed, the deal would make adjustments to a credit that allows states to require fewer recipients to work, updating and readjusting the credit to make it harder for states to avoid.

    SPEEDING UP ENERGY PROJECTS

    The deal puts in place changes in the National Environmental Policy Act for the first time in nearly four decades that would designate “a single lead agency” to develop and schedule environmental reviews, in hopes of streamlining the process. It also simplifies some of the requirements for environmental reviews, including placing length limitations on environmental assessments and impact statements.

    Agencies will be given one year to complete environmental reviews, and projects that are deemed to have complex impacts on the environment will need to be reviewed within two years.

    The bill also gives special treatment to the Mountain Valley Pipeline — a West Virginia natural gas pipeline championed by Sens. Joe Manchin and Shelley Moore Capito — by approving all its outstanding permit requests.

    STUDENT LOANS

    Republicans have long sought to reel back the Biden administration’s efforts to provide student loan relief and aid to millions of borrowers during the coronavirus pandemic. While the GOP proposal to rescind the White House’s plan to waive $10,000 to $20,000 in debt for nearly all borrowers failed to make it into the package, Biden agreed to put an end to the pause on student loan repayment.

    The pause in student loan repayments would end in the final days of August.

    The fate of student loan relief, meanwhile, will be decided at the Supreme Court, which is dominated 6-3 by its conservative wing. During oral arguments in the case, several of the justices expressed deep skepticism about the legality of Biden’s plan. A decision is expected before the end of June.

    WHAT’S LEFT OUT

    House Republicans passed legislation last month that would have created new work requirements for some Medicaid recipients, but that was left out of the final agreement. The idea faced stiff opposition from the White House and congressional Democrats, who said it would lead to fewer people able to afford food or health care without actually increasing the number of people in the workforce.

    Also absent from the final deal is the GOP proposal to repeal many of the clean energy tax credits Democrats passed in party-line votes last year to boost the production and consumption of clean energy. McCarthy and Republicans have argued that the tax breaks “distort the market and waste taxpayer money.”

    The White House has defended the tax credits as resulting in hundreds of billions of dollars in private-sector investments, creating thousands of manufacturing jobs in the U.S.

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  • Travelers to UK face long waits amid systems problem affecting electronic gates

    Travelers to UK face long waits amid systems problem affecting electronic gates

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    LONDON — Travelers arriving in the U.K. faced hourslong delays Saturday after a technical problem shut electronic border gates at airports across the country, forcing everyone to have their passports checked manually on what was expected to be one of the busiest travel weekends of the year.

    The Home Office, the government agency responsible for immigration and borders, said it was working to correct a “nationwide border system issue,” though it provided no details about what caused the problem.

    Airport operators asked for patience and apologized for the delays as frustrated travelers took to social media to post photos of long lines at airports including Manchester in the north of England and London Heathrow, Europe’s busiest airport. Travel is expected to be especially busy over the next few days as a three-day weekend coincides with the start of a weeklong holiday for most schools in Britain.

    “We are aware of a nationwide border system issue affecting arrivals into the U.K.,” the Home Office said in a statement. “We are working to resolve the issue as soon as possible and are liaising with port operators and airlines to minimize disruption for travelers.”

    One of those affected was passenger Marc Baret. He told the BBC he had been booked on a flight from Chicago to Manchester via Heathrow, but the flight was canceled. He sought to leave the airport to catch a train and ended up in a very long passport scrum.

    “It was absolute chaos at passport control,” he said. “There were people getting really frustrated and a couple of individuals tried to jump queues. The police had to get engaged and one of the passengers fainted.”

    The problems, which began Friday night, come as U.K. airports, airlines and ferry operators try to rebuild goodwill with the public after a series of glitches caused travel chaos last summer when foreign travel surged following the coronavirus pandemic.

    Electronic passport gates are automated self-service barriers designed to speed up processing of travel documents. Using facial recognition technology, the system verifies a traveler’s identity against the data stored in the chip in their passport.

    There are now 270 such gates at 15 air and rail ports in the U.K., according to the Home Office. They are open to anyone over the age of 12 who holds a passport from the U.K., any European Union member country, Australia, Canada, Iceland, Japan, Liechtenstein, New Zealand, Norway, Singapore, South Korea, Switzerland and the United States.

    About 86% of the people who enter the U.K. each year are eligible to use the electronic gates, according to the Home Office.

    Heathrow and other airports promised to do what they could to ease congestion.

    “We are aware of a nationwide issue impacting the eGates, which are operated by Border Force,” Heathrow said in a statement. “This issue is impacting a number of ports of entry and is not Heathrow specific. Our teams are working closely with Border Force to help resolve the problem as quickly as possible and we have additional colleagues on hand to manage queues and provide passenger welfare.”

    Belgian aviation photographer Ivan Coninx, who flew from Belgium to London on Saturday, tweeted an image showing passengers crammed shoulder-to-shoulder as they waited to reach passport control. Coninx tweeted that the “current situation is quite a mess.”

    He said it took 90 minutes for a check that usually takes 10 to 15 minutes. But at least, staff at Heathrow handed out water.

    “It was a bit chaotic,” Coninx told The Associated Press.

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  • Biden says debt deal ‘very close’ even as two sides far apart on work requirements

    Biden says debt deal ‘very close’ even as two sides far apart on work requirements

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    WASHINGTON — Work requirements for federal food aid recipients have emerged as a final sticking point in negotiations over the looming debt crisis, even as President Joe Biden said Friday that a deal is “very close.”

    Biden’s optimism came as the deadline for a potentially catastrophic default was pushed back to June 5 and seemed likely to drag negotiations between the White House and Republicans over raising the debt ceiling into another frustrating week. Both sides have suggested one of the main holdups is a GOP effort to boost work requirements for recipients of food stamps and other federal aid programs, a longtime Republican goal Democrats have strenuously opposed.

    Even as they came closer to a framework on spending, each side seemed dug in on the work requirements. White House spokesman Andrew Bates called the GOP proposals “cruel and senseless” and said Biden and Democrats would stand against them.

    Louisiana Rep. Garret Graves, one of House Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s negotiators, was blunt when asked if Republicans might relent on the issue: “Hell no, not a chance,” he said.

    The later “ X-date,” laid out in a letter from Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, set the risk of a devastating default four days beyond an earlier estimate. Still, Americans and the world uneasily watched the negotiating brinkmanship that could throw the U.S. economy into chaos and sap world confidence in the nation’s leadership.

    Yet Biden was upbeat as he left for the Memorial Day weekend at Camp David, declaring, “It’s very close, and I’m optimistic.”

    With Republicans at the Capitol talking with Biden’s team at the White House, the president said: “There’s a negotiation going on. I’m hopeful we’ll know by tonight whether we’re going to be able to have a deal.” But a deal had not come together when McCarthy left the Capitol Friday evening.

    In a blunt warning, Yellen said failure to act by the new date would “cause severe hardship to American families, harm our global leadership position and raise questions about our ability to defend our national security interests.”

    Anxious retirees and others were already making contingency plans for missed checks, with the next Social Security payments due next week.

    Biden and Republican McCarthy have seemed to be narrowing on a two-year budget-slashing deal that would also extend the debt limit into 2025 past the next presidential election.

    But talks over the proposed work requirements for recipients of Medicaid, food stamps and other aid programs seemed at a standstill Friday afternoon.

    Biden has said the Medicaid work requirements would be a nonstarter. But he initially seemed open to possible changes on food stamps, now known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP.

    The Republican proposal would save $11 billion over 10 years by raising the maximum age for existing standards that require able-bodied adults who do not live with dependents to work or attend training programs. While current law applies those standards to recipients under the age of 50, the House bill would raise the age to include adults 55 and under. The GOP proposal would also decrease the number of exemptions that states can grant to some recipients subject to those requirements.

    Biden’s position on the SNAP work requirements appeared to have hardened by Friday, when spokesman Bates said House Republicans are threatening to trigger an unprecedented recession “unless they can take food out of the mouths of hungry Americans.”

    Any deal would need to be a political compromise, with support from both Democrats and Republicans to pass the divided Congress. Failure to lift the borrowing limit, now $31 trillion, to pay the nation’s incurred bills, would send shockwaves through the U.S. and global economy.

    But many of the hard-right Trump-aligned Republicans in Congress have long been skeptical of Treasury’s projections, and they are pressing McCarthy to hold out.

    As talks pushed into another late night, one of the negotiators, Rep. Patrick McHenry, R-N.C., called Biden’s comments “a hopeful sign.” But he also cautioned that there’s still “sticky points” impeding a final agreement.

    While the contours of the deal have been taking shape to cut spending for 2024 and impose a 1% cap on spending growth for 2025, the two sides remain stuck on various provisions.

    House Republicans had pushed the issue to the brink, displaying risky political bravado in leaving town for the Memorial Day holiday. Lawmakers are tentatively not expected back at work until Tuesday, but now their return is uncertain.

    Weeks of negotiations between Republicans and the White House have failed to produce a deal — in part because the Biden administration resisted negotiating with McCarthy over the debt limit, arguing that the country’s full faith and credit should not be used as leverage to extract other partisan priorities.

    “We have to spend less than we spent last year. That is the starting point,” said McCarthy.

    One idea is to set the topline budget numbers but then add a “snap-back” provision to enforce cuts if Congress is unable during its annual appropriations process to meet the new goals.

    Lawmakers are all but certain to claw back some $30 billion in unspent COVID-19 funds now that the pandemic emergency has officially been lifted.

    McCarthy has promised lawmakers he will abide by the rule to post any bill for 72 hours before voting. The Democratic-held Senate has vowed to move quickly to send the package to Biden’s desk.

    ___

    Associated Press writers Mary Clare Jalonick, Stephen Groves, Farnoush Amiri, Seung Min Kim and Kevin Freking and videojournalist Rick Gentilo contributed to this report.

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  • Charcoal cooking, week-long queues for gasoline: Fuel shortages slam Cuba’s countryside

    Charcoal cooking, week-long queues for gasoline: Fuel shortages slam Cuba’s countryside

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    MARIEL, Cuba — Rosa López, a 59-year-old housewife, lit a charcoal stove to boil sweet potatoes and prepare scrambled eggs for her grandchildren. The gas cylinders she normally uses to cook her meals have not been available for almost two months in Mariel, a port town west of Havana.

    Not far from there, on the highway to Pinar del Río and under a scorching sun, Ramón Victores spent one week waiting in line at a gas station, hoping to fuel up the 1952 red Chevrolet he uses for work, moving produce from one town to another.

    Cuba’s most recent fuel shortage has crippled an already fragile economy, but it is hitting rural villages particularly hard, with residents resorting to coal fires to cook their food, scrambling to find transport to take them to work and spending days — and nights — at the gas station waiting to fuel up.

    The Associated Press visited a dozen villages in the provinces of Artemisa and Mayabeque, to the east and west of Havana, to talk to people about how the fuel shortage is affecting their daily lives and what they’re doing to dodge yet another crisis.

    With food and medications already in short supply amid an economy that was severely hurt by the COVID-19 pandemic, the end of the country’s two-currency system and a tightening of U.S. sanctions, the lack of fuel and cooking gas is perceived by many Cubans in the island’s countryside as the last straw.

    López, the housewife in Mariel, has been using coal and firewood to cook her meals since the government suspended the sale of gas cylinders over a month ago. A system of coupons in place now organizes the delivery of precious cooking gas, but López is number 900 in line and not sure when she’ll be able to get her hands on one.

    About 50 kilometers (30 miles) east of Mariel, on the road to Pinar del Río, a group of small vehicles joined a long queue of tractors and other farming equipment at a gas station waiting for their turn to fill up, with many waiting for up to one week.

    Manuel Rodríguez, a 67-year-old gardener, waited four days in line, hoping to fuel his battered motorcycle. But instead of settling for the mere three liters needed to fill it up, he came up with an ingenious way to take advantage of the 10-liter maximum allowed per user: He strapped a 10-liter plastic tank to the frame of his blue motorcycle, acknowledging the contraption might not precisely be the safest way to travel.

    “It’s a bit dangerous,” he said while showing off his invention. “But it works!”

    The lack of fuel is also making it harder for residents of small villages to go to work and move around neighboring towns. María de la Caridad Cordero, a 58-year-old teacher in Güines, in the province of Mayabeque, waited for a ride to Jagüey Grande to visit her brother.

    “If I don’t find anything by noon, I’ll just go back home and try again tomorrow, or the day after tomorrow,” she said.

    Ultimately, after two hours standing by the road, waving money unsuccessfully trying to entice the sporadic drivers to pick her up, she and a dozen other villagers hopped on a yellow school bus that suddenly came to a screeching halt.

    Back in Mariel, López and her family said they found temporary relief in a small plot of land where they built a coal stove and grow some fruits and vegetables. Yet, there are basic food items that are still hard to come by.

    “There’s no cooking oil at the bodega,” she says. “Hopefully, we’ll get some tomorrow.”

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  • Lenny Kravitz, Billie Eilish set for Global Citizen’s ‘Power Our Planet’ show for climate financing

    Lenny Kravitz, Billie Eilish set for Global Citizen’s ‘Power Our Planet’ show for climate financing

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    Music superstars Lenny Kravitz, Billie Eilish and H.E.R. will team with advocacy nonprofit Global Citizen for a free concert in front of the Eiffel Tower designed to convince world leaders to take further action against climate change.

    “Power Our Planet: Live in Paris” is set for June 22 to coincide with the Summit for a New Global Financial Pact, a gathering of the world’s political and business leaders to help developing nations finance sustainability projects.

    Global Citizen CEO Hugh Evans says the summit is an opportunity for governments and global banks to collaborate to jump start climate projects stalled by the COVID-19 pandemic. He hopes “Power Our Planet” will encourage leaders to take advantage of that opportunity and provide the $16.7 billion in outstanding climate financing promised in 2009 to lower-income countries. He is also seeking to advance reforms at the World Bank to make up to $1 trillion in additional financing available.

    “Global leaders and democratically elected governments really only respond to the momentum of their people and summits like this can come and go,” Evans told The Associated Press. “If it doesn’t achieve its goal, we’re going to miss the window this year to make the climate negotiations the success, which is even more important after last year’s complete failure in Egypt.”

    The Eiffel Tower event is part of the Global Citizen initiative, announced last month at the Global Citizen NOW conference in New York, supporting Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley’s call to rewrite the rules of global development banks and relieve the debts of lower-income countries to increase funding for climate adaptation projects.

    Global Citizen has shown for years, especially with its A-list concerts in New York’s Central Park, that it can generate action by having cultural leaders mobilize their supporters. And artists like Kravitz plan to motivate fans to “act today to save tomorrow.”

    “The next generation are inheriting a planet that’s being devastated by climate change,” Kravitz said in a statement. “We have the power to change things with our voices and our actions.”

    French President Emmanuel Macron supports the Global Citizen event, citing the need for “a world with more solidarity.”

    “Crises are multiplying and the number of those who place their hope in peace and multilateralism will only grow if we, as a global community, demonstrate that we are there to help the most vulnerable,” Macron said in a statement. “Because there will be no climate transition worldwide if we don’t fight for more justice and equity.”

    Major philanthropic organizations — including the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Rockefeller Foundation, Rotary International, and Open Society Foundations – as well as the public-private partnership Gavi, The Vaccine Alliance, will also support the effort.

    “Power Our Planet: Live in Paris,” which will also include performances from Finneas, Jon Batiste, and Ben Harper, will be livestreamed on Global Citizen’s social media platforms, while Amazon Music will host the livestream on its Twitch channel.

    _____

    Associated Press coverage of philanthropy and nonprofits receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content. For all of AP’s philanthropy coverage, visit https://apnews.com/hub/philanthropy.

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  • Actor Jeremy Renner wants tax credits for film projects in northern Nevada, but he may have to wait

    Actor Jeremy Renner wants tax credits for film projects in northern Nevada, but he may have to wait

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    CARSON CITY, Nev. — Actor Jeremy Renner’s hopes to expand a measure for the film industry to northern Nevada were effectively dashed Monday when the bill’s sponsor said it’s too late to entertain in the current legislative session.

    A bill moving through the Nevada Legislature would provide $190 million annually in tax credits over at least 20 years aimed at bringing film productions to two sites in southern Nevada, including a $1 billion Sony expansion.

    Renner, who played the sharp-shooting Hawkeye of the Avengers squad in Marvel’s sprawling movie and television universe, lobbied lawmakers Monday for a third site in northern Nevada that he said could rival film production studios in Atlanta and New Mexico where he shot Avengers and other films.

    Democratic Sen. Roberta Lange of Las Vegas, the bill sponsor, and Brandon Birtcher, a developer who spearheaded the project said it was too late in the project to add another site. But Lange said a potential amendment could potentially provide for a study to look at what economic impacts a northern Nevada expansion would bring.

    “It took two years to get that bill to where it is today. And so to bring in something else, a whole new idea at this point, it’s probably not going to work,” said Lange. “But I think we need to look at it.”

    The bill is the latest attempt at diversifying southern Nevada’s economy that relies largely on revenue from gambling and tourism but that was hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic. The proposed tax incentives are the largest in recent state history, even with the deals that numbered in the hundreds of millions with Tesla and lithium battery recycling company Redwood Materials.

    But unlike those deals, which used direct tax abatements, private developers and studios must hit certain goals to receive expansive tax credits. Two sites are proposed, one on the campus of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, and another in the Summerlin area of Las Vegas.

    Developers would have to spend $500 million and $400 million on the sites by 2030, and studios would have to wrap up film production before getting tax credits.

    Neither the state Senate nor the Assembly has voted on the bill, and Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo hasn’t chimed in on it.

    The proposal stems from two years of negotiations but was introduced in the Legislature with three weeks to spare in the biennial session, unbeknownst to many, including Renner. He said he heard about it during a trip to Los Angeles and scrambled to try to get a last-minute amendment to include the Nevada county where he lives and others in the region.

    “I have a desire and want to…speak up for people in Elko (County), people up here in Washoe (County), that we also deserve the opportunity to reap the benefits of building studios, jobs, infrastructure for the film industry,” Renner told The Associated Press. “And that’s my main impetus to to be here.”

    Now, a study to look at the economic impact of a northern Nevada project is more likely to be added to the bill, Lange said. The condensed timeline and added tax breaks make funding a third zone nearly impossible until the 2025 Legislative session.

    Renner, who moved to northern Nevada about 10 years ago, said he wants to work on films closer to home and argues that the area’s landscape including Reno, Lake Tahoe, and rural swaths of land would draw interest from major studios worldwide.

    New Mexico already offers a rebate of between 25% and 35% of in-state spending for video production. Democratic Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham signed legislation in April that also increases payouts to productions based in rural areas of the state.

    Renner said the Nevada incentives could rival Georgia’s, which has become the nationwide leader in film incentives. Films there receive a 30% break on in-state costs that are not capped, along with other local incentives.

    Expanding the film industry to northern Nevada would take more tax credits than currently proposed, Lange said. State analysts predicted a maximum cost of over $3.5 billion over the next 20 years for the tax credits for the southern Nevada sites, a small part of which would fund local workforce training and education.

    Opponents of the bill argue massive tax credits would better be spent on schools, health care and mental health services.

    If the bill is approved, construction on the two sites could start as soon as 2025, with studios using the space in 2027. Sony has said it would invest $1 billion in the next decade at the Summerlin site, contingent upon incentives from the state.

    Renner said he’s talked with Disney and other media companies about bringing more films to northern Nevada.

    “I don’t know how to put a bill together or try to move the needle forward. And I’m not a policy guy,” Renner said. “So I was really excited about (the bill). And then I was frustrated that it wasn’t very inclusive.”

    ___

    Associated Press writer Morgan Lee contributed reporting from Santa Fe, New Mexico. Stern is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms. Follow Stern on Twitter: @gabestern326.

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  • Actor Jeremy Renner wants tax credits for film projects in northern Nevada but he may have to wait

    Actor Jeremy Renner wants tax credits for film projects in northern Nevada but he may have to wait

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    CARSON CITY, Nev. — Actor Jeremy Renner’s hopes to expand a measure for the film industry to northern Nevada were effectively dashed Monday when the bill’s sponsor said it’s too late to entertain in the current legislative session.

    A bill moving through the Nevada Legislature would provide $190 million annually in tax credits over at least 20 years aimed at bringing film productions to two sites in southern Nevada, including a $1 billion Sony expansion.

    Renner, who played the sharp-shooting Hawkeye of the Avengers squad in Marvel’s sprawling movie and television universe, lobbied lawmakers Monday for a third site in northern Nevada that he said could rival film production studios in Atlanta and New Mexico where he shot Avengers and other films.

    Democratic Sen. Roberta Lange of Las Vegas, the bill sponsor, and Brandon Birtcher, a developer who spearheaded the project said it was too late in the project to add another site. But Lange said a potential amendment could potentially provide for a study to look at what economic impacts a northern Nevada expansion would bring.

    “It took two years to get that bill to where it is today. And so to bring in something else, a whole new idea at this point, it’s probably not going to work,” said Lange. “But I think we need to look at it.”

    The bill is the latest attempt at diversifying southern Nevada’s economy that relies largely on revenue from gambling and tourism but that was hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic. The proposed tax incentives are the largest in recent state history, even with the deals that numbered in the hundreds of millions with Tesla and lithium battery recycling company Redwood Materials.

    But unlike those deals, which used direct tax abatements, private developers and studios must hit certain goals to receive expansive tax credits. Two sites are proposed, one on the campus of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, and another in the Summerlin area of Las Vegas.

    Developers would have to spend $500 million and $400 million on the sites by 2030, and studios would have to wrap up film production before getting tax credits.

    Neither the state Senate nor the Assembly has voted on the bill, and Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo hasn’t chimed in on it.

    The proposal stems from two years of negotiations but was introduced in the Legislature with three weeks to spare in the biennial session, unbeknownst to many, including Renner. He said he heard about it during a trip to Los Angeles and scrambled to try to get a last-minute amendment to include the Nevada county where he lives and others in the region.

    “I have a desire and want to…speak up for people in Elko (County), people up here in Washoe (County), that we also deserve the opportunity to reap the benefits of building studios, jobs, infrastructure for the film industry,” Renner told The Associated Press. “And that’s my main impetus to to be here.”

    Now, a study to look at the economic impact of a northern Nevada project is more likely to be added to the bill, Lange said. The condensed timeline and added tax breaks make funding a third zone nearly impossible until the 2025 Legislative session.

    Renner, who moved to northern Nevada about 10 years ago, said he wants to work on films closer to home and argues that the area’s landscape including Reno, Lake Tahoe, and rural swaths of land would draw interest from major studios worldwide.

    New Mexico already offers a rebate of between 25% and 35% of in-state spending for video production. Democratic Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham signed legislation in April that also increases payouts to productions based in rural areas of the state.

    Renner said the Nevada incentives could rival Georgia’s, which has become the nationwide leader in film incentives. Films there receive a 30% break on in-state costs that are not capped, along with other local incentives.

    Expanding the film industry to northern Nevada would take more tax credits than currently proposed, Lange said. State analysts predicted a maximum cost of over $3.5 billion over the next 20 years for the tax credits for the southern Nevada sites, a small part of which would fund local workforce training and education.

    Opponents of the bill argue massive tax credits would better be spent on schools, health care and mental health services.

    If the bill is approved, construction on the two sites could start as soon as 2025, with studios using the space in 2027. Sony has said it would invest $1 billion in the next decade at the Summerlin site, contingent upon incentives from the state.

    Renner said he’s talked with Disney and other media companies about bringing more films to northern Nevada.

    “I don’t know how to put a bill together or try to move the needle forward. And I’m not a policy guy,” Renner said. “So I was really excited about (the bill). And then I was frustrated that it wasn’t very inclusive.”

    ___

    Associated Press writer Morgan Lee contributed reporting from Santa Fe, New Mexico. Stern is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms. Follow Stern on Twitter: @gabestern326.

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  • China lifts ban on Australian timber imports in another sign of improving bilateral relations

    China lifts ban on Australian timber imports in another sign of improving bilateral relations

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    CANBERRA, Australia — China opened its doors on Thursday to Australian timber imports for the first time in more than two years, in another sign that the tattered bilateral relationship is being repaired.

    Timber was on a list of Australian exports subjected to official and unofficial Chinese trade barriers imposed in 2020 after Australia called for an independent inquiry into the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic.

    The list that included coal, wine, barley, beef, seafood, cotton and copper was estimated to cost Australian exporters $14 billion a year.

    But relations have improved since the center-left Labor Party came to power a year ago, ending nine years of conservative rule in Australia. Australian coal, cotton and copper exports to China have recently resumed.

    Chinese Ambassador to Australia Xiao Qian said the timber ban had been lifted from Thursday because Australian exporters had satisfied China’s quarantine concerns. The Australian government was officially informed on Wednesday.

    “So from today on, the Australian timber is going back to China,” Xiao told reporters.

    The breakthrough came after Trade Minister Don Farrell visited Beijing last weekend seeking to lift trade barriers especially on Australian wine and barley.

    Foreign Minister Penny Wong welcomed the return of the timber trade with China. It had been worth $1 billion a year before the ban.

    “We are pleased with this development,” Wong said during a joint press conference with her Philippine counterpart Enrique Manalo during a visit to Manila.

    “We do believe that removal of these trade impediments benefits both parties,” she added, referring to China and Australia.

    Treasurer Jim Chalmers said China’s decision on timber was a step toward his government’s objective to stabilize the economic relationship with China.

    “It’s a crucially important market for us and we want to stabilize the relationship and any progress in lifting these trade restrictions is welcome,” Chalmers told reporters.

    The Australian Forest Products Association, which represents a range of forestry and paper industries, also welcomed China’s decision.

    “When the ban came into effect more than two years ago, it caused a great deal of upheaval and uncertainty for many timber exporters and the broader forest sector and this resolution is welcomed,” the association’s chief executive Joel Fitzgibbon said in a statement.

    China is Australia’s biggest trading partner, with two-way trade totaling $287 billion last year.

    In April, Australia suspended a complaint to the World Trade Organization in a bid to reopen the Chinese market to Australian barley.

    In return, China has agreed to review its decision to impose an 80% tariff on the grain. Australia hopes that China will agree within months to lift tariffs on both Australian barley and wine.

    ____

    Associated Press reporter Jim Gomez in Manila, Philippines, contributed to this report.

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  • In debt ceiling standoff, COVID era of big spending gives way to new focus on deficit

    In debt ceiling standoff, COVID era of big spending gives way to new focus on deficit

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    WASHINGTON — One outcome is clear as Washington reaches for a budget deal in the debt ceiling standoff: The ambitious COVID-19 era of government spending to cope with the pandemic and rebuild is giving way to a new focus on tailored investments and stemming deficits.

    President Joe Biden has said recouping unspent coronavirus money is “on the table” in budget talks with Congress. While the White House has threatened to veto Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s debt ceiling bill with its “devastating cuts” to federal programs, the administration has signaled a willingness to consider other budget caps.

    The end result is a turnaround from just a few years ago, when Congress passed and then-president Donald Trump signed the historic $2.2 trillion CARES Act at the start of the public health crisis in 2020. It’s a dramatic realignment even as Biden’s bipartisan infrastructure law and Inflation Reduction Act are now investing billions of dollars into paving streets, shoring up the federal safety net and restructuring the U.S. economy.

    “The appetite to throw a lot more money at major problems right now is significantly diminished, given what we’ve seen over the past several years,” said Shai Akabas, director of economic policy at the Bipartisan Policy Center, a nonpartisan organization in Washington.

    The Treasury Department has warned it will begin running out of money to pay the nation’s bills as soon as June 1, though an estimate Friday by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget office put the deadline at the first two weeks of June, potentially buying the negotiators time.

    “We’ve not reached the crunch point yet,” Biden told reporters Saturday before flying to Delaware for the weekend. “There’s real discussion about some changes we all could make. We’re not there yet.”

    Staff-level negotiators resumed talks Saturday.

    The contours of an agreement between the White House and Congress are within reach even if the political will to end the standoff is uncertain. Negotiators are considering clawing back some $30 billion in unused COVID-19 funds, imposing spending caps over the next several years and approving permitting reforms to ease construction of energy projects and other developments, according to those familiar with the closed-door staff discussions. They were not authorized to discuss the private deliberations and spoke on condition of anonymity.

    The White House has been hesitant to engage in talks, insisting it is only willing to negotiate over the annual budget, not the debt ceiling, and Biden’s team is skeptical that McCarthy can cut any deal with his far-right House majority.

    “There’s no deal to be had on the debt ceiling. There’s no negotiation to be had on the debt ceiling,” said White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre.

    McCarthy’s allies say the White House has fundamentally underestimated what the new Republican leader has been able to accomplish — first in the grueling fight to become House speaker and now in having passed the House bill with $4.5 trillion in savings as an opening offer in negotiations. Both have emboldened McCarthy to push hard for a deal.

    “The White House has been wrong every single time with understanding where we are with the House,” said Russ Vought, president of Center for American Renewal and Trump’s former director of the Office of Management and Budget. “They’re dealing with a new animal.”

    The nation’s debt load has ballooned in recent years to $31 trillion. That’s virtually double what it was during the last major debt ceiling showdown a decade ago, when Biden, as vice president to President Barack Obama, faced the new class of tea party Republicans demanding spending cuts in exchange for raising the debt limit.

    While the politics of the debt limit have intensified, the nation’s debt is nothing new. The U.S. balance sheets have been operating in the red for much of its history, dating to before the Civil War. That’s because government expenditures are routinely more than tax revenues, helping to subsidize the comforts Americans depend on — national security, public works, a federal safety net and basic operations to keep a civil society running. In the U.S., individuals pay the bulk of the taxes, while corporations pay less than 10%.

    Much of the COVID-19 spending approved at the start of the pandemic has run its course and government spending is back to its typical levels, experts said. That includes the free vaccines, small business payroll funds, emergency payments to individuals, monthly child tax credits and supplemental food aid that protected Americans and the economy.

    “Most of the big things we did are done — and they did an enormous amount of good,” said Sharon Parrott, president of the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities in Washington.

    “We actually showed that we know how to drive down poverty and drive up health insurance amid what would have been rising hardship,” she said.

    Last year, Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act, which was signed into law over Republican opposition, was largely paid for with savings and new revenues elsewhere.

    The popularity of some spending, particularly the child tax credits in the COVID-19 relief and the Inflation Reduction Act’s efforts to tackle climate change, shows the political hunger in the country for the kinds of investments that some Americans believe will help push the U.S. fully into a 21st century economy.

    A case in point: A core group of Midwestern Republican lawmakers prevented a rollback of the Inflation Reduction Act’s biofuel tax credits their colleagues wanted to scrap, persuading McCarthy to leave that out of the House bill. The federal money is propping up new investments in corn-heavy agriculture states.

    As McCarthy’s House Republicans now demand budget reductions in exchange for raising the debt limit, they have a harder time saying what government programs and services, in fact, they plan to cut.

    House Republicans pushed back strenuously against Biden’s claims their bill would slash veterans and other services.

    McCarthy, in his meeting with the president, went so far as to tell Biden that’s “a lie.”

    The Republicans promise they will exempt the Defense Department and veterans’ health care once they draft the actual spending bills to match up with the House debt ceiling proposal, but there are no written guarantees those programs would not face cuts.

    In fact, Democrats say if Republicans spare defense and veterans from reductions, the cuts on the other departments would be as high as 22%.

    Budget watchers often reiterate that the debt problem is not necessarily the amount of the debt load, approaching 100% of the nation’s gross domestic product, but whether the federal government can continue making the payments on the debt, especially as interest rates rise.

    From the White House on Friday, Mitch Landrieu, the infrastructure implementation coordinator, talked up the $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill Biden signed into law 18 months ago. He said it is creating jobs, spurring private investment and showing what can happen when the sides comes together.

    “We say once in a generation because it hasn’t happened in our lifetimes, and quite frankly it may not happen again in the near future,” he said.

    __

    AP White House Correspondent Zeke Miller and Associated Press writer Seung Min Kim contributed to this report.

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