Yellen says June 5 is last date for US debt ceiling to be raised

US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said on Friday the government would run short of money to pay its bills on June 5, which would trigger a potentially calamitous default, unless Congress raises the US$31.4 trillion (S$42 trillion) debt ceiling.

Ms Yellen’s announcement allows a little more time for Democratic President Joe Biden and Republican House of Representatives Speaker Kevin McCarthy to reach an accord to raise the federal government’s self-imposed borrowing limit.

Previously, the Treasury had said the deal needed to be reached as soon as June 1.

Representative Patrick McHenry, one of the Republican negotiators, said they could meet the June 5 deadline.

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Ukraine says Russia plans to simulate nuclear accident

Ukraine’s defence ministry on Friday said Russia was planning to simulate a major accident at a nuclear power station controlled by pro-Moscow forces to try to thwart a long-planned Ukrainian counteroffensive to retake territory occupied by Russia.

The Zaporizhzhia plant, which lies in an area of Russian-occupied southern Ukraine, is Europe’s biggest nuclear power station and the area has been repeatedly hit by shelling that both sides blame each other for.

The defence ministry’s intelligence directorate said Russian forces would soon shell the plant and then announce a radiation leak. This would force an investigation by international authorities, during which all hostilities would be stopped.

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Stranger hugs Germany’s Scholz in airport security breach

German Chancellor...