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President Joe Biden planned on Sunday to speak directly with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, hoping to salvage talks to raise the debt limit that have stalled in recent days while he was abroad at the Group of Seven summit. GOP lawmakers have held tight to demands for sharp spending cuts, rejecting alternative ways to reduce deficits. Biden and world leaders at the G7 closely tracked the negotiations, looking for signs the U.S. could avoiding a potentially catastrophic federal default. The two sides are up against a deadline as soon as June 1 to raise its borrowing limit, now at $31 trillion, so the government can keep paying its bills.

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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says that he believes that Russia has taken control of the eastern city of Bakhmut. Zelenskyy's comments in Japan on Sunday came after a bloody eight-month battle by Moscow’s Wagner private army with the support of Russian troops that has left Bakhmut in ruins. Zelenskky said he thought Ukraine had lost the city. But he added “You have to understand that there is nothing.” He said that Russians “destroyed everything" and that "Bakhmut is only in our hearts. Zelenskyy was speaking alongside President Joe Biden at the Group of Seven summit in Hiroshima.

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Bolstering international support is a key priority for Ukraine as it prepares for what is seen as a major push intended to take back territory seized by Russia.

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A top debt ceiling negotiator for House Speaker Kevin McCarthy says it’s time to “press pause” on talks as negotiations with the White House have come to an abrupt standstill at the Capitol. Republican Rep. Garret Graves of Louisiana says gaps remain in the negotiations with the White House. Graves says it's “just not productive” to continue at this point. It's not clear when the talks will resume, he said. Biden’s administration is racing to strike a deal with Republicans as the nation careens toward a potentially catastrophic debt default if negotiators fail to increase the borrowing limit to keep paying the nation’s bills.

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Top negotiators from the White House have met over the debt limit with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s emissaries at the Capitol. They were grinding through more head-to-head talks on Thursday, trying to strike a budget deal. President Joe Biden and McCarthy both tapped their top representatives to press for results ahead of a deadline as soon as June 1. That's when the U.S. could run out of funds to pay its obligations, sparking an economic crisis. Upbeat, McCarthy said it was important to have an “agreement in principle” this weekend to get to a House vote next week. Biden is being updated while he is at the Group of Seven summit in Japan.

AP

The embassies of Canada, Finland, France, Germany, Sweden and other governments have for months displayed Ukrainian flags or set up placards with the phrase “#WeStandWithUkraine” visible from the street.

AP

Florida is banning gender-affirming care for minors, effective immediately. Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a series of anti-LGBTQ+ bills on Wednesday. Others address drag shows and how schools handle the use of personal pronouns and bathrooms. Planned Parenthood immediately started canceling appointments for gender-affirming health care. DeSantis has promoted anti-LGBTQ+ legislation as he prepares to seek the GOP presidential nomination. His bill-signing ceremony at an evangelical Christian school had a campaign-like feel, with DeSantis throwing Sharpies to a cheering crowd. State Sen. Shevrin Jones, who is gay, said the governor chose a setting where he was likely to get praise for bigotry.

AP

Freshman congressman has been accused by federal prosecutors of embezzling money from his campaign, falsely receiving unemployment funds and lying to Congress about his finances. 

AP

Consumer prices in the United States rose again in April, and measures of underlying inflation stayed high, a sign that further declines in inflation are likely to be slow and bumpy. Prices increased 0.4% from March to April, up from a 0.1% rise from February to March. Compared with a year earlier, prices climbed 4.9%, down slightly from March’s year-over-year increase. The April data provided some evidence of cooling inflation, a sign that sent stock prices higher in morning trading. Grocery prices fell for a second straight month. And the cost of many services, including airline fares and hotel rooms, plunged.

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