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Senate Democrats, caught off guard by President Biden’s decision to tap two senior advisers to negotiate a debt ceiling deal with Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), are warning the president not to agree to anything that would hurt low-income Americans or undermine the battle against climate change.  

Democratic senators are increasingly concerned that any deal that Biden strikes with McCarthy will include major concessions to House conservatives that they would find hard to support. 

“From my perspective, I’m sharing my deep concerns with the people at the table,” said Senate Agriculture Committee Chairwoman Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) of her outreach to Biden and “his team” about the House Republican proposal to cut to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), which McCarthy called a “red line” in the talks. 

What Democratic senators see as the growing likelihood that Biden will agree to cut tens of billions of dollars in nondefense domestic spending and make it easier to approve new fossil-fuel extraction projects has spurred some of them to urge the president to raise the debt limit unilaterally and circumvent Republican lawmakers altogether.  

A group of Senate Democrats including Sens. Tina Smith (Minn.), Elizabeth Warren (Mass.), Ed Markey (Mass.), Jeff Merkley (Ore.), and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) signed onto a letter urging Biden to prepare to use the 14th Amendment to raise the debt limit in the absence of a deal with McCarthy.  

“Kevin McCarthy has two main requests: Attack ordinary, working families across America by cutting the foundations for health care, housing, education and good-paying jobs, and unleash fossil fuels on America. And both of those are absolutely unacceptable,” Merkley told reporters Wednesday.   

“I want the president to see that he has the support in the Senate to use the 14th Amendment,” he said. “He has support to say no to outrageous demands from the radical right.” 

Senate Democrats had urged Biden for months not to negotiate with McCarthy over legislation to raise the debt limit, arguing that the full faith and credit of the federal government shouldn’t be used as a bargaining chip.  

The president followed that advice for months, but he changed course this week by tapping two senior officials, Office of Management and Budget Director Shalanda Young and counselor Steve Ricchetti to take the lead in negotiating with McCarthy’s deputy, Rep. Garret Graves (R-La.).  

Democratic senators acknowledged on Wednesday that Biden now certainly appears to be willing to negotiate with McCarthy on raising the debt limit, and they see that as bad news given the spending cuts included in the legislation the House passed last month to raise the debt limit.  

“Yes, he’s negotiating. I don’t know what else what you call it,” said Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), who had urged Biden not to let House Republicans use the debt limit as a hostage.  

Schatz warned that Democrats on Capitol Hill wouldn’t vote for a deal that includes even a quarter of the proposals included in the House Republicans’ Limit, Save, Grow Act, which would cut spending by $4.8 trillion over the next decade and greenlight new fossil-fuel projects around the country.  

“No, we’re not going to swallow that,” he said. “I think that it is preposterous that the Speaker of the House has woken up sometime this week and decided that work requirements for needy families was his hill to die on, that this is some high principle that is worth taking the country to default.” 

Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) said he will oppose any effort by House Republicans to use debt limit legislation to roll back the clean energy tax breaks included in last year’s Inflation Reduction Act. 

“If it’s about rolling back the IRA, I’m going to fight against that for sure because the energy community tax credits, they really help Virginia, including some of the parts of Virginia that need the most economic help,” he said. 

“There are a number of things I’m hearing about that would cause me concerns,” he said. 

At the same time, conservative Republicans say if Biden does not agree to significant spending reforms and policy concessions, any debt limit deal that may emerge from talks with McCarthy will fall flat with members of the House Freedom Caucus.  

A small group of House conservatives hold significant leverage over McCarthy due to his narrow majority and because it only takes only one House lawmaker to offer a motion to vacate the Speaker’s chair. 

Sen. Mike Braun (R-Ind.), who has met with members of the House Freedom Caucus to help build GOP support for the House debt limit bill, warned that McCarthy doesn’t have much “wiggle room” to agree to a deal that falls well short of the reforms in that legislation.

Biden set off alarms among Democrats on Capitol Hill by suggesting over the weekend that he would be open to stricter work requirements for SNAP and TANF, though he took Medicaid off the table.  

“I voted for tougher aid programs that’s in the law now, but for Medicaid, it’s a different story. And so I’m waiting to hear what their exact proposal is,” he told reporters during a bike ride in Rehoboth Beach, Del. 

Biden walked back that comment Wednesday before departing for a trip to Japan. 

“I’m not going to accept any work requirements that go much beyond what is already — I voted years ago for the work requirements that exist. But, it’s possible there could be a few others, but not anything of any consequence,” he said. 

Biden plans to cut his trip short and return to Washington on Sunday to resume negotiations with McCarthy. 

Senior Democrats, however, argue adult recipients of federal food assistance already have to comply with work requirements, and penalties suspended during the COVID-19 pandemic are scheduled to go back into full effect.   NYC’s famous red-tailed hawk Pale Male dies after nesting above Fifth Avenue for 30 years Tuberville finds himself at center of storm on abortion, white nationalism

Stabenow said McCarthy wants to increase the age range for people who must meet work requirements for food subsidies.  

“From my perspective, it’s a non-starter and I’m very concerned about impacts on [the program]. The reality is we have work requirements starting again,” she said.  

Senate Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Patty Murray (D-Wash.) said she would also oppose stronger work requirements for SNAP benefits.  

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Hong Kong remains an ‘open and vibrant market’ for crypto, says financial secretary

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Hong Kong remains an ‘open and vibrant market’ for crypto, says financial secretary

Hong Kong financial secretary Paul Chan Mo-po says an exciting upcoming development is the intersection of AI and blockchain, which he said would create more use cases.

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Donald Trump’s direction of travel in diplomacy does not look good for Ukraine

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Donald Trump's direction of travel in diplomacy does not look good for Ukraine

That the United States chose to hold talks with Russia about Ukraine without Ukraine sums up the power imbalance that is upending security assumptions for the whole of Europe.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the Ukrainian president, has consistently warned that Kyiv must have a seat at the negotiating table for any discussions about ending Vladimir Putin‘s war to have a chance of success. His European allies also want to have a voice.

Yet these requests were ignored by Donald Trump and his strongman approach to diplomacy, with the president instead dispatching his top diplomat and two other senior envoys to meet Russian counterparts in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday.

Steve Witkoff, Marco Rubio and Mike Waltz.
Pic: Reuters
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(L-R) The US delegation in Riyadh included Steve Witkoff, Marco Rubio and Mike Waltz. Pic: Reuters

Ukraine war latest: Trump says he’s ‘more confident’ of peace deal

Mr Zelenskyy, apparently by chance, had been due to embark on a pre-planned trip to the kingdom later that same day.

However, he decided to delay the visit to avoid the appearance of giving any kind of legitimacy to the bilateral encounter between Moscow and Washington.

Unfortunately for Kyiv, beyond noisy protest, it has very limited options when it comes to channelling the disruptive force of the Trump White House in its favour.

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The Ukrainian military remains hugely reliant on US weapons to fight Russia’s invasion and Mr Zelenskyy has made clear he would want an American element in any international security force that might be agreed upon to monitor a ceasefire – even though this is a role the US appears reluctant to fill and the Kremlin has said would be “unacceptable”.

It means Mr Trump has significant leverage over his Ukrainian counterpart which he will surely use to try to force through negotiations even on terms less favourable to Kyiv.

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Ukrainians react to US-Russia talks

The US has already reportedly tried to make Ukraine sign away a large portion of its natural resources to pay for US support – an uncomfortable offer that Mr Zelenskyy has so far declined but an indication of the new transactional approach to US foreign policy.

Mr Trump has repeatedly vowed to end Russia’s war in Ukraine – even claiming during the US election campaign that he would do this within 24 hours.

But he never spelled out how.

The past week, however, has offered an indication of the direction of travel and it does not look good for Ukraine.

From unilaterally picking up the phone to Vladimir Putin to sanctioning such a high-level meeting with the Russians in Riyadh, the only currency that seems to matter to the White House is power and right now both Kyiv and its European partners are looking all too weak.

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Jair Bolsonaro: Former Brazilian president charged over alleged coup plot to poison successor

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Jair Bolsonaro: Former Brazilian president charged over alleged coup plot to poison successor

Former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro has been charged by prosecutors over an alleged coup plot to poison his successor.

In an attempt to stay in office after his 2022 election defeat, the right-wing politician was allegedly involved in a plan to poison current President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, commonly known as Lula, and kill a Supreme Court judge.

Prosecutor general Paulo Gonet said that Mr Bolsonaro and 33 others participated in the plan to keep him in power.

Pic: AP/Mateus Bonomi/AGIF
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Pic: AP/Mateus Bonomi/AGIF

Mr Bolsonaro denies the accusations.

He lost the bitterly fought 2022 election narrowly and never publicly acknowledged his defeat, leaving Brazil for the US just a few days before Lula was sworn in.

The 69-year-old is banned from running for office for eight years after being accused of undermining Brazilian democracy by falsely claiming that electronic ballots used in the October 2022 poll were vulnerable to hacking and fraud.

On 8 January 2023, his supporters stormed government buildings in parts of Brasilia but police arrested 1,500 rioters.

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The Supreme Court will review the charges and, if accepted, Mr Bolsonaro will stand trial.

‘Green and yellow dagger’

“The members of the criminal organisation structured a plan at the presidential palace to attack institutions, aiming to bring down the system of the powers and the democratic order, which received the sinister name of ‘Green and Yellow Dagger,'” Mr Gonet wrote in a 272-page indictment.

Green and yellow may be a reference to the colours of Brazil’s football shirt.

Mr Gonet added: “The plan was conceived and taken to the knowledge of the president, and he agreed to it.”

Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
Pic: AP/Mateus Bonomi/AGIF
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Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
Pic: AP/Mateus Bonomi/AGIF

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Back in November, Brazil’s federal police filed an 884-page report with Mr Gonet detailing the alleged scheme.

They claimed it involved a systematic effort to sow distrust in the electoral system, drafting a decree to provide legal cover for the plot, pressuring military leaders to go along with it and inciting a riot in the capital city.

This was all allegedly plotted with the intention of stopping Mr Bolsonaro from leaving office.

‘I have no concerns’

However, Mr Bolsonaro was bullish about his fate, denying any wrongdoing and telling journalists: “I have no concerns about the accusations, zero.”

“Have you seen the coup decree, by any chance? You haven’t. Neither have I,” he added.

As well as accusations of participating in the coup, the defendants face a number of other charges, according to a statement from the prosecutor general’s press office.

Mr Gonet said that, along with General Braga Netto, Mr Bolsonaro attacked the foundations of democratic rule in his country.

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