US debt limit default could hit in early June to early August -think tank

By David Lawder WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The U.S. government will begin defaulting on its payment obligations between early June and early August without an increase in the federal debt limit, the Bipartisan Policy Center said on Tuesday, flagging pressure from a drop in tax revenue. The front end of the centrist think tank’s latest estimate for…

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Michael Cohen calls Trump’s $500 million suit against him “pure retaliation”

By Karen Freifeld and Jonathan Stempel (Reuters) – Donald Trump’s onetime lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen asked a court to throw out the former U.S. president’s $500 million lawsuit against him, calling it an “abusive act of pure retaliation and witness intimidation.”       Cohen’s lawyers in a filing late Monday in Miami federal court said…

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Explainer-Why the EU is restricting grain imports from Ukraine

(Repeats for additional subscribers) LONDON (Reuters) – The European Commission has announced restrictions on the imports of Ukrainian wheat, maize, rapeseed and sunflower seed in Poland, Hungary, Romania, Slovakia and Bulgaria until June 5. The move led to Poland, Hungary, Slovakia and Bulgaria lifting unilateral import bans they had imposed citing the need to protect…

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Imran Khan, the cricket star who ditched playboy image to rule Pakistan

(Reuters) – Former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan, a cricketing hero-turned-politician who was arrested on Tuesday, whipped up popular support amid decades-high inflation and a crippling economic slowdown before his ouster last year. The 70-year-old has since showed no sign of slowing down, even after being wounded in a November attack on his convoy as…

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Explainer-How Disney’s and DeSantis’ dueling lawsuits might play out

By Tom Hals WILMINGTON, Delaware (Reuters) – Walt Disney Co and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis have been embroiled in an increasingly bitter dispute, starting when the company criticized a Florida law last year, which has led to dueling lawsuits. THE DISNEY LAWSUIT AGAINST DESANTIS The entertainment giant sued the Republican governor on April 26 in…

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Drugmakers set strategy for legal fight against US pricing regulation

By Patrick Wingrove and Michael Erman (Reuters) – Some of the world’s biggest drugmakers are laying legal groundwork to fight the U.S. plan to negotiate drug prices for its Medicare health coverage, including the argument that a ban against speaking about these talks violates constitutional rights, according to six industry sources. The Biden Administration’s signature…

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Russian official says U.S. exerting ‘pressure and threats’ over jailed WSJ reporter

(Reuters) -A senior Russian official accused the United States on Tuesday of exerting “pressure and threats” on Moscow over the case of detained Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, state-owned news agencies reported. TASS quoted Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov as saying Moscow would ignore such tactics. He did not say what form the alleged…

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What to watch for in the Biden-McCarthy debt ceiling meeting

By Jarrett Renshaw and Trevor Hunnicutt WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. President Joe Biden meets Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and other congressional leaders at the White House on Tuesday afternoon for closed-door talks as a potentially catastrophic June default looms. The 4 p.m. EDT (2000 GMT) meeting is not expected to produce anything close to…

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