Kevin McCarthy

A former FBI informant, Alexander Smirnov, is facing charges of fabricating stories about President Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden's involvement in business dealings with Ukrainian energy company Burisma Holdings, according to CNN reports.

Veering away from a default crisis, the House overwhelmingly approved a debt ceiling and budget cuts package, sending the deal that President Joe Biden and Speaker Kevin McCarthy negotiated to the Senate for swift passage in a matter of days, before a fast-approaching deadline.

Oil prices fell nearly 1 percent in early European trade, erasing yesterday's gains on concerns about the viability of the bipartisan US debt ceiling deal and mixed messages from top oil producers ahead of the OPEC+ meeting later in the week.

The reviews are starting to come in as details emerge about the debt ceiling agreement reached by President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy.

Even before seeing those details, some lawmakers were criticizing the deal as not doing enough to tackle the nation's debt, while others worried it's too austere and will harm many low-income Americans.

US President Joe Biden and Speaker of the House of Representatives Kevin McCarthy have reached an agreement in principle on the thorny issue of the debt ceiling, world agencies reported, citing Kevin McCarthy. This is a key stage in avoiding a US default.

President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy reached an "agreement in principle" to raise the nation's legal debt ceiling, but now Congress must rush to approve the spending cuts package in a matter of days to avert a potentially disastrous U.S. default.

President Joe Biden said Friday that Democratic and Republican negotiators were on the verge of resolving a debt ceiling standoff, as the deadline for a potentially catastrophic US default was pushed back to June 5.

"It's very close and I'm optimistic," Biden told reporters at the White House. "I'm hopeful we'll know by tonight whether we're going to be able to have a deal."

Eurozone government bond yields were headed for a weekly rise as robust economic data and hawkish remarks by central bank officials triggered some upward repricing in market bets about future European Central Bank rate hikes.

President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy both said they had a productive debt ceiling discussion late Monday at the White House, but there was no agreement as negotiators strained to raise the nation's borrowing limit in time to avert a potentially chaotic federal default.

China's foreign minister stepped up threats Friday against the self-governing island of Taiwan, saying any who go against Beijing's demand to exert control over the island are "playing with fire."