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It hardly required a degree in international relations to comprehend the weighty symbolism at play here on the final day of an unusually consequential Group of Seven summit.

President Joe Biden spoke with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy on Sunday and agreed they would meet on Monday afternoon to try to break the stalemate over legislation to raise the national debt limit. A call took place, according to a White House readout, which gave no indication to the tone of the discussion. Mr McCarthy characterised the call as “productive” in a comment to reporters. A day earlier, the Speaker said negotiations had taken a step backward following Mr Biden’s remarks that he believed the 14th Amendment could be used to circumvent Congress on the issue. “I don’t think we’re going to be able to move forward until the president can get back into the country,” Mr McCarthy said on Saturday. “Just from the last day to today they’ve moved backwards. They actually want to spend more money than we spend this year.” Mr Biden’s call with Mr McCarthy took place while the president was on Air Force One bound for the US on Sunday. He had cut short his attendance at the G7 summit in Japan in order to lead negotiations with Republicans on the issue. During an appearance on Sunday show, Meet the Press, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen once again warned that the federal government is projected to run out of money on or about 1 June. Should the US be unable to pay its outstanding obligations to debt holders, or even raise questions about its ability to do so, it risks a downgrade of the US’s credit rating which would affect interest rates on future loans. The last official downgrading of the United States’s credit rating occurred in 2011, when Standard and Poor’s dropped the US’s rating from “AAA” to “AA+”. “I indicated in my last letter to Congress that we expect to be unable to pay all of our bills in early June and possibly as soon as June 1. And I will continue to update Congress, but I certainly haven’t changed my assessment. So I think that that’s a hard deadline,” Sec. Yellen said. She added that the possibilty was “quite low” that the US could extend its ability to pay its obligations through 15 June - referencing remarks made by Republicans who suggested Treasury could maneuver past a 1 June deadline without hitting a default. ”[I]t’s hard to be absolutely certain about this, but my assessment is that the odds of reaching June 15th, while being able to pay all of our bills, is quite low,” said Ms Yellen. “[M]y assumption is that if the debt ceiling isn’t raised, there will be hard choices to make about what bills go unpaid.” Mr Biden has been roundly accused by conservatives of refusing to negotiate cuts to federal spending ahead of the debt ceiling deadline. The White House, meanwhile, has blamed Republicans for putting the country’s credit rating at risk. Earlier on Sunday, the president spoke at a press conference and did not indicate that he was completely opposed to reaching a compromise with Republicans on spending levels, though he warned that the GOP must be willing to move in his direction as well. “It’s time for Republicans to accept that there’s no bipartisan deal to be made solely — solely — on their partisan terms,” said Mr Biden. “They have to move as well.” Read More ‘Putin will not break our resolve,’ Joe Biden tells G7 Top House negotiator on debt limit says it's time to 'press pause' as talks come to standstill Biden meeting with Indo-Pacific leaders at G7 summit while confronting stalemate over US debt limit Debt ceiling showdown: Biden and congressional leaders to meet as McCarthy pushes for faster deal Most say pair debt limit increase with deficit cuts, but few following debate closely: AP-NORC poll G7 finance leaders promise support for Ukraine, vow to enforce sanctions against Russia

Paul Whelan, an American who is wrongfully detained in Russia, told CNN on Sunday that he feels confident that his case is a priority for the United States government but wishes it could be resolved faster.

An attorney working Donald Trump’s legal team has quit, citing in-fighting among the former president’s inner circle. Timothy Parlatore left his role this week, according to The New York Times, after working for Mr Trump for at least a year. In an interview with CNN on Saturday, Mr Parlatore explained that the reason for his departure was ongoing friction with Boris Epshteyn, another legal adviser to Mr Trump. Mr Epshteyn, according to Mr Parlatore, has been stonewalling the legal team in their attempts to ascertain whether all presidential records that Mr Trump took with him when he left the White House had been turned over to the National Archives. The removal of official presidential records by Mr Trump led to the Justice Department’s raid of his Florida home, Mar-a-Lago, last fall. Mr Epshteyn “attempted to interfere” with attorneys’ efforts to search Mar-a-Lago for more documents, Mr Parlatore said. The advisor also “served as kind of a filter to prevent us from getting information to the client”, feeding Mr Trump his own opinions instead, Mr Parlatore told CNN. “The real reason is because there are certain individuals that made defending the president much harder than it needed to be. In particular, there is one individual who works for him, Boris Epshteyn, who had really done everything he could to try to block us, to prevent us from doing what we could to defend the president,” said Mr Parlatore. “In my opinion, he was not very honest with us or with the client on certain things,” he added. Mr Trump’s team denied Mr Parlatore’s characterisation of the events leading to his departure. “Mr. Parlatore is no longer a member of the legal team. His statements regarding current members of the legal team are unfounded and categorically false,” a spokesperson told CNN. The legal issues of Mr Trump remain under intense scrutiny after he announced his third presidential campaign for the White House in 2024. Earlier this month, Mr Trump was found liable in a civil lawsuit over the sexual abuse of the writer E Jean Carroll in the 1990s. At one point during his deposition, Mr Trump appeared to confuse an image of Ms Carroll with his ex-wife, Marla Maples after previously claiming that Ms Carroll was not his “type”. Mr Trump is facing a host of other legal battles, both criminal and civil, which threaten him and his business empire. New York Attorney General Letitia James is investigating a civil fraud case against the Trump Organization and the Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg is prosecuting him for hush payments he allegedly directed to porn star Stormy Daniels in 2016. In Georgia, Fulton County’s District Attorney Fani Willis is deliberating whether to prosecute Mr Trump or members of his team for their attempts to overturn the state’s presidential election results in 2020. Read More South Carolina Republicans hear pitches from 2024 candidates, reelect state party chairman DeSantis super PAC tackles tricky task of organizing support for him in Iowa without the candidate Trump’s White House lawyer predicts ex-president will end up in jail as Mar-a-Lago probe heats up Ivanka and Jared split over attending Trump 2024 launch – follow live Why was Donald Trump impeached twice during his first term? Four big lies Trump told during his 2024 presidential announcement

The president flies home from the G7 summit amid hopes of a deal with top Republican Kevin McCarthy.

Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana said Sunday he doesn't think Donald Trump would be able to win a general election, pointing to the GOP's disappointing performance in last year's midterm elections when several candidates endorsed by the former president went down to defeat.

The largest and oldest civil rights organisation in the United States has issued a formal advisory warning travelers to Florida that the state is “openly hostile” towards Black people, people of colour and LGBT+ people. An advisory issued by the NAACP on 20 May comes as a response to a series of laws signed by Florida’s Republican Governor Ron DeSantis targeting classroom instruction around race and racism, gender and sexuality, and bills and administration policy aimed at LGBT+ people. “Let me be clear – failing to teach an accurate representation of the horrors and inequalities that Black Americans have faced and continue to face is a disservice to students and a dereliction of duty to all,” NAACP president and CEO Derrick Johnson said in a statement. “Under the leadership of Governor Desantis, the state of Florida has become hostile to Black Americans and in direct conflict with the democratic ideals that our union was founded upon,” he added. “He should know that democracy will prevail because its defenders are prepared to stand up and fight. We’re not backing down, and we encourage our allies to join us in the battle for the soul of our nation.” The advisory states that “due to this sustained, blatant, relentless and systemic attack on democracy and civil rights, the NAACP hereby issues a travel advisory to African Americans, and other people of color regarding the hostility towards African Americans in Florida.” On 17 May, Gov DeSantis approved a slate of bills that restrict gender-affirming care for minors, threaten drag shows, forbid people from using bathrooms that match their gender identity, and prevent people from using their chosen pronouns at schools. The legislation also follows administration policy targeting affirming healthcare for trans youth, over the objections of major health organisations and LGBT+ advocates. Mr DeSantis also recently expanded a measure labelled by opponents as the “Don’t Say Gay” law prohibiting classroom instruction on issues related to gender and sexuality, which critics argue will have a chilling effect on LGBT+ people in schools as part of an effort to erase LGBT+ people from public life. Mr DeSantis, who is reportedly preparing to launch his campaign for the GOP presidential nomination in 2024, also has spearheaded a series of measures around honest discussions of race and racism in schools, including a law that blocks public spending on diversity, equity and inclusion efforts. Florida also is at the centre of a nationwide trend of challenges against books and materials in libraries and schools. This week, Penguin Random House and several prominent authors and families filed a federal lawsuit against a school district where activists have challenged dozens of books, largely involving or written by people of colour or LGBT+ people. In April, advocacy group Equality Florida issued a similar travel advisory that warned that the state may “not be a safe place to visit or take up residence”. “As an organization that has spent decades working to improve Florida’s reputation as a welcoming and inclusive place to live work and visit, it is with great sadness that we must respond to those asking if it is safe to travel to Florida or remain in the state as the laws strip away basic rights and freedoms,” according to a statement from Nadine Smith, Equality Florida’s executive director. The Independent has requested comment from the governor’s office. Read More Disney cancels $1bn Florida theme park extension amid war with DeSantis Penguin Random House sues Florida school district over ‘unconstitutional’ book bans DeSantis v Disney: Why Florida’s governor is at war with the Mouse

Ron DeSantis is expected to enter the 2024 presidential race this week. But the Florida governor begins his campaign to win the GOP nomination with his poll numbers flailing and with former President Donald Trump as the clear primary front-runner.

Over the past week, a story alleging that homeless military veterans were booted from New York hotel rooms being used as temporary shelters to make way for newly arrived migrants dominated right-wing networks and tabloid newspapers. The front page ofThe New York Post ran with “VETS KICKED OUT FOR MIGRANTS” on 13 May, and the story was picked up by Fox News and Newsmax, where former Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin claimed that “our veterans again are being kicked to the curb”. Republican officials immediately seized on the story as purported evidence for the “crisis” at the US-Mexico border and in Democratic-led US cities. But that story was false. The claims appear to have originally come from founder of a veterans’ advocacy group, according to The Mid Hudson News and The Times Union of Albany. The story’s unraveling has also placed that woman, Sharon Toney-Finch, and her nonprofit, Yerik Israel Toney Foundation, under the scrutiny of state investigators and raised questions about her own military history. Over the last year, New York City’s Democratic Mayor Eric Adams has struggled to find shelters and long-term housing for hundreds of migrants who are being bused north from Republican border states. Earlier this month, the Adams administration reportedly clashed with officials in Orange County, upstate New York, over his plans to send two buses of migrants to the Crossroads Hotel in Newburgh. That plan was paused on 10 May. On 12 May, The New York Post ran a story alleging that “nearly two dozen struggling homeless veterans have been booted from upstate hotels to make room for migrants”. Ms Toney-Finch’s group was cited as the source for the information. But reporters from The Times Union and Mid Hudson News, two outlets based in upstate New York, could not find any of the allegedly displaced veterans, and Crossroads, the hotel at the centre of the controversy ,said it did not have any records of veterans recently staying there. Homeless men told The Times Union that they were approached by unidentified “recruiters” at a shelter in Poughkeepsie, New York, taken to a diner, offered money and bags of toiletries, then transported to a nearby veterans centre to pose as veterans who were kicked out of a hotel. Asked by the Associated Press about the alleged scheme, Ms Toney-Finch did not say whether the claims were fabricated but stated that “we should have verified better”. The Independent has requested comment from Ms Toney-Finch and the foundation. New York Governor Kathy Hochul condemned the apparent scheme, telling reporters that people seeking asylum “were sent there with a legal contract between the city of New York and a hotel owner”. “They are allowed to contract that way and if people want to fabricate stories to undermine the whole process, I think it’s reprehensible,” she added. New York Attorney General Letitia James is “looking into” the allegations, her office told Politico. Yerik Israel Toney Foundation works to help “homeless and low-income military service veterans in need of living assistance,” according to the group’s website. Ms Toney-Finch was inducted into the New York State Senate Veterans’ Hall of Fame in 2022 and is listed in the National Purple Heart Hall of Honor. Last week, she was honoured by New York State Senator Rob Rolison as a “woman of distinction”, who also noted that she is a Purple Heart recipient. However while Ms Toney-Finch has received several military honours, there is nothing to indicate that she is a Purple Heart recipient, according to a review of her military records by The Daily Beast. The fake story played into the right-wing outrage that has reached fever pitch since the expiration of Title 42, a Trump-era border policy, that Republican officials and pundits predicted would result in immigration “chaos”. Prominent New York Republicans used the apparent story to condemn Democratic officials. Congresswoman Elise Stefanik sharedThe Post’s front cover on social media on 13 May. “Biden’s America. Kathy Hochul’s New York. Eric Adams’s New York City,” she wrote. “A disgrace.” Congressman Mike Lawler called the alleged incident a “debacle.” “If Mayor Eric Adams had a shred of decency, he would drive up to Orange County tomorrow and apologize to these veterans himself,” he said, in a statement on 12 May. It was later removed from his website. Mr Lawler later called the bogus story and Ms Toney-Finch “appalling.” “Her decision to exploit our veterans – and the genuine admiration and love our community has for them – could have turned an already tense situation into something much worse,” he said in a statement. Brian Maher, a Republican state assembly member, told Fox News on 15 May that the claims were “a slap in the face to veterans, to citizens of New York in this country, who are really being cast aside to allow for asylum seekers to come here”. He later apologised for spreading the foundation’s false claims and distanced himself from the group. “While I believed Sharon was telling the truth, I do want to apologize for those that have been negatively impacted since this news broke,” he said. Mr Maher also called for investigations by the New York State Attorney General and the Orange County District Attorney into the incident. Mayor Adams has repeatedly pressed for federal assistance while continuing to search for housing options for tens of thousands of people who have arrived in New York in the past year. With the end of Title 42, the state is preparing for “several thousand additional people seeking shelter each week,” according to the governor’s recent emergency order. “[U]pwards of 500 people” arrived each day as the city prepared for the end of Title 42, according to the mayor’s spokesperson Fabien Levy. In 2022, NYC agencies sheltered more than 61,000 asylum seekers, with roughly 37,500 people in city shelters and emergency housing. New York City shelters house more than 75,000 people on any given night, while countless remain on the streets, according to Coalition for the Homeless. Read More Eric Adams weakens shelter mandate as New York City anticipates more migrant arrivals after Title 42 expires What comes next after Title 42?

A top attorney to former President Donald Trump is leaving his legal defence effort, and blaming Mr Trump’s top aide Boris Epshteyn for supposedly being dishonest and unforthcoming in his work to assist the ex-president’s lawyers with his defence against an investigation into whether he retained classified documents illegally. His exit comes as the National Archives announced it found a trove of records proving that Donald Trump and his advisors knew they were breaking rules by taking those classified documents to Mar-a-Lago, according to a report. The agency sent a letter, obtained by CNN, to Mr Trump this week revealing it had found 16 records showing he and his top advisers were aware of the correct declassification process when he was president. “The 16 records in question all reflect communications involving close presidential advisers, some of them directed to you personally, concerning whether, why, and how you should declassify certain classified records,” wrote archivist Debra Steidel Wall. These records will be turned over to Special Counsel Jack Smith as part of the criminal investigation into Mr Trump’s handling of classified documents. Read More Trump campaign knocks DeSantis over Disney’s cancelled Florida expansion Ron DeSantis mocked over bizarre video of roaring laughter: ‘A faulty robot’ Trump’s White House lawyer predicts ex-president will end up in jail as Mar-a-Lago probe heats up Trump whines that he is a ‘victim’ of ‘weaponisation of justice’

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy suggested his country was losing control of Bakhmut after months of fierce fighting but

An eruption of memecoins and nonfungible tokens on the Bitcoin blockchain has reshaped the revenue profile of miners