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Vice President Kamala Harris and Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer are also attending the meeting with Biden. Evan Vucci/AP  

 

US debt ceiling 

Sources: Debt crisis forces Biden to cut short G7 trip  

 

President Joe Biden is cutting short tomorrow's trip to the G7 meeting in Japan so that he can get home faster and be able to tackle the debt crisis, several media reports.  

 

The planned stops in Australia and Papua New Guinea are therefore scrapped, sources told AFP.  

 

The White House only confirms that Biden will go to Japan on Wednesday as planned, but that they are "reevaluating" the rest of the trip, writes TT.  

 

Late on Wednesday, the announced meeting between President Biden and congressional leaders began.  

 

Iranian drone of the Shahed-129 type. Ebrahim Noroozi / AP 

The Russian invasion. The outside world's response 

USA: Russia about to buy more drones from Iran  

 

The US says it sees signs that Russia plans to buy new attack drones from Iran. This is stated by White House security adviser John Kirby according to several media.  

 

According to Kirby, Russia has begun to run out of previously purchased drones, which are said to have been around 400 in number, most of them so-called "kamikaze drones". These are said to have mainly been used to attack infrastructure in Ukraine. 

  

- By providing Russia with these drones, Iran has enabled Russia's war of aggression in Ukraine, says Kirby according to AP.  

 

Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelenskyi. Mads Claus Rasmussen / Ritzau Scanpix  

 

Ukraine's response  

Ukrainian HD manager arrested - accused of bribery  

 

The head of Ukraine's Supreme Court has been arrested on suspicion of bribery, Reuters reports. The prosecutor handling the case has not named the detainee, but the head of the court is Vsevolod Kniaziev and could not be reached for comment, according to the news agency.  

 

Radio Free Europe writes that an adviser to President Zelenskyi states that the head of the court has received $2.7 million in bribes. 

 

The Supreme Court announces that further information will be presented later on Tuesday.

Vladimir Putin and Cyril Ramaphosa. Sergei Chirikov / AP 

The Russian invasion. The outside world's response 

Putin and Zelensky say yes to African peace talks  

Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelenskyy have agreed to participate in peace talks with a delegation of leaders from six African countries, AP reports. 

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa says he has spoken to both parties by phone and that two separate meetings will be held with the two leaders, one in Moscow and one in Kyiv. 

- The most important thing for our discussions is the efforts to find a peaceful solution to the devastating conflict in Ukraine, says Ramaphosa.  

The announcement comes a day after Ramaphosa said South Africa is under "extraordinary pressure" to choose sides in the conflict, following allegations by the US that the country has supplied arms to Moscow. South Africa has strong ties to Russia but has maintained its neutrality in the ongoing conflict.

The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Republican Kevin McCarthy, and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell after the meeting. Manuel Balce Ceneta / AP  

Trump's USAUSA's debt ceiling  

McCarthy: Lots of work - but may have a deal this weekend 

President Joe Biden's first meeting with congressional leaders in the Oval Office on Tuesday night was over in less than an hour and ended on a positive note, Reuters reports. The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Republican Kevin McCarthy, admittedly stated that the parties are "far from" each other. But added: 

- It is possible to reach an agreement before the week is over. McCarthy noted that the parties have a lot to do in a short time as Biden wants an agreement in place to raise the debt ceiling before June 1.

According to McCarthy, a settlement requires that Biden simultaneously cut spending going forwar