hello i m sumi somaskanda. we begin right here in washington dc where democrats and republicans are scrambling to close a deal on raising the federal debt limit. there is still no deal in place but as many lawmakers leave for a holiday weekend, president biden has hinted a deal might be not be too far away. with regards to the debt limit, things are looking good, i m very optimistic. i hope we will have some clearer evidence tonight, before the clock strikes 12, that we have a deal. but it is very close and i am optimistic. so according to the president, we might get the news of a deal in less than an hour. a top republican negotiator, congressman patrick mchenry, was a bit more cautious with his assessment, saying: we are in the window by which we meet thejune five deadline. it s not over, we re not done. but we have to come to some tough terms in these closing hours. earlier on friday, congress got a bit more runway for its negotiations. us treasury secretary janet yell
hello. we begin right here in washington d.c. where democrats and republicans are scrambling to close a deal on raising the federal debt limit. there is still no deal in place but as many lawmakers leave for a holiday weekend president biden hints a deal might be not be too far away. with regard to the debt limit, things are looking good. we are very optimistic and i hope we will have some clear evidence tonight. before the clock strikes i2 tonight. before the clock strikes 12 that we have a deal. but we are very close and i am not optimistic. iam i am optimistic. meanwhile, republican negotiators have signaled a deal is within reach but not yet agreed upon. adding to the optimism, it appears congress has been given a bit more breathing room. in just the last few hours, us treasury secretary janet yellen sending this letter to congressional leaders, she now says the us has until june 5th to avoid a default. she had previously said june 1st. if republicans and the wh
welcome to the programme. a medicalfacility in ukraine is destroyed by a russian missile strike, killing at least three people. two children are said to be among the injured. president zelensky has described the attack as another crime against humanity . we ll have the latest. also in the programme. the british television presenter, phillip schofield after acknowledging an affair with her younger colleague at this morning, has resigned. and the family of the british national that has died in sudan say they were abandoned by the embassy we will have the latest on the crisis and british cycling since it will ban transgender women from elite female competition. we will discuss that position. we start in ukraine, which has faced another heavy night of russian missile and drone attacks. a medical clinic in dnipro in the east was hit by a missile where at least two people died and around 30 people were injured, including two boys aged under six. president zelensky described the