Debt ceiling talks edge towards a deal

Plus, what to watch for in the week ahead.

View in Browser Sign up for Reuters newsletters Daily Briefing US debt ceiling talks appear to make progress, Musk gets the go-ahead for a human brain-implant trial, and oil majors are under pressure as climate protests heat up. Plus, how to clone a camel. By Linda Noakes Today's Top News US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy speaks with reporters at the Capitol in Washington, May 24, 2023. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst  The White House and congressional Republicans are putting the final touches on a deal that will raise the US government's $31.4 trillion debt ceiling for two years while capping spending on everything but military and veterans, according to a US official. Two more members of the far-right Oath Keepers are set to be sentenced for their roles in the deadly January 6, 2021, assault on the US Capitol by supporters of Donald Trump trying to overturn his presidential election defeat. Who are the Russians fighting Russia? After a shock incursion into Russia's own territory this week, Reuters World News podcast breaks down the groups claiming responsibility. Here's the latest on the war in Ukraine. Elon Musk's brain-implant company Neuralink said the US Food and Drug Administration had given the green light to its first-in-human clinical trial. Musk envisions brain implants could cure a range of conditions including obesity, autism, depression and schizophrenia. Killer whales severely damaged a sailing boat off the coast of southern Spain, adding to dozens of orca attacks on vessels recorded so far this year on Spanish and Portuguese coasts. A renowned US mountain guide has achieved the rare Mount Everest region 'triple crown' of climbing the Everest, Lhotse and Nuptse peaks in one season, as the season's death toll on the world's highest mountain hit 12. Business & Markets Police officers spray people as environmental activists protest against TotalEnergies in Paris, May 26, 2023. REUTERS/Stephanie Lecocq Pressure mounted on oil majors as Norway's giant sovereign wealth fund said it would vote against CEOs at Chevron and Exxon, and French police tackled climate protesters at TotalEnergies' shareholders' meeting. "Political attacks" are interfering with insurers' efforts to price climate risks, the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero said, after a wave of insurers quit an industry climate group following pressure in the United States. ChatGPT-maker OpenAI has no plans to leave Europe, CEO Sam Altman said, reversing a threat made earlier this week to leave the region if it becomes too hard to comply with upcoming laws on AI.  Ford said it has agreed with Tesla to allow its electric vehicle owners to gain access to more than 12,000 Tesla Superchargers in North America. The tie-up between the rivals makes Ford the first major automaker to embrace the proprietary charging standard. The trademark Chinese patriotism is back at play in markets. As Japan and the United States place fresh curbs on Chinese technology firms, local investors are scooping up shares of those firms and state companies, and reaping handsome rewards. The Week Ahead Key US jobs figures, Chinese business activity data and European inflation readings will be eyed as the debt ceiling saga in Washington rumbles on. Tech investors are on the hunt for undervalued opportunities in an over-valued space as the AI boom brings fresh challenges. Here's a look at the week ahead from our markets team. Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan aims to extend his rule into a third decade in an election on Sunday, with the momentum seen in his favor in the runoff vote after a first round showed him ahead of his challenger, Kemal Kilicdaroglu. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate a new parliament complex on Sunday, part of a $2.4 billion project that aims to reconstruct British colonial-era buildings in the capital's center and give it a distinct Indian identity. Join us on Wednesday for a Reuters Newsmaker featuring Holly O'Neil, President of Retail Banking at Bank of America. US Finance Editor Lananh Nguyen will lead a discussion about the banking industry in its most tumultuous period since the 2008 financial crisis.  The Wider Image Photographers encircle model Eva Herzigova during a photo call on the beach at the 49th Cannes Film Festival, May 11, 1996. When Eric Gaillard first went to photograph the Cannes Film Festival in 1981, it was a smaller, more intimate affair - the kind of place where you could see the greats from Hollywood's Golden Age wandering alone on the esplanade or having fun on the beach without bodyguards. As Gaillard returns for his 40th and final time before retirement, he looks back at some of his best shots - from a disarmingly young Johnny Depp to a bejeweled Elizabeth Taylor. See his photo essay: Forty Cannes film festivals viewed through one photographer's lens And Finally... Cloned camels and surrogates are pictured at the Reproductive Biotechnology Centre in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, May 18, 2023. REUTERS/Rula Rouhana Having led the world's first cloning of camels in 2009, Nisar Wani is now replicating a few dozen a year at a Dubai lab - a big business in the Gulf region where camels are cherished and can earn huge sums in beauty and racing contests. "In cloning we are not doing anything new. God has created all the material. God has created the cells, we are only helping the process," Wani said. Read more on the camel cloning technology Sponsors are not involved in the creation of newsletters or other Reuters news content. Reuters Daily Briefing is sent 5 days a week. Think your friend or colleague should know about us? Forward this newsletter to them. They can also sign up here.   Want to stop receiving this email? Unsubscribe here. To manage which newsletters you're signed up for, click here. 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