President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy have reached an “agreement in principle” to resolve the looming debt crisis

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff suggested marshals had turned the Monaco Grand Prix into a circus act following their unusual removal of Lewis Hamilton’s car. Hamilton crashed out of final practice on Saturday after he lost control of his Mercedes under braking at Mirabeau. Hamilton’s stricken machine was hoisted high into the air by a crane, allowing photographers to capture the underbelly of the seven-time world champion’s upgraded machine. The car’s floor is a heavily guarded secret in Formula One, but Mercedes’ new design – which broke cover for the first time here in the principality – was put on show for their rivals to see. “Whoever performed the crane has probably worked for Cirque du Soleil before,” said Wolff. “Honestly, that I don’t even comprehend. The car was on the road. You could have put it on a truck. You’re showcasing a car to everyone in the world. That was suboptimal for us, to say the least.” Wolff added: “We should not thrash the stewards. Everybody is doing their best and I don’t want to be a team principal that lashes out at stewards who are doing their job.” After giving up on this season’s car on the eve of the opening race in Bahrain, Mercedes have spent the ensuing dozen weeks working on a new design philosophy. The Silver Arrows have abandoned their controversial zero-sidepod concept and introduced a new front suspension, new floor and cooling system in a drastic change of development on a car which has contributed to the longest losing streak of Hamilton’s career. Mercedes are keen not to draw too many conclusions at this week’s unique Monte Carlo configuration – and believe the following round at the well-trodden Circuit de Catalunya venue on the outskirts of Barcelona will present them with a better understanding of where they stand. Hamilton starts fifth on Sunday following Charles Leclerc’s three-place grid penalty. George Russell lines up eighth in the other Mercedes. “This car is a son of a gun,” said Hamilton. “I was pushing so hard and overdriving which is the worst place to be. “If I underdrive, or I drive the car to its limit, we might not get into the top 10. But the upgrades were good this weekend, so I’m grateful for those.” Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Fernando Alonso ready to pounce if Max Verstappen makes a slow start in Monaco Max Verstappen fends off Fernando Alonso to take pole position in Monaco Lewis Hamilton: Racist abuse of Vinicius Junior really hits home for me

Provides an overview of Jamaica, including key dates and facts about this Caribbean country.

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp is confident his side can close the gap to Manchester City next season. Wild inconsistencies in results – beating Manchester United 7-0 and Bournemouth 9-0 but losing to struggling Leeds, their only home defeat of the season – had left the Reds 20 points adrift of the Premier League leaders going into the weekend. It has been more common for the two to push each other all the way to the final day of the season, Liverpool twice coming second by just a point, and despite their most recent troubles Klopp expects normal service to be resumed when the new campaign kicks off in August. “There are two games a season, maybe with cups three, four or five, when you play City, Arsenal and the others,” he said ahead of the trip to struggling Leicester. “There are five million ways to win a football game, you only have to find one. A successful season is you are ready for all the games, that you can win 25-odd games. “If City, Arsenal, Chelsea, Newcastle, Tottenham, Man United are all involved in that 25 then it is even better. “But it is about can we create a team who can win the majority of the games? Yes, we can. It was never about what the other teams do. “We didn’t become champions by a point twice and there will be some people who say it was because we didn’t have this player in that moment. “Getting 90-odd points is absolutely insane, pretty special, and no one should take these things for granted. “The top seven get even closer together, it will be more difficult and more competitive. “It doesn’t make it easier but everyone with a good idea has a chance to be part of it. If you are part of the battle up there then you can win it as well.” Liverpool’s current six-match winning run, their best sequence for more than a year, has given a glimpse of the level the side used to – and Klopp believes will again – play at. The Reds boss has spoken regularly in recent weeks about using the end to the campaign as a platform for next season and has been pleased with the way his squad have responded. “We show it in six weeks. I’m happy that this question has come and you don’t ask me, ‘how is it you can play such rubbish football for so long?’,” he added. “I never questioned these boys. Never. Mentality-wise these boys are exceptional but we still couldn’t deliver for long periods of the season consistently good, successful football. “Is that normal for human beings? The period was a bit too long, but yes. “For everyone it is a relief to go again, to be winning again in a convincing way and not (having to) scrap three points. “We have a clear idea of what we want to do and I saw so many good things we could build on. “Nothing for Match of the Day, it won’t show up there, but I saw so many things in these games. “I’m absolutely fine with the reaction now but we all think it was a bit too long until we showed it. “All we can do is go for the last three games and make the best of what we have so far.” Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live On This Day in 2016: Max Verstappen makes Formula One history On this day in 2016: Saracens beat Racing 92 to win European Champions Cup Rookie Austin Eckroat grabs share of lead as Scottie Scheffler falters

The price of bitcoin has experienced the strongest first half of a year since 2019, nearly doubling in value since the start of 2023. The world’s leading cryptocurrency reached above $31,000 this week, up from $16,000 in January, pushing its market cap above $600 million for the first time in more than a year. Some crypto analysts suggest the approaching ‘halving’ event, which will see bitcoin mining rewards drop by 50 per cent, could be one factor behind the cryptocurrency’s positive price trend. Bitcoin’s halving takes place roughly every four years, with the crypto’s price cycles viewed by many traders and investors as being intrinsically link to the event. Sometimes referred to as “the halvening”, the seismic event is built-in to bitcoin’s technological foundations, and is aimed at making the digital currency anti-inflationary by reducing its supply. “The months prior to the halving have historically seen the start of a bullish trend for the market, hence the market participants are carefully looking at the second half of 2023,” Matteo Greco, a research analyst at the fintech investment firm Fineqia International, told The Independent. “Riot Platforms, an industry leader in bitcoin mining and data centre hosting, announced a $162 million investment to purchase 33,280 miners, aiming to nearly double its computational power in anticipation of the next halving.” Mr Greco pointed to the cryptocurrency litecoin, once referred to as the silver to bitcoin’s gold, which typically experiences its halving event a few months before its more famous rival. In the months leading up to Litecoin’s halvings in 2015 and 2019 its price saw massive gains, which were then replicated by bitcoin. Litecoin’s next halving is currently scheduled for 3 August 2023 and it is once again experiencing a significant price increase, outperforming broader market trends. “Litecoin often served as a sentiment metric on the bitcoin halving,” Mr Greco said. “The big increase in price, while most of the altcoins keep lagging, suggests bullish sentiment is increasing ahead of the next BTC halving.” Bitcoin’s halving is currently scheduled for 26 April, 2024, with pseudonymous crypto trader PlanB noting another historic price trend that could signal more gains over the coming months. “Buy bitcoin six months before a halving and sell 18 months after a halving has historically beaten ‘buy and hold’ [trading strategy],” he tweeted on Monday. “The next halving is in April 2024... Will this strategy work again?” Read More How bad is bitcoin for the environment really? Crypto experts discuss bitcoin price predictions What is Solana? The crypto rising 200-times faster than bitcoin Could Norwegian fjords and waterfalls stop bitcoin from destroying the planet?

By Pietro Lombardi and Andres Gonzalez MADRID/LONDON Inditex founder Amancio Ortega's investment firm Pontegadea is pushing further into

A deep dive into the complete history of the Denver Nuggets from the ABA's Denver Rockets to today's Denver Nuggets and 2023 NBA Finals!...

The wages agency of the Australian state of Victoria on Wednesday said it has filed more than 1,000

A Bank of Japan policy board member sought an early discussion over revising the bank’s yield curve control,

The Vegas Golden Knights defeated the Dallas Stars 6-0 in Game 6 of the Western Conference Final to advance to the Stanley Cup Final, where they will face the Florida Panthers.

China says it would welcome a visit by U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo following the imposition of foreign investment controls by her agency that have stung numerous Chinese companies

It’s about to get very noisy in the climate world as more than 70,000 people flock to the