Monday morning news: June 5, 2023

Debt limit » President Biden signed a bill into law over the weekend raising the nation’s debt limit and avoiding default on government debts.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer reacted Sunday:

CHUCK SCHUMER: I commend President Biden and his team for producing a sensible compromise under the most difficult of circumstances.

The Treasury Dept had warned that without a debt deal, the U.S. could begin defaulting on its debts this week, throwing markets into chaos.

But many Republicans say while the deal averts an immediate crisis, it does little to address the slow-moving trainwreck of runaway spending and spiraling debt.

Utah Sen. Mike Lee:

MIKE LEE: Nobody in the world gets to do this. A family can’t do this, and a business can’t do this, and if they did they would be in trouble. So instead, they just agreed to fund each other’s priorities. And this has resulted in the accumulation of a $32 trillion dollar debt.

The bipartisan bill will trim Washington’s overspending, but the government will continue to run massive deficits into 2025.

AUDIO: [JIANFENG SPEAKING MANDARIN]

China- U.S. » One of China’s top military commanders is accusing the United States of making false accusations.

Deputy Chief of Joint Staff Jing Jianfeng says the Chinese navy did not act aggressively or recklessly by sailing a warship across the path of an American destroyer in the Taiwan Strait over the weekend.

But U.S. Defense Sec. Lloyd Austin told reporters:

LLOYD AUSTIN: To be clear, we do not seek conflict or confrontation. But we will not flinch in the face of bullying or coercion.

Beijing says the U.S. destroyer and a Canadian frigate conducting “freedom of navigation” patrols in the Taiwan Strait was a provocation to China.

The Pentagon says the U.S. military will continue regularly sail through and flyover the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea to emphasize they are international waters, and not Chinese territory.

Ukraine » Ukraine says the battle for Bakhmut continues as its troops continue to occupy positions around the city.

AUDIO: [OFFICER SPEAKING UKRAINIAN]

One Ukrainian officer says the battle will continue and that his unit is still carrying out attacks against Russian forces and advancing around the enemy’s flanks.

Russia claimed victory over the city last month, but the chief of Russia’s mercenary Wagner Group said he lost 20,000 men in the roughly 9-month battle for the city.

The Wagner Group has been transitioning out of the city since, and handing over its occupation to Russia’s military.

India train » Officials in India say a signaling error caused a train to change tracks at the wrong time and crash into a freight train.

The wreck killed at least 275 people and injured hundreds more.

AUDIO: [PASSENGER DESCRIBES CARNAGE]

One passenger describing how everything appeared fine before the wreck, and how after the wreck he saw dead bodies, screaming children, and people crying for help.

AUDIO: [PASSENGER DESCRIBES BROKEN LEG]

Another describing how he went unconscious after the collision and woke up to a broken leg and other injuries.

With 40,000 miles of train tracks, India has the largest railway network in the world that runs under one management.

Federal Judge Drag Ban » A federal judge labeled a Tennessee state law placing restrictions on drag shows unconstitutional. WORLD’s Josh Schumacher has more.

JOSH SCHUMACHER: U.S. District Court Judge for Western Tennessee Thomas Parker ruled the law was unconstitutionally vague.

The law prohibited adult cabaret—or drag—performances from public places or anywhere else minors might be present.

Judge Parker, who was appointed by former President Donald Trump, ruled that sexually explicit speech that does not legally qualify as obscenity is protected by the First Amendment the same as political or artistic speech.

The Tennessee Attorney General indicated he would likely appeal the ruling.

If the law remains struck down minors could be exposed to sexually explicit entertainment.

For WORLD, I’m Josh Schumacher.

Twitter » Another top Twitter executive is out the door, apparently over an effort to censor conversations about transgenderism.

Ella Irwin, head of trust and safety, has resigned. Her departure came shortly after Twitter owner Elon Musk criticized the platform’s handling of tweets about a conservative media company's documentary that confronts that dangers of transgenderism and cross-gender procedures for children.

Twitter initially said the documentary and tweets about it would effectively be shadow banned and affixed with hate speech warning labels for so-called misgendering.

But Twitter later reversed course and allowed the tweets without restriction.

Box office » Spider-Man swung into first place at the weekend box office.

SOUND: [Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse]

The animated Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse opened with a massive weekend haul of $121 million domestically.

The film is a sequel to a successful 2018 animated Spider-Man movie.

Disney’s live-action remake of the Little Mermaid finished second with another $40 million dollars.

I'm Kent Covington.

Straight ahead: defining an obstruction of justice. Plus, the Monday Moneybeat.

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