News Roundup & Comment

Below is your weekly selection of news highlights from the Round-Up broadcast. Later on, callers contributed their thoughts as well.

--Early Monday, regulators seized the San Francisco-based First Republic Bank and agreed to sell its deposits and most of its assets to JPMorgan Chase preventing further spiral of the banking industry.

--Shares of the U.S. regional banks PacWest Bancorp and Western Alliance Bank plunged on Tuesday as the demise of the First Republic Bank triggered investor concerns about the financial health of other mid-sized lenders.

--U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen gave lawmakers a deadline Monday to raise the debt ceiling by June 1 or risk a default on U.S. debt obligations.

--The U.S. will run out of cash to pay all government bills on time on June 8th.

--The U.S. has evacuated its first group of American citizens and permanent residents from Sudan.

--Russian officials claimed that Ukrainian forces had conducted a drone attack against the Kremlin targeting Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday.

--A U.S. think tank says Russia likely staged the drone attack on the Kremlin as a false-flag operation.

--American officials said Tuesday that the U.S. will be sending about 300 million in additional military aid to Ukraine including large quantities of artillery shells, howitzers, air-to-surface missiles and ammunition as the Spring offensive against Russian forces nears its start.

--The Department of Homeland Security and Department of State announced unprecedented policies to expand entry to the U.S., while also claiming the border is closed, ahead of the public health authority Title 42 which ends on May 11th.