#senior-fellow

#senior-fellow

As the date that the US could default on its obligations grows closer, the Treasury Department must prepare for an unprecedented situation figuring out which bills to pay with the money it has on hand if Congress doesn't act.One option that Treasury officials have seriously contemplated in past debt ceiling dramas is prioritizing payments, which would entail satisfying certain bills before others.

Here's a look at the life of Rick Santorum, former Pennsylvania congressman.Birth date: May 10, 1958 Birth place: Winchester, Virginia Birth name: Richard John Santorum Father: Aldo Santorum, a psychologist Mother: Catherine (Dughi) Santorum, a nurse Marriage: Karen (Garver) Santorum (1990-present) Children: Isabella, 2008; Patrick, 2001; Peter, 1999; Sarah, 1998; Gabriel, born and died in 1996; Daniel, 1995; Richard Jr., 1993; Elizabeth, 1991 Education: Pennsylvania State University, B.A., Political Science, 1980; University of Pittsburgh, M.B.A., 1981; Dickinson School of Law, J.D., 1986 Religion: Roman Catholic Member of the Gang of Seven, a group that exposed and condemned scandals in congress, when in the House of Representatives.

MOSCOW President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia and China's top leader, Xi Jinping, declared an enduring economic partnership on Tuesday, promising to bring more Russian energy to China and more Chinese companies to Russia as the two leaders sought to insulate their countries from Western sanctions and other consequences of the war in Ukraine.

Jimmy Lai, a Hong Kong pro-democracy media mogul, was sentenced to more than five years in prison on Saturday for fraud, a punishment that human rights activists denounced as the latest blow to freedom of expression in the city.Mr. Lai, 75, was sentenced Saturday by Stanley Chan, a judge at the district court, on two counts of fraud for violating the terms of a lease contract related to Apple Daily, a pro-democracy newspaper he founded and which was forced to close last year when the authorities cracked down on it.

Festivities aside, Mr. Putin's declaration will signal a new and more dangerous phase of the war.The Kremlin announced the annexation plans on Thursday, saying Mr. Putin would sign documents on the entry of new territories into the Russian Federation and give "a voluminous speech.""He is provoking an escalation of the war, transferring it to some new status."In recent days, Mr. Putin and Russian state media have escalated their rhetoric about the primary enemy being the West - which, in their telling, is using Ukraine as a proxy force to try to destroy Russia.