内容摘要：Those work requirements are expected to bar thousands of people from accessing those safety-net programmes, allowing for cost savings. But critics fear those barriers will drive some families deeper into poverty.

Those work requirements are expected to bar thousands of people from accessing those safety-net programmes, allowing for cost savings. But critics fear those barriers will drive some families deeper into poverty.

The US has the highest amount of national debt in the world and is facing growing concerns about its long-term fiscal stability.Debt is simply the total amount of money the US government owes to its lenders, currently amounting to $36.2 trillion. This represents 122 percent of the country’s annual economic output or gross domestic product (GDP), and it is growing by about $1 trillion every three months.

The highest debt-to-GDP ratio was during the pandemic in 2020, when the ratio hit 133 percent. The US is among the top 10 countries in the world with the highest debt-to-GDP ratio.What is the debt ceiling, and why does it keep increasing?When the government spends more money than it collects, it creates a deficit.

To cover this deficit, the government borrows more money. To ensure that borrowing is subject to legislative approval, the US Congress sets a limit to how much the government can borrow to fund existing obligations like Social Security, healthcare and defence. This limit is known as the debt ceiling.Once the ceiling is reached, the government cannot borrow more unless Congress raises or suspends the limit. Since 1960, Congress has raised, suspended or changed the terms of the debt ceiling 78 times, allowing the US to borrow more money.

The federal deficit under different presidents

The federal deficit is how much more money the government spends than it brings in during a single year. A federal surplus would mean the US is bringing in more money than it is spending.The money laundering plan Rushwaya outlined to our reporters involved using dirty cash to buy Zimbabwean gold — which our reporters could then sell in the international market in exchange for legitimate money.

The dirty money would be flown into Zimbabwe on Angel’s plane, which would circumvent customs checks because of his diplomatic status. “I’m always available, I’m here at your disposal,” she told Angel, on a phone call where the plan was discussed.Rushwaya did not respond to Al Jazeera’s request for a formal comment about the investigation.

Ewan Macmillan aka Mr GoldPattni’s arch-rival in Zimbabwe’s gold-smuggling industry, Macmillan is loud and loquacious. He was first jailed for gold smuggling in the early 1990s, when he was just 21 years old. By his own account, he has been to prison on several occasions since then.