logo
Senate rejects effort to block arms sales over Trump's dealings with Qatar and UAE

Senate rejects effort to block arms sales over Trump's dealings with Qatar and UAE

WASHINGTON — Senate Republicans have blocked an effort by Democrats to temporarily block arms sales to Qatar and the United Arab Emirates in response to President Donald Trump's dealings in the region.
Democrats forced two procedural votes Wednesday to protest Qatar's donation of a $400 million plane to be used as Air Force One and a $2 billion investment by a UAE-backed company using a Trump family-linked stablecoin, a form of cryptocurrency.

Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Nikkei Down 1.3%, Dragged by Electronics, Auto Stocks
Nikkei Down 1.3%, Dragged by Electronics, Auto Stocks

Wall Street Journal

time13 minutes ago

  • Wall Street Journal

Nikkei Down 1.3%, Dragged by Electronics, Auto Stocks

0030 GMT — Japanese stocks are lower as geopolitical tensions escalate in the Middle East and uncertainty persists over U.S. tariffs. Electronics and auto stocks are leading the declines. Tokyo Electron is down 4.3% and Sony Group is 2.6% lower. Toyota Motor is down 2.5% and Subaru is 4.1% lower after President Trump said he might raise tariffs on imported automobiles. USD/JPY is at 142.90, down from 143.73 as of Thursday's Tokyo stock market close. Investors are closely watching any developments related to Iran nuclear talks and U.S. tariffs. The Nikkei Stock Average is down 1.3% at 37681.03. ( @kosakunarioka)

Meta Invests Nearly $15 Billion in Scale AI to Kick-Start Superintelligence Lab
Meta Invests Nearly $15 Billion in Scale AI to Kick-Start Superintelligence Lab

New York Times

time14 minutes ago

  • New York Times

Meta Invests Nearly $15 Billion in Scale AI to Kick-Start Superintelligence Lab

Meta said on Thursday that it planned to invest nearly $15 billion in Scale AI, a start-up that works with data to train artificial intelligence systems, in a deal that Meta hopes will add needed muscle to its disappointing A.I. division. As a condition of the deal, Alexandr Wang, Scale AI's 28-year-old chief executive, plans to join Meta in a top leadership role in the new division, which Meta is calling its Superintelligence lab. Mr. Wang, whom people inside Meta have taken to calling a visionary leader, will also bring a team of employees from Scale AI to work at Meta. The move to invest billions in Scale AI, an amount equal to about 10 percent of Meta's revenue in 2024, would be Meta's first major minority investment in an outside company. It is Meta's second-largest deal, after the $19 billion acquisition of the messaging app WhatsApp about 11 years ago. Meta is scrambling to catch up with A.I. competitors such as Google, Microsoft, OpenAI and Anthropic, as industry executives jockey for an edge in what they believe will be the most transformative technology in a generation. 'Meta has finalized our strategic partnership and investment in Scale AI,' a spokesperson for Meta said in a statement. 'As part of this, we will deepen the work we do together producing data for A.I. models, and Alexandr Wang will join Meta to work on our superintelligence efforts.' Meta's investment with Scale AI is unusually structured. Meta will take a minority stake in the start-up and receive little control over its direction. The structure was intentional. Executives at Meta and Scale AI were worried about drawing the attention of regulators. Meta is waiting on a federal judge's decision in an antitrust case scrutinizing its earlier acquisitions of Instagram and WhatsApp. The Federal Trade Commission under President Joseph R. Biden Jr. was skeptical of big technology acquisitions, and Lina Khan, who led the agency at the time, scrutinized multibillion-dollar investments in A.I. companies. The structure of those deals — which included Amazon's investments in Anthropic and Microsoft's backing of OpenAI — allowed the big companies to form close ties with smaller rivals while dodging regulatory issues. It is unclear if the F.T.C. under its new chairman, Andrew Ferguson, will continue down that path. But Mr. Ferguson has shown few signs of changing course. OpenAI kicked off the A.I. movement in late 2022 with the release of its chatbot ChatGPT, compelling companies like Google and Meta to build similar technologies. Meta found an important niche when it chose to open source its systems, freely sharing the underlying tech with developers and businesses. But its latest system, called LLAMA4, has not matched the technologies produced by its biggest rivals. Among technologists, superintelligence is a futuristic goal of A.I. development. OpenAI, Google and others have said their immediate aim is to build artificial general intelligence, or A.G.I., a machine that can do anything the human brain can do. Superintelligence, if it can be developed, would go beyond A.G.I.

Hegseth's long week on Capitol Hill
Hegseth's long week on Capitol Hill

The Hill

time15 minutes ago

  • The Hill

Hegseth's long week on Capitol Hill

The Big Story Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Thursday closed out his third and final day of hearings on Capitol Hill. © Associated Press The final day was not without its fireworks, with several clashes with lawmakers as he dodged questions on invading Greenland, Ukraine aid, his use of the app Signal, and troop deployment in Los Angeles. Hegseth, in his first appearance before the House Armed Services Committee, was quickly hit with queries from panel Democrats, starting with ranking member Adam Smith (Wash.). Smith pressed the Pentagon chief on whether it is the Defense Department's policy that the U.S. military be prepared to take Greenland or Panama by force. Hegseth would not rule out the possibility of a future military invasion of the Arctic territory and Central American country, suggesting to lawmakers the Pentagon could have such plans and that the U.S. has an interest in protecting both areas from Chinese influence. The Defense Department 'plans for any particular contingency,' he said, adding that 'I think the American people would want the Pentagon to have plans for anything.' The answer caused Smith to scoff, replying: 'I don't think the American people voted for President Trump because they were hoping we would invade Greenland. I'm going to go out on a limb on that one.' Hegseth was later pressed by Rep. Mike Turner (R-Ohio), who implored him to confirm that 'it is not your testimony today that there are plans at the Pentagon for taking by force or invading Greenland, correct? Because I sure as hell hope that it is not that.' Hegseth would only repeat that the 'Pentagon has plans for any number of contingencies' and that officials 'look forward to working with Greenland to ensure that it is secured from any potential threats.' Rep. Seth Moulton (D-Mass.) took his five minutes to supply Hegseth with the most direct questioning he's yet faced on whether he shared classified information on U.S. attack plans in Yemen via the Signal messaging app. Rep. Salud Carbajal (D-Calif.) then lambasted the Defense secretary as an 'embarrassment,' demanding he resign over a range of issues including the Signal group chat, deploying Marines to Los Angeles amid protests and his views on Russia's war in Ukraine. 'I have called for your resignation. I didn't think you were qualified before your confirmation, and you have done nothing to inspire confidence in your ability to lead competently,' Carbajal said. The hearing caps off Hegseth's long week on Capitol Hill, which began on Tuesday with a relatively quiet House Appropriations defense subcommittee hearing. But on Wednesday, Hegseth faced heated questions from the Senate's version of the Appropriations panel, which bombarded Hegseth over the Russia-Ukraine war, the Pentagon's delays in delivering budget information and the administration's focus on Greenland in its Arctic strategy. Read the full report at Welcome to The Hill's Defense & National Security newsletter, I'm Ellen Mitchell — your guides to the latest developments at the Pentagon, on Capitol Hill and beyond. Did someone forward you this newsletter? Subscribe here. Essential Reads How policy will affect defense and national security now and inthe future: Rain, thunderstorms forecast for DC military parade Rain and thunderstorms are forecast for Saturday in the nation's capital, where a day of festivities and a military parade are scheduled to celebrate the U.S. Army's 250th birthday — which happens to coincide with President Trump's 79th birthday. The daylong festivities in Washington will take place mostly on the National Mall, where a fitness event will be held at 9:30 a.m. and a festival will kick off at 11 a.m. The festival … US troops begin detaining migrants on border defense zone U.S. troops at the southern border started detaining migrants last week as part of the 'Deep South Campaign' to prosecute individuals found trespassing in National Defense Areas (NDAs). President Trump has currently designated the U.S.-Mexico stretches between El Paso to Fort Hancock, Texas, as an NDA alongside the land line marking the country's boundaries in New Mexico. U.S. Army Lt. Col. Chad Campbell said three individuals … Newsom says Trump never discussed sending National Guard: 'Stone cold liar' California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) said in a podcast episode Thursday that President Trump did not discuss sending the National Guard to Los Angeles when the two recently spoke to each other before Trump's announcement. 'He lied, he lied. On my mother and dad's grave. I don't mess around, when I say this, he lied. Stone cold liar,' Newsom said on The New York Times's 'The Daily.' Host Michael Barbaro had said the … On Our Radar Upcoming things we're watching on our beat: In Other News Branch out with a different read from The Hill: Senate Democrats calls for Noem to resign Multiple Senate Democrats on Thursday called for Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem to resign after Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) was forcibly removed and later handcuffed for interrupting a press conference Noem held in Los Angeles. 'Kristi Noem should resign in disgrace,' Sen. Tina Smith (D-Minn.) … On Tap Tomorrow Events in and around the defense world: What We're Reading News we've flagged from other outlets: Trending Today Two key stories on The Hill right now: Republicans lay groundwork for 'total tax cliff' at end of Trump's term Congressional Republicans are laying the groundwork for a tax cliff at the end of President Trump's term in office. While the conference is pushing … Read more Trump on 'No Kings' protests during military parade: 'I don't feel like a king' President Trump was asked Thursday to respond to planned counterprotests that will coincide with a military parade in the nation's capital to … Read more Opinions in The Hill Op-eds related to defense & national security submitted to The Hill: You're all caught up. See you tomorrow! Thank you for signing up! Subscribe to more newsletters here

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into the world of global news and events? Download our app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store