Evening Edition: Why The President's Middle East Deals Are A Big Deal
Along the way, he spent a whole day visiting the Gulf Arab state of Qatar. The royal house of Thani rules the tiny but oil-rich nation. While some know it for playing host to the U.S. military ever since the days after the September 11th attacks, the state is often criticized for its closeness to extremist groups.
However, despite the complicated relationship, this week, President Trump said Qatar will invest tens of billions in the U.S. tech and defense sectors and will buy more than a hundred brand-new jets from Boeing.
National Security Analyst, former Pentagon Staffer, and Iris Independent Research President Dr Rebecca Grant breaks down America's complex relationship with Qatar, and explains why America must make deals with the nation
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Entrepreneur
25 minutes ago
- Entrepreneur
Presight and Abu Dhabi Police to Drive AI-Enabled Law Enforcement and Smart City Innovation
The partnership will accelerate the deployment of intelligent systems that enable proactive crime prevention, real-time threat detection, digital forensics, and predictive analytics. You're reading Entrepreneur Middle East, an international franchise of Entrepreneur Media. Presight, an ADX-listed public company with Abu Dhabi-based G42 as its majority shareholder, has entered a strategic cooperation agreement with Abu Dhabi Police General Headquarters (GHQ) to develop cutting-edge artificial intelligence technologies for law enforcement. The collaboration aims to integrate the capabilities of Presight's AI-Policing Suite – a modular, future-ready solution that leverages Generative AI, AI agents, and advanced data analytics – with Abu Dhabi Police's operational excellence to address modern challenges in policing and smart city development. The partnership will accelerate the deployment of intelligent systems that enable proactive crime prevention, real-time threat detection, digital forensics, and predictive analytics. Attending the ceremony were His Excellency Ahmed Saif bin Zaitoon AlMheiri, Commander-General of Abu Dhabi Police, His Excellency Mansoor Al Mansoori, Member of the Abu Dhabi Executive Council, Chairman of the Department of Health - Abu Dhabi, and Vice Chairman of Presight; Thomas Pramotedham, CEO of Presight; and Dr Adel Al Sharji, COO of Presight, and Mohammed AlMheiri, Chief Business Officer - Public Safety & Security. Major General/Engineer Nasir Sultan Al-Yabhouni, Director of the Leadership Affairs Sector at Abu Dhabi Police, said, "Our partnership with Presight helps us benefit from world-leading artificial intelligence technologies that will enhance our policing capabilities and take them to new heights. This collaboration supports our efforts to maintain public safety through innovation, which means strengthening our officers' ability to respond faster, make smarter decisions, and make Abu Dhabi a safer and more secure place." Mohammed AlMheiri, Chief Business Officer - Public Safety & Security, Presight, said, "This strategic agreement marks a pivotal moment in the evolution of AI-driven public safety. Presight, together with Abu Dhabi Police, are enabling a new era of proactive, data-driven law enforcement, which will drive a shift towards applied intelligence-led policing defined by enhancements in decision-making and operational agility. Our platform's intelligent digital investigator, real-time threat detection, and predictive analytics capabilities empower officers to anticipate and respond to challenges with unprecedented speed and precision. Together, we are shaping a future where cities are not only smarter, but fundamentally safer." This strategic alliance supports the transformation of public safety infrastructure, enabling enhanced decision-making and streamlined emergency response. The joint efforts will also explore innovative models to modernize law enforcement practices, emphasizing ethical AI usage and data-driven policing. The partnership is a significant step forward in realizing Abu Dhabi's vision of a future-ready, AI-enabled smart nation, reinforcing its position as a global leader in technology adoption and urban safety.
CNBC
26 minutes ago
- CNBC
U.S. trade deal offers initial relief but leaves Europe on the backfoot
After an initial sigh of relief at the U.S. and European Union avoiding further escalation by striking a trade agreement, concerns have grown that the framework deal is "unbalanced" and leaves Europe on the backfoot. The two trading partners on Sunday announced an agreement that includes a 15% tariff rate on most EU goods to the U.S. Some goods like aircraft components and certain chemicals are not set to be hit by tariffs, while autos will see duties reduced to the 15% rate. The agreement also includes provisions for the EU purchasing U.S. energy and increasing its investments in the country. The agreement halves the 30% tariff rate U.S. President Donald Trump had threatened the EU with and avoids any further escalation through for example countermeasures. Yet analysts and economists remain cautious as to the impact on both sides as negotiations are still set to take place. "It's a climb down from a much worse place," Cailin Birch, global economist at The Economist Intelligence Unit, told CNBC's "Europe Early Edition" on Monday. However, she noted, "a 15% tariff is still a big escalation from where we were pre-Trump 2.0." Birch also pointed out that a lot of uncertainty remains, with details about the steel and pharmaceutical sector still being unclear. European leaders struck similar notes overnight, with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz saying that while the EU was able to protect its core interests, he would have welcomed further easing of transatlantic trade. France's minister for Europe, Benjamin Haddad, meanwhile said in a Google-translated social media post that while the deal would bring "temporary stability" to some sectors, it is "unbalanced" overall. Holger Schmieding, chief economist at Berenberg, warned that while the "crippling uncertainty" was over, the damage for Europe is more frontloaded in comparison to the long-term impact on the U.S. "The deal is asymmetric. The US gets away with a substantial increase in its tariffs on imports from the EU and has secured further EU concessions to boot. In his apparent zero-sum mentality, Trump can claim that as a "win" for him," he said. As it will take some time for U.S. consumers to feel the impact of tariffs, Trump's supporters may not immediately realize they are being hurt by the president's policies, Schmieding explained. This may encourage Trump to continue to pursue economic policies that are "bad" for the U.S., he added. The Economist Intelligence Unit's Birch meanwhile pointed out that the U.S. also did not get everything it may have wanted from the deal. "Both sides are, are kind of set back a bit from this deal," she said. "The U.S. didn't make any headway on a lot of issues that have in recent history been critical to their trade approach to the EU. So agricultural standards, the tech industry regulating standard that has been a big bugbear, there was no real mention of those standards whatsoever," Birch explained, acknowledging that the deal is not yet done.
Newsweek
27 minutes ago
- Newsweek
Global Markets Welcome US-EU Trade Deal
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. Financial markets around the world welcomed a framework trade agreement on Monday between the United States and the European Union with a 15 percent U.S. tariff on most EU goods and billions of dollars of European investment. U.S. President Donald Trump and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced the agreement on Sunday at Trump's luxury golf course in Scotland following months of difficult negotiations. Why It Matters The deal averts a devastating trade war between the two economies, which represent the world's largest trade volume, encompassing hundreds of millions of people and trillions of dollars in commerce. Trump had this month threatened to impose a 30 percent tariff on goods from the E.U., which would have meant American consumers facing higher prices on everything from French cheese to German electronics and Spanish pharmaceuticals. The EU had prepared retaliatory tariffs on hundreds of American products, including beef, auto parts, beer and Boeing airplanes, which could have sent shock waves through global economies. President Donald Trump and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen after reaching a trade deal between the U.S. and the EU at the Trump Turnberry golf course in Turnberry, Scotland, on July 27. President Donald Trump and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen after reaching a trade deal between the U.S. and the EU at the Trump Turnberry golf course in Turnberry, Scotland, on July 27. Jacquelyn Martin/AP What To Know The deal provides clarity for companies after months of uncertainty, and global markets breathed a sigh of relief as they opened on Monday, with stocks rising and the euro firmer. S&P 500 futures rose 0.4 percent, and the Nasdaq futures gained 0.5 percent while the euro firmed against the dollar, sterling and yen. European futures surged almost 1 percent. Under the deal, the EU seeks to invest some $600 billion in the U.S. and ramp up its purchases of U.S. military equipment and buy $750 billion worth of U.S. energy. "I think this is the biggest deal ever made," Trump told reporters in Scotland on Sunday. Von der Leyen described Trump as a tough negotiator. She told reporters that the 15 percent tariff, which applied "across the board," was "the best we could get." In Asia, MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was up 0.27 percent early on Monday, just shy of the almost four-year high it touched last week. Japan's Nikkei index fell 0.8 percent after hitting a one-year high last week when Japan struck its own trade deal with the U.S., which also included a 15 percent U.S. tariff on Japanese goods. China's blue-chip stocks rose 0.3 percent on Monday morning, and Hong Kong's Hang Seng index put on 0.75 percent. The Australian dollar, often seen as a proxy for risk appetite, was at $0.657 to the U.S. dollar, near an eight-month high set last week. What People Are Saying European Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen told reporters: "We should not forget where we would have been on the first of August. We would have been at 30 percent, and it would have been much more difficult to get down now to the 15 percent. Fifteen percent is certainly a challenge for some, but we should not forget that it keeps us the access to the American market, and what we are also doing intensively is diversifying to other regions of the world." Prashant Newnaha, a senior Asia-Pacific rates strategist at TD Securities, told Reuters: "A 15 percent tariff on European goods, forced purchases of U.S. energy and military equipment and zero tariff retaliation by Europe, that's not negotiation, that's the art of the deal. A big win for the U.S." Marc Velan, the head of investments at Lucerne Asset Management in Singapore, told Reuters: "A major tail-risk has now been defused. … Markets are interpreting this as a sign of stability and predictability returning to trade policy." What Happens Next Trade negotiators from the U.S. and China—the world's two largest economies—are due to meet in Stockholm on Monday. China is facing an August 12 deadline to reach an agreement with the Trump administration. Many other countries are racing to finalize deals before an August 1 deadline.
