US State Dept OKs Sale of $510 Million in Munitions Guidance Kits and Support for Israel
The US State Department has approved the potential sale of Munitions Guidance Kits and Munitions Support and related equipment to Israel for an estimated $510 million, the Pentagon said on Monday.
The approval for the potential sale - for which Boeing is the principal contractor - comes a week after President Donald Trump announced a ceasefire between Israel and Iran after 12 days of fighting between the two Middle Eastern rivals.
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Arab News
2 hours ago
- Arab News
US Senate in final push to pass Trump spending bill
WASHINGTON: US senators were in a marathon session of amendment votes Monday as Republicans sought to pass Donald Trump's flagship spending bill, an unpopular package set to slash social welfare programs and add an eye-watering $3 trillion to the national debt. The president wants his 'One Big Beautiful Bill' to extend his expiring first-term tax cuts at a cost of $4.5 trillion, boost military spending and fund his plans for unprecedented mass deportations and border security. But senators eyeing 2026 midterm congressional elections are divided over provisions that would strip around $1 trillion in subsidized health care from millions of the poorest Americans and add more than $3.3 trillion to the nation's already yawning budget deficits over a decade. Trump wants to have the package on his desk by the time Independence Day festivities begin on Friday. Progress in the Senate slowed to a glacial pace Monday, however, with no end in sight as the so-called 'vote-a-rama' — a session allowing members to offer unlimited amendments before a bill can move to final passage — went into a 13th hour. With little sign of the pace picking up ahead of a final floor vote that could be delayed until well into the early hours of Tuesday, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt called for Republicans to 'stay tough and unified.' Vote-a-ramas have been concluded in as little nine or 10 hours in the recent past and Democrats accused Republicans of deliberately slow-walking the process. 'They've got a lot of members who were promised things that they may not be able to deliver on. And so they're just stalling,' Senate Democratic Minority Leader Chuck Schumer told reporters. 'But we're just pushing forward amendment after amendment. They don't like these amendments. The public is on our side in almost every amendment we do.' Given Trump's iron grip on the party, he is expected to eventually get what he wants in the Senate, where Republicans hold a razor-thin majority and can overcome what is expected to be unified Democratic opposition. That would be a huge win for the Republican leader — who has been criticized for imposing many of his priorities through executive orders that sidestep the scrutiny of Congress. But approval by the Senate is only half the battle, as the 940-page bill next heads to a separate vote in the House of Representatives, where several rebels in the slim Republican majority are threatening to oppose it. Trump's heavy pressure to declare victory has put more vulnerable Republicans in a difficult position. Nonpartisan studies have concluded that the bill would ultimately pave the way for a historic redistribution of wealth from the poorest 10 percent of Americans to the richest. And cuts to the Medicaid program — which helps low-income Americans get coverage in a country with notoriously expensive medical insurance — and cuts to the Affordable Care Act would result in nearly 12 million more uninsured people by 2034, independent analysis shows. Polls show the bill is among the most unpopular ever considered across multiple demographic, age and income groups. Senate Democrats have been focusing their amendments on highlighting the threats to health care, as well as cuts to federal food aid programs and clean energy tax credits. Republican Majority Leader John Thune can only lose one more vote, with conservative Rand Paul and moderate Thom Tillis already on the record as Republican rebels. A House vote on the Senate bill could come as early as Wednesday. However, ultra-conservative fiscal hawks in the lower chamber have complained that the bill would not cut enough spending and moderates are worried at the defunding of Medicaid. Trump's former close aide Elon Musk — who had an acrimonious public falling out with the president earlier this month over the bill — reprised his sharp criticisms and renewed his calls for the formation of a new political party as voting got underway. The tech billionaire, who headed Trump's Department of Government Efficiency before stepping down at the end of May, accused Republicans of supporting 'debt slavery.' He vowed to launch a new political party to challenge lawmakers who campaigned on reduced federal spending only to vote for the bill.
Al Arabiya
2 hours ago
- Al Arabiya
Iran-linked hackers threaten to release Trump aides' emails
Iran-linked hackers have threatened to disclose more emails stolen from US President Donald Trump's circle, after distributing a prior batch to the media ahead of the 2024 US election. In online chats with Reuters on Sunday and Monday, the hackers — who go by the pseudonym Robert — said they had roughly 100 gigabytes of emails from the accounts of White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, Trump lawyer Lindsey Halligan, Trump adviser Roger Stone, and porn star–turned–Trump antagonist Stormy Daniels. Robert raised the possibility of selling the material but otherwise did not provide details of their plans. The hackers did not describe the content of the emails. US Attorney General Pam Bondi described the intrusion as 'an unconscionable cyber-attack.' The White House and the FBI responded with a statement from FBI Director Kash Patel, who said: 'Anyone associated with any kind of breach of national security will be fully investigated and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.' Halligan, Stone, a representative for Daniels, and the US cyberdefense agency CISA did not respond to requests for comment. Iran's mission to the United Nations did not return a message seeking comment. Tehran has in the past denied committing cyberespionage. Robert materialized in the final months of the 2024 presidential campaign, when they claimed to have breached the email accounts of several Trump allies, including Wiles. The hackers then distributed emails to journalists. Reuters previously authenticated some of the leaked material, including an email that appeared to document a financial arrangement between Trump and lawyers representing former presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. — now Trump's health secretary. Other material included Trump campaign communication about Republican office-seekers and discussion of settlement negotiations with Daniels. Although the leaked documents did garner some coverage last year, they did not fundamentally alter the presidential race, which Trump won. The US Justice Department, in a September 2024 indictment, alleged that Iran's Revolutionary Guards ran the Robert hacking operation. In conversations with Reuters, the hackers declined to address the allegation. After Trump's election, Robert told Reuters that no more leaks were planned. As recently as May, the hackers said, 'I am retired, man.' But the group resumed communication after this month's 12-day air war between Israel and Iran, which was capped by US bombing of Iran's nuclear sites. In messages this week, Robert said they were organizing a sale of stolen emails and wanted Reuters to 'broadcast this matter.' American Enterprise Institute scholar Frederick Kagan, who has written about Iranian cyberespionage, said Tehran suffered serious damage in the conflict and its spies were likely trying to retaliate in ways that did not draw more US or Israeli action. 'A default explanation is that everyone's been ordered to use all the asymmetric stuff that they can that's not likely to trigger a resumption of major Israeli/US military activity,' he said. 'Leaking a bunch more emails is not likely to do that.' Despite worries that Tehran could unleash digital havoc, Iran's hackers took a low profile during the conflict. US cyber officials warned on Monday that American companies and critical infrastructure operators might still be in Tehran's crosshairs.
Al Arabiya
2 hours ago
- Al Arabiya
Japanese Manufacturers Are Slightly More Optimistic Despite Trump Tariff Worries
Business sentiment among large Japanese manufacturers has improved slightly according to a survey by Japan's central bank released Tuesday, although worries persist over President Donald Trump's tariffs. The Bank of Japan's quarterly tankan survey said an index for large manufacturers rose to plus 13 from plus 12 in March when it marked the first dip in a year. The survey is an indicator of companies foreseeing good conditions minus those feeling pessimistic. Major manufacturers include auto and electronics sectors whose exports to the US drive the Japanese economy. US auto tariffs are a worry for major manufacturers like Toyota Motor Corp., but some analysts note global auto sales have held up relatively well in recent months. The US has imposed twenty-five percent tariffs on auto imports. Japanese automakers have plants in Mexico, where Trump has announced a separate set of tariffs. The US has also imposed fifty percent tariffs on steel and aluminum. Japanese officials have been talking frequently with the Trump administration, stressing that Japan is a key US ally. Trump posted on his social media site Monday that Japan wasn't buying enough rice from the US. 'They won't take our RICE and yet they have a massive rice shortage,' the president wrote, adding that a letter to Japan was coming. Also on Monday, National Economic Council director Kevin Hassett told reporters at the White House that Trump is 'going to finalize the frameworks we negotiated with a whole bunch of countries after the weekend.' The Bank of Japan, which has kept interest rates extremely low for years to encourage growth, is expected to continue to raise interest rates, but some analysts expect that to wait until next year. The central bank raised its benchmark rate to zero point five percent from zero point one percent at the start of this year and has maintained that rate. The next Bank of Japan monetary policy board meeting is at the end of this month. The tankan findings work as important data in weighing a decision. The weak yen has raised the cost of materials for Japan at a time when the US dollar has been trading at around 140 yen, up considerably from about 110 yen five years ago. A weak yen is a boon for Japan's exporters by boosting the value of their earnings when converted into yen. The tankan showed sentiment for large non-manufacturers fell to plus 34 from plus 35. That was better than some forecasts, which projected a deeper decline. The Japanese government reported last week that the nation's unemployment rate in May stood at two point five percent, unchanged from the previous month.
