Multiple Israeli defense companies have signed contracts with Qatar, with state approval, to supply the state with weapons, ammunition, cyber technology, and other sophisticated weaponry, Maariv learned on Tuesday.

These agreements were signed with the approval of bodies in the Defense Ministry, the Defense Intelligence Agency, and special approval from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

According to information received by Maariv, Elbit signed contracts with Qatar worth more than $100 million, Rafael signed contracts worth tens of millions of dollars, while Israel Aerospace Industries had a long affair with Qatar - which included at least 20 visits by Israel Aerospace Industries heads to Doha and a significant visit by a senior Qatari delegation, which spent an entire day at the Israel Aerospace Industries offices.

https://www.reuters.com/world/russia-has-plans-test-natos-resolve-german-intelligence-chief-warns-2025-06-09/

https://edition.cnn.com/2025/06/10/middleeast/syria-dress-code-women-beaches-burkinis-latam-intl

Original title: Hegseth faces sharp questions from Congress on deploying troops to LA and Pentagon spending

The full quote:

After persistent questioning about the cost of sending National Guard members and Marines to Los Angeles, Hegseth turned to his acting comptroller, Bryn Woollacott MacDonnell, who said it would cost $134 million. Hegseth defended Trump’s decision to send the troops, saying they are needed to protect federal agents as they do their jobs.

https://apnews.com/article/pentagon-congress-hegseth-signal-hearings-c53cd37c2eae4327dd74e4c717057469

Despite comments made by Donald Trump just now (“we’ll see”), the US military is set to temporarily deploy about 700 Marines to Los Angeles while additional National Guard troops arrive in the city, a US official has told Reuters.

The official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said a battalion would be sent, but for now, the Insurrection Act is not expected to be invoked.

The official added that the situation was fluid and could change.

Mayor says Los Angeles being used as ‘test case’ by federal government – as it happened

Mayor says ‘nothing warranted’ the intervention and that cannot ‘emphasize enough the level of fear and terror that is in Angelenos right now’ due to Ice raids

^{Kate Lamb (The Guardian)}

The population of emperor penguins in one part of Antarctica appears to be declining faster than previously thought, according to a new analysis of satellite imagery released Tuesday.

The estimated population of 16 penguin colonies — visible in satellite photos taken between 2009 and 2024 – had declined 22% during that period mainly because of climate change that’s shrinking the amount of available sea ice. It’s unclear whether this drop is seen across the continent, scientists said.

Scientists previously estimated that the total emperor penguin population declined about 10% across all of Antarctica over the past decade and a half. The latest survey included a region covering the Antarctic Peninsula, Weddell Sea and Bellingshausen Sea.

“It’s absolutely alarming that the numbers are so much worse than predicted,” said Daniel Zitterbart, a penguin researcher at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, who was not involved in the study.

https://apnews.com/article/emperor-penguins-antarctica-2561e86134649478dafce540bb6dc539

Israeli authorities screened footage of Hamas's October 7 atrocities to Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg and other pro-Palestinian flotilla participants upon their arrival in Ashdod on Monday, shortly after the IDF intercepted their ship, the Madleen, in international waters.

According to Defense Minister Israel Katz, the activists refused to continue watching the film after seeing the brutality of the attacks.

"These antisemitic flotilla activists closed their eyes to the truth and once again proved they prefer the murderers over the victims,” Katz said. “They continue to ignore the atrocities committed by Hamas against Jewish and Israeli women, the elderly, and children.”

The activists were given the option to sign a voluntary departure form or face arrest after 96 hours. Among those refusing to leave is French MEP Rima Hassan.

Hassan has previously drawn wide criticism for her denial that the Bibas family, excluding Yarden Bibas, were murdered, her claim that the October 7 massacre was "legitimate" and her insistence that Palestinians in Europe should be allowed to join the "resistance."

Namrata Nangia and her husband have been toying with the idea of having another child since their five-year-old daughter was born.

But it always comes back to one question: 'Can we afford it?'

She lives in Mumbai and works in pharmaceuticals, her husband works at a tyre company. But the costs of having one child are already overwhelming - school fees, the school bus, swimming lessons, even going to the GP is expensive.

It was different when Namrata was growing up. "We just used to go to school, nothing extracurricular, but now you have to send your kid to swimming, you have to send them to drawing, you have to see what else they can do."

According to a new report by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), the UN agency for reproductive rights, Namrata's situation is becoming a global norm.

World fertility rates in 'unprecedented decline', UN says

Hundreds of millions of people are not able to have the number of children they want, the UN warns.

^{Stephanie Hegarty (BBC News)}

Every tenancy in the country is set to be brought under a Rent Pressure Zone, Government leaders have agreed.

In a meeting on Monday night, leaders met and agreed on a new system of national rent control.

New rent controls: Landlords face increased fines for breaking rules; eviction ban won’t apply to half of all

The Government is looking at increasing fines for landlords who break eviction rules and is consulting the Attorney General on the matter, Housing Minister James Browne has said.

^{Senan Molony, Tabitha Monahan and Gráinne Ní Aodha (Irish Independent)}

https://apnews.com/article/iran-tataloo-rapper-execution-nuclear-f30028aa89cf715e868549bab049addd

Murtaza Hussain, Waqas Ahmed, and Ryan Grim
Jun 09, 2025

"A review of leaked data from Meta, provided to us by company whistleblowers, shows that Israeli companies since 2023 are finding it increasingly difficult everywhere around the world to attract new customers, leading to advertising-cost increases in the billions.

We also just posted the translated audio of an extraordinary interview just given by former Israeli PM Yair Lapid, who is often discussed as a more humane, centrist alternative to Benjamin Netanyahu. Give it a listen and see if you agree with that label."

Leaked Data From Meta Reveal Israeli Companies Are Struggling To Find Customers

For the year 2025, the Israeli government announced it would be earmarking an additional $150 million toward global public relations, an unprecedented increase in spending that comes alongside a striking collapse in perception for Israel around the w…

^{www.dropsitenews.com}

Richard Varvill reflects on the emotional collapse of Reaction Engines, a UK aerospace firm that developed cutting-edge heat exchanger tech for hypersonic flight.

Originating from the 1980s Hotol project, the company came close to success but failed in late 2024 due to a lack of funding, despite promising tech and support from major investors like Rolls-Royce.

Staff were devastated, with many in tears during the final announcement. Former team members take pride in the innovation and culture, though regret the mission remains unfinished.

The company’s closure highlights the harsh reality of funding gaps in long-term aerospace ventures

“we failed because we ran out of money.”

What happens when a high-tech project fails?

Workers at Reaction Engines felt they were close to completing a revolutionary jet engine.

^{Michael Dempsey (BBC News)}

Senate Commerce Republicans have kept a ten year moratorium on state AI laws in their latest version of President Donald Trump’s massive budget package. And a growing number of lawmakers and civil society groups warn that its broad language could put consumer protections on the chopping block.

Republicans who support the provision, which the House cleared as part of its “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” say it will help ensure AI companies aren’t bogged down by a complicated patchwork of regulations. But opponents warn that should it survive a vote and a congressional rule that might prohibit it, Big Tech companies could be exempted from state legal guardrails for years to come, without any promise of federal standards to take their place.

Not to mention, if/when federal standards are created, the standards will be determined by a federal government that is being run by the broligarchs. These are the people we need to be protected from. They've had the idea of federal "regulations" that will allow them to do whatever they need to succeed planned since at least 2019.

Relying only on federal AI regulations to protect Americans in 2025, would be like the federal government relying on George Wallace to create the Civil Rights Act in the 1960s.

Sam Altman, 2025:

Altman also later cautioned against a patchwork regulatory framework for AI.

“It is very difficult to imagine us figuring out how to comply with 50 different sets of regulations,” said Altman. “One federal framework that is light touch, that we can understand, and it lets us move with the speed that this moment calls for, seems important and fine.”

Peter Thiel protege, Michael Kratsios regarding AI regulation in 2019

“A patchwork of regulation of technology is not beneficial for the country. We want to avoid that. Facial recognition has important roles—for example, finding lost or displaced children. There are use cases, but they need to be underpinned by values.”

A ban on state AI laws could smash Big Tech’s legal guardrails

The Senate is pushing ahead with language in its budget bill that could restrict states from regulating AI for a decade, and opponents warn it could hamper other consumer protections.

^{Lauren Feiner (The Verge)}