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Schumer fields bill in bid to scuttle Trump's Qatar plane plans

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., wants to put the kibosh on President Donald Trump's plan for the U.S. military to accept a Boeing airplane from Qatar to be used as Air Force One.

The Democratic lawmaker has introduced a bill that would prohibit utilizing Defense Department funding to procure, modify, restore, or maintain an aircraft for presidential flight if that aircraft was previously owned by a foreign government, foreign government-controlled entity, or foreign government representative.

"None of the funds authorized to be appropriated or otherwise made available for fiscal year 2025 or fiscal year 2026 for the Department of Defense may be made available for the procurement, modification, restoration, or maintenance of an aircraft previously owned by a foreign government, an entity controlled by a foreign government, or a representative of a foreign government for the purposes of providing presidential airlift options," the text of the measure reads.

ESPIONAGE, CONSTITUTIONAL CONCERNS ABOUND FROM TRUMP DETRACTORS, ALLIES OVER QATARI JET OFFER

Fox News Digital reached out to the White House to request comment on Tuesday morning but did not immediately receive a response.

"Donald Trump has shown time and again – he will sell out the American people and the Presidency if it means filling his own pockets," Schumer said, according to a press release.Β 

"Not only would it take billions of taxpayer dollars to even attempt to retrofit and secure this plane, but there’s absolutely no amount of modifications that can guarantee it will be secure. It is now on the Senate to prioritize our national security, protect Americans, and ensure that a foreign-owned plane never gets the call sign β€˜Air Force One.’"

QATAR DUMPED BILLIONS INTO US SCHOOLS OVER LAST FOUR DECADES: REPORT

The proposal stands little chance of passage: Even if it were to clear both chambers of Congress where Republicans hold the majorities, the president could veto the measure, in which case passage would require enough votes to surmount a presidential veto.

"The Boeing 747 is being given to the United States Air Force/Department of Defense, NOT TO ME! It is a gift from a Nation, Qatar, that we have successfully defended for many years. It will be used by our Government as a temporary Air Force One, until such time as our new Boeings, which are very late on delivery, arrive," President Trump declared in a Truth Social post last week.

QATAR OFFERS TRUMP JUMBO JET TO SERVE AS AIR FORCE ONE

"Why should our military, and therefore our taxpayers, be forced to pay hundreds of millions of Dollars when they can get it for FREE from a country that wants to reward us for a job well done. This big savings will be spent, instead, to MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN! Only a FOOL would not accept this gift on behalf of our Country. Thank you for your attention to this matter!" Trump added.

Trump indicated last week that he does not plan to fly in the plane after leaving office, but that the aircraft would be placed in his presidential library.

Charging your device on a Southwest flight is about to get more complicated

Southwest planes at an airport
Southwest Airlines is restricting the use of power banks on flights.

Mario Tama/Getty Images

  • Southwest Airlines has started warning passengers about the use of power banks on flights.
  • It's set to introduce a new safety policy next week.
  • The change comes after an Air Busan plane caught fire when a power bank overheated in January.

Southwest Airlines is restricting the use of power banks due to the risk of them catching fire during flights.

A spokesperson told Business Insider that the airline will introduce a "first-in-industry safety policy" on May 28.

"Using portable charging devices while stored in a bag or overhead bin will no longer be permitted," they added. "Nothing is more important to Southwest than the safety of its customers and employees."

Since last week, passengers checking in for their flights on the Southwest app have received pop-up notifications that warn about portable charging devices.

A Reddit user shared a screenshot from the app, which read: "If you use a power bank during your flight, keep it out of your bag and in plain sight. Do not charge devices in the overhead bin."

The devices are powered by lithium batteries that can overheat and catch fire. In such rare cases, keeping the device in plain sight makes it easier for flight attendants to identify any smoke or fire and react quickly to extinguish it.

Last year, the Federal Aviation Administration recorded about three incidents every two weeks, compared to fewer than one a week in 2018.

The FAA has recorded nine confirmed incidents in the US this year.

There have been other suspected cases and disruptions caused just by the risk of overheating.

Last month, a Lufthansa Airbus A380 with 461 passengers had to divert to Boston when a passenger's tablet became stuck in a seat.

The most notable incident occurred in South Korea in January. An Air Busan plane was about to take off when a fire spread through the cabin, injuring seven people.

Investigators later said the fire was likely caused by a power bank, found in an overhead luggage bin.

The Korean government subsequently tightened its rules for airlines, which included prohibiting storing them in the overhead bins.

In the US, there are already many limits on power banks, which are banned from checked luggage. Southwest is going a step further in response to recent incidents.

Read the original article on Business Insider

Qatar's PM says he doesn't know why its $400 million Jumbo jet gift is being called 'bribery'

Qatari Boeing 747 parked at Palm Beach International airport.
Qatar is offering to give the US a Boeing 747 jet.

ROBERTO SCHMIDT/AFP/Getty Images

  • Qatar's prime minister said its offer to give the US a Jumbo jet was a "normal thing between allies."
  • The Boeing 747-8 could be used as Air Force One for President Donald Trump's second term.
  • Critics have questioned the legality, while Trump said that accepting the gift was sensible.

Qatar's prime minister doesn't understand the backlash over its offer of giving a Jumbo jet to the US.

Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani called the proposed gift of a Boeing 747-8 jet, worth about $400 million, as "a normal thing that happens between allies."

"I don't know why people consider it as bribery or Qatar trying to buy influence with this administration," he said at the Qatar Economic Forum in Doha on Tuesday. The comments were reported by Bloomberg, which is hosting the event.

President Donald Trump said last week that his administration was preparing to accept the gift from the Qatari royal family.

The aircraft would be used as the new Air Force One in Trump's second term and then added to his presidential library.

Democrats as well as some Trump supporters have criticized the deal, voicing worries about its legality.

Trump defended the move, saying he would be a "stupid person" if he didn't accept it.

Sheikh Mohammed described the proposed gift as a Qatar "Ministry of Defense to Department of Defense transaction, which is done in full transparency and very legally."

"Many nations have gifted things to the US," he said, naming the Statue of Liberty as one.

Sheikh Mohammed added that "we need to overcome" stereotypes of Qatar trying to buy influence in the US.

Trump has said the jet would be a gift to the Department of Defense, not him personally.

The DoD did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Read the original article on Business Insider

I'm a urologist treating prostate cancer patients like Joe Biden — here are 3 breakthroughs changing the game in 2025

man getting exam at doctor

Wasan Tita/Getty Images

  • Prostate cancer treatment is advancing rapidly.
  • New pills and hormone treatments are giving patients better odds and a more comfortable experience.
  • Doctors say Biden's diagnosis is a reminder to get screened often with simple tools like blood tests.

When the news broke on Sunday that former President Joe Biden had been diagnosed with prostate cancer that had spread into his bones, Dr. Arpeet Shah was surprised.

Soon, his phone started blowing up with texts from other urologists, who were equally flummoxed as to how this could have happened to a man of Biden's stature.

"That was certainly a conversation amongst urologists yesterday, texting each other," Shah told Business Insider on Monday, the day after Biden's diagnosis was made public. "It is surprising that this wasn't caught, or it was caught at such an aggressive stage."

Shah, a board-certified urologist at Associated Urological Specialists in suburban Chicago says over the course of the decade he's been in practice, he's been alarmed at the number of new, minimally invasive, highly effective prostate cancer prevention and treatment options that have blossomed. This is especially true, he says, when it comes to metastatic cancer cases like Joe Biden's.

"Over the last 10 years, there's just been a robust increase in the number of treatment options," Shah said.

Other cancer experts BI spoke with agree that new therapies allow for longer lives, better outcomes, and many patients can keep on going about their normal life while doing them. Here are three major breakthroughs driving the trend:

1. Patients are taking more cancer-fighting pills at home, forgoing uncomfortable, gooey injections

Testosterone-lowering drugs and procedures have been the bedrock of modern prostate cancer treatment, in use for more than 80 years.

Prostate cancer grows by using testosterone as its fuel. This makes drugs that drive down testosterone levels (androgen receptor blockers) a great first-line treatment.

These treatments can be uncomfortable. Drugs like leuprolide acetate are injected under the skin or into a muscle every three to six months. Those injections are somewhat "gelatenous" Shah said, and they might leave a lump under the skin that lasts for weeks or months as the medication slowly releases in the body.

New pills, in particular the drug relugolix (approved by the FDA in late 2020), can work faster than those old injections β€” possibly helping a person's testosterone levels to normalize faster after treatment, too.

Patients spend less time weathering the uncomfortable, menopause-like side effects of prostate cancer treatment, like hot flashes, low energy, and bone density issues.

"We see a lot of patients who really enjoy taking the pill more," Shah says. These days, he says, many of his patients just do their own cancer treatment from home using pills.

"Most often, patients are taking multiple pills per day to treat their prostate cancer," he said. "They don't have to go to the hospital to get the medication. And these pills are generally very well tolerated to a point where people are able to do their daily living as they were before their diagnosis."

2. New treatments can outsmart cancer, even when it tries to evade hormone-suppressing drugs

doctor handing out pills
A relatively new generation of oral pills for prostate cancer take treatment even further.

iStock

Scientists have gotten better at outsmarting prostate cancer β€” not only lowering testosterone production.

New innovations prevent cancer cells from absorbing leftover testosterone in the body, meaning the disease can't get a good foothold to grow.

Pills in this category include darolutamide (FDA approved in 2019), apalutamide (2018), enzalutamide (2014), and abiraterone (2011).

"We can oftentimes get this disease to be almost like a chronic disease, like high blood pressure or diabetes, where patients know they have it, but they're getting treated and they can move on with the rest of their life," Shah said.

When that's not enough, other techniques are at hand. These include targeted liquid forms of radiation, as well as gene therapies that target specific mutations.

Dr. Alicia Morgans, a genitourinary medical oncologist at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and board member of ZERO Prostate Cancer, says patients today can live with metastatic prostate cancer for years, or even decades, thanks to these kinds of treatments.

The five-year relative survival rate for prostate cancer in the US is near 98% β€” and getting better year over year.

"Every year we're seeing new approvals in prostate cancer," Morgans said.

3. New types of blood tests and MRIs

psa blood test for prostate cancer
New blood tests for prostate cancer are even more accurate.

Getty Images

Shah said there's also been a ton of advancement in prostate cancer detection and early screening, going beyond the traditional rectal exam and blood tests.

Newer blood tests like the IsoPSA blood test zero in on prostate cancer better than their predecessors. There are also more sophisticated imaging scans doctors can do, like the multiparametric MRI, that can zoom in on suspicious lesions in the prostate.

For Shah, Biden's diagnosis is a "sobering reminder" to screen early and often.

He encourages most men over 50 years old, and some as young as 40 (depending on risk factors) to speak to their doctor and get screened, "because this is such a treatable and most often curable disease when caught early."

Read the original article on Business Insider

Want to be an AI researcher? Being a contrarian helps, says 'Godfather of AI'

Computer scientist Geoffrey Hinton stood outside a Google building
Geoffrey Hinton, the "Godfather of AI," said "intellectual self-confidence" is key.

Noah Berger/Associated Press

  • Geoffrey Hinton, often called the "godfather of AI," said arriving at good ideas is easier if you're a contrarian.
  • In an interview with CBS, he suggested looking for things you believe are being done wrong.
  • Hinton has previously told BI that humans should be "very concerned" about AI's rate of progress.

To hit on ideas that could eventually develop into breakthroughs, the "Godfather of AI," Geoffrey Hinton, says you have to be "contrarian."

"You have to have a deep belief that everybody else could be doing things wrong, and you could figure out how to do them right," Hinton said in a recent interview with CBS. "And most people don't believe that about themselves."

Hinton was awarded the 2024 Nobel Prize in Physics for his work in machine learning and has previously warned of the possible existential risks of AI.

When asked about advice he'd give to the forthcoming generation of AI researchers, Hinton suggested searching for inefficiencies. Though ideas in this vein often lead to dead ends, if they pan out, he said, there's a chance you're hitting on something big.

"You should look for something where you figure out everybody's doing it wrong and you think there's a different way of doing it," Hinton said. "And you should pursue that until you understand why you're wrong. But just occasionally, that's how you get good new ideas."

"Intellectual self-confidence" can be inherent or acquired β€” in Hinton's case, he said it was part nature, part nurture.

"My father was like that," he said. "So that was a role model for being contrarian."

Hinton said he spent years thinking up ways that existing systems could be challenged β€” and that he got it wrong far more often than he got it right.

"I spent decades having lots and lots of ideas about how to do things differently," he said. "Nearly all of which were wrong, but just occasionally, they were right."

Hinton did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider prior to publication.

Even now, Hinton still views himself as operating beyond the norm. He said that attitude is essential β€” if you're not attached to existing methods of doing things, you'll find it easier to challenge them.

"It requires you to think of yourself as an outsider," he said. "I've always thought of myself as an outsider. I'm rather unhappy with the situation now where I'm a kind of insider. I'd rather be an outsider."

Hinton, who told CBS he uses OpenAI's GPT-4 and trusts it more than he should, has previously warned of the potential dangers of AI.

In a 2023 email to Business Insider, Hinton said humans should be "very concerned" about the rate of progress in AI development.

Hinton at the time estimated that it could be between five and 20 years before AI becomes a real threat, and even longer for the technology to become a threat to humanity β€” if it ever does.

"It is still possible that the threat will not materialize," he previously told BI.

Read the original article on Business Insider

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