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Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche is seen before a Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing for his nomination to be Attorney General, at the Dirksen Senate Office Building in Washington, DC on July 15, 2026. Nathan Posner | Anadolu | Getty ImagesThe Senate appears ready to advance the nomination of Todd Blanche to be the next attorney general after Sen. John Cornyn struck a deal to formally end the “anti-weaponization fund” to compensate President Donald Trump’s political allies.A spokeswoman for Cornyn, R-Texas, confirmed the deal Monday in a statement to CNBC. “Sen. Cornyn has reached an agreement with the Department of…

Firefighters and Hellenic Civil Protection personnel battle advancing flames during a wildfire near Agios Nektarios in Western Attica, Greece, as firefighting operations continue under difficult conditions. Nick Paleologos | Afp | Getty ImagesGreece is entering its second week of wildfires spread by extreme winds as more countries in Southern Europe battle with heatwaves. The wildfire, which broke out in Western Attica near the Greek capital Athens, has been worsened by Greece’s gusty, dry winds known as Meltemi, which affects the country during July and August. In some areas, the winds have reached speeds of 80 to 100 km per hour,…

Reform UK’s deputy leader Richard Tice is being investigated by the parliamentary standards watchdog over an allegation he failed to declare an interest. The investigation was opened on Tuesday 28 July and was published on the Parliamentary Standards Commissioner website on Monday.Tice, the MP for Boston and Skegness, said the complaint related to a Commons debate about Israeli influence and whether he should have referenced his register of interests. Reform said Tice did not mention in his 22 June speech that he had been on a trip to Israel last September, funded by a pro-Israel lobbying group.The trip has been…

The European Union gained new powers to inspect AI models, restrict EU market access and fine model providers, raising the stakes for U.S. companies like Anthropic and OpenAI and Google.Under the powers that came into effect on Sunday, the Commission, the EU’s executive arm, can demand to evaluate models before public release in the region, restrict EU market access and fine a provider up to 15 million euros or 3% of its annual turnover, whichever is higher.The new powers could mean further flashpoints between the U.S. and European Commission, with the two sparring over Europe’s push for tech sovereignty and…

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman speaks with reporters following meetings on Capitol Hill, in Washington, June 3, 2026.Evelyn Hockstein | ReutersOpenAI is dominating the first visible wave of artificial intelligence spending inside Congress.The maker of ChatGPT accounted for roughly $9 out of every $10 spent on identifiable AI tools by House offices, committees and institutional accounts during the year ending March 31, according to a CNBC analysis of House disbursement records. The records offer only a partial view of Congress’ AI adoption because they exclude free accounts, AI bundled into broader software contracts and most Senate use. Even so, they show…

Alibaba debuts Qwen3-Max, its trillion-parameter AI model trained on 36T tokens. (Photo by Nikolas Kokovlis/NurPhoto via Getty Images)Nurphoto | Nurphoto | Getty ImagesAlibaba unveiled its latest and “most powerful” AI model Qwen3.8-Max on Monday as Chinese companies race to close the AI gap with the U.S. Qwen3.8-Max, which is scheduled for release next week, boasts 2.4 trillion parameters, making it one of the “most powerful” AI models in the Chinese tech giant’s Qwen family of AI models to date, Alibaba said. Parameters refer to the numerical settings that shape how AI processes information and generates responses. The model also supports…

Reform UK says it would use the Royal Navy to “intercept” small boats crossing the English Channel and return them to France or Belgium.Under plans to be announced at a news conference, the party says it would form the “largest military operation” in the Channel since World War Two.When it was put to the party that the UK could not return migrants without French agreement, home affairs spokesman Zia Yusuf claimed it would be possible. Prime Minister Andy Burnham has pledged to be “relentless” on tackling small boat crossings, and stressed the UK needs to build a system that offers…

Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Frank E. Petersen Jr. (DDG 121) sails behind the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72), June 27, 2026. Frank E. Petersen Jr. is deployed to the U.S. 5th Fleet area of operations to support maritime security and stability in the Middle East.Courtesy: U.S. NavyHello, this is Anniek Bao writing to you from Singapore. Welcome to another edition of CNBC’s Daily Open.Markets began the week trading a weapon that was never fired. U.S. President Donald Trump said negotiations with Iran will begin Monday after calling off another round of military strikes on the country,…

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy arrives in the US ahead of talks with President Donald Trump in Washington, D.C, United States on July 28, 2026.Anadolu | Anadolu | Getty ImagesUkrainian officials, drone executives and national security experts are bracing for another extremely difficult winter, fearing that a Russian assault on energy infrastructure could pose the toughest challenge of the war yet.From as early as April, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has emphasized the importance of ensuring that the country’s energy and infrastructure facilities are fully operational and reliably protected for the next heating season.Just last month, in the peak of the Ukrainian…

Satellite view of Iran (with mask). This image was compiled from data acquired by LANDSAT 5 & 7 satellites., Iran, Middle East, Asia, True Colour Satellite Image With Mask (Photo by Planet Observer/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)Planet Observer | Universal Images Group | Getty ImagesU.S. President Donald Trump said negotiations with Iran will begin Monday after he held off on new strikes against the Middle Eastern country, once again raising hopes for a diplomatic resolution to the conflict that has upended energy supplies.”Now what we’re doing is we’re talking to them in the form of a negotiation. It begins…