Washington Pete Hegseth's candidacy as President Donald Trump's defense secretary was advanced by the Senate on Thursday, setting him up for ultimate confirmation at the end of the week. Only two moderate Republicans, Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, voted with all 47 Democrats to try to block Hegseth, and the vote was 51-49. To move on to a final vote, he required a simple majority. Murkowski became the first Republican to publicly criticize Hegseth's candidacy just before the vote, claiming that some of the actions he has acknowledged show a "lack of judgment" and are "unbecoming of someone who would lead our armed forces." Collins claimed that following the vote, she had spoken with Hegseth personally about her worries regarding his remarks that women shouldn't be ...

Target announced on Friday that it is discontinuing its diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives, including those that seek to improve the representation of its customers in its personnel and goods. The Minneapolis-based retailer announced in a memo to its staff that it will terminate its three-year DEI goals, cease reporting to outside organizations that focus on diversity, such as the Human Rights Campaign's Corporate Equality Index, and terminate a program that aimed to carry more goods from Black or minority-owned companies. Staff received the memo on Friday, and CNBC saw it. Kiera Fernandez, Target's chief community impact and equality officer, wrote it. "This next chapter in our strategy has been shaped by many years of data, insights, listening, and learning," she stated in the ...

New guidelines announced this week require Spirit Airlines passengers to wear non-provocative clothing that does not reveal "breasts, buttocks, or other private parts" while traveling on the low-cost airline. On Wednesday, the Florida-based airline added new language on passenger looks to its "contract of carriage" terms. When a passenger "is barefoot or inadequately clothed (i.e., see-through clothing; not adequately covered; exposed breasts, buttocks, or other private parts) or whose clothing or article, including body art, is lewd, obscene, or offensive in nature," they may be removed from the flight, according to topages 9 and 10 of the updated standards. The criterion was less clear prior to Wednesday. On Tuesday, the guidance's page 9 stated merely that passengers "whose clothing is ...

Washington The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) announced in a statement Friday that the administration of President Donald Trump is testing a new feature that would enable officials to email every employee of the federal government from a single email address. With a single mouse click, Trump may be able to interact directly with millions of government employees from dozens of agencies at once thanks to the new capabilities. The White House opted not to respond. Watch live political coverage In an attempt to extract savings and efficiencies from government systems, the initiative might benefit from the engineering expertise of Elon Musk's team and is in line with the modernization objectives of the new Department of Government Efficiency, which is led by the tech billionaire. Employ...

Mark Zuckerberg, the CEO of Meta, revealed on Friday that the company intends to construct a sizable data center in Louisiana to support Llama 4, its newest AI model, which is scheduled to debut this year. Zuckerberg stated in a Facebook post that the business would invest over $60 billion in AI, including the construction of a data center that would be so big it would occupy a sizable portion of Manhattan. AI will have a pivotal year this year. "We'll build an AI engineer who will start contributing increasing amounts of code to our R&D efforts," Zuckerberg said. "I expect Meta AI to be the leading assistant serving over 1 billion people in 2025, and Llama 4 to become the leading state of the art model." Susan Li, Meta's chief financial officer, had previously stated that the project ...

In an executive order issued on his second day in office, President Donald Trump declared that the Federal Aviation Administration's diversity, equity, and inclusion programs must be immediately discontinued. He claimed that DEI penalizes hardworking Americans who wish to work for the FAA but are unable to do so because they do not meet the necessary skin color or disability requirements. This order, titled "Keeping Americans Safe in Aviation," was issued in reaction to conservatives targeting the agency early last year after a panel blew off an Alaska Airlines plane at 16,000 feet. It was one of several executive orders that revoked all types of DEI in government agencies. A federal oversight committee came to the conclusion that the agency's oversight of Boeing, the plane's manufacturer,...

Dogs are susceptible to dental issues such as tooth decay and periodontal gum disease, just like people. The way your dog eats can have a big impact on how healthy their teeth and gums are: Dental chews, a kind of dog treat, typically have a mild abrasive impact to physically brush away buildup, and a number of dog meals and kibbles are designed to lessen plaque and tartar on their teeth. I discussed the advantages of dental chews, how frequently your dog should eat them, and what factors to look for when buying them with veterinarians. Based on their advice and recommendations, as well as the products that NBC Select editors feed their own pets, I also put together a list of the top ones to buy. GO Ahead and SkipWhy trust NBC Select? How did I choose the finest dog dental chews? The great...

In 2024, I saw an acupuncturist for the first time after years of denying I would ever attempt it. I was instantly captivated after my first session, which I had sought out to ease back tension. I knew right away that once a month wasn't enough for me to experience the muscle-relaxing benefits; I needed to figure out how to receive the same effects more frequently. I tried compression boots, which only helped my legs, an afoam roller, which didn't penetrate my muscles deeply enough, and an amassage gun, which was hard to hold behind me. It soon became clear that I required an acupressure mat. Acupressure mats appear uncomfortable at first glance since they are made of cushioned cloth with tiny spikes protruding from it. But after looking around online, I decided to get Wthn's Acupressure M...