TODAY

RSF is burning and burying bodies near a university, mosque, camp for the displaced people, and hospital in el-Fasher, Yale University researchers say.

The government-aligned Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) have recaptured two territories in the North Kordofan state from the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), as the paramilitary group continues burning and burying bodies in Darfur’s el-Fasher to hide evidence of mass killings.

Footage circulating online this week showed army soldiers holding assault rifles and rocket-propelled grenades celebrating their takeovers of Kazqil and Um Dam Haj Ahmed in North Kordofan, the state where intense fighting is expected to rage over the coming weeks.

Kazqil, which had fallen to the RSF in late October, is located south of el-Obeid, the strategic capital city of the state in central Sudan, which the paramilitary group is trying to capture from the army.

أبطال القوات المسلحة من داخل ” كازقيل” بولاية شمال كردفان#السودان #السودان_ينتصر pic.twitter.com/wVflEodHK5

— Sudan News 🇸🇩 (@Sudan_tweet) November 15, 2025

The fighting between the two rival generals leading the army and the paramilitary group, which started in April 2023, has increasingly turned east over the past weeks as the RSF solidifies control over the western parts of the war-torn country, now in its third year of a brutal civil war.

The fighting, fuelled by arms supplies from the region, has created what the United Nations has called the largest displacement crisis in the world. More than 12 million people have been forced from their homes, and tens of thousands have been killed and injured. The UN has also confirmed starvation in parts of the country.

The RSF said last week it accepted a ceasefire proposal put forward by the United States and other mediators, with the announcement coming after an international outcry over atrocities committed by the paramilitary group in el-Fasher, the capital of North Darfur state in western Sudan.

But the army has refused to agree to a ceasefire under the current battle lines, and both sides have continued to amass troops and equipment in the central parts of the country to engage in more battles.

The RSF launched an offensive against the Kordofan region at the same time as it took el-Fasher late last month, seizing the town of Bara in North Kordofan state as a crucial link between Darfur and central Sudan. The army had recaptured the town just two months earlier.

Satellite images reveal mass graves

More than two and a half weeks after fully capturing el-Fasher from the army, the RSF has continued to dispose of bodies in large numbers.

An analysis of satellite imagery released by Yale’s Humanitarian Research Lab (HRL) on Friday exposed four new locations where paramilitary fighters are disposing of bodies in and around el-Fasher.

Activities consistent with body disposal are visible at the University of Alfashir, a structure on the edge of Abu Shouk camp for internally displaced people, a neighbourhood near al-Hikma Mosque, and at Saudi Hospital, where RSF forces massacred hundreds.

The HRL could not conclude how many people the RSF had killed or how quickly, but it said the observations are alarming, given the fact that the whereabouts of many civilian residents remain unknown.

🚨ATROCITY ALERT🚨@HRL_YaleSPH has identified four new locations where the RSF is disposing of bodies in and around El Fasher. #KeepEyesonSudan

🛰️@Vantortechhttps://t.co/y5gaMRlBm2 pic.twitter.com/OsCVb1ihTf

— Humanitarian Research Lab (HRL) at YSPH (@HRL_YaleSPH) November 14, 2025

Nathaniel Raymond, the lead researcher of that report, said an estimated 150,000 civilians are unaccounted for, and daily monitoring of city streets shows no activity in markets or water points, but only RSF patrols and many bodies.

“We can see them charred. So the question is, where are the people and where are the bodies coming from?” he told Al Jazeera.

Raymond said the evidence also includes numerous videos released by the RSF fighters themselves, who are “the most prodigious producers of evidence about their own crimes”.

The agreement is not expected to immediately change things on the ground, but to move forward a larger peace process.

Representatives from the government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and the Rwandan-backed M23 rebel group have signed a peace deal in Qatar with the ultimate goal of putting an end to years of fighting.

Qatar and the United States announced the “comprehensive” deal in Doha on Saturday, setting it up as a roadmap to stop the deadly fighting and improve the dire humanitarian situation in the Central African nation.

The two sides have been holding mediated talks for months, and signed a truce deal in July that must still be subjected to more negotiations over exactly how it will be implemented.

Addressing a press conference in Doha on Saturday, Qatar’s Minister of State Mohammed bin Abdulaziz Al-Khulaifi said the latest agreement enhances the process in order to “find peaceful solutions through dialogue and understanding” to re-establish calm in the DRC.

He said the different sides achieved progress on several substantial topics in order to build on previous agreements discussed and signed over the past several months.

The agreement includes eight implementation protocols, two of which have already been signed, including one on ceasefire monitoring and another on prisoner exchange.

The rest of the protocols are expected to be discussed and finalised over the coming weeks. They will include a timeline as well as details on how different processes will work, how humanitarian aid will be allowed to reach the ailing population, and how to enable the return of refugees and internally displaced people.

Restoring state authority, implementing economic reforms, reintegration of armed groups into the government and the elimination of foreign groups are among other protocols that will need to be finalised.

Both sides have agreed to establish an independent committee to implement the peace process, and also to provide recommendations for recompensation within the framework of national reconciliation, which will be in line with the constitution of the republic, Qatar’s Al-Khulaifi said.

Massad Boulos, a senior advisor and envoy for US President Donald Trump who represented Washington in the talks, thanked the state of Qatar and other stakeholders who assisted the process, including the African Union and the state of Togo.

He told the conference in Doha that the agreement comes amid joint efforts with Qatar that have also yielded results in other areas, including the ceasefire deal reached between Israel and Hamas.

“Today is a historic occasion in many ways,” he said, referring to the framework deal on DRC as a “launching pad” for an eventual peace deal that will be built based on previous and ongoing negotiations.

“People were expecting some immediate results on the ground, but this is a process, this is not a light switch that you can turn on and off, and there are many angles to it,” Boulos said.

Reporting from Goma, Al Jazeera’s Alain Uakyani said the peace agreement has inspired hope among the population in the DRC, but not for any immediate and tangible changes on the ground.

He pointed out that the M23 said its forces were bombarded by the government on Saturday morning, but managed to take more ground from DRC soldiers.

The BBC is in turmoil. A leaked dossier exposing a misedited speech of United States President Donald Trump and other editorial concerns has triggered resignations at the top – and a $1bn lawsuit threat from the US leader. Why the leak surfaced now, and who steps in next, are still open questions. Most importantly, will the BBC be able to recover from this moment?

Contributors:
Ben de Pear – Former editor, Channel 4 News
Jane Martinson – Professor, University of London
Karishma Patel – Former newsreader, BBC
Tom Mills – Author, The BBC: Myth of a Public Service

On our radar

This week, Ahmed al-Sharaa became the first Syrian president ever to set foot in the White House. A landmark diplomatic trip filled with photo ops and political theatre, marking his transition from a US-designated terrorist to an ally. Meenakshi Ravi reports.

AI slop tsunami: Is the internet now a junkyard?

Elettra Scrivo explores how social media platforms are rapidly changing with the surge of AI content. Low-quality, mass-produced, artificially generated content, otherwise known as AI slop, is designed to trigger the algorithms and generate revenue for Big Tech companies.

Featuring:
Drew Harwell – Technology reporter, The Washington Post
Mark Lawrence Garilao – AI video content creator
Myojung Chung – Associate professor, Northeastern University

Islam Makhachev steps up to welterweight to face champion Jack della Maddalena at UFC 322 on Saturday in Madison Square Garden.

The Russian is aiming to becoming a two-weight UFC champion and has a record of 27 wins and just one loss.

Makhachev has not lost a fight since 2015, but faces the newly crowned champion Della Maddalena.

The Australian is on a similarly unbeaten streak since 2016 after losing his first two fights.

Can Makhachev join an elite club of two-weight UFC champions or will Della Maddalena continue his rapid rise with a victory over the UFC’s pound-for-pound number two?

Figures from the world of MMA have given their predictions below.

An attack from members of the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) occurred around 5 p.m. yesterday near Sabon Gari in Damboa Local Government Area, Borno State, northeastern Nigeria. The terrorists, concealed along the route, opened fire on a mixed convoy of soldiers and members of the Civilian Joint Task Force (CJTF), killing two soldiers and two CJTF personnel.

A CJTF member stationed in Nzula, close to the attack site, told HumAngle that the convoy was moving in the direction of Bongry when it was intercepted. “It was on the Biu Road,” he said, requesting anonymity for safety reasons. “The convoy consisted of the military and members of the CJTF.”

A resident of Damboa, familiar with the movement of the convoy, said it departed the town around 2 p.m. with two Hilux vehicles, two armoured personnel carriers, and several motorcycles. “The terrorists killed two soldiers and two CJTF,” he said. “They also took away some motorcycles. Reinforcement later left Damboa – two Hilux and two armoured vehicles – when the incident happened.”

However, the most alarming development is the disappearance of a Brigade Commander who was part of the operation. A senior CJTF member in Damboa, who witnessed the convoy’s departure, confirmed the situation. “We don’t know where he is at the moment. But he responds to WhatsApp messages.” 

The Commander was able to return on foot after missing for several hours in what is being described as an escape from the attackers. 

This is the first time since the start of Nigeria’s counterinsurgency campaign that a serving General directly engaged on the frontline went missing for a while in an ambush. The development raises concerns about the sophistication of recent ISWAP attacks and the increasing risks faced by senior officers deployed to volatile areas.

Damboa and surrounding communities have seen repeated insurgent attacks in recent months, including assaults on patrol teams, ambushes along rural roads, and raids on farming settlements. Residents say the attack underscores the persistent insecurity along major roads despite years of military presence.

We were unable to obtain responses from the Nigerian military at the time of press. They had also not issued an official statement.

For the first time, Ukraine has presented footage that purportedly shows its extended-range Long Neptune cruise missile in action. Part of a growing arsenal of long-range cruise missiles from domestic production, the Long Neptune was unveiled in March of this year, at which point Zelensky claimed it had already been tested in combat.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky shared a video that he said showed the Long Neptune being launched against a target in Russia. He did not provide the date of the claimed launch or what was targeted.

“We’re producing more,” Zelensky said of the Long Neptune, in a comment posted alongside the video.

Previously, the Ukrainian president disclosed that his forces “successfully used Long Neptunes against designated targets on Russian territory — and this is our entirely just response to Russia’s ongoing terror. Ukrainian missiles are delivering increasingly significant and precise results virtually every month.”

Zelensky added: “I thank everyone working on our missile program and giving Ukraine this accuracy and long-range capability.”

The new video indicates that the Long Neptune is fired from a transporter-erector-launcher (TEL) of a different design from that used for at least the original versions of the missile. As well as the longer canisters required for the bigger missiles, there is a larger gap between the first and second axles and the third and fourth axles on the new TEL. Meanwhile, there is no longer a space between the cabin and the command module, as was previously the case.

The Long Neptune is an extended-range derivative of the previous land-attack version of the Neptune anti-ship missile, which is powered by a small turbofan jet engine. The land-attack version reportedly has a guidance package that combines a GPS-assisted inertial navigation system (INS) and an imaging infrared sensor in place of the anti-ship missile’s active radar seeker.

Ukraine famously used Neptune missiles to sink the Russian Navy’s Slava class cruiser Moskva in 2022 and reportedly began developing a new land-attack version in 2023. The anti-ship Neptune is a Ukrainian development of the Soviet-era Kh-35, known to NATO as the SS-N-25 Switchblade, variants of which remain in service in Russia and elsewhere globally.

The Long Neptune features an extended body with capacity for additional fuel, which Zelensky has said gives it a range in the region of 620 miles (1,000 kilometers).

This is significantly further than the original land-attack version of the Neptune, which a Ukrainian defense official previously told TWZ has a range of up to 225 miles (360 kilometers).

Meanwhile, the maximum stated range of the anti-ship version of Neptune is said to be around 190 miles (300 kilometers).

Unclear at this stage is what kind of warhead the Long Neptune carries, but the anti-ship Neptune missile carries an explosive charge weighing around 330 pounds (150 kilograms). The Long Neptune can be distinguished from the previous versions on account of its longer and wider main body, with tapering tail and nose sections. The main fins are also bigger and are not swept.

It’s worth noting that another version of the Neptune has also been developed, this one apparently featuring fuel tank ‘bulges’ for increased range. As you can read about here, this model appears to be something like an intermediate-range version, falling between the original land-attack Neptune and the Long Neptune.

There have been unconfirmed reports that the Long Neptune may have been used in overnight Ukrainian strikes focused on the Black Sea port of Novorossiysk, in southern Russia. The port is a key hub facilitating the export of Russian oil. The city is also now home to much of the Russian Black Sea Fleet, providing it with something of a safe haven, after its warships were essentially forced out of waters closer to Crimea following a concerted Ukrainian campaign waged against them.

According to Supernova+, a Ukrainian Telegram channel, likely more than one Long Neptune was used to attack Novorossiysk, specifically targeting the Sheskharis oil terminal, which was set ablaze, according to unconfirmed videos circulating on social media.

U.K.-based maritime security firm Ambrey said it had seen evidence of large explosions, including one that occurred in a container yard at the port, leaving a crane and several containers damaged. The same source said that a non-sanctioned container ship alongside the terminal suffered some collateral damage due to falling drone debris. “Reportedly, three crew members were injured,” Ambrey added.

The Russian Ministry of Defense claimed that it shot down 216 Ukrainian drones during the attack, during which authorities in Novorossiysk declared a state of emergency. According to state news agency TASS, apartment buildings in the city were struck, and at least two people were injured.

For centuries, women and girls have been told to wait their turn, to negotiate harder, to adjust to the structures that exclude them. Yet patriarchy does not negotiate — it dominates, silences, and systematically excludes. It is not a misunderstanding to be resolved; it is a system of power that must be dismantled. That is why only radical feminism — clear-eyed, structural, and unapologetic — will do.

Patriarchy: The Architecture of Exclusion

Patriarchy is not merely a set of discriminatory attitudes or isolated cases of male dominance. It is an entrenched social, political, and economic system that determines who holds power, who has access to resources, and whose voices are deemed legitimate. It functions through our laws, our institutions, our workplaces, our cultures, and even our languages.

Patriarchy is a pervasive system of power relations that privileges men and disadvantages women across all spheres of life. It is, in essence, the invisible architecture of exclusion — replicated in every structure where decision-making and authority are concentrated.

Gender parity is dismal. These are not natural outcomes — they are deliberate designs of a patriarchal order. As the feminist theorist Sylvia Walby has written, “Patriarchy is a system of social structures and practices in which men dominate, oppress and exploit women.” It is not accidental; it is organized.

Why Radical Feminism, Not Reformism

Radical feminism is often misunderstood as extreme or even militant. But the “radical” in radical feminism comes from the Latin radix — meaning “root.” It seeks to address the root causes of women’s oppression, not just its symptoms. It is not about hatred of men, but about dismantling a social order that privileges them.

As defined by Encyclopaedia Britannica, “Radical feminism is a branch of feminism that calls for a radical reordering of society to eliminate male supremacy in all social and economic contexts.” It does not seek accommodation within existing patriarchal systems — it seeks transformation.

Liberal or reformist feminism, by contrast, focuses on achieving equality within existing systems through legal reforms or representation. Radical feminism argues that those systems themselves were built on women’s exclusion and cannot deliver equality without being rebuilt. The tables where women are asked to “take a seat” were designed for patriarchal advantage. As the sociologist bell hooks observed, “Patriarchy has no gender.” Even well-intentioned reforms can reproduce male-centric hierarchies if they do not interrogate the system itself.

Why Seats Are Not Enough

“Seats at the table” has become a slogan for inclusion. Yet the table itself — its design, ownership, and purpose — often remains unchallenged. When patriarchal institutions invite women to participate, they often do so on patriarchal terms: speak, but not too loudly; lead, but not too differently; succeed, but without questioning the structure.

True justice demands new tables — not invitations to the old ones. This is why radical feminists argue for structural transformation rather than symbolic inclusion. As feminist scholar Catharine MacKinnon argues, “The law sees and treats women the way men see and treat women.” Unless the very rules of governance and culture change, participation risks being tokenistic.

Structural change means rethinking governance, redistributing resources, redesigning work, and redefining value itself. It means:

• Parity by design: Mandating 50:50 representation in political, economic, and corporate decision-making — not as aspiration but as institutional requirement.
• Redistributive budgets: Allocating national resources to care work, reproductive health, and social protection as core infrastructure, not “social spending.”
• Structural accountability: Requiring gender impact assessments, independent oversight, and enforcement mechanisms with legal consequence.
• Re-working work: Recognizing unpaid and care work as economic labor, restructuring work environments, and protecting caregivers from economic penalty.
• Reimagining safety: Addressing gender-based violence not only as individual crime but as a systemic failure of justice and security.

These are not abstractions. They are the precise recommendations emerging from feminist economists and policymakers who argue that equality cannot exist in a world built on unequal foundations.

Intersectionality: The Lens of Reality

Radical feminism today also insists on intersectionality — a term coined by Kimberlé Crenshaw — to address how patriarchy intersects with race, class, sexuality, disability, and other systems of power. The experiences of a wealthy white woman in a boardroom are not the same as those of a rural African woman displaced by war or climate crisis.

Any transformative feminist politics must therefore center those who face the compounded weight of patriarchy. True liberation cannot come from the top down; it must be built from the margins inward. As Crenshaw explains, “If you can’t see a problem, you can’t fix it.”

For global South feminist movements — from Tigray to Gaza, from Sudan to Afghanistan — this perspective is essential. Patriarchy is often reinforced by militarism, religious authoritarianism, and neo-colonial economic models that disproportionately harm women. Radical feminism, in its truest sense, must be anti-patriarchal, anti-racist, and anti-imperialist at once.

Dismantling the System, Not Decorating It

Critics often ask if radical feminism is “too idealistic.” Yet history shows that every major gain for women — from the vote, to reproductive rights, to anti-violence laws — began with demands once deemed radical. The urgent need for radical feminism today lies in its refusal to normalize injustice and its insistence that power itself must be redefined.

The truth is that patriarchy adapts. It learns to wear progressive language while maintaining control. Corporate feminism, where “empowerment” is reduced to branding campaigns, is patriarchy in new clothes. Radical feminism cuts through that illusion. It understands that as long as patriarchal logic defines leadership, value, and success, women’s liberation will remain incomplete.

Conclusion: No Justice Without Dismantling Patriarchy

Liberation for women and girls does not begin with waiting for inclusion — it begins with dismantling exclusion. Patriarchy cannot coexist with justice, just as domination cannot coexist with equality.

To call oneself a radical feminist is to recognize that the personal is political, and that politics must be rebuilt from the ground up. It is to refuse the comfort of partial justice.

Seats at tables built on our exclusion are not enough. New tables — designed by and for women, where equality is not granted but owned — are the only way forward.

Because justice cannot coexist with patriarchy. And patriarchy, finally, must fall.

The UN Security Council says further extensions would hinge on real progress between Sudan and South Sudan.

The United Nations Security Council has voted to renew a UN Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA), the peacekeeping mission in the oil-rich disputed region between Sudan and South Sudan, for another year.

A 12-0 vote late on Friday, which saw Russia, China and Pakistan abstain, extended the mission until November 2026, but warned that progress on ending bloody fighting in the region would be crucial to any potential future extensions.

The United States submitted the draft resolution that renewed the mandate, which was due to expire on November 15, and said it “negotiated this draft in good faith, asking only for reasonable and common-sense benchmarks for this mission”.

Friday’s resolution stated that further renewal would be based on “demonstrable progress” by Sudan and South Sudan, including the creation of a joint police force for Abyei and the complete demilitarisation of the region, as agreed upon by the two sides in 2011 when South Sudan gained independence.

The 4,000 police and soldiers of UNISFA are tasked with protecting civilians in the region plagued by frequent armed clashes.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is now tasked with presenting a report by August 2026 on whether Sudan and South Sudan have made any tangible progress, which would also enable the Security Council to assess the consequences of reducing the peacekeeping force.

“These benchmarks will help describe the mission’s impact and provide a critical tool to hold host governments accountable for measurable progress,” said US representative Dorothy Shea.

UNISFA is a small but politically sensitive mission, operating in a region where clashes have displaced thousands and humanitarian access has often been constrained by a lack of security and dangerous road conditions.

Unrest in the disputed area with South Sudan also continues at a time when Sudan is devastated by a civil war that erupted in April 2023, when two generals started fighting over control of the country.

Sudan’s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), which have been committing atrocities in Darfur and other regions, have also been active in Abyei.

President Gustavo Petro says purchase of warplanes is a ‘deterrent weapon to achieve peace’ amid ‘messy’ geopolitics.

Colombian President Gustavo Petro has announced a $4.3bn deal to buy Swedish warplanes at a time when his country is locked in tension with the United States.

Speaking on Friday, Petro confirmed an agreement was reached with Sweden’s Saab aircraft manufacturer to buy 17 Gripen fighter jets, giving the first confirmation of the size and cost of the military acquisition that was initially announced in April.

“This is a deterrent weapon to achieve peace,” Petro said in a post on social media.

The purchase of warplanes comes as Colombia and much of remaining Latin America are on edge due to a US military build-up in the region, and as US forces carry out a campaign of deadly attacks on vessels in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific.

Washington claims – but has provided no evidence – that it has targeted drug smuggling vessels in its 20 confirmed attacks that have killed about 80 people so far in international waters.

Latin American leaders, legal scholars and rights groups have accused the US of carrying out extrajudicial killings of people who should face the courts if suspected of breaking laws related to drug smuggling.

US President Donald Trump has also accused both Petro and his Venezuelan counterpart, Nicolas Maduro, of being involved in the regional drug trade, a claim that both leaders have strenuously denied.

Petro said the new warplanes will be used to dissuade “aggression against Colombia, wherever it may come from”.

“In a world that is geopolitically messy,” he said, such aggression “can come from anywhere”.

The Colombian leader has for weeks traded insults with Donald Trump and said the ultimate goal of the US deployment in the region is to seize Venezuela’s oil wealth and destabilise Latin America.

Trump has long accused Venezuela’s Maduro of trafficking drugs and more recently branded Petro “an illegal drug leader” because of Colombia’s high level of cocaine production. Trump has also withdrawn US financial aid from Colombia and taken it off its list of countries seen as allies in fighting drug trafficking internationally.

Amid the war of words rumbling on between Washington and Bogota, Petro said last week that Colombia would suspend intelligence sharing with the US on combating drug trafficking, but officials in his government quickly rolled back that threat.

The AFP news agency reports that US and French firms had also tried to sell warplanes to Colombia, but, in the end, Bogota went with Sweden’s Saab.

Swedish Defence Minister Pal Jonson said Colombia was joining Sweden, Brazil and Thailand in choosing the Gripen fighter jet, and defence relations between Bogota and Stockholm would “deepen significantly” as a result.

🇸🇪🇨🇴I’m proud that Colombia today joins the Gripen E family, alongside Sweden, Brazil and Thailand. With the Colombian purchase of 17 Gripen E/F, our defence relations will deepen significantly & Colombia will receive one of the world’s greatest fighter jets. (1/4) pic.twitter.com/g0rESq69nD

— Pål Jonson (@PlJonson) November 14, 2025

The new Pentagon task force established to counter threats posed by small drones on Friday announced the creation of a hub for agencies to purchase counter-drone equipment and ways to improve how these systems work together. The effort comes as the U.S. faces an increasing number of incursions over these facilities, and about a year after a spate of them began popping up across the continent.

“We’re going to use all the tools at our disposal to be able to acquire new technology as quickly as possible to get it into the hands of the warfighter,” Brig. Gen. Matt Ross, director of the newly created Joint Interagency Task Force-401 (JIATF-401). Ross spoke on Friday to a small group of reporters, including from The War Zone.

The Army-led task force is creating what Ross calls a “UAS and counter-UAS marketplace” that will allow the installation commanders and interagency partners like the FBI, Department of Homeland Security and local law enforcement to shop for equipment and components. 

A task force spokesman described the effort as “an Amazon-like marketplace for the procurement of counter-drone technology and equipment where people can go online, look for capabilities and user feedback.” It will be similar to one being launched by the Army for the procurement of drones.

The marketplace “will provide authoritative data on how each of these systems performs under varying conditions and allow users or customers to select the tool that’s right for them,” Ross explained. “We’ve got a wide variety of counter-UAS tools, and I actually think that we need all of them, because depending on where you are or what threat you’re focused on, your requirements will be slightly different. So we want to ensure that we provide a range of options both to the Department of War and to our interagency partners.”

The task force is looking at systems and components already on the market as well as working with industry partners to develop new ones. There are “hundreds of components of counter-UAS systems that could go on to the marketplace today, and we need to start thinking about these counter-UAS systems as components that are interchangeable.”

He did not offer specific examples but said it includes a wide range of sensors to detect drones and low-collateral and non-kinetic effectors to defeat them. The task force is not looking at explosive interceptors because, as we pointed out in the past, there are concerns about collateral damage and what works in a combat zone is not applicable in the homeland. We have profiled a number of these systems in previous articles.

Providing individual components in addition to complete systems allows individual purchasers to better obtain what they need, Ross noted.

“When you look at a full-stack system, you may settle for a less-than-optimal configuration of your radar, your EO/IR camera, and your layered effectors,” Ross explained. “If I only need to sense 20 kilometers and not 40 kilometers and I could change out that radar, put a lower-cost radar on there, then I could put more systems out into the field. As we look at that marketplace, I really want it to be components, similar to what you would see on any other online marketplace, that are plug-and-play as part of a counter-UAS system.”

Beyond offering equipment, the task force is streamlining the command and control of the wide array of systems being used by the military and its agency partners.

“What’s critical in any counter-UAS system is the mission command that allows you to tie together disparate sensors and effectors,” he posited. “And so what we are going to do inside of JIATF-401 is ensure that we standardize the communications protocols on how we send and receive information so that every component of a counter-UAS system is plug and play.” “

“For too long, we’ve struggled with integration,” Ross suggested. “And as people use different mission command systems, they had to specifically integrate a new component. And just like when you buy something to put on your Wi-Fi network at home, you know it’s going to work because the communication protocols are already established. We want to do the exact same thing for counter-UAS systems, both internal to the Department of War and for our interagency partners.”

The task force has yet to settle on a specific system.

“We evaluated every service’s mission command system last month in Operation Clear Horizon,” the task force director explained. “We did that specifically to assess their quantitative performance and then qualitatively how the workflows affected the outcome of those mission command systems. And we’re evaluating that now.”

While the task force is creating a more unified mission command system, Ross said it is important for individual installations to be able to act quickly on their own.

“It’s important that we remain decentralized,” he said. “If you look at the speed at which these systems can present a threat, you have to have operators that are empowered, trained, and they understand their authorities to be able to counter those threats, because they just don’t have time to go up to a higher level for approval.”

The U.S., he added, has improved how installations respond to incursions after the ones last year over Picatinny Arsenal, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, and several others, as well as those over Langley Air Force Base in 2023 that we were also the first to report.

“I think there’s a number of things that have changed,” the director pointed out. “Number one, we are consistently fielding new counter-UAS capabilities at our installations, and as we do that, we prioritize them based off what we have to protect at each of those installations.”

In addition, the task force has “also worked with the services that are responsible for each of the installations in NORTHCOM to provide additional options. So what you described is a very complex problem, and as you look at it at scale, there’s a lot of work to do.”

“We are helping the services with their assessments of critical infrastructure, determining what they need to close gaps, and then we’re helping them get it quickly. In areas where the services require assistance inside of the homeland.”

One example Ross pointed to is NORTHCOM’s new flyaway kits – equipment procured from Anduril and trained personnel that can board C-130 transports and respond within 24 hours to drone incursions at homeland installations.

According to the Army, the kits themselves are “an amalgamation of sensors and effectors that creates a total detect, track, identify and mitigation system including:

• The Heimdal mobile sensor trailer that includes a continuous 360-degree pan and tilt unit, thermal optics and a radar, all working together autonomously for target acquisition.
• Anvil drone interceptors and launch box, which operate autonomously to detect, track, shadow and mitigate threats.
• An electromagnetic warfare effector called Pulsar that features radio frequency detect, track, classify and deny options.
• The Wisp, a wide-area infrared system that is AI-enabled and offers 360-degree, full-motion sensoring that provides an accurate sight picture for operators.”

Last month, the kits attained operational certification, according to the Army. NORTHCOM told us they are the “final option in a series of escalating measures for the Department of War’s response to drone threats,” only called upon if an installation or the service that owns it can’t provide the needed tools and personnel.

Still, Ross insisted that military installations “are equipped to handle UAS incursions.”

“The specific equipment varies by location,” Ross proffered, “but what we’re trying to build at each location where we have critical infrastructure that needs to be protected is a layered defense that includes distributed sensing and layered effectors so that we have the ability to counter any and all threats.”

Another huge area of concern for the military are attacks like Ukraine’s Spider Web strike on Russian aviation and Israel’s Operation Rising Lion attack on air defense systems and other military targets and personnel. The incidents have highlighted the danger presented by near-field drone attacks launched deep within enemy territory, in close proximity to their targets. As we have pointed out for many years, military assets and other high-value targets are extremely vulnerable to these types of operations within the homeland. 

One of the most visible counter-drone efforts is taking place on the southern border, where President Donald Trump has ordered thousands of troops and equipment to prevent the flow of undocumented aliens and drugs into the country.

“I was actually at the southern border last week, spending time both with the NORTHCOM team and with the Joint Task Force Southern Border to understand the challenges that they’re facing,” he said. “I do that because understanding their challenges very specifically will allow us to focus our effort on closing that next gap. If you look across the 1,954-mile border, I think that we do face a challenge of unmanned systems, and NORTHCOM is focused on addressing those challenges now, in conjunction with other lead federal agencies.”

The task force is working toward “an integrated, distributed sensing network that includes both passive and active sensors, and then layering in effectors, or counter UAS effectors that will allow us to defeat a threat as it crosses the border,” Ross explained. “We’re working closely with DHS, Customs and Border Protection, the Department of Interior and other agencies that are working along the southern border.”

In addition, JIATF-401 is “also looking to integrate new technology like low-cost attritable interceptors that will provide additional options and more tools to our service members as they’re defending our southern border.”

These include “RF defeat, absolutely low-cost interceptors, a variety of different sensors that would include acoustic and active radar. And then we’re going to make sure that all of those sensors provide an integrated air awareness or air picture, so that we can choose the best effector to counter a UAS depending on its size, its activity in the location.”

Drones have already been taken down coming over the border, Ross stated, but he did not specifically say how. We reached out to NORTHCOM and the task force for further details.

It is one thing to have the equipment and personnel, but the task force is also pushing for increased authorities to act. That includes making sure all bases fall under the provisions of “130(i),” federal law covering current authorities for the “protection of certain facilities and assets from unmanned aircraft.”

Under 130i, the U.S. military has the authority to take “action” to defend against drones including with measures to “disrupt control of the unmanned aircraft system or unmanned aircraft, without prior consent, including by disabling the unmanned aircraft system or unmanned aircraft by intercepting, interfering, or causing interference with wire, oral, electronic, or radio communications used to control the unmanned aircraft system or unmanned aircraft” and “use reasonable force to disable, damage, or destroy the unmanned aircraft system or unmanned aircraft.”

However, only a portion of U.S. bases are covered and Ross wants to make it a blanket protection for all.

“We want to make sure that those authorities enable installation commanders with everything they need to be able to protect that critical infrastructure,” Ross explained. “That’s one part of it. The second part of it is making sure that what’s actually in the law is clearly communicated to those installation commanders so there’s no ambiguity, and they know exactly what they can do, both inside the fence line, outside the fence line, and in coordination with local law enforcement around those installations.”

On Nov. 25, JIATF-401 is going to hold what Ross calls “a counter-UAS summit” attended by subject matter experts from interagency partners. The summit will focus on intelligence gathering, policy, science and technology, and operations.

“We want to make sure that we’ve got an enduring partnership with each of those agencies because we know this problem is going to continue to evolve,” said Ross, “and we want to be able to move at the speed of relevance.”

Contact the author: [email protected]

Jawhar Ben Mbarek’s sister said his health had ‘severely deteriorated’ and a ‘dangerous toxin’ was detected in his body.

Jailed Tunisian opposition figure Jawhar Ben Mbarek has been hospitalised due to severe dehydration, his family has said, as his health continues to deteriorate after more than two weeks on hunger strike.

Ben Mbarek, the cofounder of Tunisia’s main opposition alliance, the National Salvation Front, started his hunger strike on October 29 to protest his detention in jail since February 2023.

In a Facebook post on Friday, Ben Mbarek’s sister, Dalila Ben Mbarek Msaddek, warned that her brother’s health had now “severely deteriorated” and doctors detected “a highly dangerous toxin” affecting his kidneys.

Msaddek said Ben Mbarek had “received treatment but refused nutritional supplements” at the hospital where he was transferred on Thursday night, insisting on continuing his now 17-day protest.

The politician was discharged from hospital on Friday afternoon and returned to prison, Msaddek added.

On Wednesday, Ben Mbarek’s lawyer Hanen Khmiri said he had “faced torture” at the hands of guards at Belli prison, as they attempted to force him to end his protest.

“He was severely beaten, we saw fractures and bruises on his body,” Khmiri said, adding that she had filed a complaint with the public prosecutor, who promised to investigate.

“He told me that four of the prison guards beat him severely in a place where there is no surveillance camera,” she said.

Ben Mbarek is one of the most prominent opponents of Tunisian strongman President Kais Saied, who has been in power since 2019.

In April, he was sentenced to 18 years in prison on charges of “conspiracy against state security” and “belonging to a terrorist group”, in a mass trial of opposition figures slammed by human rights groups as politically motivated.

Ben Mbarek has denied the charges, which he has called fabricated.

Rights groups have warned of a sharp decline in civil liberties in Tunisia since a sweeping power grab by Saied in July 2021, when he dissolved parliament and expanded executive power so he could rule by decree.

That decree was later enshrined in a new constitution, ratified by a widely boycotted 2022 referendum. Media figures and lawyers critical of Saied have also been prosecuted and detained under a harsh “fake news” law enacted the same year.

Last week, Ben Mbarek’s family and prominent members of Tunisia’s political opposition announced they would join him in a collective hunger strike.

Among the participants was Issam Chebbi, the leader of the centrist Al Joumhouri (Republican) Party, who is also behind bars after being convicted in the same mass trial as Ben Mbarek earlier this year.

Rached Ghannouchi, the 84-year-old leader of the Ennahdha party, who is also serving a hefty prison sentence, also said he would join the protest. Chebbi and Ghannouchi’s current condition is not known.

Prison authorities have maintained the men are under “continuous medical supervision” and denied “rumours about the deterioration in the health of any detainees”.

Explosives reportedly detonate during forensic investigation as part of probe into earlier blast in India’s capital New Delhi.

At least seven people have been killed and 27 more injured after a cache of confiscated explosives detonated in a police station in Srinagar, Indian-administered Kashmir’s main city.

The stockpile exploded late on Friday night at a police station in the Nowgam area in the south of Srinagar.

Most of those killed were policemen and forensic team officials who were examining the explosives at the time of the detonation, unnamed sources told Indian broadcaster NDTV. Two officials from the Srinagar administration also died in the blast.

With five people still in critical condition, the death toll could continue to climb, according to the media outlet.

“Not a terror attack. Police say it’s a very unfortunate incident,” NDTV’s senior executive editor Aditya Raj Kaul said in a post on social media.

“The blast happened when a forensics team and the police were checking the explosive material stored at the police station,” he said.

#BREAKING: J&K Police Top Officials tell me that the massive blast at Nowgam Police Station around 11:20pm tonight happened when FSL team along with Police and Tehsildar were inspecting the large Ammonium Nitrate explosive which was confiscated earlier. Casualties in the blast.… pic.twitter.com/67U143jOFg

— Aditya Raj Kaul (@AdityaRajKaul) November 14, 2025

The huge blast comes days after Monday’s deadly car explosion in New Delhi, which killed at least 12 people near the city’s historic Red Fort and which officials have called a “terror” incident.

The explosion in the Indian capital occurred just hours after police arrested several people and seized explosive materials as well as assault rifles.

Police said the suspects were linked to Jaish-e-Muhammad (JeM), a Pakistan-based group that is seeking to end Indian rule in Kashmir, and Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind, a Kashmir offshoot linked to JeM.

Police in Indian-administered Kashmir also detained more than 650 people as part of their investigation following the New Delhi car blast.

According to reports, the Nowgam police station, where the blast took place on Friday, had led an investigation into posters that were displayed around the area by JeM, warning it would carry out attacks on security forces and “outsiders”.

Police said their investigation into the posters exposed a “white-collar terror ecosystem, involving radicalised professionals and students in contact with foreign handlers, operating from Pakistan and other countries”.

Police also recovered nearly 3,000kg (3 tonnes) of ammonium nitrate, a commonly used material in bomb making, saying the armed group was stockpiling enough explosives to carry out a major attack in India.

Kashmir has been divided between India and Pakistan since their independence from British rule in 1947, and both claim the Himalayan territory.

The two countries have fought three wars over Kashmir since the nations were partitioned in 1947, and tensions remain high between New Delhi and Islamabad over the status of the territory.

Jannik Sinner stayed on course to defend his ATP Finals title, while Felix Auger-Aliassime claimed the last semi spot.

Canada’s Felix Auger-Aliassime reached the last four of the ATP Finals with a 6-4 7-6(4) round-robin win over two-time winner Alexander Zverev on Friday, and Jannik Sinner extended his indoor hardcourt unbeaten run by beating American Ben Shelton.

Germany’s Zverev and Auger-Aliassime both defeated Shelton and lost to Sinner to set up a winner-takes-all clash for the runners-up spot in the Bjorn Borg Group, and the Canadian clinched a place in Saturday’s semifinal against world number one Carlos Alcaraz.

“You want to be in the final, but I’ll have to go through a great player to do that,” Auger-Aliassime said.

“I will take my chance if I have it.”

Zverev was left to rue his failure to take any of his seven break points against Sinner, and it was a similarly frustrating story against the Canadian.

The German held break points in both sets but again could not make them count, and the Canadian broke Zverev at 5-4 up to take the first set, before going on to win the second set tiebreak.

Auger-Aliassime was put under pressure in the opening set, saving break points at 2-2 and 4-4, while Zverev came back from 0-40 down only to lose serve and hand the Canadian the set.

Zverev spent much of the second set gesturing to his team, with Auger-Aliassime winning his first two service games to love before both players were guilty of throwing away chances to break.

Auger-Aliassime let slip a 2-0 lead in the tiebreak, but when Zverev stepped up to serve at 4-5, the Canadian came through to earn consecutive minibreaks and send the German home.

Sinner stays unbeaten

Sinner is unbeaten in 29 matches on indoor hardcourt after a 6-3 7-6(3) victory over Shelton in their dead rubber round-robin match.

There was a relaxed atmosphere in the Inalpi Arena as the Italian had already secured top spot in the group and a semifinal against Alex de Minaur.

Shelton was broken in the opening and closing games of the first set, unable to take advantage of a break point at 2-1 down, while Sinner was always capable of pulling out an ace at the crucial time, hitting two in that fourth game to hold serve.

The American put up more fight in the second set, serving to love on three occasions, rescuing a match point at 5-4 down and forcing Sinner into a tiebreak for the first time in the last two editions of the season-ending championships, before the Italian sealed the win.

Sinner’s chances of ending the year as world number one evaporated on Thursday when Alcaraz completed a clean sweep in the Jimmy Connors Group with a win over Lorenzo Musetti, leaving little at stake against Shelton apart from his unbeaten run.

Before Sinner and Shelton emerged, Alcaraz was presented on court with the ATP year-end world number one trophy, which the Italian won last year, and the pair may yet do battle one last time in 2025 in Sunday’s final.

“It’s a pleasure being the number one of the world. It’s something that I’m working really hard for every day. It is a goal, to be honest,” Alcaraz said.

“For me, it’s a great achievement. It means the world to me and I’m just really proud and happy.”

US President Donald Trump has said he will file legal action against the BBC next week over how his speech was edited by Panorama, after the corporation apologised but refused to compensate him.

Speaking to reporters on board Air Force One on Friday evening, Trump said: “We’ll sue them for anywhere between a billion and $5bn probably sometime next week.”

On Friday, the BBC said the edit of the 6 January 2021 speech had given “the mistaken impression that President Trump had made a direct call for violent action”.

The BBC apologised but said it would not pay financial compensation.

Trump said he would discuss it with UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer over the weekend.

Earlier this week Trump’s lawyers threatened to sue the BBC for $1bn in damages unless the corporation issued a retraction, apologised and compensated him.

Trump’s lawyers had given the BBC a deadline of 22:00 GMT (17:00 EST) on Friday 14 November to respond, which it did.

The controversy led to the resignations of BBC director general Tim Davie and head of news Deborah Turness on Sunday.

Searches of public court record databases earlier showed no legal action had been filed so far.

Federal and state courts in Florida, where a case would likely be filed, are now closed for the weekend.

Based on Pacer searches for federal cases related to the BBC, no case filed by the Trump administration has been filed.

This is a breaking news story and will be updated shortly.

Welcome to Bunker Talk. This is a weekend open discussion post for the best commenting crew on the net, in which we can chat about all the stuff that went on this week that we didn’t cover. We can also talk about the stuff we did or whatever else grabs your interest. In other words, it’s an off-topic thread.

This week’s caption reads: “Members of the 576th Flight Test Squadron install launch control panels Feb. 26, 2015, during the start-up of the Missile Alert Facility for Glory Trip-214 and Glory Trip-215 at Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif. The launch control panels are a vital safeguard for launching the Minuteman III missile in both test and field environments. For the operational test launches, unarmed Minuteman III missiles are used, with specialized data monitoring and test equipment.” — Airman 1st Class Ian Dudley