Abby Zwerner, 28, was shot in 2023 as she sat in a first-grade classroom and sustained life-threatening injuries.
Published On 7 Nov 20257 Nov 2025
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A jury in the state of Virginia in the United States has awarded $10m to a former teacher who was shot by a six-year-old student.
The jury on Thursday sided with former teacher Abby Zwerner’s claim, made in a civil lawsuit, that an ex-administrator at the school had ignored repeated warnings that the six-year-old child had a gun in class.
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Zwerner, 28, was shot in January 2023 as she sat at a reading table in her first-grade classroom and spent nearly two weeks in the hospital, required six surgeries and still does not have the full use of her left hand.
The bullet fired by the six-year-old narrowly missed her heart and remains in her chest.
Zwerner, who did not address reporters outside the court after the decision was announced, had sought $40m in damages against Ebony Parker, a former assistant principal at Richneck Elementary School in the city of Newport News, Virginia.
One of her lawyers, Diane Toscano, said the verdict sent a message that what happened at the school “was wrong and is not going to be tolerated, that safety has to be the first concern at school”.
Zwerner’s lawyers had claimed that Parker, the assistant principal at the time, had failed to act in the hours before the shooting after several school staff members told her that the student had a gun in his backpack.
“Who would think a six-year-old would bring a gun to school and shoot their teacher?” Toscano had asked the jury earlier.
“It’s Dr Parker’s job to believe that is possible. It’s her job to investigate it and get to the very bottom of it.”
Parker did not testify in the lawsuit.
The mother of the student who shot Zwerner was sentenced to four years in prison after being convicted of child neglect and firearms charges.
No charges were brought against the child, who told authorities he got his mother’s handgun by climbing onto a drawer to reach the top of a dresser, where the firearm was in his mother’s purse.
Newtown Action Alliance, an advocacy organisation that supports reforms aimed at addressing gun violence, said that the case points to the need for greater regulations over the storage of firearms in homes with children.
“Abby Zwerner was shot by her 6-year-old student using a gun from home,” the group said in a social media post, adding that “76 percent of school shooters get their guns from their homes or relatives”.
Abby Zwerner was shot by her 6-year-old student using a gun from home.
76% of school shooters get their guns from their homes or relatives.
Urge your Members of Congress to cosponsor Ethan’s Law.
Zwerner no longer works for the school district and has said she has no plans to teach again. She has since become a licensed cosmetologist.
While accidents involving young children accessing unsecured firearms in their homes are common in the US, school shootings perpetrated by those under 10 years old are rare.
A database compiled by US researcher David Riedman has registered about 15 such incidents since the 1970s.
A Thursday report by the United Nations said opium cultivation is down in Afghanistan, but trafficking arrests are up. Photo by Maxim Shipenkov/EPA-EFE
Nov. 6 (UPI) — Opium production has dropped sharply in Afghanistan, but trafficking in the region is on the rise, according to a Thursday report by the United Nations.
The report, by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, said a little over 25,000 acres are being cultivated now, down from almost 31,000 acres in 2024.
The report said production has fallen by a third to 296 tons, and farmers’ income from opium production has dropped almost in half over the same period.
The report stressed the need to continue to eradicate efforts with support for alternative livelihoods and demand-reduction methods.
“While many growers have switched to cereals and other crops, worsening drought and low rainfall have left over 40% of farmland barren,” the report said.
Effects from the climate have been exacerbated by an influx of 4 million Afghans returning from other countries, which has created increased competition for jobs and put pressure on other sectors of the economy.
The report said these factors have made opium production an attractive alternative.
While cultivation has fallen, optimum trafficking is on the rise as the demand for synthetic drugs made from the plant continues to increase.
Seizures in and around Afghanistan are up 50% compared to 2024, driven largely by an uptick in methamphetamine use, the report said.
Synthetic opium-based drugs are relatively easy to produce and harder to detect than pure opium, which has also contributed to the increase in demand.
“Addressing this challenge requires collaboration among key stakeholders,” Gangnon added.
The report calls for counternarcotics strategies that extend beyond opium, including synthetic drug manufacturing and transportation, as well as prevention methods.
New York’s new Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani won amid Islamophobic attacks, and is set to become the city’s first Muslim mayor. He pledged to serve all communities and to challenge United States President Trump’s policies. His win is being compared to that of London’s Muslim Mayor Sadiq Khan, a counterweight to then-United Kingdom Prime Minister Boris Johnson. Are city mayors the new resistance to right-wing governments?
Volunteers stack donated food for the North Hollywood Interfaith Food Pantry in Los Angeles on October 24, ahead of the suspension of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits for 42 million recipients across the country. Photo by Allison Dinner/EPA
Nov. 6 (UPI) — The Trump administration has one day to fully distribute Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits for November, a federal judge ruled on Thursday.
U.S. District Court of Rhode Island Judge Jack McConnell ordered the program funding after earlier requiring the Trump administration to access available money to at least partially fund SNAP benefits amid the federal government shutdown.
McConnell required the Trump administration to apprise the court on Wednesday of efforts to fund the program formerly known as “food stamps.”
“People have gone without for too long,” McConnell said during an emergency hearing on Thursday, as reported by CNN.
“Not making payments to them for even another day is simply unacceptable,” he added.
He said the Trump administration has not done enough to access an estimated $4.65 billion in contingency funds to partially fund the SNAP benefits that cost about $9 billion per month to help 42 million recipients put food on their tables.
If SNAP is not funded fully, “people will go hungry, food pantries will be overburdened, and needless suffering will occur,” McConnell said on Thursday, according to CNBC.
“That’s what irreparable harm here means,” he continued. “Last weekend, SNAP benefits lapsed for the first time in our nation’s history.”
He called it a “problem that could have and should have been avoided.”
McConnell ordered the Trump administration to provide the full amount of November SNAP benefits to respective states by Friday, which would enable them to distribute benefits to their residents within a few days.
The federal judge also referenced a Truth Social post made by President Donald Trump on Tuesday.
In that post, the president said SNAP benefits only would be funded “when the radical-left Democrats open up government, which they can easily do, and not before.”
The social media post served as evidence that the Trump administration would ignore McConnell’s prior order requiring it to access as much funding as possible to distribute SNAP benefits.
He criticized the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s decision not to access contingency funds to continue SNAP benefits instead of allowing them to be suspended as of Saturday.
“Even when Nov. 1 came, [the] USDA refused to use the congressionally mandated contingency funds,” McConnell said.
“USDA cannot now cry that it cannot get timely payments to the beneficiary for weeks or months because states are not prepared to make partial payments.”
McConnell is presiding over one of two federal cases filed by up to 25 states seeking to continue federal funding of SNAP benefits despite the record 37-day federal government shutdown that started on Oct. 1.
New York is party to both suits, and state Attorney General Letitia James welcomed McConnell’s ruling on Thursday.
“A judge in Rhode Island just stopped the federal government from starving millions of Americans,” James said in a prepared statement.
“I am relieved that people will get the food they need,” she added, “but it is outrageous that it took a lawsuit to make the federal government feed its own people.”
Lugh Baker died in 2021 and his mother, Trudy Polkinghorn, said she “was so angry” with the regulator, the CQC
Care homes that are graded as inadequate or requiring improvement are often not being reinspected for a year or more, a BBC investigation has found.
More than 2,100 care homes in England as of October this year were rated as “requires improvement” by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) – but the BBC found three quarters of those had not been reinspected within a year or more.
A fifth of the 123 homes rated as “inadequate” – the lowest rating – have not been reinspected within the same time frame.
BBC analysis of CQC data found one home rated inadequate in 2022 has not been reinspected since, despite the report highlighting residents were at risk of pressure sores, infection, dehydration and exposure to chemicals.
As a result of the delays, families of residents living in poorly rated care homes did not always know whether improvements had been made.
The family of one 24-year-old man who died in a Cornwall care home have called for homes to be inspected annually.
Lugh Baker died at Rosewood House care home in Launceston, Cornwall, in 2021.
A coroner found failings in relation to his care plan and gaps in monitoring after his death, which remains unexplained.
The CQC inspected in 2022 and 2023, telling the home it needed to make improvements, but it has not been back to inspect since.
Mr Baker’s mother, Trudy Polkinghorn, and sister, Erin Baker, said they felt “despair” and were disappointed in the regulator.
The CQC said it had been “regularly monitoring” the service through information it received and the home said it had acted on every recommendation in the coroner’s report.
‘Our light and joy’
The CQC rates homes into four categories – outstanding, good, requires improvement and inadequate.
It previously reinspected care homes rated as “requires improvement” within a year and homes rated as “inadequate” within six months, but got rid of these timeframes when it changed its inspection framework in 2021.
Inspections are now carried out on what it calls a more flexible “risk basis”, prioritising the homes it deems the riskiest.
Mr Baker had been living in Rosewood House for six months before he died. At the time, it was rated “good” following an inspection in 2018.
Ms Polkinghorn described him as a “light” and a “joy” in their family.
“He wanted to get up every morning at 07:30, put the dance tunes on and he wanted everyone to dance with him,” she said.
Trudy Polkinghorn
A coroner’s report criticised the home where Lugh Baker was a resident
Mr Baker had a rare genetic condition which caused severe learning difficulties, as well as epilepsy and difficulty swallowing.
His care plan stipulated he was only allowed to eat certain foods while supervised and sitting up to avoid choking.
Mr Baker was discovered in his room in April 2021 with an unwrapped, partially eaten chocolate bar by his bed. The inquest found no evidence of choking.
A coroner’s report criticised the home, saying staff were unfamiliar with his condition and although residents were supposed to be constantly monitored via CCTV, there were times this did not happen for him.
After its 2018 inspection, the home was scheduled to be reinspected within two-and-a-half years.
But it was not inspected until four years later, in 2022, a year after Mr Baker’s death, following the scrapping of set inspection reviews.
The CQC then reinspected in 2023. On both occasions the home was rated as “requires improvement” and told it would be monitored to make changes.
There has not been another inspection since.
Ms Polkinghorn said: “When I can get up off the floor out of the realms of total despair, I am so angry.”
Ms Baker said homes should be inspected annually “at the very least”.
“If you have a changeover of staff, or anything like that, you need to make sure it’s still caring for the people,” she said.
Rosewood House said their “heartfelt sympathies remained with Lugh’s family”.
A spokesperson said they had acted on every recommendation in the coroner’s report into Mr Baker’s death, “strengthening monitoring systems and introducing more detailed care plans” and remained committed to providing “safe” and “high-quality” care.
The CQC said it had been “regularly monitoring” the service through information it received.
The CQC regulates all health and adult social care services in England.
It can take enforcement action if it judges a care home to be underperforming, including issuing warning notices requiring specific improvements, placing a home into special measures, and suspending the registration of a service in serious cases.
The regulator was previously warned it needed to improve its performance.
An independent review of the CQC in October 2024 found multiple failings, including long gaps between inspections and some services running for years without a rating.
It found the regulator had experienced problems because of a new IT system, and concerns were raised that the new inspection framework was not providing effective assessments.
There was also a lack of clarity around how ratings were calculated.
BBC analysis of CQC data found 70% of the 204 “requires improvement” rated homes in the South West have not been reinspected in a year or more.
Eileen Chubb, a former care worker and campaigner who runs the charity Compassion in Care, said she regularly heard from families and staff frustrated by long gaps between inspections.
She said: “We’ve seen the worst care homes – diabolical homes – and they’re not inspected for two or three years.”
She said whistleblowers had told her they approached the CQC about “terrible” homes, but when the regulator inspected it was “too late” in cases where residents had died.
Some providers said the delays were unfair to owners of care homes too.
Geoffrey Cox, director of Southern Healthcare which operates four care homes in the south of England, three of which are rated “outstanding”, said he had one “good” rated home that had not had an inspection for seven years.
“It’s far too long,” he said, adding that reports which were years old “lost credibility”, undermining public confidence in them.
“We want to demonstrate that we’re really good at what we do and we want to be recognised for that,” he said.
One family told the BBC it was “such an effort” to encourage the CQC to “take any action at all” after a loved one died at a home in Norwich.
Karen Staniland’s mother Eileen died after an unwitnessed fall in her room at Broadland View care home in Norwich in 2020, while a staff member who was supposed to be looking after her slept on duty.
Her care plan stipulated she must be checked on hourly at night, that she was given a bed which could be lowered to prevent falls and that a sensor mat should be provided to alert staff if she tried to get up.
A local authority safeguarding report after her death found “no aspect” of her care plan had been followed.
The carer responsible had falsified records to suggest checks had been carried out and was sentenced to nine months in prison, suspended for two years, for willful neglect in February 2023.
The home was rated “good” from an inspection in 2017, but a former Broadland View employee, who has asked not to be named, told the BBC the home was not providing quality care.
“Safeguarding issues weren’t being documented, and the equipment and training weren’t very good,” she said.
“There were these pressure alarm mats, but as soon as you stood on them, they would slip from underneath your feet – they were used as preventions, but were actually causing the falls.”
The former worker said she had reported concerns to the CQC on “several occasions” but there was “no follow up”.
Karen Staniland
Karen Staniland said she was disappointed in the CQC
The regulator did not inspect the home until three years after Eileen’s death, downgrading it to “requires improvement”.
A coroner’s report in 2023 found the home’s manager did not accept many of the CQC’s concerns and that several promised improvements had not been implemented.
Two years on, the home has still not been reinspected.
Ms Staniland said the family had been left “dismayed” and “disappointed” in the CQC.
“I don’t think it is a regulator, if our experience is anything to go by,” she added.
Broadland View care home said it had “learnt from the past” and had introduced new digital monitoring, stronger night-time supervision and regular independent audits to ensure residents were safe and cared for.
The CQC said it continued to monitor Broadland View, and it would “continue to work closely with people who work in services and people who use them to understand the issues the sector is facing”.
It said it had a clear commitment to increase the number of assessments it carried out, “in order to give the public confidence in the quality of care they will receive, and to update the ratings of providers to give a better picture of how they are performing”.
The federal government shutdown is now the longest in US history.
America’s longest government shutdown is becoming more painful by the day.
At least 40 million Americans are struggling to get food, more than a million federal workers haven’t been paid, health insurance premiums are rising, and flights are getting disrupted.
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Congress has been locked in a standoff over a bill to fund government services, with Democrats demanding tax credits that will make health insurance cheaper for millions of Americans and an end to federal agency cuts.
Democrats won decisive victories in state and local elections this week. President Donald Trump is blaming the shutdown for this setback to the Republican Party.
So, will he now be willing to negotiate? Can the two sides agree to a comprise?
Presenter: Bernard Smith
Guests:
Mark Pfeifle – Republican strategist
Jeremy Mayer – Professor of political science at George Mason University
The relatively static position of the Ford and at least two of its escorts comes as reports are emerging that the Trump administration has decided, for now, not to carry out land strikes against Venezuela. It is unknown at the moment if there is a correlation, and the possibility remains that the carrier could still soon sail westward. We have reached out to the White House for clarification.
The USS Gerald R. Ford remains holding off the coast of Morocco. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Jacob Mattingly)
The Trump administration on Wednesday told Congress it is holding off for now on strikes inside Venezuela out of concern over the legal authority to do so, CNN reported on Thursday. The briefing was conducted by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and an official from the White House’s Office of Legal Counsel, the network reported, citing sources familiar with the events.
Lawmakers were told that the authority given to suspected drug boats did not apply to land strikes, the network noted. So far, nearly 70 people have been killed in at least 16 publicly known attacks on vessels allegedly smuggling drugs in the Caribbean and Pacific. The most recent acknowledged strike took place on Tuesday. The strikes have garnered heavy criticism for being extrajudicial and carried out without Congressional authorization.
Today, at the direction of President Trump, the Department of War carried out a lethal kinetic strike on a vessel operated by a Designated Terrorist Organization (DTO).
Intelligence confirmed that the vessel was involved in illicit narcotics smuggling, transiting along a known… pic.twitter.com/OsQuHrYLMp
Asked if the administration is indeed opting against land attacks on Venezuela, at least for now, the White House gave us the following response:
“President Trump was elected with a resounding mandate to take on the cartels and stop the scourge of narcoterrorism from killing Americans,” a White House official told us. “The President continues to take actions consistent with his responsibility to protect Americans and pursuant to his constitutional authority. All actions comply fully with the law of armed conflict.”
CNN’s reporting came after a Wall Street Journal story on Wednesday stating that President Donald Trump “recently expressed reservations to top aides about launching military action to oust Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.”
Trump feared that strikes might not force Maduro to step down, the newspaper noted. Though ostensibly begun as an effort to stem the flow of drugs, it has grown into a massive show of military force aimed partially at Maduro.
The administration is considering three main options for dealing with Maduro, The New York Times reported earlier this week. They include stepping up economic pressure on Venezuela, supporting that nation’s opposition while boosting the U.S. military presence to add pressure on the Venezuelan leader, and initiating airstrikes or covert operations aimed at government and military facilities and personnel.
However, the goal is in flux, administration officials acknowledge, according to the Journal. Meanwhile, Trump has also delivered mixed messages, saying he doubts there will be an attack but that Maduro must go.
What is clear is that there is a massive U.S. military presence in the Caribbean, which includes at least eight surface warships, a special operations mothership, a nuclear-powered fast attack submarine, F-35B stealth fighters, AC-130 gunships, airlifters, MQ-9 Reaper drones and more than 10,000 troops.
The Ford was supposed to join that force, but if the administration is content for now to hit boats suspected of carrying drugs, it might not make sense to move the carrier and escort ships more than 3,600 miles west, especially as there is high demand elsewhere for American naval presence, including in Europe, where the supercarrier just came from.
The issue of wear and tear on the force is something that the Pentagon will have to evaluate as it decides which assets to keep and which to pull from the Caribbean. Navy vessels began arriving in the region in late August and at some point, they will need relief. That could mean bringing in ships, possibly from other regions. The same can be said for aircraft units and personnel deployed around the region for the operation. Those forces can only remain spun-up for so long, or the operation needs to be adapted for a long-term enhanced presence. This could very well be underway already, although we have not confirmed this as being the case. However, being so close to the U.S. mainland reduces some of those concerns, especially for rotating units in and out.
Regardless of Trump’s intentions, the U.S. military presence continues to endure in the region. Thursday afternoon, two more B-52H strategic bombers flew near the coast of Venezuela, according to online flight trackers. These bomber flights have become something of a routine at this point. In addition, theSan Antonio class amphibious transport dock ship USS Fort Lauderdale is once again back in the Caribbean after a pitstop in Florida for routine maintenance.
At 5 p.m., the U.S. Senate is scheduled to hold a floor vote on a bipartisan war powers resolution that would block the use of the U.S. Armed Forces to engage in hostilities within or against Venezuela, unless that action has been authorized by Congress. A similar measure failed several weeks ago and it remains to be seen if news that the administration is holding off on striking Venezuela will move the needle on that resolution.
Meanwhile, we will continue to monitor the progress of the Ford and the U.S. military presence arrayed against Maduro and provide updates when warranted.
Update: 6:07 PM Eastern –
The Senate bipartisan war powers resolution was voted down by a vote of 51 to 49.
Shareholders approved the pay package with as much as 75 percent support on Thursday.
Published On 6 Nov 20256 Nov 2025
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Tesla CEO Elon Musk has scored a resounding victory as shareholders have approved a pay package of as much as $878bn over the next decade, endorsing his vision of morphing the electric vehicle (EV) maker into an AI and robotics juggernaut.
Shares of Tesla rose more than 3 percent in after-hours trading after the shareholders voted on Thursday. The proposal was approved with more than 75 percent support.
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Musk took to the stage in Austin, Texas, along with dancing robots. “What we are about to embark upon is not merely a new chapter of the future of Tesla, but a whole new book,” he said. “This really is going to be quite the story.”
He added: “Other shareholder meetings are like snooze fests, but ours are bangers. I mean, look at this. This is sick.”
Shareholders also re-elected three directors on Tesla’s board and voted in favour of a replacement pay plan for Musk’s services because a legal challenge has held up a previous package.
The vote, analysts have said, is a positive for Tesla’s stock, whose valuation hangs on Musk’s vision of making vehicles drive themselves, expanding robotaxis across the United States and selling humanoid robots, even though his far-right political rhetoric has hurt the Tesla brand this year.
A win for Musk was widely expected as the billionaire was allowed to exercise the full voting rights of his roughly 15 percent stake after the carmaker moved to Texas from Delaware, where a legal challenge has held up a previous pay rise.
The approval comes even after opposition from some major investors, including Norway’s sovereign wealth fund.
Tesla’s board had said Musk could quit if the pay package was not approved.
The vote will also allay investor concerns that Musk’s focus has been diluted with his work in politics as well as in running his other companies, including rocket maker SpaceX and artificial intelligence startup xAI.
The board and many investors who lent their endorsement have said the nearly $1 trillion package benefits shareholders in the longer run, as Musk must ensure Tesla achieves a series of milestones to get paid.
Goals for Musk over the next decade include the company delivering 20 million vehicles, having one million robotaxis in operation, selling one million robots and earning as much as $400bn in core profit. But in order for him to get paid, Tesla’s stock value has to rise in tandem, first to $2 trillion from the current $1.5 trillion, and all the way to $8.5 trillion.
Under the new plan, Musk could earn as much as $878bn in Tesla stock over 10 years. Musk would be given as much as $1 trillion in stock but would have to make some payments back to Tesla.
Meta anticipated earning about 10% of its total annual revenue, or $16 billion, from advertising for scams and banned items, according to internal documents reviewed by Reuters. The documents reveal that for at least three years, the company failed to stop a significant number of ads exposing its billions of users on Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp to fraudulent schemes, illegal casinos, and banned medical products. On average, around 15 billion “higher risk” scam ads, showing clear signs of fraud, were displayed daily on these platforms. Meta reportedly generates about $7 billion annually from these scam ads.
Many of these ads were linked to marketers flagged by Meta’s internal systems. However, the company only bans advertisers if fraud is at least 95% certain according to its systems. If less certain but still suspect, Meta imposes higher ad rates as a penalty instead of outright banning them. This approach aims to deter dubious advertisers without fully eliminating them. The company’s ad-personalization system also ensures that users who click on scam ads see more of them based on their interests.
The documents create an image of Meta grappling with the extent of abuse on its platforms while hesitating to take stronger actions that could impact its revenue. The acceptance of revenue from suspicious sources highlights a lack of oversight in the advertising industry, as noted by fraud expert Sandeep Abraham. Meta’s spokesperson, Andy Stone, counters that the documents provide a biased view and argues that the actual share of revenue from scam ads would be lower than estimated. He claimed the plan aimed to validate investments in combating fraud.
Stone mentioned that Meta has significantly reduced user reports of scam ads globally and removed millions of scam ad content in recent efforts. The company aims for major reductions in scam ads in the upcoming year. Despite this, internal research indicates that Meta’s platforms are central to the global fraud economy, with one presentation estimating they contribute to a third of all successful fraud in the U. S. Competitors were noted to have better systems to combat fraud.
As regulators step up pressure for stronger consumer protections, the documents reveal the U. S. Securities and Exchange Commission is investigating Meta for financial scam ads. In Britain, regulators identified Meta as the source of over half of the payment-related scam losses in 2023. The company has acknowledged that addressing illicit advertising may hurt its revenue.
Meta is investing heavily in technology and has plans for extensive capital expenditures in AI. CEO Mark Zuckerberg reassured investors that their advertising revenue can support these projects. The internal documents suggest a careful consideration of the financial impact of increasing measures against scam ads, indicating that while the company intends to reduce illicit revenue, it is wary of the potential business implications.
Despite planning to diminish scam ads’ revenue share, Meta is bracing for regulatory fines, estimating penalties that could reach up to $1 billion. However, these fines are viewed as comparatively minor against the income from scam ads, which already generates significant revenue. The leadership’s strategy shows a tendency to react to regulatory pressure rather than implementing proactive measures to vet advertisers effectively. Stone disputed claims that Meta’s policy is to act only under regulatory threat.
Meta has set limits on how much revenue it can afford to lose from actions against suspect advertisers. In early 2025, a document revealed that the team reviewing questionable ads was restricted to a loss of no more than 0.15% of company revenue, which equated to around $135 million from Meta’s total of $90 billion in the same period. A manager noted that this revenue cap included both scam ads and harmless ads that might be mistakenly blocked, indicating strict financial boundaries in their approach.
Under increasing pressure to manage scams more effectively, Meta’s executives proposed a moderate strategy to CEO Mark Zuckerberg in October 2024. Instead of a drastic approach, they suggested targeting countries where they anticipated regulatory action. Their goal was to reduce the revenue lost to scams, illegal gambling, and prohibited goods from approximately 10.1% in 2024 to 7.3% by the end of 2025, with further reductions planned for subsequent years.
A surge in online fraud was noted in 2022, when Meta uncovered a network of accounts pretending to be U. S. military members trying to scam Facebook users. Other scams, such as sextortion, were also rising. Yet, at that time, Meta invested little in automated systems to detect such scams and categorized them as a low-priority issue. Internal documents showed efforts were mainly focused on fraudsters impersonating celebrities, which threatened to alienate advertisers and users alike. However, layoffs at Meta affected the enforcement team, as many working on advertiser rights were let go, and resources shifted heavily toward virtual reality and AI projects.
Despite layoffs, Meta claimed to have increased its staff handling scam advertising. However, data from 2023 revealed that Meta was ignoring about 96% of valid scam reports filed by users, suggesting a significant gap in their response to customer concerns. The safety staff aimed to improve this by reducing the number of dismissed reports to no more than 75% in the future.
Instances of user frustration were evident, such as a recruiter for the Royal Canadian Air Force who lost access to her account after being hacked. Despite multiple reports to Meta, her account remained active, even sharing false cryptocurrency investment opportunities that defrauded her connections. Reports indicated that she had many people flag her account, but it took about a month before Meta finally removed it.
Meta refers to scams that do not involve paid ads as “organic,” which include free classified ads, fake dating profiles, and fraudulent medical claims. A report from December 2024 stated that users face approximately 22 billion organic scam attempts each day, alongside 15 billion scam ads, highlighting the company’s ongoing struggle to manage fraud effectively. Internal documents suggest that Meta’s efforts to police fraud are not capturing much of the scam activity occurring across its platforms.
In Singapore, police shared a list of 146 scams targeting local users, but Meta staff found that only 23% of these scams broke the platform’s policies. The remaining 77% went against the spirit of the rules but not the exact wording. Examples of unchecked scams included fake offers on designer clothes, false concert tickets, and job ads pretending to be from major tech firms. In one case, Meta discovered scam ads claiming to belong to the Canadian prime minister, yet the existing rules wouldn’t flag the account.
Even when advertisers are found to be scamming, the rules can be lenient. Small advertisers need to be flagged for scams eight times before being blocked, while larger ones can have over 500 complaints without being shut down. Some scams generated significant revenue; for example, four removed ads were linked to $67 million monthly.
An employee initiated reports highlighting the “Scammiest Scammer” each week to raise awareness, but some flagged accounts remained active for months. Meta tried to deter scammers by charging them more in ad auctions, labeling this practice “penalty bids. ” Advertisers suspected of fraud would have to bid higher amounts, thus reducing competition for legitimate advertisers. Meta aimed to decrease scam ads from this approach, which showed some success, resulting in fewer scam reports and a slight dip in overall ad revenue.
Nov. 6 (UPI) — Former Justice Department paralegal Sean Dunn is not guilty of assault for throwing a sub sandwich at a Border Patrol agent in Washington, D.C., a federal jury ruled Thursday.
The jury deliberated a misdemeanor assault charge against Dunn on Wednesday and Thursday before rendering its verdict, NBC News reported.
Dunn accosted Border Patrol agent Greg Lairimore in the capital’s U Street area, swore at him called him an unwelcome “fascist” before throwing a footlong sub sandwich that struck him in the chest.
Lairimore testified that the sandwich “exploded” when it hit his chest, but photos showed it was still wrapped while lying on the ground after striking him.
The case was tried in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, where a grand jury earlier rejected several potential felony charges against Dunn.
U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro proceeded with the misdemeanor assault charge against Dunn and agreed to hold a jury trial upon the request of Dunn’s attorneys.
Attorney General Pam Bondi earlier cited Dunn as an example of the “deep state” in Washington and fired him from his DOJ job.
The incident went viral as video footage circulated on social media and inspired murals and other depictions of a masked Dunn preparing to hurl a footlong sub sandwich like a quarterback would throw a football.
Some people also dressed in costumes intended to mimic Dunn, and many Washington-area homes featured skeletons dressed similarly to Dunn during Halloween.
Italy is welcoming 19 children who were evacuated from Gaza by the World Health Organization. They’ll receive advanced medical treatment in several hospitals across the country.
Video shows Israeli drones launching intense airstrikes in southern Lebanon on Thursday. At least one person was killed in the town of Toura. Israel said it was targeting Hezbollah sites despite a ceasefire agreed to with the group last year.
Paramilitary says it will accept a ceasefire proposed by the Quad mediators – the US, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and the UAE.
The Rapid Support Forces (RSF) says it has agreed to a proposal by the United States for a ceasefire in Sudan after more than two years of fighting with the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF).
The paramilitary group said in a statement on Thursday that it would accept a “humanitarian ceasefire” proposed by the US-led “quad” mediator group, which includes Saudi Arabia, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates, “to address the catastrophic humanitarian consequences of the war and to enhance the protection of civilians”.
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There was no immediate comment from Sudan’s military.
Earlier this week, the US senior adviser for Arab and African affairs, Massad Boulos, said efforts were under way to reach a truce and that the warring sides had “agreed in principle”.
“We have not recorded any initial objection from either side. We are now focusing on the fine details,” Boulos said on Monday in a statement carried by the Sudan Tribune news outlet.
Reporting from Khartoum, Al Jazeera’s Hiba Morgan said the plan would begin with a three-month humanitarian truce that could pave the way for a lasting political solution, which would include a new civilian government.
The RSF “said that they’re eager to find some kind of end to this two-year conflict”, Morgan said of the group’s agreement to the truce.
SAF has repeatedly said it wants to continue fighting, Morgan reported, adding that army officials do not believe members of the RSF can be reintegrated into Sudanese society.
SAF has previously said it does not want the UAE’s involvement in truce discussions and that it will demand the RSF withdraw from any city it occupies, among other stipulations, she said.
“This humanitarian access the ceasefire would bring about is desperately needed, but the Sudanese army is yet to agree to it. They have conditions,” Morgan reported. “It doesn’t look like the RSF will meet them.”
Earlier on Thursday, army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan had said his forces were “striving for the defeat of the enemy”.
“Soon, we will avenge those who have been killed and abused … in all the regions attacked by the rebels,” he said in a televised address.
The announcement comes as the RSF faces accusations of committing mass killings since it seized the city of el-Fasher in North Darfur state on October 26, following an 18-month siege.
The RSF now dominates the vast western Darfur region and parts of the country’s south, while the army holds the north, east and central regions along the Nile and the Red Sea.
More than 70,000 people have fled el-Fasher and surrounding areas since the RSF’s takeover, according to the United Nations, with witnesses and human rights groups reporting cases of “summary executions”, sexual violence and mass killings of civilians.
The World Health Organization had reported the “tragic killing of more than 460 patients and medical staff” at a former children’s hospital during the city’s takeover.
‘Mass graves’
Researchers at Yale University said in a report on Thursday that new satellite imagery has detected activity “consistent with mass graves” in the city.
The US university’s Humanitarian Research Lab (HRL) report said it found evidence consistent with “body disposal activities”.
The report identified “at least two earth disturbances consistent with mass graves at a mosque and the former Children’s Hospital”.
It also noted the appearance of metres-long trenches, as well as the disappearance of clusters of objects consistent with bodies near the hospital, the mosque and other parts of the city – indicating that bodies deposited around those areas were later moved.
“Body disposal or removal was also observed at Al-Saudi Hospital in satellite imagery,” the report said.
Displaced Sudanese children who fled with their families during violence in el-Fasher sit inside a camp shelter amid ongoing clashes between the RSF and the Sudanese army, in Tawila, North Darfur, Sudan, November 3, 2025 [Mohamed Jamal/Reuters]
The war in Sudan, which erupted in April 2023, has pitted the army against the group led by al-Burhan’s former deputy, RSF commander Mohammed Hamdan Daglo, also known as Hemedti.
Both the warring sides have been accused of war crimes. In a September report, the UN Human Rights Council accused both sides of extrajudicial killing, large-scale attacks against civilians and torture. It also reported an “overwhelming volume” of evidence on sexual violence primarily perpetrated by RSF and SAF members.
Nov. 6 (UPI) — A reduction in flights will affect 40 airports amid the federal government shutdown, which has put a strain on air traffic control staffing, unnamed sources said Thursday.
The Federal Aviation Administration hasn’t listed the airports, but sources released the tentative list to ABC News, CBS News and The Washington Post.
Most of the airports affected are in major cities, such as New York, Chicago, Houston and Los Angeles. But other, less-busy airports are also on the list, such as Tampa Bay, Fla.; Anchorage, Alaska; and San Diego.
“Our sole role is to make sure that we keep this airspace as safe as possible. Reduction in capacity at 40 of our locations. This is not based on light airline travel locations. This is about where the pressure is and how to really deviate the pressure,” FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford Bedford said Wednesday.
”If you bring us to a week from today, Democrats, you will see mass chaos,” Duffy said on Tuesday.
A source told ABC News that the flight reductions will start at 4% Friday and work up to 10%. The flight reductions will be from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. and tentatively affect the following airports:
Anchorage International (Alaska)
Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International (Georgia)
Boston Logan International (Massachusetts)
Baltimore-Washington International Marshall (Maryland)
Charlotte Douglas International (North Carolina)
Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International (Ohio/Kentucky)
Dallas Love Field (Texas)
Reagan National (District of Columbia/Virginia)
Denver International (Colorado)
Dallas-Fort Worth International (Texas)
Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County (Michigan)
Newark Liberty International (New Jersey)
Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International (Florida)
Honolulu International (Hawaii)
Houston Hobby (Texas)
Washington Dulles International (District of Columbia/Virginia)
SOAS University, of which Hamdi is an alumnus, urge ‘US authorities to ensure full transparency and due process’ in his case.
Published On 6 Nov 20256 Nov 2025
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The London university where British political commentator and journalist Sami Hamdi completed his studies has called for “full transparency and due process” regarding his detention in the United States.
In a statement published on Wednesday, SOAS University of London said it was “deeply concerned” by reports of Hamdi’s detention, adding that “there is no indication that Mr Hamdi has violated any laws”.
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“We urge the US authorities to ensure full transparency and due process in Mr Hamdi’s case, and to uphold his fundamental right to freedom of expression and movement.”
Hamdi, 35, was stopped at San Francisco international airport in California on October 26 and detained by agents from the Department of Homeland Security’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) condemned Hamdi’s detention as “a blatant affront to free speech”, attributing his arrest to his criticism of Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza, which has killed at least 68,875 Palestinians and wounded 170,679 since October 2023.
Sami Hamdi’s wife Soumaya told Al Jazeera that the US government has still not provided any evidence ‘as to why they feel the need to revoke his visa’ [Screen grab/ Al Jazeera]
Hamdi, who was completing a speaking tour in the US discussing Israel’s war on Gaza, had addressed a CAIR gala in Sacramento, California, the previous evening and was due to speak at another CAIR event in Florida.
He was unaware at the time that his visa had been revoked by US authorities two days before his detention.
Hamdi’s detention has led to a legal battle, with his lawyers filing emergency petitions against his detention, and his wife Soumaya and civil society groups demanding that the United Kingdom government take action.
Soumaya told Al Jazeera that the US government has still not provided any evidence “as to why they feel the need to revoke his visa. And therefore they are treating him as an overstayer”.
She said the incident raises an important question: “Has the United States become a country now where a British citizen travelling on a valid visa can be detained at will? Because that is really scary.”
Soumaya said she believed her husband had been targeted by the US authorities because “he’s become extremely effective at galvanising support for Palestinian rights. Sami has been able to bring people together across the political spectrum, not just within Muslim communities.”
She also said her husband’s arrest should be of concern to “everybody who values the right to freedom of speech, everybody who values the right to receive facts from journalists and for journalists to be able to report on news without being persecuted”.
“If they [US authorities] are able then to treat Sami in this way, it’s only a matter of time before they start to treat US citizens like that too.”
“The US government must release Sami immediately. They’ve made a big mistake, and they need to release him immediately. And Congress must investigate these ICE detentions because they are setting a dangerous precedent for the future ability of US citizens being able to exercise their right to the First Amendment properly. And that’s bad news for everybody,” she said.
The DOJ argued that the federal judge did not have the authority to make the decision.
Published On 6 Nov 20256 Nov 2025
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A United States judge in Texas has approved the Department of Justice’s request to dismiss a criminal case against Boeing despite his objections to the decision.
On Thursday, Judge Reed O’Connor of the US District Court in Fort Worth dismissed the case, which will allow the plane maker to avoid prosecution over charges related to two deadly 737 MAX crashes: the 2018 Lion Air crash in Indonesia and the 2019 Ethiopian Airlines crash.
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O’Connor said he disagreed with the Justice Department’s argument that ending the case served the public interest, noting that he lacked the authority to overrule it.
The government argued Boeing has improved, and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is providing enhanced oversight. Boeing and the government argued O’Connor had no choice but to dismiss the case.
He said the deal with the aerospace giant “fails to secure the necessary accountability to ensure the safety of the flying public”.
In September, O’Connor held a three-hour hearing to consider objections to the deal, questioning the government’s decision to drop a requirement that Boeing face oversight from an independent monitor for three years and instead hire a compliance consultant.
O’Connor said the government’s position is “Boeing committed crimes sufficient to justify prosecution, failed to remedy its fraudulent behaviour on its own during the [deferred prosecution agreement], which justified a guilty plea and the imposition of an independent monitor, but now Boeing will remedy that dangerous culture by retaining a consultant of its own choosing”.
The DOJ first criminally charged Boeing for the crashes in January 2021, but also agreed to deferred prosecution in the case.
The plane maker was charged with one count of conspiracy to defraud the US. Courts found that Boeing deceived the FAA about what is called the manoeuvring characteristics augmentation system, which affects flight control systems on the aircraft.
“Boeing’s employees chose the path of profit over candor by concealing material information from the FAA concerning the operation of its 737 Max airplane and engaging in an effort to cover up their deception,” acting Assistant Attorney General David P Burns of the DOJ’s criminal division said in a statement at the time.
O’Connor said in 2023 that “Boeing’s crime may properly be considered the deadliest corporate crime in US history”.
Under the non-prosecution deal, Boeing agreed to pay an additional $444.5m into a crash victims’ fund to be divided evenly per victim of the two fatal 737 MAX crashes, on top of a new $243.6m fine and more than $455m to strengthen the company’s compliance, safety, and quality programmes.
On Wall Street, Boeing’s stock was up by 0.2 percent as of 11am in New York (16:00 GMT).
Pauline Collins, the star of the film Shirley Valentine, for which she was Oscar nominated in 1990, has died at the age of 85.
She died “peacefully” aged 85 in her London care home surrounded by her family having had Parkinson’s disease for several years, her family said.
Collins will be best remembered for her portrayal of disgruntled housewife Shirley in Lewis Gilbert’s award-winning film, based on the acclaimed stage play by Willy Russell.
Her critically acclaimed performance also won her the Golden Globe Award for best actress along with a Bafta.
‘Witty presence’
Collins’ family said in a statement: “Pauline was so many things to so many people, playing a variety of roles in her life. A bright, sparky, witty presence on stage and screen. Her illustrious career saw her play politicians, mothers and queens.
“She will always be remembered as the iconic, strong-willed, vivacious and wise Shirley Valentine – a role that she made all her own. We were familiar with all those parts of her because her magic was contained in each one of them.
“More than anything, though, she was our loving mum, our wonderful grandma and great-grandma. Warm, funny, generous, thoughtful, wise, she was always there for us. And she was John (Alderton)’s life-long love. A partner, work collaborator, and wife of 56 years.
“We particularly want to thank her carers: angels who looked after her with dignity, compassion, and most of all love. She could not have had a more peaceful goodbye. We hope you will remember her at the height of her powers; so joyful and full of energy; and give us the space and privacy to contemplate a life without her.”
Broadway role
Collins first played the title role of Shirley Valentine at the Vaudeville Theatre in London in 1988. She won that year’s Olivier award for best actress.
The following year she reprised the role on Broadway, New York, where she picked up numerous prizes including a prestigious Tony award.
The film of the same name was released later that year.
Her other films included 1991’s City of Joy with Patrick Swayze, filmed in Calcutta, which brought her wider recognition globally.
Born in Exmouth in 1940, Collins was raised near Liverpool and started out her career as a teacher.
Her love of the stage led her to take up acting on a part-time basis, and in 1957 she had a cameo role as a nurse in the Emergency Ward 10 TV series.
She starred in the film Secrets of a Windmill Girl in 1966, playing a fictional dancer in a London striptease nightclub, the Windmill Theatre.
After a number of stage roles, she used her Liverpool accent to land a role on The Liver Birds.
From 1971 to 1973 she played a maid in the ITV’s popular series Upstairs, Downstairs.
It was through acting that she met husband John Alderton. They married in 1969 and had three adult children, Nicholas, Kate, and Richard.
Alderton and Collins starred alongside each other in a number of television and film roles, such as Upstairs, Downstairs.
Weekly insights and analysis on the latest developments in military technology, strategy, and foreign policy.
Saudi Arabia could become the next customer for the Lockheed Martin F-35, with the Trump administration reportedly weighing up the sale of up to 48 jets to the kingdom. Selling the stealth jet to Saudi Arabia would be a significant policy shift, with Washington previously being unwilling to export F-35s to Arab states in the region, for fear of upsetting the strategic balance in relation to Israel.
According to a Reutersreport, which cites two unnamed sources said to be familiar with the matter, the U.S. administration is considering whether to approve the deal, ahead of a visit to the United States by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler. The crown prince is due to meet U.S. President Donald Trump on November 18. The potential deal has apparently already been given the green light by the Pentagon, where it was discussed at the highest levels for “months.”
U.S. President Donald Trump and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman speak as they arrive during the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Leaders’ Summit in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, in May 2025. Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images Win McNamee
Citing one of those sources and an unnamed U.S. official, the same report claims that Saudi Arabia made a new request for F-35s earlier this year, with a direct appeal to Trump. The U.S. official and a second U.S. official confirmed to Reuters that the weapons deal “was moving through the system,” but, before it was formally approved, it would need “further approvals at the Cabinet level, sign-off from Trump, and notification of Congress.”
Approval of the sale of F-35s to Saudi Arabia would be a big deal.
So far, despite previous interest both from the Saudis and from the United Arab Emirates, the United States has refused to export the stealth jets to operators in the Middle East, other than Israel.
A U.S. Air Force F-35A performs during the 2023 Dubai Airshow on November 13, 2023. Photo by GIUSEPPE CACACE/AFP via Getty Images GIUSEPPE CACACE
This has been driven primarily by the U.S. requirement to maintain Israel’s so-called qualitative military edge, a guarantee that Israel will be prioritized for advanced U.S. weapons ahead of Arab states in the region.
The Israeli Air Force’s F-35I fleet is very much at the cutting edge of the country’s air warfare capabilities. Israel is currently buying 75 F-35s, and these will incorporate an increasing proportion of Israeli-made technology and weapons. The Israeli jets, known locally as Adir, have already seen extensive combat use, including against Iran.
An Israeli Air Force F-35I in the so-called ‘beast mode,’ featuring heavier loads on the underwing pylons. Israeli Air Force
A Saudi F-35 deal was also discussed under the Biden administration, as part of a broader deal that sought to normalize the kingdom’s relations with Israel.
While the proposal fell through, Trump has put a much greater emphasis on arms sales to Saudi Arabia since he took office earlier this year.
The centerpiece of these efforts was the roughly $142-billion arms package agreed between Washington and Riyadh in May of this year. The White House described it as “the largest defense cooperation agreement” in U.S. history. Saudi Arabia is already the biggest customer of U.S. weapons.
Whatever Trump’s view of the potential F-35 sale, there will likely be some pushback from U.S. lawmakers.
At the Congressional level, there has been previous scrutiny around arms sales to Saudi Arabia, especially after the 2018 murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Other nations, too, have held back from selling weapons to Saudi Arabia amid concerns over the country’s human rights abuses, as well as its role in the Yemen war.
Even without the F-35, the Royal Saudi Air Force (RSAF) operates an extremely modern and advanced fleet of fighters. It received 84 of the new-build F-15SA, which was the most advanced variant of the Strike Eagle family available until the appearance of the Qatari F-15QA and the U.S. Air Force’s F-15EX Eagle II. Meanwhile, the 68-strong fleet of earlier F-15S aircraft has been upgraded locally to a similar standard, known as F-15SR (for Saudi Retrofit).
A Saudi F-15SA conducts a pre-delivery test through Rainbow Canyon, California, in 2018. Christopher McGreevy
The RSAF also received 72 Eurofighter Typhoons. Older, but still capable, are around 80 British-supplied Panavia Tornado IDS swing-wing strike aircraft, which continue in service in the strike role.
The F-35s would be the likely replacement for the aging Tornados.
Saudi Arabia was long expected to buy more Typhoons, in a deal that would be brokered by BAE Systems of the United Kingdom. At one time, Saudi Arabia had even looked at the possibility of local assembly of these aircraft.
However, since Eurofighter is a multinational company, exports have to be approved by the other partners: Germany, Italy, and Spain. Germany — which has a stake in Eurofighter via the German arm of Airbus — has consistently blocked further Typhoon sales to Saudi Arabia, citing human rights concerns.
Meanwhile, BAE Systems and the U.K. government have tried to finalize a Saudi deal for 48 more Typhoons since 2018.
Royal Saudi Air Force Typhoons perform during a ceremony marking the 50th anniversary of the creation of the King Faisal Air Academy at King Salman Air Base in Riyadh in January 2017. FAYEZ NURELDINE/AFP via Getty Images FAYEZ NURELDINE
TWZ spoke to Justin Bronk, Senior Research Fellow for Airpower and Technology at the U.K.-based Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) think tank, for his prognosis of a potential new Saudi Typhoon deal.
“I think it’s still relatively likely,” he said, “given that the RSAF, by all accounts, is very happy with its Typhoon fleet, and particularly with the support the United Kingdom provides through BAE Systems, including training Saudi pilots in Saudi Arabia.”
Bronk also raised the possibility that a follow-on Typhoon deal could be linked to Saudi participation in the Global Combat Air Program, or GCAP, the effort under which the United Kingdom’s Tempest next-generation fighter is being developed, in partnership with Italy and Japan. However, that would be far from easy, since workshare arrangements have already been agreed between the three partners.
With a potential Typhoon deal still hanging in the air, Saudi Arabia entered talks to buy 54 Dassault Rafale multirole fighters, as we reported back in 2023. Buying a French fighter would be something of a new development for Saudi Arabia, but it would also reflect Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s aim to diversify its defense partnerships, part of the Vision 2030 modernization plan. This also calls for a continuation of the long-established security relationship with the United States.
A pair of Qatar Emiri Air Force Rafales. Dassault Aviation/Anthony Pecchi www.twz.com
“The F-15EX is the right fit, adding critical capability for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) as the country seeks to accelerate its armed forces modernization,” a Boeing spokesperson told TWZ in May 2024. “The F-15EX complements Saudi Arabia’s existing F-15 fleet with 95 percent commonality that includes infrastructure, training, and trainer devices, and pilot skill overlap. We are ready to support our longtime and valued customers in Saudi Arabia with the most capable air superiority aircraft in production today.”
An F-15EX assigned to the 85th Test and Evaluation Squadron, Eglin Air Force Base, Florida, takes off for a mission at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada, in October 2021. U.S. Air Force photo by William R. Lewis
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US Ambassador H.E. Michael Ratney experienced our F-15EX simulator during the U.S. National Day celebration held at the embassy in Riyadh. The event showcased the deep collaboration, cutting-edge technology and mutual growth of the U.S. & Saudi Arabia relations. Together,… pic.twitter.com/b0CeiXt3kv
It could be that a four-horse race is now on the cards, with Saudi Arabia weighing up the options of buying more Typhoons, Rafales, F-15EX, or, providing U.S. approval is forthcoming, F-35s.
The F-35 is the most capable of these options and would be the most significant in terms of the modernization of the RSAF fighter fleet. This effort is primarily driven by the threat posed by Iran, Saudi Arabia’s major regional adversary, although tensions between the two powers have subsided in recent years. Increasingly, Iran has projected its power across the region, including backing militant groups but also undertaking its own extensive maritime activities in the Persian Gulf and further afield.
Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia has also been waging a long-running campaign against the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen. This has seen the extensive use of RSAF fighter jets.
The only other Arab country in the region to have come close to buying F-35s was the United Arab Emirates. An arms package, approved at the end of the previous Trump administration, and valued at up to $23.37 billion, included 50 F-35As, up to 18 MQ-9B drones, and $10-billion-worth ofadvanced munitions. In 2021, the Emirati government reportedly said it wanted to scrap the plan, due to concerns over stringent safeguards to protect these systems against Chinese espionage.
I’ve heard nothing to indicate that price is an issue for the UAE, while sources both in the UAE and in the US have pointed to US concerns about Abu Dhabi’s relationship with China, specifically its use of Huawei.
For the RSAF, the path to receiving the F-35 is made simpler by the thawing relations between Saudi Arabia — and other Arab nations in the Middle East — and Israel. Such a deal could also be linked to the kingdom signing up to the Abraham Accords, a set of agreements that establishes normalized diplomatic relations between Israel and several Arab states. The Trump administration has pushed for Saudi Arabia to sign up to the accords, which would be a huge breakthrough, following the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and Morocco.
Another possibility might be to offer Saudi Arabia less-advanced versions of the F-35, perhaps in the latest Technology Refresh 3, or TR-3, configuration, but without the massive Block 4 upgrade, which supports a brand-new radar and a host of other capabilities. Secondhand jets could be another option, provided a source for these can be found.
Ultimately, Saudi Arabia may well add a fifth-generation fighter to its already impressive fourth-generation fighters, the Boeing F-15SA and Eurofighter Typhoon. With the Trump administration currently looking very much in favor of defense cooperation with Riyadh, this could be an opportune moment for the F-35 to secure its first Arab customer in the Middle East.
Heavy flooding in Talisay City, Cebu has destroyed homes after Typhoon Kalmaegi dumped a month’s worth of rain. One person died in a low-income area that evacuated early, while dozens may be trapped in a nearby subdivision where residents did not leave. Al Jazeera’s Barnaby Lo is there.
![Displaced Sudanese children who fled with their families during violence in el-Fasher [Mohamed Jamal/Reuters]](https://www.aljazeera.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/2025-11-04T161150Z_240105444_RC25619JG4YF_RTRMADP_3_SUDAN-POLITICS-TAWILA-INJURED-1762447662.jpg?w=770&resize=770%2C537&quality=80)
