November 7, 2025

MIDDLE EAST | Update from regional conflicts:

• The Israeli military carried out multiple airstrikes yesterday on targets in southern Lebanon that Israel said included "terrorist infrastructure" operated by the Hezbollah militant group. [more]

U.S. SHUTDOWN AND AIR TRAVEL | Federal Aviation Administration-mandated cuts in flights at 40 major U.S. airports take effect today. FAA officials say the safety-related cuts are due to staff shortages linked to the ongoing government shutdown and that the cuts will be progressively steeper through November 14 when 10% of flights will be cancelled. [FAA press release with full list of affected airports] [more]

U.S. GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN AND FOOD ASSISTANCE | The Trump administration said yesterday that it would appeal rulings by U.S. District Judge John J. McConnell Jr. that ordered funding and payment of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, benefits during the ongoing government shutdown. McConnell ordered the administration yesterday to pay full benefits for November by today following delays in implementing his earlier order to fund the payments at least partially. [more]

U.S. DRUG WAR | The Senate voted, 49-51, yesterday to reject a measure that would have required the Trump administration to seek congressional approval before undertaking any military strikes directly against or within Venezuela. The vote came amidst ongoing U.S. targeting of small boats alleged to have been carrying illegal drugs from the South American country to the U.S., the 17th instance of which was carried out yesterday. [more]

VIRGINIA | Abby Zwerner, the Newport News, Virginia, elementary school teacher who was shot by a 6-year-old student in 2023, was awarded $10 million by a jury yesterday in Zwerner's lawsuit against former assistant principal Ebony Parker, who Zwerner claimed ignored repeated warnings that the student shooter had a gun. [more]

U.S. GENDER IDENTITY | In an emergency docket ruling yesterday, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned a lower court ruling and said the Trump administration can enforce a policy requiring U.S. passports to display the holder's biological sex at birth while related court proceedings play out. [more]

U.S. OBESITY DRUGS | In a televised Oval Office ceremony yesterday, President Donald Trump announced a deal with drugmakers Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk to expand coverage and reduce prices for the companies' popular GLP-1 receptor agonist obesity treatments Zepbound and Wegovy. [more]

U.S. CYBERSECURITY | The Congressional Budget Office confirmed yesterday that its computer systems were hacked recently, potentially exposing the key financial research data Congress uses to craft legislation to malicious actors. Earlier reports said the data breach was carried out by a suspected foreign actor – a contention the CBO did not confirm. [more]

GLOBAL CLIMATE | At a gathering of world leaders ahead of next week's opening of the COP30 U.N. climate summit in Brazil, U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres criticized world powers who he suggested “remain captive to the fossil fuel interests, rather than protecting the public interest" and said failure to achieve the key benchmark of limiting global warning to 1.5 degrees Celsius over pre-industrial averages would represent a “moral failure and deadly negligence." Reports note that no representatives of the world's three largest polluting nations – China, the United States, and India – were in attendance at the leaders' summit. [more]

INDONESIA | Local authorities say at least 54 people, mostly students, were injured today when multiple explosions took place during Friday prayers at a high school mosque in Jakarta, Indonesia. The cause of the blasts remains under investigation. [more]

SOMALIA | Naval forces from the European Union's Operation Atalanta anti-piracy coalition are reported to be closing in on the location of a tanker ship seized by suspected Somali pirates yesterday. [more]

CHINA | The Chinese military commissioned its newest aircraft carrier, the Fujian, this week, bringing to three the number of such ships in China's arsenal – the highest number for any country except the United States, which operates 11. [more]

CHINESE ECONOMY | Chinese government customs data released today indicates that China's global exports fell 1.1% in October compared to the year-ago period – down from an 8.3% increase in September. Reports note that the October overall decline was largely due to a 25% drop in shipments to the United States. [more]

U.K. | Following today's release of a new independent report on systemic racism in London's Metropolitan Police force, police chief Mark Rowley said the force must undergo significant cultural change requiring "relentless effort and innovation" and that his department is continuing its work to "deliver the largest corruption clear-out in British policing history." [more]

VIETNAM | Recovery efforts are underway today in Vietnam following the arrival of Typhoon Kalmaegi, which caused widespread flooding and other damage overnight in which at least five people were killed. [more]

NORTH KOREA | Japanese and South Korean military officials say North Korea fired a suspected short-range ballistic missile into the waters off its east coast today in a continued increase in the country's weapons testing. [more]

SYRIA | The U.N. Security Council voted yesterday to approve a U.S.-backed resolution lifting a series of sanctions on Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa and members of his government over their ties to the al-Qaida militant group. The vote came ahead of al-Sharaa's scheduled meeting next week in Washington, DC, with U.S. President Donald Trump. [more]

SOCIAL MEDIA | Reuters cites internal company documents as showing that Facebook parent company Meta estimates that it shows users some 15 billion scam or fraudulent advertisements per day on its various platforms and projected it would earn about $16 billion, or 10% of its 2024 revenue, from such advertisements. [full Reuters report] [more]

TOYS | The National Toy Hall of Fame announced three new inductees yesterday: the bestselling games Battleship and Trivial Pursuit and the gooey play material slime. [more]

TODAY IN HISTORY | On this date in 1916, Jeannette Rankin won a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives, becoming the first woman elected to Congress. [more history]