• Meta's AI agent, Muse, is unprofitable due to "very high compute costs," CEO Mark Zuckerberg says.
• Meanwhile, Meta expects Reality Labs, its AI glasses division, to lose $15 billion next year.
• The social media giant has a plan to fix that.

Meta says some of its biggest cash incinerators could finally start turning profits.

The social media giant, which generated over 97% of its quarterly revenue from ads, has faced persistent questions from investors about the lack of profitability in its AI and hardware initiatives.

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg addressed those concerns head-on during its third-quarter earnings call on Wednesday.

Zuckerberg said that Muse, the AI assistant it launched last month, is unprofitable since it's "very compute intensive to run." Meta expects to start turning that around next year by massively improving Muse's efficiency.

"If compute efficiency continues improving quickly for another few years, which we think is highly likely, then Muse will be highly profitable over multiple years," he said.

Meta plans to make money from Muse by taking a small transaction fee off of purchases it drives, Zuckerberg said at Meta's Connect conference last month.

Zuckerberg added that Muse, which launched only in the US and Canada, wasn't launched globally due in part to the amount of compute it requires. (Meta's North American users are generally its most lucrative.)

Zuckerberg also struck a positive note about its cash-hemorrhaging Reality Labs division, which makes products like Meta Ray-Bans and virtual reality glasses.

Meta expects Reality Labs to narrow its losses to about $15 billion in 2027, down from the $18 to $19 billion it expects to lose this year. The division should start trending toward profitability next year, as Meta's AI systems make it more useful, Zuckerberg said.

"I continue to believe that the path to delivering holographic experience, of bringing together the physical and digital worlds and everyday glasses, will come through VR first," Zuckerberg said.

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Military families were told Wednesday it is too dangerous to return to the Navy’s largest base in the Middle East after they were evacuated from Bahrain in March following Iranian airstrikes, according to exclusive audio of a town hall with military families reviewed by MS NOW.

“It is very, very violent” in the region, a Navy leader said in a tense virtual meeting with more than 200 servicemembers, spouses, and civilians who had worked on the base.

Ships around the Strait of Hormuz are still being hit by drones and missiles and retrieving any of the things they left behind there will take months, Navy officials said, according to a recording of a virtual town hall with military families reviewed by MS NOW.

The families and service members were also told that the financial and logistical government support they were receiving from the Department of Defense because of the evacuation will lapse on Nov. 30.

The Navy leaders said they had requested that funding be extended, since so many military families have been living without their belongings and in temporary housing since their rapid departure from Bahrain in March, but a blanket extension covering all families has been denied by senior leaders at the Pentagon.

Navy leaders acknowledged that most of the evacuees have not received their personal belongings from their homes in Bahrain after they were ordered to quickly evacuate when Iranian missiles blew up several buildings on Naval Support Activity Bahrain, the Navy’s largest base in the Middle East. The attacks caused around $400 million worth of damage, according to a recent report to Congress.

Capt. Matthew A. Smidt, chief of staff for U.S. Naval Forces Central Command, or NAVCENT, told families and service members that the current danger around Bahrain is ongoing.

“There is violence every day right now in the region and the Strait of Hormuz. Another three ships got hit by missiles or drones last night. There are people dying every day or being wounded every day in the Strait of Hormuz and the surrounding areas,” Smidt said. “It is very, very violent. It is very, very dynamic still.”

Many family members told MS NOW that since the evacuation, they have moved between continents after being ordered back to the United States by June. Most have been living in short-term furnished rentals or hotels. Now they are being told to find permanent housing by Dec. 1.

Smidt emphasized that the conditions on the ground were too dangerous for the families to return to the base in Bahrain. And that was unlikely to change.

“If and when it kicks off again, I can guarantee you that the Iranians are not going to show the same level of restraint that they did in the spring, just take that for what its worth,” Smidt told the evacuees, many of whom had spent days after the first American airstrikes were launched on Iran, hunkering down in their homes with their children trying to stay safe during constant alerts on their phones of incoming missiles and hearing interceptors explode overhead. 

Navy officials in the town hall said they had lobbied the Department of Defense to issue a blanket “exception to policy” that would have extended the financial and logistical support known as safe haven entitlements for all evacuees. But Pentagon leaders decided that each evacuee would have to request an extension individually and that each request would require approval from the office of Acting Secretary of the Navy Hung Cao.

“We realize that there’s a lot of miscommunication between us and D.C.,” Smidt said. “We were originally pushing for just a blanket ETP, but we’re going to have to do it on an individual basis. So that is something different. That is something different than what we’ve heard in the past.”

It was unclear through the town hall how long it would take for requests to be processed and whether payments would continue while the request was pending. MS NOW reached out to the secretary of the Navy’s office for clarification but did not hear back.

Navy leaders also said every evacuee has to schedule a service in Bahrain to pack up their belongings for them by Nov. 30, but noted that it will take anywhere from four to six months for those belongings to reach their final destination.

In the town hall, Navy leaders said 21% of military evacuee households have scheduled a “packout,” but according to the five evacuees MS NOW spoke to, they are not aware of any of those shipments actually moving yet.

The money the evacuees were receiving has already shrunk. NAVCENT’s top personnel officer told families that an Aug. 27 Pentagon memo had reduced their safe haven payments to 75% of the full rate through Nov. 30.

Evacuees told MS NOW that they have drained their financial savings over the past year, spending tens of thousands of dollars purchasing vehicles to transport their children, furniture and other essential items.

Participants in the town hall were not allowed to speak and instead had to submit questions through the virtual meeting’s chat box or through a form that had been distributed in advance of the call.

A Navy leader read a submitted question that asked about how families were supposed to survive if they were required to sign a long-term lease on permanent housing without their personal belongings and any more financial support.

“This puts families in a very difficult situation because they are expected to find a place to live without having their belongings, sometimes forcing them to spend their savings or getting in more debt just to have somewhere to sleep and live,” the question read.

John Hazlett, director of manpower and personnel for NAVCENT, said Navy leaders had asked the Pentagon to continue payments until families received their household goods. The Pentagon refused. Now, families will have to cover the gap themselves. Payments now stop as soon as a family signs a lease, even if their belongings are months away from arriving, Hazlett said.

“We realize it’s not convenient, it’s not easy. I’m living this same nightmare that a lot of you on this call are as well and so we are also out of pocket on many of these things and waiting on household goods doesn’t make it any easier,” Hazlett said.

In a statement to MS NOW, a Navy official said, “We appreciate the continued resilience from our NSA Bahrain community throughout this transition, and we are fully committed to keeping our families connected, informed, and supported as long as they need us.”

The official went on to say that families are eligible for a variety of allowances as they move from temporary to long-term housing, depending on whether the employee is active duty or a civilian.

The official said case managers are available to families to help them navigate logistics and answer questions since “no two family situations are alike” and will remain engaged with families until all of their needs are met.

In addition, the Navy official said there are Fleet and Family Support Centers that offer both in-person and virtual services such as counseling, financial guidance and relocation support. The official said communication is a priority and that the Navy is holding monthly town halls for families.

“Since this story broke, I’ve heard from multiple families who are scared, confused and angry about [Defense Secretary Pete] Hegseth’s betrayal and broken promises,” said Rep. Pat Ryan, D-N.Y., a former Army intelligence officer who serves on the House Armed Services Committee.

“After being evacuated from Bahrain on a moment’s notice, and at great personal financial burden, they are now being told there isn’t enough funding to help them,” Ryan said.

The Department of Defense budget is nearly $1 trillion, Ryan said. “To look these families in the eye and say the funding is going to run out and they won’t be made whole is shameful,” Ryan said.

The post ‘Violence every day’: Navy warns families evacuated from Bahrain base region remains dangerous appeared first on MS NOW.

European prosecutors have searched offices in Brussels and Strasbourg as an investigation into alleged misuse of parliamentary funds by the former Identity and Democracy group raises questions over financial liabilities inherited by Patriots for Europe.

European prosecutors carried out searches at the European Parliament’s offices in Brussels and Strasbourg on Wednesday, 21 October, as part of an investigation into alleged financial irregularities involving the former Identity and Democracy (ID) parliamentary group.

The investigation concerns approximately €4.33 million in European Union funds that were allegedly improperly spent during the 2019–2024 parliamentary term. The European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) confirmed that searches had taken place in connection with an ongoing inquiry into the use of EU funds by a former parliamentary group.

The premises searched are now occupied by Patriots for Europe, the European Parliament’s third-largest political group, which includes France’s National Rally, Hungary’s Fidesz, Italy’s Lega and Spain’s Vox. Patriots for Europe insists that it has no legal continuity with Identity and Democracy and denies being involved in the investigation.

Investigation into parliamentary expenditure

The European Public Prosecutor’s Office opened its investigation in July 2025 following concerns identified by the European Parliament’s financial administration about expenditure incurred by Identity and Democracy.

The former group, which dissolved following the 2024 European elections, included representatives of France’s National Rally, Italy’s Lega and Germany’s Alternative for Germany.

According to details of the parliamentary financial examination subsequently reported in France, investigators are examining approximately €3.6 million in contracts awarded to external service providers, including businesses with political connections to parties represented within the former group.

The financial examination also identified more than €700,000 in donations to organisations whose activities were allegedly unrelated to the parliamentary group’s official functions.

The authorities are examining whether parliamentary resources were used in accordance with EU financial rules, including restrictions on using public money for national party-political activities.

These are allegations under investigation, not criminal findings. The EPPO has not announced convictions arising from the current inquiry, and the individuals and organisations concerned retain the presumption of innocence.

Earlier investigative measures were conducted in France, Belgium, Spain and Italy in June 2026. Wednesday’s searches mark a further stage in the proceedings.

Can Patriots for Europe inherit the liabilities?

The investigation has opened a separate dispute over whether Patriots for Europe could be required to repay money allegedly misspent by its predecessor.

Identity and Democracy ceased to exist after the 2024 elections. Several parties previously represented in the group subsequently joined Patriots for Europe, a new parliamentary formation that also brought together Viktor Orbán’s Fidesz and Spain’s Vox.

Patriots for Europe maintains that the two groups are legally separate. Its representatives argue that the dissolution of Identity and Democracy ended that group’s institutional existence and that the present parliamentary organisation is not responsible for its predecessor’s financial affairs.

However, the European Parliament’s budgetary authorities have examined whether responsibility for outstanding liabilities can pass to a successor group.

An opinion approved by the Parliament’s Budgetary Control Committee in September considered the circumstances in which continuity between parliamentary groups might establish financial responsibility.

Such an assessment may consider whether members, administrative personnel, operational resources and other assets were transferred from one organisation to another.

The outcome could determine whether the current group is exposed to potential repayment demands, irrespective of whether its present members were personally involved in the expenditure under investigation.

No final determination of such liability has been established through Wednesday’s searches.

Political consequences in Strasbourg

The searches come at a time when Patriots for Europe has become a major political force within the European Parliament.

Its member parties have challenged EU policy on immigration, economic regulation and the distribution of powers between Brussels and national governments. National Rally and Fidesz are also influential actors in the domestic politics of France and Hungary respectively.

An investigation involving their parliamentary organisation is therefore likely to attract scrutiny beyond the immediate financial questions.

Nevertheless, the political influence of the group and the criminal investigation must be considered separately. The presence of prosecutors at parliamentary premises does not establish wrongdoing by the current group’s MEPs.

The case also raises broader questions about financial accountability within the Parliament, particularly when a political group dissolves following an election and its members establish a new organisation.

Unlike national political parties, European parliamentary groups receive funding specifically to support their legislative, administrative and political work inside the institution.

Those resources are subject to financial controls intended to prevent their diversion into activities that should be funded by national parties or other organisations.

Further proceedings

The EPPO is responsible for investigating and prosecuting offences affecting the European Union’s financial interests. It operates independently of national governments and EU political institutions.

The European Parliament has confirmed its cooperation with the authorities but has declined to comment on the substance of the continuing investigation.

Prosecutors must now assess the evidence obtained during the searches alongside financial records and material collected during previous investigative measures.

Any decision to bring criminal proceedings would depend on the evidence available and the relevant national and European legal requirements.

Separately, the Parliament will have to establish whether any recoverable funds are owed by the former group and, if so, which organisation is legally responsible for repayment.

For Patriots for Europe, the immediate issue is not only the progress of the criminal inquiry but whether the financial arrangements of a dissolved parliamentary group can create obligations for its successor.

Minnesota Democratic U.S. Senate nominee and Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan previously claimed she graduated Phi Beta Kappa despite never belonging to the prestigious honor society, while her official state biography suggests she completed two college majors when she actually earned one major and a minor, according to an exclusive report published Wednesday by the Wall Street Journal.

The post Report: Minnesota Dem Senate Nominee Peggy Flanagan Falsely Claimed Phi Beta Kappa Membership, Misrepresented College Credentials appeared first on Breitbart.

Brazil’s President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva presented a constitutional amendment on Wednesday that would reserve budget funds for free public transport on weekends and holidays, tying the move to workers’ newly expanded right to rest.

The initiative would redirect 26.8% of parliamentary budget amendments to fund the program, which the government says would strengthen working-class access to leisure and urban mobility.

It envisions reallocating 11.2 billion reais (more than 2.2 billion dollars) from the budget controlled by Congress, whose concentration of resources has historically limited the federal government’s ability to carry out social policies. The proposal still needs to pass Congress.

RELATED: Lula Signs Constitutional Amendment Reducing Brazil’s Workweek to 40 Hours

The Brazilian government argues that this concentration of resources in parliamentary hands has historically limited the federal government’s capacity to carry out social programs. Reassigning the money, officials contend, restores room for initiatives aimed at urban mobility and access to leisure for the working class.

During the same ceremony at Planalto Palace Lula signed a separate law forgiving 16 billion reais (about $3.1 billion) in tax debts accumulated by individual microentrepreneurs, a category that covers millions of small producers and self-employed workers.

Administration officials portrayed the debt pardon as a lifeline for families whose tax obligations had outpaced their ability to pay. The two measures, they said, respond to the same pressure weighing on popular households across Brazil.

The Brazilian President described the weekend transport plan as a pilot program. Its purpose is to measure the social and operational impact of the zero fare model before any decision to extend it nationwide.

Lula’s administration said the project complements the recent reduction of the working week, helping workers make effective use of their right to rest. Days before Wednesday’s event, Lula attended the Senate promulgation of a separate constitutional amendment that abolishes the six-days-on, one-day-off schedule. The change secures two paid days of rest each week, preferably Saturday and Sunday, and shortens the maximum work week without cutting pay.

Despite criticism from far-right sectors backing Senator Flávio Bolsonaro, the executive said it will deepen its commitment to restoring rights and defending popular gains. The announcements come days before the October 25 presidential runoff in which Lula faces Bolsonaro.

The weekend fare initiative arrives as Lula’s administration pushes a broader agenda of recovering social and labor protections. The Brazilian President has linked the transit measure and the shorter work week as parts of a single effort to lift the weight of daily costs from working families.

Pope Leo XIV does not need any further treatment after surgery for lung cancer, the Vatican announced on Wednesday evening.

The Vatican press service said a new biopsy, carried out on tissue removed in the operation, led his doctors to conclude that more therapy is unnecessary.

The 71-year-old pope had the lower lobe of his right lung removed at Rome’s Gemelli Hospital on 13 October.

The Vatican described the operation as successful and free of complications. It followed examinations that found a suspicious nodule.

After the surgery the Vatican said doctors were not considering chemotherapy or other treatment while awaiting further test results.

The pope was expected to remain in hospital for about a week, and his public schedule was cleared until at least 20 October.

File image.

Iran is preparing to unveil a new weapon dubbed the “father of all bombs,” a spokesman for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said on October 21, as Tehran signals a shift toward a more offensive military doctrine.

“We are in the stage of preparing to unveil the ‘father of all bombs.’ This is something new for the enemy,” IRGC spokesman Hossein Mohebi said in remarks carried by Iran’s Young Journalists Club news agency.

His remarks came after United States President Donald Trump hinted last week at the possible use of the GBU-43/B Massive Ordnance Air Blast bomb, known as the “mother of all bombs,” against Iranian nuclear facilities.

Weighing approximately 9,800 kilograms, the GBU-43/B is among the largest non-nuclear conventional bombs in the U.S. arsenal. It was first used in April 2017 during Trump’s first presidential term, when U.S. forces targeted a tunnel complex belonging to the Islamic State group in Afghanistan.

Mohebi also said Iran’s missile stockpile had increased 1.5-fold following the 12-day war between Iran and Israel in June 2025, without disclosing specific figures.

“The quality of the missiles has improved significantly, and their range, destructive power and accuracy in hitting targets have increased,” he added.

The IRGC spokesman said Tehran was moving away from a predominantly defensive military posture toward what he described as permanent and absolute deterrence.

“Previously, Iran’s defense doctrine was purely defensive. We used to say that if a country attacked us, we would respond,” Mohebi said.

“Now, we say that if a country attacks us, we will not only respond but also launch an offensive,” he added.

In addition, the spokesman affirmed that Iran would retaliate against any attack with comparable measures and increasingly rely on asymmetric warfare to impose greater costs on its adversaries.

“Our doctrine will no longer be merely offensive; it will be asymmetric. We will attack the enemy in a way that makes them feel the intensity of our response,” he said.

The remarks came amid reports of expanded Iranian missile exercises. Israeli newspaper Israel Hayom reported on October 15, citing Arab media, that Iran had launched at least 30 ballistic missiles of two types during an IRGC exercise earlier in that week.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

SouthFront: Analysis and Intelligence

NOW hosted at southfront.press

Previously, SouthFront: Analysis and Intelligence was at southfront.org.

The .org domain name had been blocked by the US (NATO) (https://southfront.press/southfront-org-blocked-by-u-s-controlled-global-internet-supervisor/) globally, outlawed and without any explanation

Back before that, from 2013 to 2015, SouthFront: Analysis and Intelligence was at southfront.com

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MORE ON THIS TOPIC:

• Israeli Jets Flew Toward Iran’s Border in Possible Bid to Provoke Tehran
• From Tankers to Internet Cables, Iran Signals Wider Pressure in Hormuz

The post Iran Prepares to Unveil ‘Father of All Bombs’ appeared first on South Front.

During a high-level visit to Tehran earlier this week, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov expressed his country’s official position demanding a restoration of the pre-war situation in the Persian Gulf region and guarantees that there will be no return to war against Iran in the future.

Lavrov also claimed that his country was ready to assist in “searching for mutually acceptable solutions to resolve” the “artificial” crisis created by “unprovoked US-Israeli aggression” against Iran.

Later on Wednesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin repeated the offer of mediation during the visit of Steve Witkoff, the White House’s special envoy to the Middle East, to Moscow.

Lavrov, who visited Iran on Monday, October 18, also reiterated the Russian position that Iran’s responses to US aggression was justified and legitimate and claimed his country has provided whatever political and economic assistance it could to help it face the repercussions of the unlawful US-Israeli war.

Lavrov’s statement could be seen as a rebuttal to US President Donald Trump, who appreciated Russia’s supposed neutral role in Iran during the eight-month-long war.

Trump claimed it was a “positive” development that Russia did nothing to help and was even “laying off Iran” as the US is hitting Iranians economically and militarily.

Trump was forced to withdraw some of its sanctions on Russian energy exports, imposed from 2024, in his bid to secure an energy deal earlier this month.

Trump’s move is largely seen as an attempt to lower the impact of the rising gas prices on the prospects of Republican candidates before the upcoming midterm elections.

Lavrov, however, cited the Russian veto in the UN against the US attempts to justify its military aggression against Iran, providing humanitarian aid including medicine, other medical supplies and food during the war also claiming that such aid is continued to be “delivered regularly.”

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian also appreciated the Russian help during the war and expressed his country’s desire to further deepen cooperation between the two countries.

Iran and Russia signed and implemented a 20-year Comprehensive Strategic Partnership Treaty last year. The treaty has provisions of close coordination on issues related to economy, geo-politics, and security.

Lavrov pointed out the growing bilateral trade between the two countries in the last two years, despite the war and sanctions they are both facing. According to him, in the first eight months of the present year, the bilateral trade between Russia and Iran grew 10% in comparison to the same period last year.

Lavrov also informed that Russian scientists who were withdrawn from Iran’s Bushehr nuclear power plant during the war have started returning gradually.

Russia and Iran are closer than ever

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi claimed that bilateral relations and cooperation between Russia and Iran has never been as good as it was today.

While addressing a joint press conference with Lavrov in Tehran on Monday, Araghchi reiterated that both the countries maintain close cooperation and consultation on all regional issues, including Iranian relations with the US.

He claimed that the two countries agree that the instability and disruption in the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz is a result of unprovoked US-Israeli aggression and that they share the vision of a diplomatic solution to all outstanding conflicts.

Talking about their mutual understanding about regional issues, such as Lebanon and Palestine, Araghchi claimed that both Russia and Iran agree the “genocide of the Palestinian people and the Israeli regime’s dangerous expansionism in the region must stop.”

Lavrov alleged that some countries are trying to push the Palestinian issue to the background, which should not be allowed. He stated that both Iran and Russia would push for the implementation of all relevant UN resolutions because it is “crucial to intensify efforts to resolve the Palestinian issue.”

Lavrov also demanded an end to all Israeli hostilities in Lebanon and peace in Yemen, demanding the full implementation of all relevant UN resolutions and previous understandings.

Lavrov rejected US threats of secondary sanctions over its relationship with Iran, claiming “despite the challenging situation … Russia has no intention to abandon the implementation of economic and investment agreements with Iran.”

As a part of its ongoing war, the Trump administration had announced the complete economic isolation of Iran in August, threatening secondary sanctions against all the countries who still maintained economic relations with it.

Only a handful of countries, such as the UAE, have announced compliance with the US attempts to economically isolate Iran so far.

Years ago, when people asked Geoffrey Hinton why he worked on artificial intelligence, he would repeat a line from J. Robert Oppenheimer, one of the creators of the atomic bomb: “When you see something that is technically sweet, you go ahead and do it.”

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Turkey’s ruling AKP party is reportedly seeking a mandate from Parliament to deploy troops to Saudi Arabia to protect it from attacks by the Iran-backed Houthi insurgents of Yemen, thus fulfilling the mutual defense obligations of the treaty signed by Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and Pakistan in August.

The post Report: Turkey Seeks Parliamentary Mandate for Sending Troops to Defend Saudi Arabia appeared first on Breitbart.