>> james longman reporting in from hong kong. james, thank you. >>> and back here at home tonight, there was a very rare sight in the skies over washington, d.c. today. a marine corps f-35 fighter jet flying over the washington monument and the white house, as president trump and the first lady, along with the polish president and his wife, watched from the rose garden. the flyover marked poland's agreement now to buy f-35s from the u.s. >>> there is still much more ahead on "world news tonight" this wednesday. actor cuba gooding jr. says he will turn himself into the nypd here in new york for questioning. what we're learning in this case. >>> also ahead, the plane crashing into the water today. emergency teams rushing to the scene, searching for victims, and there is news coming in on a discovery late today. >>> new developments in the search for that missing mother of five. where police are now looking tonight. and what her estranged hoi >>> and the stingray scare right off the coast tonight. up to 15 people stung, and the new w

abc news reporter james longman has the latest. >> reporter: it was from the skies above me here that that drone was brought down. this is the stretch of water that leads into the strait of hormuz. that vital oil passageway over which tension has been dramatically ramping up. the u.s. aviation authority and other world airlines are banning flights from this area. this whole region is now bracing itself for the action that didn't come last night but many expect will come in some form. a quarter of the world's oil supply comes through here and it's where the two oil tankers were the u.s. says attacked by iran. if the u.s. does strike iran, one fear is iran would activate their many proxies in places like iraq, the palestinian territories and yemen to retaliate against u.s. interests in this region. james longman, abc news in the uae. >> abc 7 news spoke with appe se anxiety v -- an activist. >> they don't see eye to eye with this administration and the fear mongering going on. we know a better way. the better way is to basically talk to iran, open up negotiations, come back into the jcp

abc's foreign correspondent james longman joins us from the gulf of oman, and, james, you're learning more about that midair scare. >> reporter: yeah, good morning, whit. that's right. when that u.s. drone was shot down by iran, a qatar airways flight was just 45 miles away according to the faa. flight radar shows the qatar jet on its way to bangkok from doha passed almost directly between the launch point and the drone and at the speed those planes fly, there's every chance that missile could have locked on to the wrong target. >> which could have been devastating, and we know that u.s. air carriers are taking that very seriously. how is this incident impacting flights in the region? >> reporter: yeah, so that close call and rising tensions here prompted the faa to ban u.s. operated flights over iran, the persian gulf and the gulf of oman. some of the carriers affected include united, u.p.s., fedex, atlas and polar air, and the faa says about 31 flights a week are affected. and note that a few international airlines are doing the same including major companies like british airways an

. >> let's bring in abc's james longman who's in the persian gulf near the waters where those commercial oil tankers were targeted last week and abc news senior washington correspondent terry moran who has been covering the twists and turns this week from the white house. james, tell us what you're seeing in the region. >> good morning, martha. this region is basically still worried about some kind of military response from the united states after that drone was shot down from the skies above me. the pressure has been growing for some time since those oil tankers were attacked in these waters, and this morning we're learning president trump approved an offensive cyber strike on iran in response to those hits. computer systems that control rocket and missile launches were disabled thursday. firm in its assessment that this was an unprovoked attack over international waters. all this of course in the context of those crippling sanctions imposed by the u.s., inflation in iran is at 30% and the ims says the economy will shrink by 6% this year. president trump hopes that will force iran back

james longman was there in ll eful but thisters ong koclashing wit rnr ofhaing and movin, iers rubberired into the crowd. umbrellas and plastic bottles, the only defense. withdraw, they shout. angry at a proposed extradition law that will allow mainland chinese authorities to pursue fugitives in semiautonomous hong ko kong. what you are seeing here is the after math of a tear gas attack. they fired on protestors down here and it's carrying in the wind. you can see people here struggling to breathe. many are just teenagers but they succeeded in delaying the legislative debate over this new law. hong kong authorities are adamant the bill will pass when it come to a vote next week. i'm at the police line here in hong kong. this is a city on lockdown tonight. no sign of it ending any time soon. protestors say they will stay in the street until a vote goes. cecilia? >> james, thank you. >>> we turn to the race for the white house overnight. president trump and former vice president joe biden going head to head with dueling campaign stops in the key state of iowa. the attacks, sharp and per

>>> now let's go to james longman who is in the region in the area where the drone was shot down. airlines are now restricting flights where you are. >> reporter: yeah, that's right, michael. it was in the skies above me that drone was brought down. this is the stretch of water that martha was talking about leads into the strait of hormuz, the vital passageway over which tension has been dramatically ramping up and as you say the u.s. aviation authority and other world airlines are banning flights from this area. this whole region is now bracing itself for the action that didn't come last night but that many here expect will come in some form or the other. a quarter of the world's oil supply comes through here where the tankers were attacked by iran. if the u.s. does strike, one fear is iran would activate proxies in places like iraq, the palestinian territories and yemen, to retaliate against u.s. interests in this region, david. >> james, our thanks to you and colonel steve ganyard with us. how common is this? you have the president who approved attacks. the operation was under