The last remaining American troops have pulled out of Iraq, leaving the Irbil Air Base in the country’s Kurdistan region.
U.S. forces were withdrawn in 2011 but returned in 2014 because of an ISIS offensive that nearly brought down the Iraqi government. Washington and Baghdad announced a formal understanding to wind down the mission during the Biden administration. The Sept. 30 deadline was reaffirmed in July during Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi’s meeting at the White House.
More than 4,500 American military personnel died in Iraq across Operation Iraqi Freedom and subsequent counter-ISIS missions since the initial invasion in 2003.
Passengers burst into the cockpit and took control of a flight headed from Dubai to Tel Aviv after the plane’s co-pilot attacked the captain.
FlyDubai flight 1073 dropped 17,000 feet in the cockpit attack. When one traveler called for help after witnessing the stabbing, passengers and others pushed their way into the cockpit, where witnesses saw the unharmed pilot apparently trying to destroy the controls, according to Israeli broadcaster Channel 12.
The flight, with 174 mostly Israeli passengers aboard, was stabilized and rerouted to an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia. It was unclear what motivated the incident, which led Israel to scramble warplanes amid concerns about a possible hijacking.
Aviation experts were surprised that the plane did not crash after a descent so extreme that most of the rudder was ripped off the tail.
Whether the midterm elections prove to be a devastating wipeout for Republicans largely depends on Hispanic voters — a voting bloc that shifted rightward in 2024 but now appears to be slipping through the GOP’s fingers.
Republican incumbents in predominantly Hispanic districts are distancing themselves from the Trump administration’s immigration policies. Rep. Maria Salazar of Florida directly confronts the president in an ad in her district. And Rep. Monica De La Cruz, a Texas Republican who won her South Texas congressional district by 14 percentage points in 2024, is now in a toss-up race according to analysts.
Whatever is swaying Hispanic voters, the movement demonstrates that neither party has a solid grip on them.
It comes as Republicans try and make voters dislike Democrats more than themselves.
The shift aligns with the Republicans’ broader strategy of addition by erosion, the belief that tearing down Democrats will lift up Republicans in a tough political climate.
In Maine, Republican Sen. Susan Collins is viewed more favorably in her bid for a sixth term in the Senate against Democrat Troy Jackson, according to a recent New York Times survey. The same poll found that Democratic nominee Abdul El-Sayed is leading the Senate race in Michigan, but also is facing more voters who view him “very unfavorable” than former Rep. Mike Rogers.
And finally … The Justice Department has filed a misconduct complaint against federal judges in Minnesota, asking they be barred from hearing any more immigration cases.
Stephen dinan reports DOJ leaders claim a New York Times article, which reported speaking with seven judges, showed the judges harbor animosity toward the Department of Homeland Security, which undermines their impartiality.
In the article, the judges questioned the wisdom of DHS’s arrests and said the DOJ was incompetent in handling the legal cases that flowed from the immigration enforcement crackdown in Minnesota earlier this year.
A spokeswoman for the judges said in a statement the comments for the article were “well within the ethical rules.”
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