First Thing: Details remain unclear after ‘terror attack’ on Dubai-Israel flight
Netanyahu says it is too early to tell who was behind the apparent attempt to crash flight after pilot stabbed
Good morning. Benjamin Netanyahu has said it is too early to tell who was behind the apparent attempt to crash a Tel Aviv-bound flydubai flight, even as Israel’s ambassador to the UN called the incident a “terror attack”. Flydubai said its flights to and from Israel would be suspended while an investigation takes place.
What is believed to have taken place in the cockpit? Pilot Smit Machchhar, an Indian citizen from Mumbai, has been hailed as a hero after releasing the cockpit door to allow passengers in to wrestle back control of the plane, after his co-pilot – reportedly an Omani national – stabbed him and sent the jet plunging nearly 14,000ft (4,267 metres) in less than 30 seconds.
What happened next? One passenger said: “There were two spare pilots who were supposed to operate the next flight. The relief pilots … entered [the cockpit] and pulled the aircraft up, pulled the yoke, stabilised the plane and landed us in Saudi Arabia.”
How has Donald Trump responded? The president said: “It seems as though the co-pilot was perhaps a terrorist, or perhaps a whack-job, and he stabbed the pilot.”
Woman taken to hospital after surviving two lethal injections in botched execution
Tennessee officials were unable to carry out the execution of Christa Pike despite her being administered two doses of a lethal injection drug, her lawyers said, adding that she had been taken to hospital in an ambulance. The Tennessee department of correction later confirmed that Pike had survived the state’s effort to execute her.
Pike, 50, had been scheduled for execution at 10am Wednesday, and would have been the first woman executed in Tennessee in more than 200 years. In 1995 she and her then boyfriend, Tadaryl Shipp, brutally beat and murdered an acquaintance, Colleen Slemmer, 19.
Why has the death sentence for Pike been so controversial? As Ed Pilkington reported for the Guardian last month, at the time of the crime she was 18, and her co-accused was 17. That age difference meant he was spared the death penalty. Pike, at that age, had already been subjected to serious abuse, including multiple rapes by three separate men and beatings by numerous relatives.
Hegseth confirms plan to cut 20% of US top military brass amid outburst at ‘weirdos’
The US defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, has confirmed plans to cut 20% of generals and admirals and declared “no beardos, no weirdos, no wimps” would be tolerated inside the country’s military. He also dismissed claims of low morale within the US armed forces as “false”.
What were Hegseth’s words? Addressing lower-ranking troops at the Marine Corps Base, the defense secretary said: “The complainers, the ideologues and the poor performers are no longer in the driver’s seat. It’s worth saying again, so the fake news understands it. We are no longer the woke department or the weak department. Simple translation of that: no fatties, no trannies, no beardos, no weirdos, no wimps, no radicals. Just warriors.”
What did Hegseth announce about Elon Musk? Musk will co-lead a government project to study the future of warfare, called Project Meridian, with a goal of “identifying the capabilities required to achieve absolute technological dominance on the next-generation battlefield”. The project will run for 120 days and culminate in an unclassified public report of its recommendations.
US trade regulator opens investigation into AI giants including Anthropic and OpenAI
The US’s main trade regulator is conducting an industry-wide investigation into Anthropic, OpenAI and other AI labs to uncover the potential dangers their technology poses to consumers. The investigation by the federal trade commission is the first official US enforcement action that delves into rogue AI agents.
How has AI embarrassed Donald Trump this week? The president launched America.gov, an AI platform which includes a chatbot that is rather inconveniently quoting official government statistics which frequently debunk or contradict some of the president’s most notorious false claims.
In other news …
Former homeland security secretary Kristi Noem is divorcing her husband, Bryon Noem, after 34 years of marriage, citing “irreconcilable differences”.
The US Department of Justice has indicted another 10 individuals on noncitizen voting-related charges in Minnesota. Administration officials have sought to support Trump’s longstanding unsubstantiated claims of widespread voter fraud in US elections.
A 40-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of plotting to attack the Texas state capitol, authorities said.
The US Senate has blocked a Republican bill restricting stock trading by members of Congress.
The parents of a Detroit-area toddler who pulled a loaded pistol out of his backpack at a daycare will face charges, police said.
Pennsylvania has reported its fifth measles-associated death of 2026 as the state’s outbreak climbs to 943 confirmed cases across 39 counties.
Stat of the day: Catholic clergy sexually abused nearly 1,000 Massachusetts children over decades
More than 270 Catholic clerics sexually abused nearly 1,000 children across three Massachusetts dioceses over several decades, according to a report released by the state’s attorney general’s office.
Don’t miss this: New Google Maps images reveal massive scale of devastation in Gaza
An update to Google Maps has revealed the extent of devastation during the three-year Gaza war and the severity of the continuing humanitarian crisis faced by the territory’s 2.3 million inhabitants.
… or this: From mass raids to quiet crackdown – a timeline of Trump’s strategic ICE pivot
After switching tactics, federal agents are detaining and deporting record numbers of people from the US. Here is how the change has unfolded during the year.
Climate check: 20% of Swiss glaciers lost in five years
Alpine regions in Europe are experiencing extreme glacier collapse due to the heat-trapping effects of fossil fuel pollution. Scientists have not yet compiled a formal tally of lost glaciers this year but said they had witnessed the death of a number of small ones.
Last Thing: My mother fell off a mountain – and my life began again
A moving tale from Louise O’Neill about how an accident shifted her perception of her life.
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