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🚨 HEADLINE: Iran says it has received a formal U.S. counterproposal to its seven-day ceasefire plan, and the cabinet is now weighing it. The hang-up, per Reuters, is sequencing — who moves first. - CBS News
🇮🇷 PROPAGANDA: Iran publishes propaganda letter urging US voters to punish Trump in midterm elections - NY Post
✈️ HEADLINE: Delta CEO Reportedly Trashes Elon Musk To Explain Rejecting Starlink—“It’s All True What They Say About Him” - VFTW
🇮🇶 GONE: The U.S. military says the last American troops are out of Iraq after 23 years. Hezbollah is celebrating, the Kurds are nervous. - CBS
😂 LOL: Trump’s AI website confirms he lost the 2020 election - The Hill
🏈 PROBLEM: College sports bill faces tough path in House - Axios
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Passengers and crew stormed the cockpit of a FlyDubai flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv after the co-pilot allegedly tried to hijack the plane.
What happened: Israeli officials told The Jerusalem Post that the co-pilot repeatedly stabbed the aircraft’s captain while trying to seize control of the Boeing 737 MAX 8 and crash it in Israel. An Israeli official said a “major disaster was narrowly avoided” after crew members, with help from Israeli passengers, subdued the alleged hijacker and regained control of the aircraft.
The details: Flight-tracking data shows the plane plunged more than 14,000 feet in less than 30 seconds before transmitting an emergency code indicating a hijacking. The aircraft eventually made an emergency landing in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia, with two off-duty pilots who were passengers helping bring the plane down safely.
Netanyahu just gave an update:
Despite the well-known nature of the hijacking, headlines like this abound:
The New York Times published a piece that questioned whether terrorism was involved:
“While terrorism is one possible motive, others include the possibility that one of the crew members wanted to die by suicide by downing the plane, according to two Israeli defense officials. Notably, the FlyDubai plane was far from Israeli airspace when the incident began.”
Go deeper: NY Post, Jerusalem Post, & CBS.
Ken Paxton, the Republican nominee for Senate in Texas, told a group of conservative donors and lobbyists last week that President Trump’s midterm convention in Dallas had hurt Mr. Paxton politically, according to an audio recording obtained by The New York Times.
The recording, which is muffled at times, captures Mr. Paxton being asked, “Do you feel like he’s a little bit of a drag?” It is not clear from the audio whom the questioner is referring to.
Mr. Paxton responds: “So to be honest with you, the numbers — when we did that convention — it dropped our numbers. Everybody’s numbers dropped. Right now, yeah, not good.”
The audio of Mr. Paxton was shared with The Times by an attendee who recorded him speaking at a private fund-raiser in Washington attended by roughly a dozen people. The person, who opposes Mr. Paxton’s campaign and provided the recording to The Times, was granted anonymity because Mr. Paxton’s remarks were private.
Full story at NYT (free).
Musk:
Zuck:
Dario:
Americans in both parties back government-imposed price caps and other market interventions to make life more affordable, suggesting new support for populist ideas that were once largely outside the political mainstream.
That’s the takeaway of a new Wall Street Journal survey that asked respondents what they want from their elected officials and the political system. Voters of all partisan stripes strongly support capping the cost of prescription drugs, child care and credit-card interest rates.
The survey suggests that a coalition reaching beyond the nation’s familiar party labels exists for a range of policies at a time when Americans view Republicans and Democrats negatively.
Full story at WSJ (free).
One year after it began striking boats suspected of ferrying drugs, the Pentagon is dramatically expanding the military’s role in tracking drug cartels across
[Latin America]and the Caribbean, deploying high-tech drones to map smuggling networks and sending U.S. troops to assist in ground raids.The top general in charge—a Marine four-star who spent years disrupting terror networks in the Middle East—said in a recent interview that the goal is to help countries in the region step up antidrug operations with U.S. assistance.
The deployments are part of a broader effort by the administration to disrupt illicit trafficking networks worldwide using sophisticated military technology and other counterterrorism tools, other U.S. officials said.
“Do I see land strikes as options? Yes. We want all options at the table,” said Gen. Francis Donovan, head of U.S. Southern Command, which oversees troops in the region.
Full story at WSJ (free).
Sen. Jon Ossoff hosted a few hundred donors and supporters for a recent Washington fundraiser — but it wasn’t just for him.
Instead, the Sept. 16 gathering was geared toward raising money for the Democratic Party of Georgia and its coordinated campaign, according to an Ossoff aide and one attendee, who was granted anonymity to describe a private event.
It’s part of his broader effort to boost state Democrats as they look to flip the governor’s mansion for the first time in over 20 years and improve their margins in the Legislature. And the timing, just weeks before November, signals confidence in Ossoff’s own reelection prospects and the sizable war chest he’s raised for himself.
Full story at Politico.
Russia has threatened to use nuclear weapons against Nato countries if the western military alliance were to hinder access to its Baltic Sea exclave of Kaliningrad.
In a document sent to Nato this week, Moscow accused the alliance of taking a “dangerous and reckless course” towards Russia and its exclave, according to two officials familiar with the matter. The officials said it included a warning about “high risks of the outbreak of a direct armed conflict”.
Nato responded by accusing Moscow of “irresponsible nuclear rhetoric” and said it posed no threat to Russia. Moscow claimed Nato was preparing for potential military operations to blockade Kaliningrad, the Russian exclave bordering Poland and Lithuania, citing the defence alliance’s exercises in the region and the Baltic Sentry mission to protect undersea infrastructure.
Full story at FT (paywall).
Netanyahu says Israel has "indications" its enemies will try an attack ahead of the late-October elections. -
CBS/AFPFed’s preferred gauge showed core inflation at 3.0% in August, much lighter than expected -
CNBCAI agents have a normal-people problem -
AxiosApple CEO Ternus Cuts Managers, Eyes Faster Product Pace -
YahooWhat is Alaska LNG and why does the project face doubts? -
Reuters‘Attention Infidelity’ Is Ruining Romance -
NYT(free)Apple Is Finally Ready to Enter Its Next Big Category: the Smart Home -
Bloomberg(paywall)
