War Secretary Pete Hegseth announced on Friday that the War Department — &#8220;at every level&#8221; — would hold a one-day stand-down from training operations so that every service member would have the opportunity to vote.
&#8220;I am directing all commanders and supervisors at all levels across this department to conduct a one-day stand-down during the month of October — beginning this year and continuing every election year,&#8221; Hegseth said, noting that this year&#8217;s stand-down would occur no later than October 15.
Hegseth explained that he believed — as most Americans do — that voting is important, and said that for too long, service members had encountered obstacles when they attempted to exercise that all-important right. Many, he noted, live far away from their home states and have to go through the process of locating and completing absentee ballots. Others might find that training schedules made it difficult for them to find a time to cast a vote, either in person or by mail.
The War Department&#8217;s solution is the one-day stand-down — wherein active-duty service members, unit commanders, and supervisors will put their routine duties on pause for a day in order to ensure that all service members have the chance to vote. Typically, stand-downs are used to conduct emergency training, make time for important and timely discussions, or address specific institutional issues.
Hegseth referenced one recent stand-down — directed by then-Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin shortly after former President Joe Biden was inaugurated — that was used to address the threat of &#8220;patriot extremism&#8221; after the January 6, 2021, Capitol riot.
&#8220;In February of 2021, under the Biden administration, then-Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin mandated an urgent training stand-down,&#8221; Hegseth recalled. &#8220;He paused training operations and exercises to address a vaguely defined but &#8216;urgent&#8217; extremism problem. I remember it, &#8216;patriot extremism.&#8217; Well, as I&#8217;ve stated before, this is a new and apolitical War Department.&#8221;
He went on to say that he had no intention of telling service members who they should vote for, saying that his only interest was in making sure that they had every opportunity to choose their own elected leadership.
&#8220;So take that day to fill out your absentee ballot, help your family members do the same, or go to the polling place yourself and exercise your right to vote,&#8221; Hegseth concluded. &#8220;It&#8217;s about time we prioritize that in this department, and we&#8217;re fixing it right here, right now.&#8221;

US-ISRAEL-IRAN-WAR-HEGSETH

Pete Hegseth Rolls Out Plan To Ensure ‘Every Warrior’ Can Vote

Pete Hegseth Announces New Plan To Make Sure 'Every Warrior' Can Vote

lloyd austin

military voting

pete hegseth

politics

war department

Officials in the United Kingdom arrested a dual U.K.-Iranian national Thursday in connection with a suspected terror plot involving an air base used by American warplanes carrying out strikes against Iran.
Counterterrorism police said the 25-year-old man was arrested in Westminster, London, &#8220;on suspicion of preparing terrorist acts&#8221; as part of the investigation into Sunday&#8217;s incident near the Royal Air Force (RAF) Fairford air base, The New York Post reported. The alleged attack was directed at RAF Fairford — ostensibly because the United States is using that location to launch attacks against Iran.
The suspected terror plot was uncovered by a local resident who noticed something amiss, and five British men were arrested on Sunday and later released on bail without being charged. Counterterrorism officials said at the time they were investigating the possibility that a foreign state was involved.
British Prime Minister Andy Burnham said Wednesday that investigators had found indications of Iranian involvement.
&#8220;There are strong indications that Iran played a part in what happened over the weekend at RAF Fairford,&#8221; he said. &#8220;We can confirm our belief that we believe Iran to have played a part.&#8221;
He also said British officials were working closely with their American counterparts and defended the decision to release the five suspects on bail.
&#8220;When it says ‘released,’ that isn’t as people might think. It’s obviously with the strictest possible bail conditions,&#8221; he added.
Fairford, <a href="https://nypost.com/2026/09/30/world-news/iran-is-behind-terror-plot-at-us-bomber-base-in-in-uk-british-leader-says/">according to The Pos</a>t, is the air base of choice from which to launch U.S. missions against Iran, mainly because it has an extended runway — which stretches out for two miles — that has been reinforced so that it can handle the weight of B-1 and B-52 bombers.
Thus far, Iranian officials have strongly denied any involvement in the planned attack — which was reportedly foiled when a local farmer called authorities after observing Middle Eastern men running away from utility vans that did not have proper phone numbers on them.
Another report from <a href="https://www.thetimes.com/uk/crime/article/suspect-foiled-raf-fairford-bomb-plot-by-ringing-police-himself-m9gqlzz9v">The Times of London</a> suggested that one of the suspects had called police, leading to the initial five arrests. None of the suspects have yet been publicly identified.

BRITAIN-POLICE-EXPLOSIVES

Iranian National Arrested In Terror Plot At U.S. Bomber Base

Iranian National Arrested In Terror Plot Targeting American Warplanes

counterterrorism

iran

raf fairford

terrorism

united kingdom

world

War Secretary Pete Hegseth immediately set tongues wagging with his Wednesday announcement establishing the Office of Religious Affairs to support service members and the chaplains who guide and counsel them.
What Hegseth said was fairly simple: Because 95% of American service members claim to be religious, the War Department should support those service members by providing resources and direct access to the leadership put in place to guide them.
&#8220;No staff filters. No bureaucratic dilution. A direct line to the secretary,&#8221; Hegseth explained. &#8220;This is not going to be a paper-pushing shop; it&#8217;s going to have real teeth. It&#8217;ll protect budgets, demand infrastructure and strengthen religious support. The experts — our chaplains — will finally have an advocate at the highest levels. Policy and resources will serve the mission, not smother the mission.&#8221;
&#8220;Political correctness and secular humanism got a vote — chaplains did not,&#8221; he said of military religious policy in recent years. &#8220;Budgets were cut. Resourcing and manpower needs were ignored. Base chapels fell apart.&#8221;
&#8220;We’re placing spiritual health at the same level as physical health,&#8221; he added. &#8220;The department is putting on the full armor of God because while we wage physical war, we all know the real battle is spiritual. God is good. Evil is not. America’s military must know the difference.&#8221;
Hegseth, himself a Christian, did not utter a single word suggesting that the chaplains would be steered in the direction of any specific religion. And traditionally, although they may be ordained according to their own personal faith traditions — primarily Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, and Sikhism — military chaplains are tasked with providing counsel and care for all service members regardless of their personal faiths.
But the usual suspects, as usual, heard what they thought Hegseth meant instead of what he actually said — and immediately accused him of violating the Establishment Clause written into the First Amendment of the United States Constitution: &#8220;Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof &#8230;&#8221;
&#8220;Can someone get this man a copy of the Constitution. Lots of pocket versions available,&#8221; former &#8220;Meet the Press&#8221; host Chuck Todd <a href="https://x.com/chucktodd/status/2105397053274701941">advised</a>.
<a href="https://x.com/JaredHuffman/status/2105445216111255635">Rep. Jared Huffman</a> (D-CA) accused Hegseth of laying the first bricks in the road to &#8220;Gilead,&#8221; referencing &#8220;The Handmaid&#8217;s Tale.&#8221;
&#8220;First Amendment: &#8216;Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion.&#8217; Hegseth: &#8216;Today, at my direction, I&#8217;m establishing the Office of Religious Affairs.&#8217; It&#8217;s no accident that he used the word &#8216;establish&#8217; here. Hegseth is a full-throttle Christian nationalist who hates separation of church and state. He chips away at it all the time — through his monthly Christian church service at the Pentagon auditorium, his endless proselytizing, by removing religious minority faith codes from the Chaplaincy program, etc., etc. The road to Gilead is paved with dystopic crap like this,&#8221; he complained.
Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel, a Jewish Democrat, trotted out Hegseth&#8217;s plan as justification for her support for U.S. Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed — who has voiced support for <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/el-sayed-defense-sharia-law-stance-sparks-online-eruption-christians-conservatives-hes-done">allowing Sharia law</a> in the United States.
&#8220;When people ask me how I, as a Jew, can support @AbdulElSayed, it’s bc nothing is more dangerous to religious minorities in the U.S. than the creation of a state religion. Mike Rogers will confirm judges hellbent on destroying any separation of church &amp; state. Abdul will not,&#8221; she said in <a href="https://x.com/dananessel/status/2105408170537431057">an X post</a>, ignoring his position on Sharia.
Unclench, you disingenuous creeps.
First, the Establishment Clause bars Congress from passing a law establishing a state religion and imposing its practice on citizens. As the war secretary is not Congress and has no control whatsoever over the legislative body, what the First Amendment bars Congress from doing has absolutely no bearing on what the war secretary establishes within his own department.
Second, Hegseth gave no indication that he intended to establish an official religion to which all members of the War Department would adhere.
And finally, what Hegseth is doing to restore religious support within the military is a much-needed step in the right direction. He has pushed the military to move away from generic, secular &#8220;spiritual wellness&#8221; — and toward supporting individual war-fighters and their families in their religious needs — and unsurprisingly, that is inspiring panic in the woke critics who were all too happy to see the United States military turned into a social experiment.
The same people who are having kittens over the Office of Religious Affairs probably still have their knickers twisted over the fact that he fired <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/hegseth-fires-army-chief-of-chaplains-during-holy-week">Maj. Gen. William Green Jr.</a>, former Chief of the U.S. Army Chaplain Corps — and it all may be connected.
Although no official cause was given when Green was fired in April, Hegseth had previously voiced disapproval of one of Green&#8217;s pet projects: the Army Spiritual Fitness Guide, published in 2025.
The 112-page guide — and accompanying Battle Book — has since been removed from the U.S. Army&#8217;s website. Commissioned under former Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, the guide featured “secular-inclusive” principles aimed at encouraging resilience and strength. It was written as part of the Army’s Holistic Health and Fitness program (H2F).
The guide was published in August 2025, and by December, Hegseth had ordered the War Department to scrap it entirely.
&#8220;It mentions God one time. That’s it. It mentions feelings 11 times. It even mentions playfulness, whatever that is, nine times,” Hegseth said at the time, complaining that in the military, &#8220;chaplains have been minimized, viewed by many as therapists instead of ministers.&#8221;
The establishment of the Office of Religious Affairs is just the next step in Hegseth&#8217;s effort to restore the chaplains&#8217; intended role — and it comes not a moment too soon.
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Secretary Hegseth Delivers State Of The Force Address At Quantico

Relax, The Pentagon’s New Office Of Religious Affairs Doesn’t Violate The Constitution

establishment clause

military chaplain

office of religious affairs

pentagon

Yaniv Hion, the Israeli citizen credited with helping stop Wednesday&#8217;s attempted terror attack on a plane bound for Tel Aviv, said that he had learned what to do from a television show.
Hion, while recounting what had happened aboard Flydubai Flight FZ1073, told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that he knew what to do to pull the plane out of its dangerous dive because he watched &#8220;<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0386950/">Air Crash Investigation</a>&#8221; — a show that features dramatized retellings of disasters and near disasters aboard aircraft.
Hion first described the chaos as the plane began to dive and said that when he and several crew members attempted to get into the cockpit, it was only because the wounded pilot had been able to open the door from the inside that they were able to reach the terrorist who had stabbed him.
The Omani co-pilot, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/flydubai-terrorist-identified-as-radical-muslim-with-bizarre-practice-in-front-of-women">identified</a> as a radical Muslim who refused to shake hands with women, was attempting to destroy the flight controls and disable the plane when the cockpit was breached — but Hion and the others were able to pull him from the cockpit and subdue him.
&#8220;We pinned him down to keep him secure and then I jumped into [the cockpit] and pulled the controls,&#8221; he said.
That was when Hion explained that he had pulled backward sharply to right the aircraft and pull it out of the dive. When Netanyahu asked how he had known what to do in that moment, Hion said simply: &#8220;I watch &#8216;Air Crash Investigations,&#8217; Mr. Prime Minister.&#8221;
Experts have since suggested that the plane was a mere 40 seconds from disaster when Hion pulled back on those controls.
Hion also said during their meeting that he was a flight instructor, adding that someone else had taken over after he initially grabbed the controls and leveled out the plane: &#8220;I’m a flight instructor. That’s another thing I teach. And the plane started leveling out a little more. Then the pilot told me he was taking control from there.”
&#8220;Air Crash Investigation&#8221; is a Canadian show that has been running for 25 seasons, and is described on the Internet Movie Database (IMDb) as a &#8220;dramatized reconstruction of real-life air disasters, along with interviews with aviation experts and eyewitnesses.&#8221;
&#8220;This TV series depicts major real-life air disasters. Each episode features a detailed dramatized reconstruction of the incident based on cockpit voice-recorders and air-traffic-control transcripts, as well as eyewitness accounts, interviews with aviation experts, including interviews with investigators who dealt with the disaster, and sometimes even actual footage,&#8221; another description read.
Netanyahu credited <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/hero-reveals-to-netanyahu-how-he-went-from-choking-terrorist-to-flying-plane">Hion&#8217;s quick actions</a> — as well as those of the pilot who opened the door, the other civilians who were able to take down the terrorist, and the off-duty pilots who brought the plane down safely — with preventing a major disaster.

Flydubai passenger plane arrives in Tel Aviv

Israeli Plumber Who Helped Stop Flydubai Terrorist Credits TV Show For Preparing Him

Israeli Plumber Who Helped Stop Flydubai Terrorist Says He Learned To Fly From TV Show

aviation

benjamin netanyahu

flydubai

israel

While New York City&#8217;s Mayor — self-described democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani — spent the week touting his plan to fight antisemitism, his wife Rama Duwaji was rubbing elbows with Islamists who have celebrated terrorists and called for Israel&#8217;s destruction.
Duwaji, as reported by several sources, spent the week as an &#8220;artist-in-residence&#8221; at a ritzy Islamic wellness retreat housed in a repurposed 18th-century Portuguese castle near Porto. The Women Sanctuary, founded by &#8220;Paris-based creative&#8221; Rym Nur, promotes &#8220;sisterhood and spiritual connection&#8221; and charges attendees $5,216 for five nights in a private room.
<blockquote>At the heart of our sanctuary lies the journey back to the fitrah. In the Islamic tradition, the fitrah is the original essence placed within every human by God, a pure, innate disposition drawn toward truth, goodness, and an intimate awareness of the Divine.</blockquote>
The pop-up retreats, which feature Islam heavily, are often held in locations throughout southern Europe that were once ruled by the pre-Crusades Arab caliphates. <a href="https://thewomensanctuary.com/previous-retretats">Statements</a> from the Women Sanctuary suggest the group favors a <a href="https://nypost.com/2026/09/30/us-news/organizers-of-islamic-wellness-retreat-attended-by-nyc-first-lady-rama-duwaji-called-for-destruction-of-israel-in-hateful-social-media-posts/">return to the caliphates</a>. One such statement, regarding a recent retreat held in Mallorca, read, &#8220;We gathered to reclaim our history.&#8221;
The group&#8217;s social media posts offer a stark contrast to its promises of spiritual renewal.
Nur refers to the retreats as an &#8220;ode to Allah&#8221; and, as The Washington Free Beacon <a href="https://freebeacon.com/america/nycs-first-lady-is-in-residence-at-israel-hating-islamic-wellness-retreat-in-portuguese-castle-organizers-called-for-abolishing-israel-cleansing-it-of-je/">reported</a>, the Women Sanctuary has published posts calling for the abolition of Israel as a Jewish state.
&#8220;Abolish the colonial apartheid state of Israel. Free Palestine,&#8221; one post read, in part. Other social media posts include the antisemitic phrase &#8220;from the river to the sea&#8221; — or call on Allah to &#8220;cleanse Palestine&#8221; of &#8220;oppressors.&#8221;
&#8220;May the winds of freedom sweep across Palestine, ushering in the complete and rightful restoration of the land&#8217;s true stewards,&#8221; another post read.
The group also praised Palestinian extremist Ahed Tamimi while promoting her book at the Women Sanctuary just weeks after the October 7 massacre: &#8220;Ahed Tamimi showed the world more than once what it looks like when you refuse to consent to your own obliteration.&#8221;
Around the same time, the Israeli military claimed that Tamimi <a href="https://apnews.com/article/palestinians-israel-ahed-tamimi-west-bank-raids-8833619f1924676a9b7dbd053b2fa3ba">posted</a> on Instagram, &#8220;We are waiting for you in all the West Bank cities from Hebron to Jenin — we will slaughter you and you will say that what Hitler did to you was a joke, we will drink your blood and eat your skulls, come on, we are waiting for you.&#8221;
Tamimi was arrested on suspicion of inciting terrorism over the post. Her mother said the account had been &#8220;hacked.&#8221; Tamimi was later freed as part of a deal that returned some of the hostages taken by Hamas terrorists to Israel.
Duwaji, who previously faced backlash for &#8220;liking&#8221; posts that celebrated the October 7 massacre, is listed as a member of the Women Sanctuary team. The Free Beacon reported that her listing appeared under the name &#8220;Karl Holland.&#8221;
According to the Free Beacon, New York City&#8217;s Houston-born first lady calls herself a &#8220;Syrian illustrator and animator&#8221; and was believed to be doing calligraphy at the event.
Duwaji also attended the <a href="https://nypost.com/2026/09/30/us-news/organizers-of-islamic-wellness-retreat-attended-by-nyc-first-lady-rama-duwaji-called-for-destruction-of-israel-in-hateful-social-media-posts/">Mallorca retreat</a> in July, drawing criticism for missing the July 4 America 250 celebrations.
Meanwhile, the mayor rolled out his plan to <a href="https://nypost.com/2026/09/29/us-news/zohran-mamdanis-plan-to-fight-antisemitism-ignores-zionism-refuses-to-define-anti-jewish-hate/">fight growing antisemitism</a> in New York City — but critics say it falls far short of what is truly needed.
&#8220;I sat with the Mayor’s Office to Combat Antisemitism in July and told them what Jewish teachers and families need: a definition of the hate, an honest reckoning with anti-Zionism, and real security for synagogues and schools,&#8221; Moshe Spern, the president of United Jewish Teachers, told the New York Post. &#8220;What the mayor announced today does none of that.&#8221;

Celebrity Sightings In New York – January 01, 2026

Zohran’s Wife Jets Off To Ritzy Islamic Wellness Retreat In ‘Ode To Allah’

Zohran's Wife Jets Off To Ritzy Islamic Wellness Retreat In 'Ode To Allah'

antisemitism

new york city

rama duwaji

zohran mamdani

Democrats appear to be ready and willing to pull out all the stops to prevent Republicans from notching even a single win ahead of the November midterm elections — even if that means pulling the plug on bills that previously enjoyed bipartisan support.
One such bill is the <a href="https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/6119834-senate-data-center-bill-ratepayer-protection-act/">Ratepayer Protection Act</a> — which passed the House by overwhelming margins (417-3) with majority support from both major parties only to stall in the Senate on Wednesday. Sponsored in the House by Reps. Gabe Evans (R-CO)) and Kathy Castor (D-FL), it had the support of a few Senate Democrats — Sens. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Jon Ossoff (D-GA), Raphael Warnock (D-GA), and Maggie Hassan (D-NH) — but not enough to overcome the filibuster. Democrats blocked the measure in a procedural vote, 57-43.
The bill, designed to address concerns about new data center construction, would require states to consider adopting standards that would force the tech companies building those data centers to shoulder the utility costs connected to their operation. Democrats who voted against the bill argued it is &#8220;toothless&#8221; because it does not require states to adopt those standards.
&#8220;Americans are demanding real guardrails on AI and data centers, but all the Republicans offer is a toothless messaging bill. The bill is a fraud. I can sum up the shortcomings of the Republican data center bill with one word: optional. The bill is optional,&#8221; Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said on Tuesday.
&#8220;They’re cooked. I think Donald Trump is going to tweet five more times that he loves data centers. And that is the official position of their party,” Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) told <a href="https://www.semafor.com/newsletter/09/30/2026/semafor-washington-dc-theyre-cooked?utm_source=newslettershare&amp;utm_medium=principals&amp;utm_campaign=flagshipnumbered1#b">Semafor</a>. “This is panic.&#8221;
Senate Democrats also blocked the Stop Insider Trading Act on Wednesday — which passed the House with the support of 13 Democrats — in part over the inclusion of a measure regarding voter ID.
<span class="iNqyIf" style="font-size: 16px;" data-sfc-cp="" data-sfc-root="ep" data-complete="true" data-copy-service-computed-style="font-family: &quot;Google Sans&quot;, &quot;Helvetica Neue&quot;, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 400; margin: 0px; text-decoration: none; border-bottom: 0px rgb(10, 10, 10);">H.R. 7008 would prohibit members of Congress — as well as their spouses and dependents — from buying new individual stocks, and would require them to give seven to 14 days&#8217; notice prior to selling any stocks they already owned. In addition, it would lay out financial penalties for any violations of the rules.
Every Democrat in the Senate voted against the measure (53-47) — largely because of the included language requiring voter identification — even though a majority of Americans support both banning congressional stock trading and requiring voters to show identification.
A 2023 University of Maryland <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/schumer-tanks-popular-insider-trading-ban-dem-effort-derail-gops-voter-id-push">study</a> found that 86% support banning members of Congress from trading stocks while in office.
Schumer blamed Republicans for adding the voter ID provision, arguing that it had been an intentional move to prevent the stock trading ban from passing.
&#8220;They don&#8217;t want this bill to become law. So they put a poison pill in that they knew would tank it,&#8221; he said. &#8220;It&#8217;s really trickery. Skullduggery. If Republican senators really cared about stopping stock trading by members, they wouldn&#8217;t have loaded it up with a poison pill voter ID bill, which Senate Democrats have defeated already twice.&#8221;
But Americans <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/releases/2026/02/voter-id-is-overwhelmingly-popular-with-literally-everyone-except-democrat-politicians/">largely support</a> voter ID laws, too. A 2023 Pew Research Center poll indicated that 83% of Americans — including 71% of Democrats — support laws requiring voters to show identification at the polls.
&#8220;The bottom line is this: Voter ID is NOT controversial in this country. A photo ID to vote is NOT controversial in this country. It is not controversial by party and it is not controversial by race. The vast majority of Americans agree,&#8221; CNN data analyst Harry Enten said.
&#8220;NBC Nightly News&#8221; anchor Tom Llamas pointed out the fact that it wasn&#8217;t the voters who opposed identification requirements — it was just Democrats in elected office who did: &#8220;Voter ID rules do have wide public support, but the vast majority of Democrats on Capitol Hill oppose them.&#8221;

Senators Speak Following Weekly Policy Luncheons On Capitol Hill

Democrats Play Politics By Tanking Popular Bills Ahead Of Midterms

2026 midterm election

chuck schumer

data center

senate filibuster

stock trading ban

voter id

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu offered a hero&#8217;s welcome to Yaniv Hion, the man who helped stop the attempted hijacking of Flydubai Flight FZ1073 headed for Israel on Wednesday.
After arriving at Ben Gurion Airport on a return flight from the emergency landing in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia — still dressed in his blood-stained clothing — Hion described the harrowing experience. He told Netanyahu and the gathered crowd what he and other passengers had done when they realized that the Omani co-pilot had intended to take over the flight and crash the plane.
&#8220;There was this tremendous pressure, this force pulling me downward,&#8221; Hion said. &#8220;And there was another guy standing by the door in a white shirt. I assume he was a pilot, because there were two pilots inside, and by chance there were two other pilots sitting outside in the passenger cabin. I don’t know what they were doing there. He and I pushed the door. The pilot who had been stabbed was right up against the door, so it was difficult for us to open it. But I think — this is my conclusion — that he managed to open it before he collapsed. He managed to do it. Wow, that was incredibly resourceful.&#8221;
&#8220;When I got inside, I saw the attacker on the controls, between the two seats. There were no pilots in the seats. One was down, and the attacker was on the controls. Another person came in with me. I grabbed the attacker, put him in a chokehold, and first of all pulled him out,&#8221; Hion continued.
&#8220;What was he doing with the controls? What was he doing?&#8221; Netanyahu asked.
&#8220;He was trying to destroy the controls in order to disable the plane. That’s what I saw,&#8221; Hion said of the co-pilot.
&#8220;We pulled him out. It all happened within seconds. The plane’s nose was down like this,&#8221; he added with his hand pointing down toward the floor. &#8220;I called out to the other Israelis who were with us on the plane. They came over, two more guys jumped in to help me, and I told them to hold him down. Then I jumped back in, grabbed the controls and started pulling back on them.&#8221;
Netanyahu seemed surprised, asking, &#8220;You pulled the controls? You knew how?&#8221;
Hion explained, &#8220;I’m a flight instructor. That’s another thing I teach. And the plane started leveling out a little more. Then the pilot told me he was taking control from there.&#8221;
Netanyahu hailed Hion as a hero, thanking him for the quick actions that saved dozens of lives and stopped what was reportedly intended to be a 9/11-style attack on Israel.
The prime minister also relayed in a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/netanyahu-reveals-chilling-details-of-attempted-hijacking-of-israel-bound-flight?topStoryPosition=undefined&amp;author=Kassy+Akiva&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=3&amp;row=1&amp;rowHeadline=Top+Stories&amp;rowType=Top+Stories&amp;title=Netanyahu+Reveals+Chilling+Details+Of+Attempted+Hijacking+Of+Israel-Bound+Flight">video</a> some of what he was told by the passengers after they landed safely in Israel.
&#8220;He told me that the plane went into a spin and began to dive,&#8221; Netanyahu said. &#8220;He told me that, somehow or other, he managed to break into the cockpit with one of the crew members, and that together they neutralized the stabbing pilot while he was trying to sabotage the plane’s systems. &#8230; Another flight crew on board entered the cockpit and managed to stabilize the plane.&#8221;
&#8220;I salute these heroes, who displayed exceptional resourcefulness and courage,&#8221; Netanyahu said. &#8220;They saved many lives. They prevented a huge disaster.&#8221;
Former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett also praised the heroes who helped avert disaster, telling Fox News, &#8220;This is not a miracle. This is a result of the heroism of the Israeli passengers and the Emirates crew.&#8221;
It was clear that something had gone wrong with the flight just 90 minutes in, when someone aboard the aircraft transmitted a general distress signal, code 7700. Within a few minutes, the code was switched to 7500 — the international aviation code indicating unlawful interference. The aircraft subsequently disappeared from flight-tracking applications, raising further alarms.
While the flight was <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/netanyahu-reveals-chilling-details-of-attempted-hijacking-of-israel-bound-flight">still in progress</a>, Hion and others were able to subdue the Omani pilot and correct their course. Another flight crew member aboard the plane stepped in and assisted in flying the aircraft to Tabuk, Saudi Arabia, safely.

Prime Minister of Israel

Hero Reveals To Netanyahu How He Went From Choking Terrorist To Flying Plane

hijacking

naftali bennett

Attorneys for Michael Desronvil, the lone holdout juror in the Lindsay Clancy triple murder trial, said on Tuesday that they were going to file a bar complaint against defense attorney Kevin Reddington over his public statements about their client.
Attorneys Edward Paltzik and Tyler Cox, who are representing Desronvil, spoke with Fox News host Sean Hannity about Reddington&#8217;s continued attempts to have their client retroactively thrown off the jury — and if that didn&#8217;t work, to damage his reputation beyond repair in the court of public opinion.
Hannity asked whether there was any legal recourse for them to pursue on Desronvil&#8217;s behalf, and Cox was quick to say that they already had a plan.
&#8220;Oh, Sean, I can tell you, we&#8217;re going to file a bar complaint,&#8221; he said. &#8220;Look, he filed, in his words, that we just heard a second ago, he said that all he&#8217;s done is file a motion. Even if you take that as true, which it obviously isn&#8217;t, the motion that he filed is unprecedented. You don&#8217;t attack jurors this way, you don&#8217;t single them out, and we&#8217;re going to file a bar complaint. I want your audience to know, I want you to know, that&#8217;s happening.&#8221;
&#8220;Absolutely,&#8221; Paltzik agreed.
Paltzik has made <a href="https://nypost.com/2026/09/28/us-news/attorney-for-lone-holdout-juror-in-lindsay-clancy-mistrial-pushes-back-on-claims-of-refusing-the-law/">several appearances</a> on <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/lindsay-clancy-holdout-seen-on-camera-for-first-time-with-defiant-message">Desronvil&#8217;s</a> behalf, accusing Reddington of setting a &#8220;nightmarish precedent&#8221; when he claimed that the juror had violated the law when he did not agree with the other jurors in the Clancy case.
&#8220;That is the most outrageous thing I have ever heard in almost 20 years of practicing law. It is categorically false,&#8221; Paltzik told Fox News. &#8220;In accusing a juror of committing a crime, Kevin Reddington is clearly violating the Sixth Amendment. He’s clearly violating the right to trial by jury. &#8230; The question now is, do we want to have a Constitution? Do we want to have a Sixth Amendment? Do we want jurors to feel safe when they show up to perform their civic duty? Because we’re not going to have a criminal justice system if jurors are afraid of reprisals.&#8221;

US-CRIME-TRIAL-CLANCY

Holdout Juror Makes A Move That Puts Lindsay Clancy’s Attorney On Defense

jury

kevin reddington

lindsay clancy

massachusetts

murder trial

Riley Gaines has promised to appeal after a federal district court judge dismissed her case against the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) for allowing men access to women&#8217;s sports teams and locker rooms.
In a joint press release published Tuesday, Gaines and the <a href="https://iconswomen.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://iconswomen.com/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1790766847024000&amp;usg=AOvVaw1-WSCIk1lE7CfefDivAwk3">Independent Council on Women’s Sports (ICONS)</a> announced their plan after U.S. District Judge Tiffany R. Johnson — who was appointed by then President Joe Biden in 2024 — issued a ruling in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia. Johnson ruled, in Gaines v. NCAA, that the NCAA is not accountable under Title IX for allowing men to compete on women&#8217;s sports teams or gain access to women&#8217;s locker rooms and changing facilities.
&#8220;This momentary setback will not deter me or other women athletes in the least,&#8221; Gaines, a former NCAA swimmer who was forced to compete with trans-identifying male swimmer Lia Thomas, said in a statement following the ruling. &#8220;Rest assured, we will be appealing this decision. We are on the side of truth. I am confident Americans will rally to our side to fight the NCAA. Working together we will defeat the NCAA’s continuing efforts to trample women’s rights in sports.&#8221;
ICONS Co-Founder Kim Jones, a former NCAA All-American tennis player, also released a statement supporting Gaines and throwing the weight of her organization behind plans to appeal the case.
&#8220;We believe the district judge erred and that the Court of Appeals will find that the NCAA, which is the controlling body of college sports for more than 1,100 member schools, almost all of which are federally funded, is subject to Title IX. We will not give up our fight for women and girls’ rights in sports,&#8221; she said.
“ICONS will support an appeal by Riley Gaines, Brooke Slusser, Kylee Alons, Reka Gyorgy, Kaitlynn Wheeler, Grace Countie, Ainsley Erzen, Lily Mullens, and the many other young women who depended on the NCAA to protect their equal opportunities but were let down by the NCAA,&#8221; she added.
By holding that the NCAA is not subject to Title IX — which was implemented to address discrimination against women and girls — ICONS and Gaines argue that the court is effectively removing all protections for women in NCAA competition.
Additionally, because universities have consistently defended a reliance on NCAA policy, ICONS and Gaines argued that the ruling leaves no clear authority to whom women and girls can appeal.
The Protect College Sports Act — which passed the Senate on Monday — raises other questions about the NCAA&#8217;s authority to allow men into women&#8217;s spaces. Despite an amendment to the bill — pushed by Sens. Josh Hawley (R-MO), Jim Banks (R-IN), and Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) — that would prevent state laws from superseding it and allowing men to compete on women&#8217;s teams, Gaines and ICONS worry that the measure gives the NCAA the authority to do just that.
&#8220;The PCSA’s overly broad exemption would short-circuit these lawsuits and halt efforts to hold the NCAA accountable under Title IX. By exempting all NCAA eligibility decisions, the bill would shield the NCAA from liability for past and future eligibility decisions that violate Title IX,&#8221; Jones wrote in a <a href="https://www.wsj.com/opinion/ncaa-pushes-congress-to-gut-title-ix-5fa149d7">Wall Street Journal op-ed</a> published on August 2.
&#8220;The PCSA would exempt the NCAA from accountability under state laws in 27 states, and from measures on the ballot in several others, which specifically address eligibility for women’s sports teams in college. These state laws became necessary because the NCAA and its member institutions were violating Title IX,&#8221; she added.
Fellow ICONS Co-Founder — and former NCAA swimmer — Marshi Smith also issued a statement urging votes against the PCSA at least as long as it would give the NCAA broad authority to determine its own eligibility standards.
&#8220;The NCAA thinks it can use its vast financial resources to avoid responsibility to protect women’s opportunities in college sports. We won’t let the NCAA get away with it. The NCAA’s refusal to recognize its responsibility to uphold women’s rights means the NCAA cannot be trusted to regulate anyone’s sports — men’s or women’s,&#8221; she said.
&#8220;All Americans who care about women’s sports should act immediately to prevent the NCAA from hurting women and girls. ICONS urges every member of Congress to withdraw support for the Protect College Sports Act which, if passed, would give the NCAA vast new powers over college sports eligibility and a broad exemption from federal law,&#8221; Smith added. &#8220;ICONS calls upon every female athlete, every soccer mom, and every girl’s dad who cares about girl’s sports to immediately call your Senators and your Congressman and ask them to vote against the Protect College Sports Act. The NCAA cannot be trusted to receive broad new powers that it will only use to inflict further harm upon women.&#8221;
President Donald Trump has voiced support for the PCSA — which was largely designed to address issues around transfer eligibility, revenue sharing, and NIL (Name, Image, and Likeness) rules — but because the House of Representatives is in recess until after the midterm elections, it is not likely to move forward until at least November.

NCAA SWIMMING: MAR 18 Women’s Swimming & Diving Championships

Riley Gaines Responds To NCAA’s Latest Title IX Escape Hatch

Riley Gaines Vows Appeal After Judge Tosses NCAA Title IX Case

ncaa

protect college sports act

riley gaines

title ix

transgender in sports

women's sports

Michael Desronvil, best known publicly as the lone holdout juror in Lindsay Clancy&#8217;s murder trial, gave his first public statement on Monday.
Desronvil&#8217;s attorney Edward Paltzik released the statement, in which Desronvil asserted that the focus of continuing conversations should not be on him. Instead, he said that the focus should be on the three &#8220;angels&#8221; — the children Clancy had strangled to death — because they could no longer speak for themselves.
After introducing himself, Desronvil immediately moved to redirect attention to the three children: &#8220;I know the whole focus has been on me, but we want to reel everything back and put the focus on the three angels that&#8217;s at hand.&#8221;
&#8220;The ones that can&#8217;t speak for themselves, the ones that can&#8217;t defend themselves, and the ones that can&#8217;t fight the battles — and those are Cora, Dawson and Callan,&#8221; he continued.
He went on to tell people a bit about himself, his family, and his faith, adding, &#8220;I want to thank God for my Catholic faith. I want to thank God for blessing me with the ability to love my daughter. And foremost, I would like to thank everyone, every individual, that has supported me throughout this difficult situation.&#8221;
Desronvil said that he was thankful for those who had offered prayers or emotional and psychological support — and who had publicly spoken on his behalf since the trial: &#8220;I do want to thank you from the bottom of my heart.&#8221;
In the days since the trial, Desronvil had previously only issued statements through proxies. When several of the other jurors gave interviews attacking him, he had responded through YouTuber Ray Marcel (who publishes content under the name FugitiveTV).
Paltzik, Desronvil&#8217;s attorney, joined Fox News host Kayleigh McEnany over the weekend to address claims from the other jurors — and from defense attorney Kevin Reddington — that Desronvil had ignored the law and had harbored doubt about the case.
&#8220;Michael has zero doubt,&#8221; he said.
The lone holdout juror has reportedly gone into hiding since the trial as several other jurors have joined <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/lindsay-clancys-defense-makes-a-new-move-against-the-holdout-juror">Reddington</a> in attacking him over his refusal to vote with them. Reddington has even called for an investigation into Desronvil in his continued efforts to get the 48-year-old retroactively removed from the jury.
Just over two weeks after the high-profile case ended in a mistrial, Reddington asked a judge to ensure the preservation of records from all 12 jurors — including juror questionnaires, surveillance video recorded outside the deliberation room, and sign-in sheets for the jurors’ electronic devices — but it was clear that his target was Desronvil.
As The Daily Wire previously reported, Reddington also asked the judge to probe whether prosecutors had any contact with the juror and to order an “independent examination” into his phone records from each day of deliberations.

Screenshot

Lindsay Clancy Holdout Seen On Camera For First Time With Defiant Message

jury holdout

michael desronvil

mistrial

Three Florida counties, including Hillsborough, have declared local states of emergency as locally acquired cases of dengue fever continue to rise.
The Florida Department of Health has reported <a href="https://www.floridahealth.gov/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/fl-arbovirus-report-w37-2026.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">190 locally acquired cases</a> so far in 2026 across six counties, 170 of them in Hillsborough. One person has died.
“This is wildly unusual for us,” Chris Wilkerson, a spokesperson for Hillsborough County, told the AP about the outbreak, per <a href="https://abcnews.com/Health/wireStory/florida-confirms-death-dengue-state-struggles-worst-recent-136572973" target="_blank" rel="noopener">ABC News</a>.
Officials have said the weather is likely a factor, as heavy rains have left standing water, making it easier for Aedes aegypti mosquitoes that carry the virus to breed more quickly. Residents have been warned to check their homes and properties regularly and dispose of standing water to slow reproduction.
Those diagnosed with the virus have also been warned to isolate themselves, because if they are bitten by a mosquito while infected, that mosquito can spread the disease to others. Dengue fever cannot be transmitted from person to person like a cold or flu, but requires the mosquito vector to pass from one person to another.
The <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/exotic-mosquito-virus-is-rapidly-expanding-in-the-united-states">mosquito-borne virus</a>, also known as &#8220;breakbone fever&#8221; because of the severe pain some sufferers feel in their bones and joints, is typically contracted in tropical regions — and most cases documented in the United States have traditionally been diagnosed in patients who had recently traveled outside the country.
Aedes aegypti mosquitoes are common in Florida and across the southern United States, and can also carry several other diseases like the Zika virus and Yellow fever — and they&#8217;re considered to present a higher risk because, unlike many other species of mosquitoes, they are active during the day.
Recent testing of mosquitoes around the affected area has been negative for the virus — and suggests that females carrying the virus are not passing it to their offspring — which has officials hopeful that the outbreak could soon resolve on its own. But the overall threat, they say, is not likely to go away.
“I do think it’s going to be somewhat the new normal,” Michael von Fricken, a University of Florida associate professor of environmental and global health, <a href="https://abcnews.com/Health/wireStory/florida-confirms-death-dengue-state-struggles-worst-recent-136572973" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told</a> The Associated Press.
In addition to severe bone pain, the virus can cause a sudden high fever, headaches, rash, and nausea. Patients are warned to seek immediate medical attention if they experience confusion, extreme fatigue, or restlessness.

Aedes aegypti (dengue, zika, yellow fever mosquito) biting human skin, frontal view

The ‘Wildly Unusual’ Deadly Outbreak Spreading Across The U.S.

dengue fever

florida

health

hillsborough county

mosquito borne illness

public health emergency

New York Magazine published an issue dedicated to men&#8217;s fashion — and included topless photos of trans-identifying actress Elliot Page.
The print edition ships with four different covers — one of which shows Page, naked from the waist up. And in addition to including a biological woman — in the name of inclusion, obviously — the X post teasing the photo spread boasted that the issue supposedly about &#8220;men&#8217;s style&#8221; mainly featured men (and Page) wearing almost nothing.
The issue was titled, &#8220;Men’s Style: A Special Issue about Putting Clothes on and Taking Them Off Again.&#8221;
&#8220;See our very-little-fashion shoot in the baths with regulars and newcomers, including Troye Sivan, Christopher Abbott, Mike Faist, Marlon James, Francesco Clemente, Elliot Page, Rashid Johnson, Eddie Huang, and more,&#8221; the outlet teased.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
See our very-little-fashion shoot in the baths with regulars and newcomers, including Troye Sivan, Christopher Abbott, Mike Faist, Marlon James, Francesco Clemente, Elliot Page, Rashid Johnson, Eddie Huang, and more. <a href="https://t.co/i563OEjvNx">https://t.co/i563OEjvNx</a> <a href="https://t.co/LGkYFohCMf">pic.twitter.com/LGkYFohCMf</a>
— New York Magazine (@NYMag) <a href="https://x.com/NYMag/status/2104580702310465761?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 28, 2026</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.x.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Page was also quoted in the accompanying article, talking about how locations like bathhouses and saunas had never appealed to her before she&#8217;d undergone surgery to remove her breasts.
&#8220;I went to a bathhouse recently. I’ve only in the past couple of years been like, &#8216;Yeah, that sounds nice, to like go somewhere and sit around in your body like that,'&#8221; Page said. &#8220;I do sing in the shower sometimes. The same songs and lyrics will get stuck in my head, and I don’t know why. Like &#8216;Do you believe in life after love?&#8217; That’s one I’ll belt out. Or &#8216;The Sound of Music&#8217;: I’ve never seen the movie, which seems crazy, but for some reason I find myself belting out that song in the shower. I can’t explain it.&#8221;
Critics were quick to point out the fact that one of the &#8220;men&#8217;s style&#8221; cover stars was not, in fact, a man —
Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) responded to Page&#8217;s presence with five simple words: &#8220;This is not a man.&#8221;
Seth Dillon, CEO of the satirical Babylon Bee, responded with the Bee&#8217;s own July headline naming Page its &#8220;Woman of the Year.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<a href="https://t.co/EnTT9CWOTz">https://t.co/EnTT9CWOTz</a> <a href="https://t.co/WhlGed8EaA">pic.twitter.com/WhlGed8EaA</a>
— Seth Dillon (@SethDillon) <a href="https://x.com/SethDillon/status/2104597640189022652?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 28, 2026</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.x.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
&#8220;History is going to look back on this time and condemn EVERYONE. Drugged and mutilated mentally ill women plastered across magazine covers for profit while society applauded. We are in hell,&#8221; a doctor named Andrew Zywiec <a href="https://x.com/AndrewZywiecMD/status/2104611763937325506">posted</a> in response.
The Daily Wire&#8217;s Megan Brock pointed out that the cover and others like it were part of the transgender lobby&#8217;s continued efforts to normalize radical gender ideology.
&#8220;Over the past few weeks I’ve been reminded in many ways that the transgender lobby still holds a large amount of institutional power — despite being rejected by a majority of normie Americans. Be leery of those who’ve prematurely claimed victory on the issue,&#8221; she posted.

Elliot Page

Nothing Says ‘Men’s Style’ Like New York Mag’s Topless Trans Cover Star Elliot Page

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Virginia Kruta