Germany&#8217;s former foreign intelligence chief was arrested Tuesday on suspicion of espionage and attempted treason in an alleged scheme involving roughly 2,000 internal intelligence documents.
August Hanning, who led the Federal Intelligence Service, known by its German acronym BND, from 1998 to 2005, allegedly obtained confidential material from a former aide and used it in his private consulting work, <a href="https://apnews.com/article/germany-arrest-espionage-allegation-former-intelligence-chief-47bb15543a3e2404e3f756dbb517d14c">according</a> to The Associated Press.
Hanning sought to sell information from the documents to at least one foreign power, The Washington Post <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2026/10/06/germany-arrests-former-intelligence-chief-espionage-case/">reported</a>, citing German prosecutors.
German officials also arrested the former aide, identified only as Manfred D., who is alleged to have aided Hanning in procuring the classified information in exchange for payment. That man, according to the report, had worked as an office manager and former bureau chief — and had served as Hanning&#8217;s chief of staff for a time as well. He had allegedly made a deal with Hanning to provide information in exchange for money.
&#8220;Both suspects are believed to have agreed in the spring of 2010 to have Manfred D. continuously transmit valuable intelligence from the Federal Intelligence Service to Hanning in exchange for remuneration,&#8221; the federal prosecutor said in a statement. &#8220;Hanning is strongly suspected of treasonous espionage, obtaining state secrets, attempted treason and espionage.&#8221;
Prosecutors said Manfred D. provided Hanning with approximately 2,000 documents, including executive briefings meant for internal BND use only, and that Hanning used the material in his private consulting work and, on at least one occasion, to prepare an analysis for an officer of a foreign intelligence service. Prosecutors did not identify the service, and it is unclear whether the analysis reached its recipient.
Current BND President Martin Jäger said internal investigations began immediately when the suspicions came to light, adding, &#8220;There can be no compromises on internal security.&#8221;
The investigation into Hanning began in 2025, as The New York Times <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2026/10/06/world/europe/germany-spy-chief-hanning-arrested-espionage.html">reported</a>, with a separate investigation into heiress Christina Block, who&#8217;d allegedly arranged the abduction of her own children from her estranged husband. That investigation led to a search of Hanning&#8217;s home — and the subsequent discovery of classified material there.
Other reports indicated that he&#8217;d been struggling financially in recent years, losing much of his pension in a bank investment that had gone poorly.
While Hanning is the first former agency head to be arrested on espionage allegations, prosecutors arrested a BND manager in 2022 — Carsten Linke — who was alleged to have sold state secrets to Russia. The case against Linke is still ongoing and is expected to conclude in January.

Former BND Director Hanning Arrested

Former Top Spy Arrested For Treason, Selling Intel To Foreign Power

august hanning

espionage

federal intelligence service

germany

treason

world

More than 1,200 aircrew members from nations with no diplomatic ties to Israel have reportedly entered the country over the past year, a disclosure that emerged as Israeli lawmakers examined possible security failures surrounding the attempted hijacking of an Israel-bound Flydubai flight FZ1073.
The Times of Israel <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/some-1240-aircrew-from-countries-that-dont-recognize-israel-reportedly-entered-country-in-past-year/">reported</a> Tuesday that the information was leaked from a closed-door meeting of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee. That meeting was called to address any possible security failures that had led up to the attempted hijacking allegedly perpetrated by the Omani co-pilot.
According to the leaked details, some 1,240 individuals have entered. Additional <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/former-airport-worker-air-crew-members-holding-lebanese-syrian-passports-flew-to-israel/">reporting</a> described foreign airline crew members holding dual citizenship, including Lebanese and Syrian citizenship, arriving in Israel.
&#8220;I personally saw air crew — pilots and flight attendants — with Lebanese, Syrian and other passports at the counter. This happened with all airlines, not just with the Emirati [ones],&#8221; a former worker from Israel&#8217;s Ben Gurion Airport told N12 News Israel. &#8220;Even then, we didn’t understand how pilots from hostile countries could fly to Israel.&#8221;
The former worker said some crew members tried to enter Israel but were refused when the screening system flagged their second passports from enemy or hostile states.
Under the aviation agreement governing Flydubai&#8217;s service to Israel, pilots operating flights into the country must hold passports from countries that maintain diplomatic relations with Israel, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/the-most-troubling-detail-about-the-terror-flight-happened-before-takeoff">according</a> to Israeli officials previously cited by The Daily Wire.
Following the attempted hijacking — which was ultimately stopped by wounded Indian pilot Smit Machchhar and several Israeli passengers — that security rule quickly became one of the focal points of the ensuing investigation.
Because Oman does not have a diplomatic relationship with Israel, Israeli officials questioned how the Omani co-pilot was able to join the crew of a plane destined for a flight bound for Ben Gurion Airport.
Following the narrowly averted disaster, Doron Spielman, a spokesman for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office, said that going forward, Israel would seek to know the identity of pilots flying into the country and conduct higher levels of security screening.
“Anywhere that an Israeli is going to be flying into Israel, our job right now is to do our best — even if they’re not on Israeli airlines — to make sure that those security procedures are much higher,” Spielman <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/israel-to-ramp-up-pilot-checks-after-flydubai-hijacking-attempt/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>.

ISRAEL-UAE-SAUDI-TRANSPORT-AVIATION

The 1,200-Person Security Question Hanging Over Israel’s Near ‘9/11’

SECURITY FAILURE: Despite Rules, More Than 1200 Foreign Aircrew Members Have Entered Israel

aviation security

flydubai

israel

knesset

oman

President Donald Trump is set to announce a deal on Tuesday that will pump over $6 billion into manufacturing Virginia-class submarines at a soon-to-be built facility in Maryland.
The deal includes a $3.7 billion investment from California-based defense and technology company Anduril Industries — coupled with a $2.9 billion contract given to Anduril by the United States Navy — to build a state-of-the-art shipyard that will be named Arsenal 2.
“This delivers on President Trump’s promise to bolster America’s defense industrial base while revitalizing our manufacturing industry, creating over 13,000 direct and indirect jobs and driving $2 billion in annual economic output,” said White House Deputy Press Secretary Anna Kelly.
&#8220;In line with the president’s maritime action plan released earlier this year, the Trump administration is rebuilding US shipbuilding capacity and capabilities, reforming workforce, education and training, protecting our maritime industrial base, and eliminating burdensome industry regulations,&#8221; she added.
Despite his own disagreements with the Trump administration, Governor Wes Moore (D-MD) recognized the deal as a boon to his state and thanked Anduril Industries for choosing Maryland as the home for its new project.
&#8220;This massive new project will deliver the largest private investment, drive billions of dollars in economic activity, and create the most jobs in Maryland in history. That means thousands of Marylanders will have a new pathway to work, wages, and wealth through advanced training and high-skilled maritime manufacturing jobs. We thank Anduril for choosing Maryland, and we&#8217;re ready to build the future of our aerospace and defense economy together,&#8221; he said.
According to a release from Anduril provided to The Daily Wire, the new shipyard will be built at Tradepoint Atlantic in Baltimore County, and will provide an estimated 3,100 direct jobs and 11,000 more indirect jobs. Arsenal 2 will also generate approximately $2 billion annually in economic output, with $312 million of that being paid wages.
Anduril also touted the historical connection between United States maritime operations and Baltimore Harbor: &#8220;Baltimore&#8217;s shipyards produced the first Liberty Ship during World War II, and Sparrows Point was once known as the &#8216;Patriarch of U.S. Tanker Builders.&#8217;; Arsenal-2 will return shipbuilding to a site that once helped define American naval power.&#8221;
Arsenal 2 will produce ship components such as torpedo tubes and eventually other parts, and with two million square feet of operating space, it will be capable of high-volume production at the scale the U.S. Navy demands. The United States currently has 26 Virginia-class submarines in service, and is aiming to build another two per year.
Kerry Doyle, managing director of Tradepoint Atlantic, made it clear that Arsenal 2 would be a welcome addition to the Baltimore Harbor area.
&#8220;Today&#8217;s announcement is about more than welcoming a new tenant—it&#8217;s about restoring one of America&#8217;s most important industrial assets to its historic purpose. For generations, Sparrows Point helped build the ships that defended our nation. Today, that legacy continues as Anduril reactivates this iconic shipyard to support the next generation of American defense capabilities,&#8221; Doyle said. &#8220;Tradepoint Atlantic is uniquely built for this mission. Our strategic East Coast location, deep-water port, robust rail and interstate connections, and access to a world-class workforce make this one of the most capable industrial sites in the country. Together with Anduril, we&#8217;re bringing a legacy industry back to Baltimore, creating thousands of skilled jobs, and helping strengthen America&#8217;s defense industrial base for decades to come.&#8221;
Since Trump&#8217;s return to the White House, the U.S. Navy has taken several steps to ensure an increase in maritime dominance — including the cancellation of a Biden-era plan to overhaul the USS Boise (a Los Angeles-class submarine). The money set aside for the overhaul has since been redirected into production on the Virginia-class submarines.
Construction on the site is set to begin immediately, with initial operations to begin as early as 2030.

2026_Arsenal-2_Press-Hero

Trump To Spend Billions To Beef Up Navy’s Submarine Fleet

anduril industries

donald trump

maryland

politics

submarine

us navy

wes moore

California superintendent candidate Richard Barrera says university professors should help students catch up on basic math rather than exclude them, rejecting a return to SAT requirements even when asked about students who struggle with fractions.
During a Sunday <a href="https://www.nbclosangeles.com/video/news/local/newsconference-how-barrera-would-run-californias-education-system/3951153/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">interview with NBC LA’s Conan Nolan</a>, Barrera said that he would not support bringing back SAT requirements for schools within the University of California system.
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Nolan asked Barrera why he would not consider bringing back standardized testing, particularly after professors from prominent schools like UC San Diego and UC Berkeley complained that some incoming students lacked basic math skills, including the ability to work with fractions.
&#8220;Absolutely not,&#8221; Barrera was adamant. &#8220;So math teachers at UCLA and Berkeley and every place else, part of your job that you get paid by the taxpayers to do is to teach our kids.&#8221;
&#8220;Teach them fractions when they’re at the preeminent institutions of higher learning in the country?&#8221; Nolan pressed for clarification.
Barrera responded that students who had overcome barriers to attend college needed support to catch up, not exclusion.
&#8220;Listen, we’ve got students who are coming up from incredible experiences, first generation students overcoming so many barriers to be on the campus,&#8221; he explained. &#8220;Those students are capable of learning quickly. What they need is a little support to be caught up. What they don’t need is to be excluded.&#8221;
The University of California system stopped requiring standardized testing — using either the SAT or the ACT — in 2020, largely due to concerns that the testing standards unfairly disadvantaged black, Hispanic, and low-income students.
But even as the professors are reporting higher and higher numbers of students who are wholly unprepared for the academic challenges at the university level, college applicants are reporting GPAs of 4.0 or higher in increased numbers as well — leading to concerns that grades are being inflated at the high school level without concern about how those students might fare later on in their academic careers.
Barrera currently serves as president of the San Diego Unified School Board — and senior policy adviser for special projects at the California Department of Education under State Superintendent Tony Thurmond — and is running against Chino Valley Unified School Board President Sonja Shaw to be Thurmond&#8217;s successor.
&nbsp;

Screenshot

Education Chief Candidate Has Wild Fix For College Kids Struggling With Grade-School Math

READ IT: Top Educator's Excuse For High School Graduates Who Can't Do Basic Math

california superintendent of public instruction

education

richard barrera

sonja shaw

university of california

An Israeli passenger who helped stop a terrorist co-pilot from crashing a Flydubai flight said a Bible verse left him shivering when he visited a synagogue days after returning home.
Asaf Rejuwan, an insurance agent aboard Flight FZ1073, described the experience in a <a href="https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1P3aYr1v5w/">Facebook post</a> over the weekend. Noting that he was not particularly religious, he said he went to the synagogue to give thanks for surviving the attack.
&#8220;I had no doubt that after this great miracle, I would stand on Shabbat morning at the synagogue for the Gomel blessing. I&#8217;m not a religious person. I believe in God in my own way, and I generally don&#8217;t look for signs in everything. But today something happened that managed to amaze me,&#8221; <a href="https://x.com/ick_galg/status/2106732932496765023?s=46&amp;t=5nB3R1hthzMlYMrXjZyN8Q">Rejuwan wrote</a>.
The Gomel blessing is a Jewish prayer of thanksgiving recited after surviving danger.
At the synagogue, Rejuwan said, he read a verse from Deuteronomy about God riding through the heavens to help His people. The passage, Deuteronomy 33:26, reads: &#8220;There is no one like the God of Jeshurun, who rides the heavens to help you, and in His majesty rides the skies.&#8221;
&#8220;I read the verse, stopped, and shivered, and together with me, all the other worshippers who knew the story and heard why I am there with them,&#8221; Rejuwan said.
&#8220;After everything that happened on the flight, after the fear, after the rush, and after the realization of how thin the line was between life and death — finding myself right in front of these words, &#8216;a rider in the sky at your service,&#8217; was a moment that was hard for me to explain. I don&#8217;t know if it&#8217;s providence, coincidence, or just a moment that took on a particularly deep meaning for me.&#8221;
Rejuwan said he and others who helped stop the attack had been asked repeatedly how they succeeded. Reflecting together afterward, he said, they realized how many passengers had taken on different roles during the emergency.
Some helped stabilize the aircraft, assist wounded captain Smit Machchhar, and subdue the attacker. Others shared a mobile hotspot, communicated with Israeli security officials, tracked the aircraft&#8217;s location, recited Psalms, or passed along earphones to bind the terrorist.
He also praised his wife, the parents who cared for their families, and the children who remained composed during the ordeal.
&#8220;I usually don&#8217;t write much online, but today I felt something burning inside me that I need to share with others,&#8221; Rejuwan wrote at the beginning of his post.
&#8220;Thank you. Thank you for life. Thank you for the miracle. And thank you for the opportunity to stand here and tell about it,&#8221; he concluded. &#8220;Am Yisrael Chai.&#8221;

ISRAEL-SAUDI-UAE-TRANSPORT-AVIATION

Flydubai Passenger Describes Surreal Synagogue Moment After Surviving Terror Attack

airline terror attack

Disgraced former House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-IL) has died, a local coroner confirmed. He was 84 years old.
<a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/dennis-hastert-dies-former-house-speaker-illinois/">Hastert</a>, the longest-serving Republican House Speaker, died at his home over the weekend, Kendall County Coroner Jacquie Purcell said Monday.
Hastert later admitted to sexually abusing boys during his years as a high school wrestling coach. He served prison time for illegally structuring bank withdrawals to pay hush money to one of his victims, becoming the highest-ranking elected U.S. official to serve a prison sentence.
Hastert was born in 1942 and earned degrees from Wheaton College and Northern Illinois University. Before entering politics, he worked as a teacher and wrestling coach at Yorkville High School. In 1976, he was named Illinois Coach of the Year.
After years of teaching and coaching, Hastert was elected to the Illinois House of Representatives. He was elected to Congress in 1986.
<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2026/10/05/obituaries/dennis-hastert-dead.html">Hastert</a> served in the U.S. House from 1987-2007. He was mentored closely by then-House Minority Leader Robert H. Michel (R-IL), and rose through the ranks to serve as chief deputy whip. After House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-GA) announced in 1998 that he would step down, Hastert emerged as his successor when Rep. Bob Livingston (R-LA), the party&#8217;s initial choice, withdrew after revelations about his extramarital affairs.
Referred to by some as the &#8220;accidental speaker,&#8221; Hastert led the House from 1999 until January 2007, after Republicans lost their majority in the 2006 elections. He resigned from Congress in November 2007.
He had been out of Congress for nearly a decade — and was working as a lobbyist — when the FBI and the IRS began investigating him over a series of bank transactions. He was indicted in 2015 for intentionally setting up bank transactions in an effort to avoid reporting requirements. He was also indicted for making false statements to the FBI. That charge was dropped under his plea agreement.
Hastert pleaded guilty in October 2015 to violating banking laws. At his sentencing the following April, he admitted the withdrawals were meant to pay a former wrestler who had accused him of sexual abuse during his time as coach at Yorkville High School. Hastert acknowledged sexually abusing other boys during that time as well, some of whom were as young as 14 at the time.
Because the statute of limitations had expired, Hastert was not charged with any crimes related to the sexual abuse — but U.S. District Judge Thomas M. Durkin called him a &#8220;serial child molester&#8221; and ordered him to participate in a sex offender program before sentencing him to 15 months in prison and a $250,000 fine for the financial crimes. Hastert served 13 months and was released from federal prison in 2017.
&#8220;Mr. Hastert&#8217;s legend and legacy are gone, and in its place are a broken, humiliated man,&#8221; Zachary Fardon, the U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, said at the time. &#8220;That is as it should be.&#8221;

Former House Speaker Dennis Hastert Sentenced In Bank Reporting Case

Disgraced Former House Speaker Dead At 84

dennis hastert

house speaker

illinois

obituary

sexual abuse

A New York City public school teacher praised brutal Hamas terrorist Yahya al-Sinwar in a group chat with other members of a member-owned grocery store in Brooklyn.
Damien Neva, 48, posted &#8220;Long live Yahya al-Sinwar&#8221; in the Signal chat group in November of 2024 — just over one year after Hamas terrorists had crossed the border from Gaza into Israel, slaughtering hundreds and raping and kidnapping dozens more. The group chat in which he posted included other anti-Israel members of the Park Slope Food Coop, a member-owned grocery store in Park Slope.
The New York Post <a href="https://nypost.com/2026/10/05/us-news/nyc-teacher-praised-oct-7-mastermind-in-park-slope-food-coop-group-chat-lawsuit/">reported</a> that Neva&#8217;s message was uncovered as part of a lawsuit, brought by Jewish members of the coop, after the board voted to ban the sale of Israeli goods in the store. Neva, who led the campaign within the coop to impose a boycott on Israeli goods, had also reportedly posted in the same group, &#8220;That lot does not have the votes to block our campaign.&#8221; It was clear that he was referring to Jewish and pro-Israel members of the coop at the time, according to the Post.
The Post also noted that Neva was not a public school teacher by choice. He had previously worked as a photographer, videographer, and social-media director at Next Management — an elite modeling and talent agency that has represented major names like Jessica Alba, Lana Del Rey, Pharrell Williams, and celebrity chef Mario Batali. Neva said in a since-deleted social media post that he&#8217;d only become a teacher in the past year because of what he called an &#8220;enforced career change.&#8221;
Neva&#8217;s social media history, according to the Post&#8217;s report, is also problematic. One post showed a Star of David superimposed over the Statue of Liberty, an apparent suggestion that the United States was under Israel&#8217;s thumb. Another post showed a sticker with Israel on it being shredded.
Jewish civil rights group Stop Antisemitism posted the following after Neva was hired to teach in a public school:
<blockquote>Meet Damien Neva, a newly hired teacher at Brooklyn’s PSK77.
Neva reportedly posted &#8220;Long live Yahya al-Sinwar,&#8221; praising the former Hamas leader and architect of the October 7 massacre. His social media also features a crossed-out image of Israel. Roughly 157,000 Jewish children live in Brooklyn. Imagine being one of them in Neva’s classroom</blockquote>
Dov Hikind, former Brooklyn assemblyman and founder of Americans Against Antisemitism, has called on NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s Department of Education to enforce another career change, arguing that someone who supported a brutal terrorist like Sinwar should not be allowed anywhere near a classroom — much less one where Jewish students could be in attendance.
&#8220;Sinwar designed what happened on Oct. 7 — the massacre, the barbarism, the rapes and cruelty,&#8221; Hikind explained. &#8220;The idea that anyone connected to education — who believes Sinwar is a hero — could be teaching in the classroom is incomprehensible. How would we react if a teacher said Adolf Hitler was a great leader? This teacher needs to lose his job. He needs to be fired — period.&#8221;
Neva&#8217;s campaign to ban Israeli goods at the Park Slope Food Coop was initially successful, but it quickly led to a lawsuit as Jewish and pro-Israel members of the coop pushed back. The coop, which focuses on providing organic and locally sourced foods, <a href="https://www.foodcoop.com/mission/">advertises itself</a> as &#8220;committed to diversity and equality&#8221; and promises to &#8220;oppose discrimination in any form.&#8221;
As The Washington Free Beacon <a href="https://freebeacon.com/america/long-live-yahya-al-sinwar-brooklyns-park-slope-food-coop-slapped-with-discrimination-suit-for-rampant-antisemitism-crushing-dissent-over-israel-boycott/">reported</a>, the lawsuit alleges that the coop has repeatedly violated its own mission statement, and has &#8220;repeatedly singled out &#8216;Zionists,&#8217; Jewish Members, and persons with ties to Israel for criticism and exclusion.&#8221;
In one such case, a member who was working in the coop as part of their membership agreement, wore a shirt that read &#8220;Peace, Love, and Israel.&#8221; Another member accused the first of being a &#8220;racist&#8221; and a &#8220;genocide supporter.&#8221; The person wearing the pro-Israel shirt was suspended, but &#8220;the harasser,&#8221; according to the lawsuit, &#8220;was not disciplined.&#8221;
Things continued to escalate until September of 2025, when the coop&#8217;s &#8220;official publication&#8221; included a letter accusing one Jewish member of associating with an &#8220;extremist Zionist faction and IDF [Israel Defense Forces] apologist.&#8221; The Jewish member was also accused of &#8220;intellectual depravity,&#8221; being &#8220;morally abhorrent,&#8221; and &#8220;spiritually disfigured,&#8221; The Free Beacon reported.
The lawsuit states that anti-Israel members of the coop ignored bylaws and regulations in order to force their agenda through.
&#8220;The Boycott was adopted after Defendants disregarded coop&#8217;s Governing Documents, altered voting procedures and thresholds without the required bylaw amendments, suppressed debate, and treated an advisory General Meeting vote as binding,&#8221; it reads.
The lawsuit is still ongoing.

Hamas’ Gaza chief Yahya Sinwar

NYC Teacher Praised Hamas Terrorist Behind October 7 Massacre

antisemitism

new york city public schools

october 7 attack

park slope food coop

yahya sinwar

An Israeli mother had her four daughters with her aboard Flydubai flight FZ1073 — and when the copilot attempted to hijack the plane, she gave them all one instruction: &#8220;pray.&#8221;
Lital Hirschl-Shahar, 39, was on her way home from a family vacation in Singapore and Thailand with her girls — aged 14, 11, seven, and five — and said that she knew something was wrong when she heard someone close to the front of the plane shouting that the pilot had been attacked.
&#8220;We heard a lady in business class shouting. She sounded so terrified, in a way I’ll never forget,&#8221; Hirschl-Shahar told <a href="https://nypost.com/2026/10/04/world-news/mom-on-hijacked-flydubai-flight-with-four-young-daughters-had-one-instruction-for-them/">The New York Post</a>. &#8220;It all happened so fast, and the plane just started dropping down. It was so scary and crazy … We all thought we were going to die.&#8221;
&#8220;I was talking to God nonstop, believing prayer was the only thing that could save us. I told my daughters to pray, too,&#8221; she continued. &#8220;We needed a miracle, and I couldn’t help but think, ‘Is this how you’re going to die? Is this how your girls are going to die?’&#8221;
Indian pilot Smit Machchhar, despite his injuries, was able to get the cockpit door opened — and as soon as he did, several Israeli passengers charged into action. Plumber Yaniv Hayoun, who later told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that he&#8217;d learned what to do while watching &#8220;Air Crash Investigations,&#8221; pulled the copilot out of the cockpit as he attempted to disable the aircraft&#8217;s instruments.
While others subdued the resisting terrorist, Hayoun rushed back into the cockpit and pulled the plane out of its downward trajectory. Another man came into the cockpit, saying that he was a pilot, and told Hayoun that he would take over.
Hayoun said that he stayed to watch the replacement pilot because at that point, no one could be certain that others had not been part of the copilot&#8217;s alleged plan to crash the plane in a 9/11-style attack. He said that he felt relieved to hear the pilot speaking to ground control, passing on information about the injured pilot and asking for medical help when they landed.
The plane initially landed in Saudi Arabia, after which another plane carried the passengers the rest of the way to Tel Aviv — their original destination.
&#8220;It was just a miracle wrapped in a miracle wrapped in a miracle,&#8221; Hirschl-Shahar said once they were all safely home.

Passengers From Diverted Flydubai Flight To Arrive In Israel

Mom Gave Her Four Daughters One Order As Hijacked Plane Plunged

Israeli Mom Had Four Daughters On Hijacked Flight. She Gave Them One Instruction.

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hijacking

A new interview with Yaniv Hayoun, one of the passengers credited with helping to avert disaster aboard Flydubai flight FZ1073 gave new details about the moment he rushed the cockpit and what happened next.
Hayoun explained that he&#8217;d been seated in Row 11 with his wife and daughters, and everything had seemed normal until he heard a woman yelling at the front of the plane that there had been a &#8220;stabbing.&#8221; It was not clear from what she shouted who had been stabbed — but then the plane turned sharply and started shaking, at which point Hayoun realized that the situation is unfolding in the cockpit.
Yelling at the other passengers to &#8220;buckle up,&#8221; Hayoun said he rushed toward the cockpit and was almost to the door when the plane nosedived, tossing him around as the dive cut their altitude in by 40% in just 30 seconds.
&#8220;I kept trying my hardest to get up off the ground. At some point, I was finally able to, when the plane leveled off a little,&#8221; Hayoun said, adding that he believed the plane had stabilized because some automated system had engaged.
At the cockpit, a man who looked like a crew member had his hands on the outside of the door — but Hayoun could not tell if he was trying to get the door opened or hold it closed. ”I get to him, I move him away, he doesn&#8217;t resist. I open the cockpit door — it was a little difficult because the pilot was lying down on the floor behind it, the one who was attacked &#8230; I went in. The terrorist was crouching with his knees on the instruments between the two pilots&#8217; seats. There was no one in the pilots&#8217; seats. He was hitting the instrument panel, trying to break the equipment.&#8221;
Hayoun called back to other Israelis in the aisle to &#8220;come help&#8221; and attempted to pull the terrorist away fro the controls — and despite the terrorist fighting back, Hayoun was able to get him out of the cockpit. Several others waiting just outside took over and held the attacker.
Returning to the controls, Hayoun realized that the plane was still angled downward and that he could see the ground through the windshield. He grabbed the yoke and pulled upward, bringing up the nose of the aircraft.
Another man, who was not Israeli, came in and said he was a pilot: &#8220;Release the controls. I&#8217;ll take it.&#8221;
Hayoun said he planned to keep a close eye on the pilot because he didn&#8217;t know whether he could be trusted — but the still-resisting terrorist had required his attention. The passengers eventually subdued him, tying him up with headphone cables.
After helping to remove the wounded Indian pilot, Smit Machchhar, Hayoun remained in the cockpit with the replacement pilot and one other crew member — largely, he said, to ensure that they were taking action to land the plane safely.
He said that he did not understand much English, but he knew that the pilot was talking to ground control and requesting help for the injured pilot once they land.
Still, he said, other Israelis on the plane guarded the remaining members of the flight crew until they were safely on the ground out of fear that some of them could have been working with the terrorist co-pilot.
Hayoun said that once it was over, he did not worry about boarding another Flydubai flight from Saudi Arabia to Tel Aviv — and he said he would certainly fly again in the future.
&#8220;Even being in this situation once was like winning the lottery,&#8221; he said, arguing that the odds were against something similar happening on another flight with him onboard.

New Details Emerge About Hero Who Rushed Cockpit To Stop 9/11-Style Attack

yaniv hayoun

The narrowly averted disaster aboard Flydubai flight FZ1073 has sparked concerns that the Iranian regime may be looking to a new tactic to inflict terror around the world.
Former Israel Defense Forces colonel and intelligence officer Miri Eisin — who now heads Reichman University&#8217;s International Institute for Counter-Terrorism and once served as a spokeswoman for Prime Minister Ehud Olmert — warned that a radicalized pilot could be a harbinger of things to come. Using a pilot for such a scheme, Eisin noted, guaranteed the attacker access to the cockpit — access that hijackers in the past have had to take by force.
&#8220;An individual doesn’t get the idea on his own to crash a plane full of people including himself. Somebody told him that if you do that you get your 72 virgins,&#8221; Eisin told <a href="https://nypost.com/2026/10/03/world-news/irans-terrifying-new-terror-tactic-may-be-turning-airline-pilots-into-9-11-style-attackers-former-idf-colonel-warns/">The New York Post</a>. &#8220;If you think back to past plane hijackings, including 9/11, the hijacker was never the pilot of the plane &#8230; This could be a new kind of suicide bomber.&#8221;
Eisin also said that, although the official investigation is still ongoing, she had believed from the beginning that it was possible Iran was behind the Flydubai attempt.
&#8220;This to me is very much something that could have come from Hezbollah or the IRGC Quds Force, this is the kind of things that they think of,” she said. &#8220;Just because someone’s a pilot doesn’t mean they can’t be radicalized, people from all walks of life could be radicalized. [Former Syrian dictator] Bashar al-Assad was a doctor, Josef Mengele was a doctor &#8230; And if you kill Israelis, the whole world applauds you.&#8221;
President Donald Trump has also suggested that Iran could be responsible for the near miss, but did not give details.
Using trained and radicalized pilots to carry out 9/11-style attacks speaks to a long-term terror strategy — one that was not missed by Oded Ailam, a former deputy head of global operations for Mossad.
&#8220;Recruiting and convincing a pilot to do something like that, it’s not the same as telling a 15-year-old to strap on a bomb and walk into a promenade and explode himself. This is a very sophisticated and long operation,&#8221; he said.
He went on to note that it was far more likely to see &#8220;lone wolf&#8221; style attacks from pilots who were radicalized by the people around them.
&#8220;He’s influenced by jihadists, by extremists in mosques, he’s influenced by prominent Iranians calling for death to Israel,&#8221; he said, &#8220;Terror combined with mental disturbances in the pilot, when you combine it together the outcome is horrific. There are a lot of people who are being radicalized who are airline pilots.&#8221;
Ailam suggested a technological solution — something that would allow crew members to access the cockpit in the event of a similar attack — might be the best way to prevent future instances.
An Israeli television report found that pilots from Iran, Syria, and Iraq, among other enemy states, have flown foreign airliners into and out of Israel in recent years. Those pilots, <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/report-israel-rushing-to-check-whether-other-pilots-from-enemy-states-are-flying-the-israel-route-iranian-syrian-and-iraqi-pilots-have-done-so/">according</a> to the report, hold dual citizenship — likely carrying a second passport from a country that would not raise red flags.

Flydubai passenger plane arrives in Tel Aviv

Flydubai Hijacker Sparks Concerns That Iran Has New Terror Tactic

hezbollah

iran

terrorism

Omani co-pilot Hamam al-Hammami, 29, reportedly made a series of disturbing social media posts while studying aviation management remotely at the U.K.&#8217;s Buckinghamshire New University.
According to a <a href="https://nypost.com/2026/10/04/world-news/accused-flydubai-hijacker-celebrated-beating-women-sharia-law-on-social-media/">report</a> published Sunday by The New York Post, al-Hammami fired off a number of X posts that were misogynistic — and brutally so, often advocating for violence against women — as well as some that were clearly antisemitic.
In one exchange, first <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/10/03/flydubai-hijackers-hateful-rants-while-at-uk-university/">reported</a> by The Telegraph, al-Hammami told a woman, &#8220;God forbid I should be in his position, but if I were in his place, I’d stomp on your head, wipe the floor with you, make you an example to others, and then divorce you.&#8221;
In another post, replying to a post about a man beating a woman, he reportedly wrote, &#8220;Neither you nor she is going to slap someone lik​e this. I swear, if she so much as breathed around him, he’d stomp on her head. He isn’t some simp who waits until she brings some disaster into the home. He gave her a preemptive slap so she would redefine her boundaries, just as Russia slapped Ukraine to adjust its borders.&#8221;
The outlet also said he referred to a man who&#8217;d failed to beat his wife — for talking to another man — as a &#8220;coward and a scoundrel.&#8221;
In yet another post, he reportedly advised a man who&#8217;d caught his wife talking &#8220;badly&#8221; about him to her boss to file a complaint — but &#8220;first you have to stomp on her head, make her life miserable and make her taste the bitterness of what she did.&#8221;
The Telegraph reportedly reviewed more than 2,000 posts tied to an account  under the name &#8220;Pilot Hamam al-Hammami,&#8221; with a username of @PilotHamam. The account bio describes the user as a civilian pilot from Oman, and &#8220;gives biographical details matching Hammami, including that his mother was Syrian.&#8221;
Other posts, according to an Israeli official, expressed hatred for Jews: &#8220;His social media accounts [say] clearly that he has been radicalized into jihadist ideology. He talks about killing Jews.&#8221;
Al-Hammami had been pulled from flight duties at Oman&#8217;s national airline over concerns about his extremist views, The Wall Street Journal reported, yet Flydubai later hired him to fly its route to Israel. On Wednesday, he allegedly stabbed the flight&#8217;s captain, Indian national Smit Machchhar, on a flight bound for Tel Aviv, apparently intending to bring down a plane that Netanyahu said was carrying almost entirely Israeli passengers. He was stopped by Machchhar, who fought back despite his wounds, along with several passengers who stormed the cockpit and off-duty crew who took over the controls.

FlyDubai Boeing 737 MAX 8 airplane at Dubai airport in the United Arab Emirates

READ THEM: Flydubai Hijacker’s Disturbing Social Media Posts Celebrate Beating Women

READ THEM: Flydubai Hijacker's Disturbing Social Media Posts Celebrate Beating Women

hamam al hammami

One of the men named in the &#8220;Cornell 7&#8221; case is suing the prestigious university to have his academic record cleared and allegations against him withdrawn.
Referenced only as &#8220;John Doe&#8221; in the <a href="https://cnycentral.com/news/local/cornell-student-named-in-sex-assault-case-sues-to-have-his-allegations-removed">filing</a>, the man is a former fraternity member who has admitted to being present at the Chi Phi house on the night that the woman known as Jane Doe now says that she was raped — but he says that Cornell University violated its own policy during the investigation.
In court documents filed in Tompkins County, Doe alleges that the university ultimately &#8220;found him responsible&#8221; for an offense for which he was neither charged nor given a chance to defend himself — which he said was a violation of policy.
Cornell&#8217;s hearing panel found Doe not responsible for sexual assault or sexual exploitation — the only two offenses he was charged with — but they found him responsible for Attempted Sexual Exploitation, concluding that he entered the room where the alleged assault was taking place intending to watch. Doe says he built his entire defense, including statements, evidence, and testimony, around the two charges he actually faced, and never got the chance to answer the third.
Doe also alleges that one member of the hearing panel joined by Zoom while driving a car as testimony was being taken, and argues that the hearing was &#8220;irreparably compromised by the repeated inattention of [a] panel member.&#8221; Cornell&#8217;s appeal panel rejected that argument, finding the panelist was in the vehicle for only a minimal portion of the multi-day hearing, and denied his appeal in January.
He claimed in the documents that the university had effectively pulled a &#8220;bait and switch&#8221; by charging him with a separate offense after forcing him to defend himself against others.
The lawsuit says that after an initial investigation into the October 2024 incident, Cornell charged Doe under Policy 6.4, its Title IX policy, with one count of Sexual Assault and one count of Sexual Exploitation. The university claimed that in addition to viewing the alleged victim naked, Doe had &#8220;touched his nose to her naked torso while inhaling Ketamine off her body.&#8221;
Doe said that he submitted evidence — including a hair follicle test proving that he was negative for ketamine — along with a statement asserting that he had not used any illicit substances. He further denied having any physical contact with the alleged victim.
Doe has conceded that he was alerted to the situation at the Chi Phi house during a party via a Snapchat message, and when he went to see what was happening, he had seen Jane Doe &#8220;sitting on a bed and speaking with a member of the fraternity, Roe was fully covered with sheets and Doe asked them if they were okay, and after both said they were, Doe left the room.&#8221;
Doe&#8217;s suit overall claims that &#8220;Sexual Exploitation and Attempted Sexual Exploitation are distinct offenses because they are separately defined in Policy 6.4, and argues that &#8216;Cornell cannot simply add on lesser included offenses after the hearing is concluded.'&#8221;
Doe is asking the court to declare that Cornell misapplied its policies and acted arbitrarily, annul the panel&#8217;s decision, vacate all penalties against him, and expunge every reference to the charges from his academic record.

Cornell University, College Town, Ithaca, NY, stone entrance sign with red Geraniums

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Virginia Kruta