🚨 HAPPENING RIGHT NOW 🚨
An Omani co-pilot allegedly stabbed the captain of FlyDubai Flight FZ1073 and tried to crash the Dubai-to-Tel Aviv jet into the sea, plunging it roughly 18,000 feet in under a minute before an Israeli passenger and off-duty pilots forced their way into the cockpit and regained control. The plane landed safely in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia, with both pilots hospitalized and no fatalities among the 174 aboard. Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Netanyahu, called it an attempted jihadist terrorist attack; the co-pilot remains in Saudi custody as investigators probe extremist ties, and FlyDubai has suspended all Israel flights.
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 1st, 2026
Before we get to today's news, here's what happened on this date in history.
On October 1, 1890, Congress established Yosemite National Park, protecting more than 1,500 square miles of Sierra Nevada wilderness — an area roughly the size of Rhode Island — after naturalist John Muir and magazine editor Robert Underwood Johnson lobbied lawmakers to stop grazing sheep from destroying the meadows surrounding Yosemite Valley. President Abraham Lincoln had already set the stage back in 1864 by declaring the valley and the Mariposa Grove a state trust, a pioneering move that helped establish the template for the entire national park system. Today the park draws more than 3 million visitors a year to see Half Dome, El Capitan and three groves of giant sequoias.
Bestselling novelist Tom Clancy, who essentially invented the modern techno-thriller, died on October 1, 2013 in a Baltimore hospital at age 66. Clancy was an insurance agent with no military background when he sold his debut novel, "The Hunt for Red October," to the Naval Institute Press for just $5,000 — but the book took off after President Ronald Reagan called it "the perfect yarn," launching a career that produced 17 New York Times bestsellers and more than 100 million copies sold worldwide. His signature creation, CIA agent-turned-president Jack Ryan, went on to anchor a string of Hollywood adaptations starring Harrison Ford, Alec Baldwin and Ben Affleck.
🚀 Elon Musk Tapped to Co-Lead Pentagon's New 'Project Meridian' War-of-the-Future Task Force
War Secretary Pete Hegseth announced at Marine Corps Base Quantico on Tuesday that Elon Musk will co-lead Project Meridian, a new 120-day Pentagon initiative tasked with mapping the warfare domains and technologies the U.S. will need to dominate future conflicts.
Musk shares the assignment with Anduril founder Palmer Luckey and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, reporting to War Department Chief Technology Officer Emil Michael
Hegseth said the project will study warfare “from under the Earth to beyond the moon” and declared “the best forecasters of future conflict do not solely reside inside the Pentagon”
Critics flagged potential conflicts of interest since both Musk's SpaceX and Luckey's Anduril compete for Pentagon contracts; Musk previously led the Department of Government Efficiency
🚨 Texas DPS Thwarts 'Credible' Plot to Attack State Capitol, Suspect in Custody Within Hours of the Tip
Texas authorities arrested 40-year-old Benny Caldera Jr. of Converse before dawn Wednesday after the Department of Public Safety received a credible tip that he was planning a violent attack on the Texas State Capitol timed for Thursday, Oct. 1.
DPS special agents, the FBI and local police built the case in under 48 hours after receiving the tip Tuesday, then arrested Caldera via SWAT at his home around 3 a.m. Wednesday
FBI Director Kash Patel said “within HOURS of the tip, @TxDPS had the main suspect in custody,” while Gov. Greg Abbott vowed “Texas will NOT tolerate threats of violence against our Capitol”
Caldera faces a felony charge of terroristic threat against a public servant and was released on a $75,000 bond fitted with a GPS tracker; the Capitol remains open with stepped-up DPS presence
📈 Private Employers Add 90,000 Jobs in September as Inflation Undershoots Forecasts
The ADP National Employment Report showed private payrolls grew by 90,000 jobs in September — well above the roughly 70,000 Wall Street expected — while fresh inflation data came in cooler than forecast, handing the Trump administration a pair of upbeat economic numbers heading into the midterms.
Regional gains were led by the Northeast (56,000 jobs) and West (17,000); ADP's chief economist said “after a three-month slowdown, job creation rebounded and pay growth remained solid,” with base pay up 3.2% year-over-year
The Personal Consumption Expenditures index held at 3.4% for August with the core rate easing to 3%, below expectations
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent touted that “more than one million private-sector jobs have been created” since January 2025 even as the federal workforce shrank to its smallest size since the 1960s; Democrats countered that cost-of-living concerns remain unaddressed
🕵️ UK Says 'Strong Indication' Iran Was Behind Foiled RAF Fairford Bomb Plot, Tehran Denies Involvement
British officials now say there is a “strong indication” Iran played a role in the alleged bomb plot against RAF Fairford, the U.K. air base that supported America's Operation Epic Fury strikes on Iran, even as the five suspects arrested near the base remain free on bail.
Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham said Iran “played a part” in the plot; a Reuters source said investigators consider “an Iranian-linked motive” most likely, though Russian sabotage and Islamist plots are still being examined
Heritage Foundation's Nile Gardiner called it “highly likely” an Iranian-orchestrated attack, noting Iran's IRGC publicly declared in July that bases used to strike Iran are legitimate retaliation targets
President Trump said the five suspects, arrested Sept. 27 with alleged explosives in vans 350 yards from the base, were “looking to do big damage” and that U.S. surveillance “had them under view for a long time”; Iran's embassy called the accusations “unfounded and malicious”
⚖️ Education Department Formally Kills Biden's Title IX Rule, Restores Trump-Era Rules Protecting Girls' Sports
Education Secretary Linda McMahon announced that the department has formally rescinded the Biden administration's 2024 Title IX rule and restored the Trump-era 2020 regulations, reinforcing that girls' and women's sports categories are reserved for biological females.
McMahon said the move is “just acknowledging that boys and men are in boys and men's sports and girls are in theirs,” adding that it “gives clarification to students, teachers, schools, parents” about what the rule now is
The Biden-era rule had expanded Title IX to cover gender identity; McMahon said the rollback restores what she called the statute's original purpose, “to give everyone, including women, equal opportunity to sports”
The administration is pursuing compliance in Maine, California and Minnesota through investigations, funding restrictions and Justice Department referrals, following a similar enforcement action that led the University of Pennsylvania to restore titles and records to female athletes