An Israel-bound Flydubai flight diverted to Saudi Arabia after a cockpit stabbing. The Supreme Court vacated a stay on Christa Pike’s execution; Tennessee’s lethal injection failed. President Trump opens a 32-day midterm campaign blitz.
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I'm Nora Vale with your 6 AM World Brief for Thursday, October 1. Flydubai cockpit attack foiled; safe landing in Saudi Arabia. Trump: blow them up or make a deal. Rubio sends Iranian U.N. team home. Trump and Vance open 32-day midterm blitz. SCOTUS vacates Pike stay; Tennessee botches injection; Lee pauses executions. In national weather, from the National Weather Service: Tropical Storm Nolo, with top winds near 45 mph, may bring impacts to parts of Hawaii. There is a Moderate Risk (level 3 of 4) of excessive rainfall over parts of the Southern Plains on Thursday. Our opinion. Investigate the cockpit plot; nuclear limits before Hormuz relief; competent justice for victims. That's your 6 AM World Brief. I'm Nora Vale. See you at 10.
Flydubai flight FZ1073 from Dubai to Tel Aviv diverted to Tabuk, Saudi Arabia, on Wednesday after what Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said was a cockpit stabbing in which one pilot apparently tried to crash the aircraft, the Associated Press and Fox News reported. Flight-tracking data cited by AP showed the jet dropped from about 33,000 feet to 17,000 feet in roughly a minute; passengers and crew subdued the alleged attacker, identified by Israeli officials as an Omani co-pilot, and reserve flydubai pilots landed the plane safely with more than 170 people aboard. Netanyahu praised Indian captain Smit Machchhar, who unlocked the cockpit door despite severe wounds, and Israeli passenger Yaniv Hayoun for intervening; flydubai suspended all Israel flights pending investigation and urged against premature speculation about motive.
President Donald Trump told reporters in the Oval Office late Wednesday that Washington must decide whether to escalate further or negotiate with Iran, saying, “We have to make that decision: We blow them up or make a deal,” and that the confrontation would end “very soon, one way or the other,” Firstpost reported. The comments followed Iran’s confirmation that it had received an official U.S. response to its latest Hormuz and ceasefire proposal; Tehran has not released the text of Washington’s reply. Separately, Secretary of State Marco Rubio ordered Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and his UN General Assembly delegation to leave New York earlier than planned after weekend mediator talks stalled, two U.S. officials told the Associated Press; Iran’s UN mission denied any order and said it left on its pre-notified schedule.
Pakistan carried out overnight airstrikes in Afghanistan’s Kunar and Helmand provinces, Al Jazeera reported with Reuters, as both sides released conflicting casualty figures. Taliban government spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said at least nine people were killed and 11 wounded, describing the dead as women and children and the raids as aggression; Pakistan’s Information Ministry said the strikes hit Pakistan Taliban and Balochistan Liberation Army hideouts and that initial reports suggested 22 militants were killed. A Helmand provincial official earlier told Reuters that strikes on two houses in Garmsir district killed four and injured six, mostly women and children.
President Donald Trump travels Thursday to a truck plant in Denton, Texas, and a campaign stop in Durant, Oklahoma, kicking off what he said will be a 32-day blitz before the Nov. 3 midterms, the Associated Press reported. Vice President JD Vance campaigns the same day with Florida gubernatorial candidate Byron Donalds in Lakeland while Trump’s Oklahoma stop is also aimed at the Dallas–Fort Worth media market and Senate hopeful Ken Paxton. White House chief of staff Susie Wiles told GOP senators this week the president’s schedule is near-daily through Election Day; Trump told reporters Wednesday, “We’re not getting the word out,” and said he is traveling because “nobody’s selling it.”
The White House on Wednesday removed CNN from the press pool covering President Trump’s Thursday travel to Denton, Texas, and Durant, Oklahoma, even though a Sunday rotation document had listed CNN for the trip, NBC News reported. The move follows a federal judge’s order last week requiring restoration of White House hard-pass credentials for CNN, MS NOW and Politico after Trump announced a ban on those outlets; that order covered access on White House grounds, not Air Force One or out-of-town pool seats. CNN’s spokesperson confirmed the removal from Thursday’s planned pool coverage; the White House did not immediately comment to NBC News.
The Supreme Court on Wednesday granted Tennessee’s application in Nelsen v. Pike (No. 26A428), vacating a Sixth Circuit stay of Christa Gail Pike’s execution; Justices Sotomayor, Kagan and Jackson dissented in an opinion posted on supremecourt.gov. Media witnesses and Pike’s lawyers said the state then administered two doses of pentobarbital at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution but Pike’s heart did not stop; she was taken to a hospital, the Nashville Banner and a Washington Post report carried by the Seattle Times said. Gov. Bill Lee said he was halting all scheduled Tennessee executions for the rest of 2026 and ordering a third-party review; separately, oral arguments in Suncor Energy v. Boulder remain set for Oct. 5, with Justice Alito not participating.
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