Good morning and happy Friday the 13th. Stay safe out there. If you need a popularity boost at the office, Krispy Kreme will sell you a dozen glazed donuts for 13 cents when you buy another dozen at regular price. Thankfully Sadly, the limit is one discounted box per person.

WORLD

🇮🇶 U.S, Iraq agree on plan to withdraw most American troops

The United States still has 2,500 troops in Iraq. But that may be changing soon under the terms of a tentative troop drawdown deal negotiated by American and Iraqi officials.

After the 2003 invasion, the number of American forces in Iraq peaked at about 170,000 in late 2007. By the end of 2011, the U.S. had pulled out completely per an agreement with the Iraqi government.

Yada, yada, yada, the terror group variously known as ISIS, ISIL, or IS successfully captured humongous chunks of Iraq and Syria, which was (and still is) in the middle of a civil war. The Iraqi government requested the return of their American friends.

• That mission, like the 2003 invasion, was supported by troops from an international coalition including the United Kingdom, Canada, Germany, and, believe it or not, France.

• Combat operations officially ceased (again) in late 2021 following Iraqi demands.

About 2,500 American troops remain in Iraq in an advisory role. They no longer see regular combat, but that doesn’t mean they’re not in harm’s way. Seven U.S. troops were wounded last month in an anti-ISIS operation.

• The U.S. and Iraq have been negotiating the terms of a fuller, formal withdrawal for months.

Those talks are now nearly complete, Iraq’s defense minister said this week. One Iraqi official noted that, now that the threat of ISIS has waned, Iraq is "fully capable of handling” its own security.

The first phase would see hundreds of troops leave by September 2025. Remaining forces would be out by the end of 2026. The Pentagon hasn’t confirmed the report, but Iraqi officials are all about it. Even this, however, will not be a complete withdrawal. A small contingent of U.S. troops are likely to remain in the semi-independent Kurdistan region of northern Iraq… to support the 900 troops next door in Syria.

Related: The elite Navy SEAL team that took out Osama bin Laden is training for a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan.

UNITED STATES

🔒 Congress will get extra security when it counts Electoral College votes on January 6, 2025. For the first time, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) designated the final event in the presidential election process a "national security special event" to prevent another, err, situation. Typically given to large-scale events like Super Bowls, and U.N. General Assembly meetings, the designation greases the wheels a bit by empowering the Secret Service to take charge of security. Thankfully, they’ve not had any massive failures as of late.

🎲 Move over, sports. There’s a new betting game in town. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) lost a lawsuit from betting startup Kalshi, overturning the agency’s ban on betting on politics. The judge declined the CFTC’s request yesterday to put the ruling on ice during the appeals process, so the money is already flowing (for now).

🕵️ The ultra-secret National Security Agency (NSA) has a podcast now. Sometimes jokingly referred to by other intelligence agencies as “No Such Agency,” the NSA collects communications and data-based intel rather than dealing with human espionage à la the CIA. "No Such Podcast" debuted last week with an episode revealing how the agency's cybersecurity pros helped track down Osama bin Laden.

POLITICS

👎️ Post-debate fallout continues

If you missed this week’s presidential debate, you’ll have to wait until 2028 for another. The Harris campaign asked for a second Trump-Harris debate minutes after the first show ended on Tuesday. Donald Trump nixed that on Thursday, tweeting Truth-ing, with caps lock firmly in place, "THERE WILL BE NO THIRD DEBATE!" Kamala Harris responded, again calling for another debate because she and Trump "owe it to the voters.”

• Most voters say Harris won the debate. And a post-debate poll showed her national margin over Trump increasing by 1% compared to last month.

• VP nominees Gov. Tim Walz and Sen. JD Vance are still set to duke it out vice presidentially on October 1.

Claims that Harris wore secret headphones disguised as earrings during the debate went viral this week. The German tech company behind the real product is making the best of the free attention, though. They say they’re not sure whether Harris wore their product and happily offered to make a "male version" for Trump.

• Harris isn’t the first candidate to be accused of cheating in a debate. Some liberals have been convinced for decades that George W. Bush wore a wire during a 2000 debate against Al Gore.

Kamala Harris is taking fire from reporters. The White House News Photographers Association is mad that the number of seats for independent photographers on Air Force Two has been cut from four down to one. It's not just the photographers, though. Harris has frustrated journalists for months due to a lack of media access.

• Since becoming the Democratic nominee, she hasn't done a single solo sit-down interview or held a single press conference.

• In contrast, Donald Trump has done 24 press events and JD Vance has done nearly 60.

Donald Trump caught a small legal break. A Georgia judge tossed two of the criminal charges in the state's election interference case against him. The judge found that state prosecutors didn't have the power to bring those particular charges. Eight other charges still remain.

The U.S. Senate is back to 100 after Sen. George Helmy (D-NJ) was sworn in this week. Helmy was appointed to the post by New Jersey’s governor to fill the seat left vacant when Sen. Bob Menendez resigned after his corruption conviction. Helmy will serve until a replacement is elected in November (but you can bet people will call him “Senator” for the rest of his life).

TRIVIA

The fighting of World War I ended when the armistice was signed on November 11, 1918 (hence, Veterans Day). It had many causes, but the straw that broke the camel's back was a royal assassination. The murder of which European royal led to the launch of World War I a month later?

Hint: There's a band named for him. Their biggest banger is 2004’s "Take Me Out."

GOVERNMENT

🏛️ Completed World War I memorial to be unveiled

Nearly 106 years after the war's end, the National World War I Memorial is finally complete. The final piece of the puzzle will be unveiled tonight in a First Illumination ceremony.

The memorial opened to the public in 2021. But the centerpiece, a 60-foot-long bronze relief sculpture, was missing. Artist Sabin Howard’s sculpture, titled “A Soldier’s Journey,” features 38 larger-than-life bronze figures and charts the wartime journey from home to war and back.

• It’s unapologetically classic, too. Howard isn’t a fan of modern art, saying “It's a scam, what's happened in the last 100 years. I'm here to rectify that scam."

The road to this memorial was long. Efforts to build a World War I memorial go back decades. Things heated up in the run-up to the war’s 1919 centennial before a bill finally passed in 2014.

• Sadly, no American veteran of the war lived to see that day. The last survivor, Frank Buckles, passed away in 2011 at age 110.

With the National Mall pretty much full, the National World War I Memorial is situated (controversially…) at Pershing Park a few blocks to the north. It took Congress a century, but the very similarly named, non-profit National World War I Museum and Memorial has been up and running in Kansas City since 1926. Better late than never.

BRIEFS

• SpaceX's Polaris Dawn mission makes history with first-ever privately funded spacewalk

• E.U.’s European Central Bank makes second cut, lowers interest rates to 3.5%

• Britain set to ban junk food ads before 9 p.m. to save National Health Service budget

• North Dakota abortion ban struck down by state judge as violation of state constitution

• Ex-CIA officer who spied for China sentenced to ten years in prison for espionage

• Israeli commandos raid Iranian weapons factory in Syria, killing at least 18

• Americans will be "shocked, astonished, and appalled" by congressional assassination report, says Democratic senator

QUOTE

SNACKS

🥇 Sad the Olympics are over? Kazakhstan's got you covered. The biennial World Nomad Games kicked off this week and run through tomorrow. About 3,000 athletes from 82 countries are competing in 13 steppe-flavored sports that would make Genghis Khan proud. Our favorite? Afghanistan’s national sport, Kokpar — otherwise known as “horseback football with a dead pig for a ball.” Sadly, Team USA didn’t do so hot.

🍪 If that’s a bit much for you, Delish has a recipe (that’s presumably delish) for pumpkin chocolate chip cookies.

ANSWER

On June 28, 1914, the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, Archduke Franz Ferdinand was assassinated on a visit to Sarajevo. A month later, the war broke out. And three months after that, the country ole Franz was set to lead ceased to exist.