Happy Thursday! The Convention and Visitors Bureau in Lexington, Kentucky, is going above and beyond to attract new tourists to the city—extraterrestrial tourists, that is. The bureau laser beamed a welcome message into space toward potentially habitable planets, inviting any aliens interested in bluegrass, horse farms, or bourbon to stop on by.

Quick Hits: Today’s Top Stories

• The Biden administration announced on Wednesday the redesignation of Yemen’s Houthi rebels as a specially designated global terrorist group amid their escalating attacks on international shipping vessels in the Red Sea. The Trump administration had previously applied the designation to the Iranian-backed group in addition to adding it to the foreign terrorist organization list, but President Joe Biden revoked both designations shortly after taking office in February 2021. “This designation seeks to promote accountability for the group’s terrorist activities,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement released Wednesday. “If the Houthis cease their attacks in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, the United States will reevaluate this designation.” Yet American and Houthi forces continued to trade fire throughout Wednesday: A U.S.-owned commercial vessel was hit by a drone in the Gulf of Aden, approximately 60 miles from the Yemeni coast, and the U.S. fired a fourth round of missile strikes at Houthi targets in Yemen.
• Iran carried out missile and drone strikes in western Pakistan on Tuesday, striking Sunni militant group Jaish ul-Adl, a U.S.-designated terrorist organization that has previously launched attacks on Iran. Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian claimed the strikes didn’t target Pakistani citizens, just “Iranian terrorists on the soil of Pakistan.” The Pakistani government condemned the strikes as an “unprovoked and blatant breach” of the country’s sovereignty, and recalled Pakistan’s ambassador to Iran after claiming the bombardment had killed two Pakistani children. This morning, Pakistan launched retaliatory air strikes against what it claimed were terrorist hideouts in southeastern Iran, reportedly killing seven people. Iran’s foreign ministry today summoned Pakistan’s charge d’affaires in Tehran to “offer explanations” for the attacks, according to Iranian state media.
• A Maine judge on Wednesday suspended a decision to disqualify former President Donald Trump from the state’s primary ballot. Superior Court Justice Michaela Murphy rejected an appeal from Trump’s legal team to stay the case and instead remanded the case back to Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows, ordering her to await a decision by the Supreme Court in the Colorado disqualification case. “While it is impossible to know what the Supreme Court will decide, hopefully it will at least clarify what role, if any, state decision-makers, including secretaries of state and state judicial officers, play in adjudicating claims of disqualification,” Murphy wrote in her decision. 
• Rep. Jeff Duncan, a South Carolina Republican, announced yesterday that he will not seek reelection. “At some point in a career, one needs to step aside and allow others to bring fresh ideas and abilities into the fight for liberty,” Duncan said in a statement. Nearly 40 lawmakers in the House have announced they will not seek reelection next November. Looking to return to Congress is former Democratic Rep. Dennis Kucinich, who filed on Wednesday to run for his former seat in Ohio as an independent.

K-12 Education’s Absenteeism Problem

There are lots of ways to describe being absent from school: “playing hooky,” “cutting class,” “skipping,” this scene from Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. 

Nearly four years since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, the classic story of a bunch of Ferrises blowing off school to lead downtown Chicago in a rousing rendition of “Twist and Shout” seems insufficient to explain the U.S. public education system’s nationwide problem with student attendance. The causes of the current crisis—which in 2023 saw rates of chronic absenteeism 71 percent above their national pre-pandemic average—are many and complex, and researchers and policymakers are still struggling to understand why attendance hasn’t rebounded. And while some states and school districts have taken steps toward boosting attendance, the scale of the problem remains …

As a non-paying reader, you are receiving a truncated version of The Morning Dispatch. Our full 1,530-word story on chronic absenteeism in K-12 education is available in the members-only version of TMD.

Worth Your Time 

• Writing for Politico, Nahal Toosi explored the increasingly dire concerns of foreign diplomats about the state of American politics. “When I asked the European ambassador to talk to me about America’s deepening partisan divide, I expected a polite brushoff at best,” she wrote. “Instead, the ambassador unloaded for an hour, warning that America’s poisonous politics are hurting its security, its economy, its friends and its standing as a pillar of democracy and global stability. The U.S. is a ‘fat buffalo trying to take a nap’ as hungry wolves approach, the envoy mused. ‘I can hear those Champagne bottle corks popping in Moscow—like it’s Christmas every f—ing day.’ As voters cast ballots in the Iowa caucuses Monday, many in the United States see this year’s presidential election as a test of American democracy. But, in a series of conversations with a dozen current and former diplomats, I sensed that to many of our friends abroad, the U.S. is already failing that test. The diplomats are aghast that so many U.S. leaders let their zeal for partisan politics prevent the basic functions of government. It’s a major topic of conversations at their private dinners and gatherings. Many of those I talked to were granted anonymity to be as candid with me as they are with each other. For example, one former Arab ambassador who was posted in the U.S. during both Republican and Democratic administrations told me American politics have become so unhealthy that he’d turn down a chance to return. ‘I don’t know if in the coming years people will be looking at the United States as a model for democracy,’ a second Arab diplomat warned.”

Presented Without Comment 

New York Times: CNN Cancels Its Republican Debate in New Hampshire for Lack of Participation

Also Presented Without Comment

Politico: White House Called [Former Arkansas Gov. Asa] Hutchinson to Apologize for DNC Remarks

Hutchinson, who ran a campaign designed to take on and criticize Donald Trump, dropped out of the race after a sixth-place in the Iowa caucuses this week.

The Democratic National Committee initially responded by calling his withdrawal “a shock to those of us who could’ve sworn he had already dropped out.” The statement drew immediate backlash from people who said it was a gratuitous attempt to humiliate Hutchinson.

Thank You, New Hampshire!

We hope those of you who joined us in Concord had as much fun as we did!

Toeing the Company Line 

• In the newsletters: The Dispatch Politics crew reported from New Hampshire on Nikki Haley’s pitch to Granite Staters, Scott argued against (🔒) policies that promote manufacturing for manufacturing’s sake, Nick explored the pattern of Republican candidates’ “deathbed confessions” as they lose to Trump, and Jonah outlined (🔒) how the 2024 election could end up looking a lot like 2016.
• On the podcasts: Chris takes over The Remnant to discuss the state of the 2024 race heading into New Hampshire with Christine Rosen, a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and columnist for Commentary magazine.
• On the site: Michael Warren reports on efforts by independent and Democratic-leaning voters in New Hampshire to put Nikki Haley over the top next week, and Brian Riedl argues that Republicans need to get serious about entitlement reform and taxes.