NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — In Nashville, Tennessee, the Republican-dominated state government and Democrat-controlled city government are engaged in an ugly battle for control of the city's airport.
But there's one thing the two sides can agree on: Nashville International Airport should be renamed to honor Tennessee's favorite daughter, Dolly Parton. The change would make Parton the first woman whose name adorns one of America’s 50 busiest airports.
Lydia Popovich, a Parton superfan who started a petition for the name change in 2025, said on Friday that Parton had gracefully batted down the idea of naming the airport after her, as she did with many other proposed honors during her lifetime. That includes a bill brought by Tennessee lawmakers in 2021 to place a statue of her on the Capitol grounds.
Parton asked lawmakers to withdraw the bill but expressed a hope that it might happen “somewhere down the road several years from now or perhaps after I’m gone if you still feel I deserve it.”
After Parton's death two weeks ago, the airport naming idea seemingly caught fire, with Popovich's petition reaching more than 175,000 signatures — not that the officials competing to run the airport needed the push.
At a meeting Friday of the state-controlled Metropolitan Nashville Airport Authority, a motion directing the airport CEO to begin the renaming process was unanimously approved by board members praising Parton to the heavens. Airport officials said the change could take a year or more and involves working with Parton's estate to determine how they might split profits from merchandise sales, among other things.
There are two Metropolitan Nashville Airport Authorities: one run by the state and the other controlled by the city, a bifurcated regulatory system that was created in 2023 amid a partisan dispute between the GOP-run state and the Democratic-run city. Who actually controls the airport has been in dispute ever since, with competing boards taking the reins only to be deposed as courts rule and are overturned.
Despite the acrimony, Nashville's Democratic Mayor Freddie O'Connell and the competing, city-controlled Metropolitan Nashville Airport Authority are also in support of the name change, according to O'Connell spokesman Alex Apple.
“The FAA's going to get two votes from two boards, both in favor,” Apple said.
The situation is ironic, and it's hard to imagine that Parton would approve.
Stuart McWhorter, a member of the state-controlled board and deputy to Tennessee's Republican Gov. Bill Lee, briefly mentioned the dispute at the Friday meeting. He suggested that in the spirit of Parton “we can get beyond the litigation and get back to working together.”
Born in poverty in the foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains, Parton became an icon whose popularity crossed generational, geographic and political boundaries. In addition to writing and recording hit songs such as “Jolene” and “I Will Always Love You,” she starred in Hollywood films including “9 to 5” and “Steel Magnolias.”
Popovich, who attended the Friday meeting and spoke in favor of the proposal, was in tears after the unanimous vote in favor.
“It's been a really beautiful experience, especially as you're grieving someone that was such a great loss,” she told The Associated Press. “She's the best of Tennessee. She's the best of the humans on the planet. She was this magical person that provided light and guidance to all of us.
“Unfortunately she's left us, but now we get to celebrate her and get to tell the world how much Tennessee loved her.”
A view of the Nashville International Airport is seen Friday, Aug. 28, 2026, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)
Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen seized a key island Friday after capturing a Red Sea port, moves that threatened to further disrupt international shipping in the region. And Saudi Arabia said it shut down a major oil pipeline as a precaution after it came under attack.
Here’s a look at the latest news in the Middle East. Full coverage can be found here.
Yemen ’s Iranian-backed Houthi rebels captured the island of Mayun at the entrance of the Red Sea, a key alternative for shipping Saudi oil and other exports since Iran has been targeting vessels in the Strait of Hormuz.
The island's seizure was confirmed by a senior military official with Yemen’s internationally recognized government and a Houthi official. Both spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to journalists.
About 12% of the world’s goods are typically shipped through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait at the southern end of the Red Sea. It's especially important to Saudi Arabia, a key U.S. ally.
The Houthis' military spokesperson, Yahya Saree, said in a statement Friday that “maritime navigation is safe for all companies except for Saudi vessels.” But markets are nervous, and experts have described the Houthis as highly unpredictable.
A United Nations spokesperson, Farhan Haq, said Houthi rebels in Mokha seized a compound that had housed U.N. staff, who all fled safely before the city's capture. Haq said that “no U.N. personnel remain in Mokha right now.”
By Samy Magdy in Cairo
Saudi Arabia said Friday it had shut down a major, cross-country oil pipeline as a “precautionary measure” following attacks the day before. The Saudi Energy Ministry did not say who carried out the attacks.
The East-West pipeline has been vital to Saudi Arabia continuing oil exports in the months since the Iran war has disrupted shipping in the Strait of Hormuz.
According to the International Energy Agency, Saudi oil exports through the Red Sea port at the pipeline's end have more than doubled since the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran on Feb. 28.
The AI company Anthropic said it blocked users in northern Yemen who were using its AI models to run weapons development programs, some using commercially available smartphones.
Anthropic said its models were being used to pursue sophisticated precision, long-range ballistic and hypersonic missiles. The company said it identified the users during an internal investigation and banned their accounts.
Iran-backed Houthi rebels who control northern Yemen have been smuggling advanced weapons for years despite a blockade and U.N. arms embargo. Iran denies arming the rebels.
Anthropic said the accounts used Claude Code to develop software that “steers and stabilizes a flying vehicle” and were working to develop weapons including a guided rocket that allows mobile phone users to autonomously track targets.
There is no evidence the users in Yemen succeeded in fielding a weapon, the company said.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei said Friday that a regional meeting is planned between Iran and other Persian Gulf countries, including Oman and Iraq.
Baghaei told reporters the meeting will take place on Monday in Oman and will include discussion on prior talks between Iran and Oman regarding shipping in the Strait of Hormuz. Located on either side of the strait, Iran and Oman have held talks over managing ship traffic through the critical waterway, which has been heavily disrupted by the Iran war.
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said on Friday that his country’s military has completed the destruction of tunnels in the strategic Ali Taher ridge in southern Lebanon, which he said were built by the militant group Hezbollah with Iranian funding.
The ridge has been the site of clashes between Israeli forces and Hezbollah in recent weeks. Nearby residents heard loud explosions and felt the ground shaking Thursday. There was no immediate comment from Hezbollah.
Meanwhile, Israeli forces continued to demolish houses in villages under their control in southern Lebanon.
Residents displaced from the coastal village of Mansouri watched from a distance on Friday as Israeli drones carried boxes of explosives to be dropped on their homes. The Israeli army did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
An Israeli strike on Friday killed a man walking in a street in southern Gaza and wounded several people, including children, according to Nasser Hospital, which received the body and the wounded.
The Israeli military said the strike in Khan Younis had targeted a Hamas member.
Meanwhile, mourners held funeral prayers for two of three men who were killed Thursday in Khan Younis. The Israeli military said one of the men, Mohammad Yazouri, was a Hamas commander.
This image taken from undated video released by the Ansar Allah Media Office, the media arm of Yemen's Houthi rebels, on Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2026, shows a Houthi fighter firing a truck-mounted anti-aircraft gun during what the group said was an attack on Saudi-backed forces in eastern Jawf province, Yemen. (Ansar Allah Media Office via AP)
Palestinian mourners by the body of Muhammad Yazouri, who was killed in an Israeli airstrike Thursday night, during his funeral in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, Friday, Sept.11, 2026. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
Palestinian women mourn over the body of Muhammad Yazouri, who was killed in an Israeli airstrike Thursday night, ahead of his funeral in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, Friday, Sept.11, 2026. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
Palestinian mourners carry the body of Muhammad Yazouri, draped in the flag of the Mujahideen Brigades, a Palestinian militant group, with a rifle laid on top, during his funeral after he was killed in an Israeli airstrike the previous night, in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, Friday, Sept. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
Yemen's Houthi rebels march during a mobilization campaign in Sanaa, Yemen, Thursday, Sept. 10, 2026. (AP Photo)
