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Today's Brief: Inflation, Houthis, and Starlink

The Homebrew · · Posted · AI-drafted daily brief, synthesized from Left, Center, and Right coverage. Facts may be inaccurate — verify with the cited sources below.

U.S. consumer prices rose 3.7% in the year through September, the final inflation reading before the midterms, as high gasoline and diesel costs pushed prices up, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported and outlets across the spectrum covered. Explosions were heard over Riyadh on Wednesday as Iran-backed Houthis and the Saudi-led coalition traded fire, and Trump continued to weigh joining Saudi strikes. Ukraine said SpaceX restricted Starlink terminals used by its military overnight, and sources told CBS News the United States may have withheld early warnings before deadly Russian strikes on Kyiv. Pope Leo XIV spent a calm night in a Rome hospital after surgeons removed the lower lobe of his right lung, the Vatican said tests confirmed lung adenocarcinoma, and on Wednesday it said his postoperative recovery was progressing normally and he had begun walking around his room. At a Wasilla rally Tuesday night, Trump pardoned two Alaska diesel-shop owners onstage and urged voters to back the "real" Sen. Dan Sullivan against a same-name challenger.

Inflation hits 3.7% in the last CPI before the midterms. Annual inflation rose to 3.7% in September from 3.4% in August, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, a reading covered by the Guardian, CBS News, ABC News, the BBC, NBC News, the New York Post, the Washington Examiner and the Daily Wire. Economists had expected 3.6%, CBS, NBC and the Post reported; ABC said the reading came in slightly above expectations. Consumer prices rose 0.6% from August, the Guardian and NBC said. Core inflation, which excludes food and energy, rose to 2.6% from 2.4% in August, according to CBS and the Post; NBC and the Washington Examiner also put core at 2.6%.

Gasoline prices rose 9.1% in September from August and accounted for more than half of the monthly increase, the BLS said, according to CBS and NBC. Energy prices were up 20.4% from a year earlier, CBS and the Post reported, and gasoline was up about 34% year over year, according to CBS and the Guardian. The national average for a gallon of gasoline was $4.33 on Wednesday, AAA said via CBS; diesel was $6.29 a gallon, CBS and ABC reported; CBS said diesel hit a record high in late September. The Guardian said fuel oil was up 74% from a year earlier and air travel up 22.4%. Food prices were flat month over month, ABC and the Daily Wire said.

The Guardian, ABC and the Washington Examiner tied the run-up in energy costs to the war with Iran. Most outlets cited here framed the report as the last CPI before November's elections. The Washington Examiner noted that the Federal Reserve, led by chair Kevin Warsh, recently raised its target rate by 0.25 percentage points to a range of 3.75% to 4%. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said last week that inflation should head back toward the Fed's 2% target once the Iran conflict ends, the Daily Wire reported. The White House did not immediately respond to the Guardian's request for comment on the new numbers.

Houthis and Saudis trade strikes as Trump mulls joining in. Explosions were heard over Saudi Arabia's capital Wednesday morning, and a Saudi military spokesman said a Houthi ballistic missile was intercepted over Riyadh, CBS News reported; ABC News' live updates also reported the interception. The Houthis vowed Wednesday to keep targeting Saudi Arabia's international airport and oil infrastructure in response to what they called "Saudi aggression" against Sanaa, CBS said. In a televised statement, Houthi military spokesman Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree told civilians and workers at the targeted sites to stay away and evacuate them, according to CBS.

The Saudi-led coalition said it struck oil sites across western Yemen on Tuesday, including in Sanaa, and said it intercepted two Houthi ballistic missiles aimed at the kingdom's east, CBS reported. Debris from intercepted missiles fell on residential parts of Riyadh, injuring four people and damaging 15 homes, Saudi Civil Defense said, according to CBS. The Saudi Ministry of Energy said a limited fire broke out in an administrative building at an Aramco facility in the Eastern Province that was targeted; no injuries were reported, CBS said. CBS said at least 20 people, including a U.S. national, have been killed in a week of attacks on Saudi Arabia's main airport blamed on the Houthis, and Trump has said he is considering joining the Saudi-led campaign. A Houthi official said Monday there would be a "swift and painful" response if the United States joins those strikes, CBS reported.

A British maritime agency reported Wednesday that two ships sustained minor damage after coming under attack in the Strait of Hormuz on Tuesday, bringing to four the number of ship attacks there that day, CBS said. Separately, Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said Wednesday that a cargo ship sank after hitting a naval mine in the strait; CBS noted there was no immediate verification from the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations monitor. ABC News' live updates also reported the IRGC's mine claim. The State Department is requiring U.S. government employees in Saudi Arabia to get special authorization to use airports in the kingdom, CBS reported, and Saudi civil aviation authorities have suspended operations at Riyadh's King Khalid International Airport through Oct. 17.

Ukraine: missing warnings, Starlink limits, and a diesel deal fight. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Ukraine "received no advance warning from our partners" when Russia launched a ballistic missile barrage at Kyiv and other locations early Tuesday, CBS News reported. Sources familiar with the matter told CBS the United States may have intentionally withheld early warnings; American officials told Ukrainian counterparts the detection system had failed due to "bad weather," while Ukrainian officials told CBS they did not believe that explanation. When another wave of ballistic missiles came around 3 a.m. local time Wednesday, the U.S. early-warning system appeared to be working again, those sources told CBS. Sources also told CBS the United States had not ceased intelligence sharing with Ukraine overall. Trump has insisted the U.S. is still sharing intel, NBC News reported.

Zelenskyy said Wednesday that overnight Russia launched more than 39 ballistic missiles and more than 120 attack drones and loitering munitions, primarily at energy and critical infrastructure in Kyiv and Kharkiv, killing six people and leaving some 600,000 without power, CBS reported. The strikes came soon after Trump posted that Russia and Ukraine had agreed to an "energy ceasefire," CBS said. On Wednesday, as Zelenskyy arrived in the United Kingdom, he wrote on X that the strike showed "demonstrative disrespect from Russia toward America" and asked America and others "to respond, and to respond harshly," according to CBS.

Ukrainian officials and soldiers told CBS that Ukraine's military began having trouble Tuesday night and Wednesday morning with Starlink, the SpaceX satellite service, and NBC reported that Ukrainian officials and units accused SpaceX of throttling it. Serhii Beskrestnov, an adviser on defense technology to Zelenskyy, said SpaceX introduced speed limits on Starlink terminals overnight without warning and that "this led to the failure of a number of missions," NBC and the Guardian reported. He said the limits hit military-grade terminals traveling above 100 mph, according to NBC and the Guardian. Sources in Ukraine's Defense Ministry told CBS that SpaceX "unilaterally restricted the operation of Starshield terminals ('military package') while in motion," complicating UAV missions and frontline logistics. An army unit fighting in the Zaporizhzhia region said Wednesday it had been forced to cancel some planned operations, NBC reported. CBS said it had reached out to SpaceX, the White House and the Pentagon for comment; the Guardian said SpaceX did not confirm any changes.

Separately, a bipartisan group of senators urged Trump to scrap his recently announced Russian diesel deal, calling it "a gift to our adversary and a betrayal of our Allies," Fox News reported. The letter, which was copied to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, was signed by Republican Sens. Thom Tillis, Mitch McConnell, Susan Collins, Alan Armstrong, Lisa Murkowski and John Cornyn and Democratic Sens. Richard Blumenthal, Jeanne Shaheen, Dick Durbin, Sheldon Whitehouse, Jack Reed and Chris Coons, Fox said. Trump said Tuesday the diesel is "gonna be released into the world for the world market," not specifically to the United States, Fox reported. In a Friday Truth Social post quoted by Fox, Trump said Russia would supply more than 300,000 tons of diesel immediately, another 500,000 tons in November, and 1,000,000 tons thereafter, with 3,000,000 tons "within a short period of time" depending on refinery conditions.

Pope Leo XIV: lung cancer confirmed after surgery. Pope Leo XIV, 71, has been diagnosed with lung cancer after Tuesday's surgery at Rome's Gemelli Hospital, the Vatican said, according to CBS News, the BBC, NBC News, NPR, the Guardian and Breitbart. CBS, the BBC, NBC and Breitbart said the diagnosis was adenocarcinoma. Surgeons removed the lower lobe of his right lung using a video-assisted technique "to ensure a radical resection," the Vatican said; the operation itself lasted about 90 minutes, CBS, the BBC and NBC reported, and Leo was in the operating room for about three hours, according to NBC and Vatican News. "The operation was successful and there were no complications," the Vatican said, according to the BBC. Leo "regained consciousness normally" and returned to his room on the 10th floor, CBS reported. The Vatican said Wednesday morning he had a "peaceful night" and is expected to remain in the hospital about a week, the BBC reported. On Wednesday, the Vatican said, according to Vatican News, that blood tests and a chest X-ray scheduled after surgery confirmed his postoperative recovery "is progressing normally," with values "within the expected range for the type of operation performed." He has undergone respiratory physiotherapy, has begun walking around his room and has resumed eating normally, having breakfast and lunch, the Vatican said. CBS News carried the same update, and the BBC reported the tests, physiotherapy and walking.

The Vatican did not disclose the cancer's stage or whether it had spread, CBS, NBC and Breitbart noted. A Vatican source told AFP that further tests were under way to check for spread, the BBC reported. Audiences have been canceled through Oct. 20, CBS and the Guardian said. It remains unclear whether Leo will keep a planned trip to South America next month, CBS and NBC reported; CBS said it is scheduled to start Nov. 6, and the BBC said it includes a visit to Peru, where he served as a missionary and bishop. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said he and his wife were praying for the Chicago-born pope, NBC and the Guardian reported.

Trump in Alaska: onstage pardons and the "real" Dan Sullivan. At a midterm rally Tuesday night in Wasilla, Alaska, Trump granted onstage pardons to Zachary Czubak and Patrick Fleming, auto shop owners who pleaded guilty in 2022 to conspiracy to violate the Clean Air Act, CBS News reported. Federal prosecutors said their shop, Arm Rippin Toys, removed emission controls on diesel vehicles for fees of $1,140 to $5,445; each of the three co-owners was sentenced to five years of probation, $66,000 in fines and community service, CBS said. Trump called the men "wrongly charged" and said the Biden-era Justice Department "viciously targeted the Alaskan way of life," according to CBS. "Bring me the pardons!" he told an aide onstage, CBS reported. A third co-owner, Michael Hanzuk, received a pardon last month, CBS said. The Guardian's live blog also noted the onstage pardons as Trump opened a stretch of campaign stops in conservative-leaning parts of competitive states, with Arizona and Montana rallies set for Wednesday.

Trump urged Alaskans to vote for "the real Dan Sullivan," the incumbent Republican senator, against Democrat Mary Peltola and another candidate named Dan Sullivan, the Guardian reported. "They found a guy named Dan Sullivan, they put him up to get a little confused," Trump said, calling it "just cheating," according to the Guardian. Noting that the challenger took about 2.5% in the August primary, Trump said, "That could be the difference," the Guardian reported. In a Fox News interview after the rally, Trump said of the other Sullivan, "We are looking, I can't say federal, but we are looking into it," and called his candidacy "another hoax by the Democrats," Fox reported. Polling has shown Peltola tied or slightly ahead of the incumbent in a state Trump carried by a wide margin in 2024, the Guardian's live blog said.

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