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Today's Brief: Sanctions, Zacharia, and the Pope

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

President Donald Trump waived much of a new Russia sanctions law on Friday night, two days before it was due to take effect, the BBC, CBS News and the Guardian reported; in an executive order, he said the waiver was in the "national interests of the United States," Fox Business reported. Russia's envoy called it "historic"; Ukraine's president called it "unfortunate," CBS reported. Katie Zacharia is "transitioning out" as White House press secretary after a single briefing, a White House official told NPR, and a senior White House official told Fox News. Pope Leo XIV left a Rome hospital and returned to the Vatican on Saturday after lung surgery, Vatican News reported. Attacks on ships near the Strait of Hormuz hit a weekly high, tech stocks closed their worst week since June, and Alberta votes Monday on whether to start down a legal path toward separation.

Trump waives Russia sanctions he signed last month. Trump issued an executive order on Friday night suspending parts of the new Russia sanctions law named for the late Sen. Lindsey Graham, which he signed into law in September, saying the waiver was in the U.S. "national interest," the BBC reported. Tariffs of 100% on the world's five largest importers of Russian crude oil and natural gas had been set to take effect Sunday, CBS News reported; Trump also waived the law's 500% tariffs on Russian goods and halted certain other sanctions, and said the waivers will stay in place until officials "determine that further action is appropriate." Under the law, Trump had until Oct. 18 to impose the sanctions and tariffs on Russian energy or waive them, the Guardian reported. The order does not affect certain Russia-related sanctions imposed under earlier executive orders, Fox Business reported.

The law also targeted senior Russian figures including Vladimir Putin, Russian financial institutions and Moscow's "shadow fleet" of tankers used to get around embargoes, according to the BBC. Kirill Dmitriev, Putin's envoy, wrote that "the Trump administration's suspension of the Graham Act is an important and truly historic moment," CBS and the Guardian reported. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the act "could have helped enormously," the BBC and CBS reported, and wrote, "A U.S. sanctions blackout, easing pressure on the aggressor, financial rewards for Putin - all of this only encourages him to keep attacking," CBS reported. He pointed to overnight Russian attacks on 15 Ukrainian energy facilities and said Russia is "trying to cause a blackout in Ukraine – right before winter," the BBC reported. Rep. Don Beyer, D-Va., called it "Trump's latest surrender to Putin," according to the BBC.

The waiver follows Trump's deal last week to import Russian diesel, which Fox Business said came as diesel prices rose amid the wars in Iran and Ukraine, with Republicans urging Trump to bring costs down before November's midterm elections. CBS reported that a bipartisan group of senators had earlier this week called the diesel waivers a "betrayal of the people of Ukraine." Zelenskyy told reporters he believed the administration would lift more sanctions, and said Ukrainian and U.S. negotiators spoke Friday and could meet next week, the BBC reported.

Zacharia out as press secretary after one briefing. Katie Zacharia is "transitioning out" of her role as White House press secretary, a White House official told NPR, after five days on the job; a senior White House official gave Fox News the same phrase. Fox News put her tenure at seven days, citing a source familiar, and reported that she was named to the role Oct. 9. Her first and only briefing, on Tuesday, lasted 14 minutes and she took three questions, Fox reported; NPR described it as "widely panned." Questions then emerged about her legal credentials, NPR said. Trump has referred to her as an attorney, but there is no record of her passing the bar in any state, NPR's Emily Feng reported. On Fox's "Hannity" Thursday night, Zacharia said she did not pass the bar exam and never obtained a U.S. law license, Fox reported; she said, "I sat for it because I didn't want to have a withdraw status," according to NPR and Fox.

Trump said Friday he had given her the choice: "I said, Katie, you know, you don't have to do this if you don't want," NPR reported. "Maybe it's not for her," he said, according to Fox; asked whether he had fired her, he said, "No no. I want her to have a good life," and added, "She's been brutalized by the media." The White House is again without a press secretary, months after Karoline Leavitt resigned, the Guardian reported; it listed communications director Steven Cheung, principal deputy press secretary Anna Kelly, podcast host Katie Miller, former deputy chief of staff Taylor Budowich, CNN contributor Scott Jennings and Alina Habba among possible replacements.

Pope Leo leaves the hospital. Pope Leo XIV left Rome's Gemelli hospital on Saturday afternoon and returned to the Vatican, Vatican News reported, after his doctor, Luigi Carbone, and Gemelli's head of thoracic surgery, Stefano Margaritora, said blood tests and a chest X-ray that morning showed he was fit for discharge, Vatican News and NBC News reported. He is to lead the Angelus prayer from the window of the Apostolic Palace on Sunday, Vatican News reported. Before leaving, he celebrated Mass in a room set aside on the hospital's 10th floor, Vatican News reported.

The 71-year-old pope had a portion of his right lung removed and was diagnosed with lung cancer earlier this week, CBS reported; he had initially been expected to stay until Oct. 20. His doctors have given no indication he needs further treatment, and the Vatican has not said whether the cancer might have spread, NBC reported. The Vatican said Leo spoke with Putin by phone on Friday and "expressed his deep concern about the grave humanitarian situation in the city of Oleshky" in Ukraine, CBS reported. A trip to Uruguay, Argentina and Peru appears to be going ahead: the Vatican on Friday published the names of journalists accredited for the papal plane, CBS reported, and NBC said the trip starts Nov. 11.

Hormuz: attacks on ships hit a weekly high. At least 10 vessels have been attacked in or near the Strait of Hormuz since last Sunday, a weekly high since the war began in February, and 23 attacks have been recorded since the start of the month, almost double the average, the U.K. Maritime Trade Operations agency said, according to CBS News. Iran's Revolutionary Guards said a supertanker carrying more than two million barrels of crude struck a mine and caught fire while "attempting to pass illegally" through the strait, CBS reported; the Guards claimed the tanker attempted to cross "with the support of the US military" after turning off all positioning and radar systems, ABC News reported. Earlier this week, U.S. Central Command disputed a similar Guards claim, saying a container ship was hit by an Iranian projectile rather than a mine, ABC reported. Iran's army spokesman wrote that the strait would reopen if the U.S. leaves the Middle East: "If it does not leave, we will expel it," CBS reported.

Officials have prepared a range of options for Trump as he weighs further escalation, including the Massive Ordnance Air Blast bomb, sources told ABC News; Trump has not made a decision, the sources said, and he has said he will not strike Iran before the midterm election, ABC reported.

Markets: tech's worst week since June. The Nasdaq composite fell 2.1% on Friday and 4.5% for the week, its worst week since June, as AI-related shares came under new pressure, the Wall Street Journal reported. The S&P 500 fell 1.1%, and the Dow dropped 0.3% but rose for the week. CoreWeave has been at the center of the rout as investors worry about how higher borrowing costs will hit the most leveraged companies in the data-center buildout, the Journal said. Brent crude rose 3.7% to $109.86 a barrel, its highest since May, and the 10-year Treasury yield ended the week at 5.097%, the Journal reported.

Alberta votes Monday. Alberta votes Monday not on independence itself but on whether to remain a province or instruct the government to begin the legal process toward a future referendum on separation, the Associated Press reported via NBC News. Alberta's place in Canada is one of 10 questions on the ballot, with the others covering immigration, services for newcomers and constitutional matters, CBC News reported. At an Edmonton rally Friday, Prime Minister Mark Carney said, "This is not a game. This is not poker. A vote against Canada is a dangerous bluff that will lead to years of deep uncertainty and lost opportunities for Albertans and Canadians," the AP reported. Earlier in Red Deer, Premier Danielle Smith appeared with Carney and said, "we are voting for Option 1 to remain in Canada," CBC reported. Smith called the referendum though she opposes independence, and recently cited a poll showing 22% of Albertans support separation, a figure she said was still too high, the AP reported.

Bend: police release new details. All of the victims in Thursday's shooting at Silver Rail Elementary School in Bend, Oregon, were in one special-needs classroom, Police Chief Mike Krantz said Friday, according to ABC News. Police said the three children killed were 5, 8 and 11, and the teacher killed was 25; her family said she was working her "dream job," ABC reported. The injured 7-year-old was in serious but stable condition Friday and the injured 54-year-old teacher had serious but non-life-threatening injuries, police said, according to ABC. A police release said the 16-year-old suspect forced his way in by firing into the glass of an outside set of double doors, went straight into the classroom next to the entrance and fired as many as 15 rounds in all. A motive remains under investigation, ABC reported. "Yesterday was a terrible day for our community," Krantz said in the release. "That is what community looks like," he said of the thousands who came to Thursday's vigil.

Pennsylvania measles: CDC sends a "disease detective". Pennsylvania had confirmed 1,222 measles cases as of Wednesday, and the CDC said Thursday it would send a "disease detective" from its epidemic intelligence service, the Guardian reported. The Guardian said the state has confirmed six measles-associated deaths; the state health department's Wednesday update listed five, with a sixth death, in Franklin County, under investigation. NBC News reported the CDC was also releasing nearly $4 million for the response, according to the Guardian. Lancaster County, the center of the outbreak with more than 415 confirmed cases as of Oct. 9, is the largest county in the state without its own health department, the Guardian reported.

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