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Today's Brief: France, Wainwright, and the Pope

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

French police arrested at least 1,800 people after masked groups set fires and looted shops during Saturday's nationwide protests over rising living costs and conditions in schools, NPR reported (CBS News said more than 1,800); Paris police said 855 people were arrested in the French capital region alone, NPR reported. In Alberta, people were killed and injured on Saturday in an incident at Canadian Forces Base Wainwright, Canada's defence minister said, CBC reported; Prime Minister Mark Carney said the incident created a major fire, CBC reported. Global News, citing unnamed military sources, reported at least seven dead and dozens injured. Pope Leo XIV, out of the hospital since Saturday, appeared at his window in St. Peter's Square on Sunday and said he would gradually resume his duties, CBS reported. Ukraine hit Russia with one of the war's largest drone attacks as the fight over Trump's Russia sanctions waiver went on in Washington, Iran restated its terms for reopening the Strait of Hormuz, and evacuation orders were lifted for most of the Norte Fire in Orange County.

France: 1,800 arrests after protests turn violent. Police arrested at least 1,800 people across France after violent groups clashed with officers and looted shops during demonstrations that drew hundreds of thousands of people, NPR reported. Paris police said 855 people were arrested in the French capital region alone, NPR reported. About 550,000 people took part nationwide, according to authorities, while organizers counted about 800,000, NPR reported. More than 500 police officers, gendarmes and firefighters were injured, Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said, and Paris police said one person died of a heart attack, without giving details; Paris prosecutors are investigating, NPR reported.

In Limoges, the town hall caught fire and its roof collapsed; Haute-Vienne prefect Maurice Barate told LCI the fire was set deliberately, NPR and CBS reported. Protesters briefly forced their way into the lobby of Marseille's City Hall, and a fire broke out inside a tourist office in Lyon, NPR reported. "The right to protest is a fundamental right. Deliberately and collectively sowing disorder through violence is not," Nuñez wrote on X, according to NPR; he and Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu blamed some of the violence on "radical far-left groups." President Emmanuel Macron is to hold an emergency meeting Sunday afternoon and address the nation at 8 p.m. Paris time (2 p.m. ET), his office said, according to NPR.

Deadly fire at an Alberta military base. "I'm saddened to share that there have been both fatalities and injuries as a result of an incident on the base," Defence Minister David McGuinty said of Canadian Forces Base Wainwright on Saturday, CBC News reported; he did not confirm the cause or the number of casualties, the BBC reported, and said the RCMP is involved in the investigation, according to CBC. "I cannot recall an incident like this in recent memory," he said. Global News reported that at least seven people are dead and dozens injured, according to multiple military sources, and that a live-fire training exercise hit a gas line or gas well on the base around 4 p.m. local time, sparking an explosion and a fire that high winds spread beyond the training area. In an update Sunday morning, the Canadian Armed Forces said it would not confirm casualty or injury details until next of kin are notified, Global News reported.

Update, Oct. 19, 2026: The Canadian Armed Forces said Sunday that four soldiers were killed and 39 members were injured, and Alberta Premier Danielle Smith said at least 19 were in critical condition. The earlier figure of at least seven dead came from unnamed military sources cited by Global News.

The fire crossed the base fence, the Municipal District of Wainwright said, according to CBC. Several Alberta hospitals declared a Code Orange, used for mass-casualty events, Global News reported. "It is more patients than any of us want to count right now. It's a disaster," Dr. Warren Thirsk, an emergency physician at Edmonton's Royal Alexandra Hospital, told CBC, according to the BBC and Al Jazeera. Prime Minister Mark Carney said a "serious incident creating a major fire" had occurred, CBC reported. Wainwright is the Canadian military's main base for live-fire training, with about 690 military personnel and 300 civilian workers on site on a typical day, the BBC reported, citing CBC. The fire comes two days before Albertans vote on whether to start the legal process toward a referendum on leaving Canada, Al Jazeera reported.

Russia: drones over St. Petersburg, and a fight over sanctions. Russia's defense ministry said it shot down some 1,015 drones near Moscow and several other western regions overnight, making the attack one of the largest of the war, ABC News reported. Drones struck a major oil terminal in St. Petersburg, and the city's governor, Alexander Beglov, said one person was killed and five injured, according to ABC. Ukraine has resumed attacks on Russia's oil industry after pausing for Trump's "energy ceasefire," which the Kremlin never abided by, ABC said.

In Washington, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Trump's waiver of the Russia sanctions law named for the late Sen. Lindsey Graham is a 60-day pause, the Guardian and the BBC reported; "The president wants to take the 60-day period of time to sort of analyse what imposing both sanctions and tariffs will mean to the global economy and even to the US economy," Rubio said, according to the Guardian. Some Republicans joined Democrats in criticizing it: Sen. John Cornyn called the move "reckless" and Sen. Thom Tillis called it "beyond irresponsible," the BBC reported. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called the decision a "reward" for Putin and said, "Unfortunately, the lifting of sanctions will continue, and I believe that the 'diesel deal' is the first step," the Guardian reported. Fox News described the administration's approach as easing some economic pressure on Russia in hopes of moving Putin closer to a peace deal, and reported that six Republican senators had joined Democrats this week in urging Trump to reverse his decision on Russian diesel.

The pope is back at his window. "Now that this delicate phase is behind me, I will gradually resume my activities, always with God's help and your prayers," Pope Leo XIV told thousands in St. Peter's Square at the Angelus on Sunday, CBS News reported. He was discharged from Rome's Gemelli Hospital on Saturday and walked out unaided, NBC News reported. The 71-year-old pope had the lower lobe of his right lung removed on Tuesday, and the surgery confirmed adenocarcinoma, CBS reported; NBC describes it as a type of non-small cell lung cancer. His surgeon, Dr. Stefano Margaritora, told Vatican News that there are "no clinical reasons" his Latin America trip should not go ahead, CBS and NBC reported, and that he expected the pope to recover fully from surgery "in another 10 days or so," CBS reported. Testing of the tumor and related lymph nodes is underway and will help doctors decide whether he needs further treatment, CBS reported; the Vatican has not said whether the cancer might have spread, NBC reported.

Hormuz: Iran restates its terms. Iran's foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, said Sunday the Strait of Hormuz would reopen if the U.S. meets the conditions in Iran's seven-day ceasefire proposal from September, CBS News reported: "If they comply with our conditions, the Strait of Hormuz will reopen on the sixth day, and negotiations will begin on the seventh day." The proposal calls for an end to the U.S. naval blockade, lifting sanctions on Iranian oil and a ceasefire on all fronts, CBS said. Iran's Revolutionary Guards navy said Saturday that a second supertanker carrying more than 2 million barrels of crude had struck a naval mine and caught fire while using an "unauthorized" route; it did not identify the vessel or give information about its crew, Anadolu Agency reported. Neither claim has been independently confirmed in the reports cited here. U.S. Central Command's Adm. Brad Cooper said Friday, "Let me be clear, the Strait of Hormuz is controlled by the United States and our regional partners, not Iran," adding, "It remains open for business," Euronews reported. On Sunday, the U.K. Maritime Trade Operations agency said a tugboat off the United Arab Emirates was struck by two unknown projectiles, with one minor casualty, CBS reported.

Norte Fire: most evacuation orders lifted. All evacuation orders for the 570-acre Norte Fire in San Clemente and San Juan Capistrano were lifted by 6 p.m. Saturday except for residents of Via La Mirada north of Calle Esperanza, who can check on their homes but not stay, NBC Los Angeles reported. The fire was 25% contained as of 6 p.m. Saturday, and seven homes in San Juan Capistrano, mostly on Via La Mirada, were damaged or destroyed, the Orange County Fire Authority said, according to NBC Los Angeles. Two firefighters were hospitalized with "significant injuries" and were in stable condition. The orders had covered about 16,000 people, and the cause is under investigation, NBC Los Angeles reported.

Medicaid: some states skip a hardship exemption. Some conservative states, including Missouri and Iowa, are not taking up a high-unemployment exemption to the new Medicaid work requirements despite having counties that would qualify, according to research by the health policy nonprofit KFF, the Guardian reported. The requirements take effect Jan. 1 and require adults covered through the Affordable Care Act's Medicaid expansion to work, attend school, volunteer or do another qualifying activity at least 80 hours a month, the Guardian said. New York City has adopted the exemption for the Bronx, where about 200,000 residents would otherwise have been subject to the requirements. The Guardian said it had contacted the Missouri and Iowa state departments for comment.

Box office. "Street Fighter" took in $13 million from 3,575 North American theaters on Friday and looks to reach $31 million by Sunday, Variety reported. A24's Elizabeth Holmes documentary "You Can See Everything" was second Friday with $5.54 million from 855 theaters, and rival estimates have it at $12.45 million by Sunday, Variety said.

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