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It’s sunny and beautiful where I am, and for a few minutes I entertained the possibility that 2026 might give us a calm Friday. Adorable.
Instead: ICE protests across New York City. A massive earthquake in Latin America, initially reported at magnitude 8. A tsunami warning. A rare Southern California hurricane. And the Nobel Peace Prize going to a UN official at the center of one of the most bitterly contested international disputes of my lifetime.
And we haven’t even gotten to Trump’s surprising deal with Putin. Or the plan to livestream an execution.
So, yes, Friday has been canceled. Thankfully, News That Doesn’t Suck has not. We’ll get right to it.
Getting High on Putin’s Supply: Here’s an October surprise, but not the kind that’s likely to help the president’s party. Trumpannounceda deal with Russia’s Vladimir Putin to allow Russia to exportalmost 5 million tonsof diesel. The Treasurytemporarily relaxedsanctions on Russia to facilitate this. Trump claims the deal would lower diesel prices, which skyrocketed after the war with Iran. Ukraine’sattackson Russianoil refinerieshave also inflated diesel prices. Trump’s previous effort to lower oil prices by temporarily easing sanctions on Russia, in March, sparkedwidespread condemnationfrom Europe and hadlittle effecton prices.
Search Over: Trump picked Katie Zacharia, a conservative commentator, as his new press secretary afterreportedlyruling out higher-profile candidates who had previously said something negative about him. Zacharia is anadvisorat the company that runs Truth Social and brieflyworkedat DHS under then–Secretary Kristi Noem. She replaces Karoline Leavitt, who isgoing to joinFox News.Temblor: A 7.7-magnitude earthquakestruckPanama,damaging buildingsand prompting evacuations. A tsunami warning was issued for the coasts of nearby countries. Multipleaftershocksfollowed. The Panama Canal wasunaffected.Another Shooting: ICE agentsshota man in the neck in New York City while he was in a vehicle with his 5-year-old son in the backseat, sending people nearbyrushing for cover. City police, responding to the incident,took28-year-old Oscar Belgal to the hospital. He wasthen takeninto ICE custody. The child wasuninjuredand is with family. Mayor Zohran Mamdanicondemnedthe shooting as “unconscionable” and called for ICE to be abolished. He and Gov. Kathy Hochul pushed the Trump administration to pause immigration enforcement in the state. DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullinrefused. He and other DHS officialsclaimedthe agents were unaware of the child and opened fireafterBelgal “weaponized his vehicle,” driving toward agents whofeared for their lives. OfficialscalledBelgal a gang-affiliated “thug” with a criminal record who’dpreviously evadedICE arrest, and blamed him for endangering his child. The agents involved werewearing body cameras, but Mullindid not saywhen the footage would be released. (The NYPD alreadyreleasedbody camera footage from its responding officers. Security camera footagecapturedICE agents approaching Belgal’s vehicle before it drove out of frame. Neither shows the shooting itself.) The agents were in plain clothes;some woreconstruction-style vests and face masks. “Residents have no idea if these are law enforcement agents,” Mamdanisaid, “or if they are simply attacking someone on the street.”Widespread Anger: Hundreds of peopleprotestedat the site of the shooting, a residential street in northern Manhattan. Others protestedoutside the hospitalwhere Belgal was treated. Sometried to blockthe vehicles carrying him away. Police madeseveral arrests.Negotiations: A federal judgeorderedICE to keep Belgal in New York or New Jersey, where he is being held as of Friday afternoon. Mamdanisaidhe unsuccessfully pressed the administration for Belgal’s release. Mullin said Mamdanirejectedan offer to release Belgal into NYPD custody.Worst of the Worst: Mullin focused heavily on Belgal’s criminal record, arguing his agency istargetingthe “worst of the worst.” Butarrest data tellsa different story: The majority of those detained in recent months had no criminal convictions or pending charges, while the share with violent criminal convictions actually declined. We break down the costs and consequences of Trump’s mass deportation pushhere.
Sending a Message: Defense Secretary Pete Hegsethannouncedthe Pentagon will livestream the execution by firing squad of former Army Major Nidal Hasan, who killed 13 and injured 32 in a mass shooting at Fort Hood in 2009. The U.S.endedpublic executions 90 years ago. Onlytwo countriesin the world regularly carry out public executions: Afghanistan and Iran. “Is he mimicking ISIS executions?” Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT)asked. “That’s what America has become?” Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) called it “beyond disgusting,” and VP JD Vance said hewon’t be watchingthe livestream.Rule of Law: The Nobel Peace Prizewentto Navi Pillay for her work as an international human rights lawyer and judge. Pillay was born in South Africa, where she fought against apartheid and became the country’s first woman of color to serve as a High Court judge. She later served on the International Criminal Court and as the UN’s High Commissioner for Human Rights. Pillay led the UN-backed commission that last yearconcludedIsrael committed genocide in Gaza and that Israeli forces committed sexual and gender-based violence against Palestinians. Israel’s leaders forcefully reject those findings, have long accused Pillay and the UN committee she leads of of anti-Israel bias, anddenouncedthe award as a “grotesque weaponization” of the Nobel Prize to legitimize anti-Israel prejudice. The Nobel Committeesaidthe award was intended “to remind the world that the rule of law, national and international, underpins the system we have set up to ensure peace and resolve conflicts nonviolently.” Pillay learned about the decision while at a conference of human rights lawyers in Nuremberg, in thesame courtroomwhere Nazi leaders were prosecuted in trials that laid the groundwork for modern international law. Shededicatedher win to “survivors of international crimes as well as to practitioners and defenders of international justice.” Pillay’s commission earlierconcludedthat Hamas committed war crimes in its October 7 attacks. The UN more broadly has faced fiercecriticismover its response to 10/7 including its delayed acknowledgement ofsexual violencecommitted by Hamas against Israelis during the attacks.Always the Bridesmaid: Trump recentlyarguedhe deserved the prize more than anyone else, claiming his war with Iran “stopped maybe the total obliteration of the world.” The Committee, it seems, was not convinced. When Pillay heard she’d won, shejokedto the cheering crowd, “If you clap a little more, I may share this prize with Trump.”Ramp Up Pressure: The Trump administrationimposedsweeping sanctions on the International Criminal Court, a major escalation in its ongoing campaign to “dismantle” it “piece by piece,” as Secretary of State Marco Rubiopledged. The sanctions, which will take effect in six months, will cut the court off from U.S. financial services, technology companies and dollar transactions, threatening its ability to operate. Rubio called on U.S. allies to take similar action.
Pay to Play: The US ambassador to Greece is facing allegations that she tried to turn her connections with the Trump administration into a lucrative side business. Democratsare demanding financial recordsfrom Kimberly Guilfoyle, ambassador to Greece and Donald Trump Jr’s former fiancee, after reports she solicited hundreds of thousands of dollars from a Republican donor in return for political favors. She also allegedly asked him to pay off a $100,000 American express bill without leaving a paper trail. Eric Deters, a self-described “legal outlaw,”told the Wall Street Journalhe paid Guilfoyle hundreds of thousands of dollars for various requests — from help with an IRS investigation to getting a song he wrote to Kid Rock — but she “never came through on anything.” Guilfoyle’s lawyer disputes the authenticity of the alleged messages between her and Deters. The Wall Street Journalalso reportedon Guilfoyle’s unusually close relationship with a lobbyist for a Greek energy firm whose business interests she promoted while serving as ambassador.
Keep reading to find out…
The chilling threat sent to Cornell’s Jane DoeHow El Niño is wreaking havoc on hurricanes in both the Pacific and AtlanticA new investigation into leading universitiesWhy the government is targeting MicrosoftA tearful homecoming for thousands of sailors
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