Here's a rundown of all the news you need to start Saturday, including US President Donald Trump waiving tariffs and many sanctions under a new Russia sanctions law while EU leaders and a US lawmaker push back on a Russia diesel deal; Washington condemning violence in the West Bank after a Washington Post photographer was attacked by Israeli occupiers, with the UN demanding an investigation; and Strait of Hormuz transits remaining about 70% below pre-conflict levels as a UK maritime agency reports 12 attacks on vessels in the last week.
US President Donald Trump issued an executive order implementing the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026, while waiving its tariffs and many sanctions, raising duties on Russian goods by 500% and imposing an additional 100% duty on goods from the five largest importers of Russian oil and gas that make new purchases on or after Oct. 18.
US Rep. Gregory Meeks, meanwhile, introduced the bipartisan Prohibit Corrupt Russia Oil Deals Act, which aims to block the Trump administration from purchasing and importing Russian diesel, arguing it would benefit Moscow without delivering meaningful savings for American consumers.
EU leaders also expressed regret about the US decision to temporarily lift sanctions on Russian diesel, reaffirming their support for Ukraine in conclusions adopted after a two-day European Council meeting in Brussels. They urged stronger measures to counter hybrid threats, saying further restrictive measures and tighter visa requirements for Russian nationals would be considered urgently.
The US State Department said it is "greatly concerned" after Washington Post photographer Heidi Levine was attacked by Israeli occupiers in the occupied West Bank, saying it has reached out to the newspaper to offer consular assistance, while condemning "criminal violence by any party in the West Bank."
UN deputy spokesman Farhan Haq, meanwhile, urged a thorough investigation into the attack, saying it was "yet another case where a journalist’s right to go about her duties without harassment has been violated," after The Washington Post condemned the attack on Levine while she was reporting.
Shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz remained about 70% below pre-conflict levels as attacks on commercial vessels continued, the UK Maritime Trade Operations agency (UKMTO) said Friday.
It reported 125 outbound and 129 inbound transits in the last seven days, down from 129 outbound and 146 inbound the previous week.
UKMTO reported 12 attacks on vessels during the week, including a container ship that was struck by an unidentified projectile near Ras Shaykh Masud on Oct. 13, caught fire and sank the following day, with all crew evacuated.
The agency warned that it was struggling to establish the actual number of attacks because most targeted vessels declined to report incidents, saying it had recorded 84 incidents in the Strait of Hormuz since the conflict began in late February.
A player from South Africa’s Lions rugby team died at the team’s hotel on the Ile de Re in France, one day before the club’s scheduled Champions Cup debut against La Rochelle, French media reported.
The player was found unconscious in a shower, and emergency services, called shortly after 10 am local time (0800GMT), found him in cardiorespiratory arrest, with attempts to resuscitate him unsuccessful, according to reports.
The player’s identity has not been disclosed.
Real Madrid demanded the immediate resignation of La Liga President Javier Tebas from his post as well as from his position as vice president of the Royal Spanish Football Federation, accusing him of repeatedly attacking the club and lacking neutrality and impartiality.
A statement came in response to remarks in which Tebas compared methods used by Real Madrid’s management to those of Joseph Goebbels, Nazi Germany’s propaganda minister, and referred to Real Madrid TV as an instrument of the alleged strategy.
The club described the comparison as "absolutely intolerable and extraordinarily serious," saying Tebas' clarification that he was not referring to Nazi ideology did not lessen the "deeply offensive" nature of his remarks.
South Korean pop group BTS has become the first musical group to surpass 10 billion streams on Spotify in a single year, according to its record label, BigHit Music, with its streams more than doubling from 4.5 billion in 2025.
The surge was driven largely by the group’s fifth studio album, Arirang, released March 20, which has accumulated more than 5 billion Spotify streams, making it the most-streamed album for 2026 releases.
The achievement follows the group’s return to full-group activities after its seven members completed South Korea’s mandatory military service.
The UK government has signaled it could intervene in Sky’s proposed £1.6 billion ($2.1 billion) takeover of ITV’s broadcasting and streaming business because of concerns about media ownership, the diversity of news coverage and viewers’ access to quality programming.
Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy said in a statement to parliament on Thursday that she was "minded to" issue a public interest intervention notice -- a formal step that would trigger reviews by media regulator Ofcom and the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA).
The deal would give Sky, owned by US media company Comcast, control of ITV’s Media and Entertainment business, including its television channels and streaming platform ITVX, while ITV Studios is excluded.
Nikkei Inc. said about 1.83 million pieces of personal information were compromised after unauthorized access to a cloud service used for system development.
Of these, about 150,000 records contained personal details, including names, email addresses, physical addresses, phone numbers, or dates of birth, while 1.68 million records contained identifiers that cannot independently identify individuals.
Nikkei reported that the breach was reported to Japan’s Personal Information Protection Commission last week, and authorities are examining its scope and the compromised data.
Turkish Airlines and CFM International signed a memorandum of understanding for the purchase of more than 300 aircraft engines, including spares, to power up to 150 Boeing 737 MAX aircraft under an order announced in late September, the companies announced.
The agreement also covers long-term maintenance services for a fleet of over 600 engines, including the entire LEAP-1B engine fleet of Turkish Airlines and its subsidiary AJet.
The memorandum includes a material services agreement supporting the establishment of an engine maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) facility in Türkiye.
news_share_descriptionsubscription_contact
contact_the_ombudsman
is_there_an_error_in_this_story
