The World

WASHINGTON — President Trump signed an executive order Friday waiving the operative Russia provisions of the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act. Congress passed the act by 86-11 in the Senate and 262-159 in the House. The waived provisions include tariffs of up to 500% on Russian goods, tariffs of up to 100% on the top buyers of Russian oil and gas, and penalties on foreign banks. Existing sanctions stay in place. The White House says enforcement would hinder peace talks, and Secretary of State Rubio said the administration wants 60 days to assess the economic effects. The order follows a diesel deal with Moscow and a temporary easing of sanctions on Russian diesel exports through April 2027. Kremlin envoy Kirill Dmitriev praised the move. Zelensky condemned it, and Republican senators including Tillis and Cornyn criticized it. Russia hit Ukrainian energy sites with more than 320 drones and missiles overnight into Saturday.

BRASÍLIA — Brazil's presidential race goes to a second round on October 25 between President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Senator Flávio Bolsonaro, the son of former president Jair Bolsonaro. In the October 4 first round, with all polling stations counted, Flávio Bolsonaro won 47.03% of valid votes, about 56.1 million. Lula took 45.16%, about 53.9 million. Neither cleared the 50% threshold. Pre-election polls had shown Lula level or ahead, so the result beat them. A Datafolha runoff poll cited by the Rio Times put Bolsonaro at 51% and Lula at 49% of valid votes, which it called a technical tie. The vote also set the balance of power in Congress, where Bolsonaro's Liberal Party won the most seats in the lower house, according to results compiled by the Rio Times and Wikipedia. Turnout in the first round was about 79% of 158.7 million registered voters.

TAIPEI — Taiwan's coast guard said Sunday it drove away 16 Chinese coast guard, research and fishing vessels that operated at the same time near Taiwan's main island and around the Pratas Islands, which Taiwan controls and Beijing claims. The coast guard called the number unusually large and described the activity as hybrid warfare. The operation followed an October 1 incident in which a Taiwanese vessel used a water cannon on a Chinese recreational fishing boat near Pratas, which drew an angry response from Beijing. AFP reports China has been deploying record numbers of coast guard, research and other ships around the island in recent months. China's foreign ministry said on October 6 that Taiwan is an internal affair. It said it firmly opposes U.S. arms sales, and it called it legitimate for Chinese forces to respond. Taiwan has received two F-16V jets and expects 64 more this year.

The UN-backed Integrated Food Security Phase Classification warned on October 12 of rising famine risk in Sudan's Darfur and Kordofan regions. It cited conflict, displacement, thin aid funding and an El Niño-linked drought. Crisis Group notes the army reports gains against the Rapid Support Forces in North Kordofan and West Darfur, while the RSF keeps attacking in Blue Nile and targeting El Obeid with drones. The group says continued fighting will likely complicate diplomacy. On October 8 the UN Security Council voted unanimously to roll over the Darfur-only arms embargo for two months, to December 11. The United States had withdrawn a proposal to extend it to all of Sudan after opposition from China, Russia and other members. Sudanese groups also accuse Egypt of an air strike on a gold mine that killed 72 people, an allegation the CFR tracker reports without independent confirmation. Washington has proposed a 90-day humanitarian truce.

WASHINGTON — A federal judge in Washington dismissed John Brennan's lawsuit on Thursday. The former CIA director had asked for an order requiring the Trump administration to preserve records from investigations into him. Judge Jia Cobb ruled he had not shown a concrete, imminent injury. She wrote that his claim that he is being targeted for opposing the president was deeply concerning, and that it would suggest vindictiveness if proven. The court nonetheless found his claimed harm speculative. Brennan has not been charged. He is the subject of two Justice Department inquiries: a broad Florida-based inquiry into the Russia investigation and a separate one on whether he lied to Congress in 2023. His lawyers say the ruling turned on standing, not the merits. They say the government's record-keeping will be scrutinized if he is indicted. Brennan is an MS NOW contributor.

WASHINGTON — Nine former FBI agents, analysts and intelligence personnel sued FBI Director Kash Patel and Attorney General Todd Blanche on Thursday. They say their February firings were unlawful. All had worked on the investigation, code-named Plasmic Echo, into President Trump's handling of classified documents. They say they were assigned through counterintelligence and intelligence squads, not by choice. The complaint alleges they were fired without the required administrative inquiry, over a letter Patel signed citing poor judgment and a lack of impartiality. It also says Patel later told Congress they were dismissed for cause after internal investigations, which the plaintiffs deny. They say their sensitive national-security cases were not properly handed off. They seek reinstatement and back pay. Similar suits are pending, including one over the Arctic Frost probe that the Justice Department has moved to dismiss. No ruling on this case has been reported.

WASHINGTON — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told an Association of the United States Army panel on Wednesday that the Pentagon wants about $50 billion in reconciliation funding. It would scale up autonomous and robotic systems, and he described it as a one-time investment. He said the department expects to handle hundreds of thousands of one-way attack systems this year and millions in later years. Defense News notes the figure is separate from the fiscal 2027 request, which includes $53.6 billion for the Drone Dominance initiative. It also says the sources do not establish that the reconciliation money would go entirely to drone purchases. Inside Defense reports the push depends on uncertain congressional funding. Government funding runs only through Dec. 11 under a continuing resolution. Hegseth also urged officials to name rules that could be dropped without new legislation. Separately, the Army is converting its Futures and Concepts Command into a Futures and Autonomy Command.