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Brent crude settled at $109.86 a barrel Friday, up 3.7%, while West Texas Intermediate closed at $101.41, as threats to Middle East energy infrastructure and disruption in the Strait of Hormuz spooked global supply. The national average for gasoline hit $4.33 a gallon as of October 15, up from $3.07 a year ago. CENTCOM says it has redirected 138 commercial vessels enforcing the naval blockade of Iranian ports.
A new Fox News poll puts the president's overall job approval at 36%, his lowest ever, with inflation disapproval at a record 77% and approval on inflation down to 22%. Six in ten voters named cost of living as their top economic worry. September CPI came in at 3.7% annually, and import prices accelerated, suggesting inflation is broadening beyond energy.
Zacharia, named October 9, is transitioning out of the White House podium job after a single rocky briefing on October 13 in which she took three questions in fourteen minutes and briefly referred to her husband as "my president." Scrutiny also landed on her legal credentials after reporting that the self-described lawyer had failed the California bar exam. Trump said he told her, "You don't have to do this if you don't want to."
Thousands of No Kings events ran Saturday as early voting opened, pitched by organizers as a nonpartisan turnout push required by the federal rules governing their nonprofit funders. Protesters and some organizers were nonetheless recorded pushing banned "vote blue" messaging. A Fox News Digital review counted roughly 300 organizations with $2.5 billion in combined annual revenue behind the network, including MoveOn, the AFT and the ACLU.
Iranian Army spokesman Mohammad Akraminia said the Strait of Hormuz would reopen if "America leaves the region," and threatened to expel US forces otherwise, claiming Iran's air defenses now far surpass pre-war levels. CENTCOM counters that roughly 97% of ships transiting the strait successfully avoid Iranian projectile attacks. Vice President JD Vance told a Michigan town hall the US has "won decisively" in some respects while conceding key objectives remain.
Moscow says it carried out a large-scale overnight strike on Ukrainian infrastructure, hitting the country's largest steelworks at Kryvyi Rih and vessels using the port of Odesa, part of a barrage against more than fifteen energy sites. Russian attacks killed three people in Sloviansk and an ambulance driver in the Kherson region. Zelenskyy is urging support for new US sanctions after Trump's 60-day waiver.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio defended the administration's 60-day waiver on Russia-related sanctions, citing mounting pressure on global energy supplies from the Iran conflict. Rep. Michael McCaul urged reversing the relief, alleging Putin supplied Iran with intelligence used to target US troops. Zelenskyy called the waiver a gift to Moscow that undercuts efforts to end the war.
Elon Musk demonstrated a next-generation Tesla Roadster at SpaceX's McGregor, Texas facility that took off vertically over a line of parked cars and drove upside down along a curved ramp. Four cold-gas thruster nozzles adapted from SpaceX provide lift, while an underbody fan suction system generates up to 2Gs of downforce. Top speed is pegged at 230 mph with 300-plus miles of range, deposits run $50,000 to $250,000, and production is slated for 2028.
Ukraine's Starlink and Starshield access has been restored after a disruption that throttled devices moving faster than 100 mph, crippling long-range strike drones and interceptors mid-mission. Two US sources say the order to limit the service originated inside the White House, not at SpaceX. Musk denied his company imposed the curbs and pointed at the government; Senator Thom Tillis has demanded an explanation.
A 17-person expedition is racing a closing weather window to investigate a mysterious sonar object near Nikumaroro Island, using side-scan sonar and satellite imagery to test whether it is Earhart's lost Electra. Rough seas have battered the operation as a crucial deadline nears. Onshore, the search is further complicated by enormous carnivorous coconut crabs with a crushing grip, long suspected of scattering any remains left on the island.
