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Chinese Court Jails Kindergarten Operator for Life After Paint-Tainted Food Poisoned 247 Children With Lead: October 17, 2026

LANZHOU, China — A court in China’s northwestern Gansu province on Friday sentenced the operator of a kindergarten to life in prison after lead-tainted food poisoned 247 of its pupils, Xinhua and BBC News reported.

The Lanzhou Intermediate People’s Court found that Li Huifang, who ran the Heshi Peixin Kindergarten in Tianshui, and executive principal Zhu Jinglin instructed kitchen staff to add toxic materials to food “to make it appear more colorful and attractive for marketing,” Xinhua said. Li was also stripped of political rights for life and had 500,000 yuan (about $74,000) in assets confiscated.

Zhu was sentenced to 15 years and fined 300,000 yuan. Four kitchen workers received six to eight years each for carrying out the instructions.

Investigators found that chefs used inedible paint, clearly labeled as such, to brighten steamed red date cakes and sausage corn buns, the BBC reported. Samples contained lead at 1,052 and 1,340 milligrams per kilogram — far above the national limit of 0.5 mg/kg.

Of 251 children tested in July 2025, 247 had abnormal blood lead levels, and 235 were hospitalized. Officials later found that dozens of provincial officials and hospital staff tried to cover up the case by tampering with blood tests and accepting bribes from a nursery investor, according to the BBC.

Sources: Xinhua, BBC News, AP

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CENTCOM Insists the U.S. Controls Hormuz as Ship Attacks Hit a Wartime Record and Brent Crude Touches $110: October 17, 2026

TEHRAN — The United States and Iran are offering sharply conflicting accounts of who controls the Strait of Hormuz as attacks on merchant shipping reach their highest level since the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran began on February 28, Al Jazeera and BBC News reported.

At least 12 ships were attacked in the week ending October 16, the UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) center said, while warning it is “struggling to accurately report true number of attacks with majority of vessels attacked refusing to report.” Of the confirmed 12, one sank and two were disabled, according to Al Jazeera.

In a video message on Friday, U.S. Central Command chief Adm. Brad Cooper said 400 ships and 100 million barrels of oil moved through the strait over the past week. “Let me be clear: The Strait of Hormuz is controlled by the United States and our regional partners, not Iran,” he said, blaming the attacks on “desperation” by Iran’s Revolutionary Guard.

Iran’s IRGC said Saturday that a supertanker carrying more than two million barrels of crude caught fire after hitting a mine on an “unauthorised” route; CENTCOM says it has cleared the strait of mines and that vessels are being struck by projectiles. UKMTO also reported a tanker hit by a rocket-propelled grenade fired from a small boat northeast of Jubail, Saudi Arabia.

Oil flows through Hormuz averaged 11.6 million barrels a day in the week to October 13, about 68% of the pre-war baseline, according to Kpler data cited by Al Jazeera, and Brent crude touched $110 a barrel on Friday for the first time since May. BBC Verify found the weekly tally of reported attacks had already set a record in early October.

Sources: Al Jazeera, BBC News

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Africa CDC Says More Than $700 Million in Ebola Aid to Congo Is Unaccounted For and Warns Aid Groups Could Be Blacklisted: October 17, 2026

KINSHASA — Africa’s top public health agency and Congolese health authorities say more than $700 million of donor money for the Ebola response in the Democratic Republic of Congo has yet to be accounted for, Reuters reported.

Dr. Jean Kaseya, director general of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, said international donors disbursed about $962 million directly to organizations implementing Ebola response work in Congo, rather than to the government.

Only about a third of those partners attended a recent verification meeting called by Congo’s health ministry, Kaseya said. Those that did reported receiving $228 million, of which $127 million had been spent and roughly $100 million remained available, according to Reuters.

Kaseya told Reuters it was too early to speak of embezzlement, describing the gap instead as a major transparency and financial reporting failure that left authorities without a full picture of what had been mobilized and spent. He warned that non-compliant organizations could be barred from working in Congo and blacklisted across Africa.

Congo’s health minister, Samuel-Roger Kamba, echoed the concerns on X, saying aid groups are required to provide his ministry with details of funding sources, goals and progress. Reuters noted that mistrust of health workers remains a key obstacle to containing the outbreak, and that past Ebola responses in Congo were dogged by allegations of favoritism and corruption.

Sources: Reuters, CNBC Africa, Nairametrics

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Amazon Deforestation in Brazil Plunges 41.8% to the Lowest Level on Record Days Before Lula’s Run-Off With Flávio Bolsonaro: October 17, 2026

BRASÍLIA — Deforestation in Brazil’s Amazon fell 41.8% in the year to July 2026, to 3,335 square kilometers — the lowest since satellite records began in 1988 — government data showed, BBC News and The Guardian reported.

The figure from the Prodes satellite series, compiled by Brazil’s National Institute for Space Research, beats the previous record low by 1,236 square kilometers, roughly the size of Rio de Janeiro. Clearing in the Cerrado savanna fell 23.8% to 5,516 square kilometers, its lowest since 2001.

Since 2022, the year before President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva took office, the Amazon deforestation rate has slowed by 71.2%, The Guardian said. Environment Minister João Paulo Capobianco called the decline “absolutely stratospheric.” Lula wrote on X: “Our goal is to achieve zero illegal deforestation by 2030.”

The news lands ahead of an October 25 run-off between Lula and Flávio Bolsonaro, son of former President Jair Bolsonaro, under whom Amazon deforestation rose 59.5%. Polls suggest a close race, the BBC reported.

“The country will decide whether we move toward the end of deforestation or toward the end of the forest,” said Marcio Astrini, executive secretary of the Climate Observatory.

Sources: BBC News, The Guardian, DW

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Mexican Judge Sentences Three Men to More Than 158 Years Each for Murdering Two Australian Surfers and Their American Friend: October 17, 2026

ENSENADA, Mexico — A Mexican judge on Friday sentenced three men convicted of murdering Australian brothers Jake and Callum Robinson and their American friend Carter Rhoad to 158 years and nine months in prison each, BBC News and DW reported.

The men, identified only as Jesús Gerardo, Irineo Francisco and Ángel Jesús for legal reasons, were found guilty a week ago of homicide, aggravated robbery and vehicle theft with violence. The court also ordered them to pay compensation to the victims’ families, DW said.

The three surfers — Jake, 30, Callum, 33, and Rhoad, 30 — were shot dead on April 27, 2024, while camping at a remote beach near Ensenada in Baja California, in what the court heard was a botched robbery of their truck. Their bodies were found days later dumped in a cliff-top well.

“There will never be justice for the loss of a child, but these men will never hurt anyone else again,” Rhoad’s mother, Page Rhoad, said via Zoom after the sentencing. “It’s hard for a parent to lose a son, and we lost two sons,” Martin Robinson said.

The girlfriend of the alleged ringleader was sentenced to 20 years in a separate trial last November after admitting involvement in the robbery. The killings shocked Australia and Ensenada’s surf community, where the area had been considered safe for visitors.

Sources: BBC News, DW, The Guardian

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Santa Ana Winds Drive the Norte Fire Into Coastal Orange County Homes as 16,000 Are Ordered to Evacuate: October 17, 2026

SAN CLEMENTE, Calif. — A fast-moving wildfire fueled by hot Santa Ana winds burned into coastal neighborhoods of Southern California’s Orange County on Friday, damaging or destroying at least six homes and forcing about 16,000 residents to evacuate, CBC News and BBC News reported.

The Norte Fire started in San Clemente and was driven by wind into San Juan Capistrano, growing to about 465 acres by Friday evening. Black smoke billowed over tennis courts and swimming pools as firefighters doused burning homes. Two firefighters were taken to hospital with heat-related injuries, and the cause has not been announced.

“Had these winds been a little bit stronger, a little bit different direction, this could have been a whole lot worse,” San Clemente Mayor Rick Loeffler said, according to CBC News.

The Norte Fire is one of 13 burning across California, the BBC said. The Bryson Fire in Malibu forced evacuations in the Santa Monica Mountains, while the Henderson Fire near Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton grew past 2,000 acres and twice forced the closure of Interstate 5.

Utilities cut power to reduce the risk of sparks, leaving more than 200,000 customers without electricity on Friday, CBC News reported. The National Weather Service kept red flag warnings and a heat advisory in place into Saturday, with temperatures forecast to reach 95F (35C), the BBC said.

Sources: CBC News, BBC News, DW

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Students, Unions and ‘Yellow Vests’ Fill French Streets as Police Fire Tear Gas in Paris and Marseille: October 17, 2026

PARIS — Mass protests spread across France on Saturday as high school and university students, trade unionists and veterans of the “yellow vest” movement marched against high prices, inequality and a crumbling school system, with police firing tear gas during clashes in Paris and Marseille, DW reported.

Organizers listed hundreds of rallies around the country, and a police source told AFP that authorities expected nearly 200,000 people. Paris police banned demonstrations around the Élysée Palace, the prime minister’s office and the Champs-Élysées. BBC News reported more than 160 arrests across France on Saturday.

The movement began in mid-September at a high school in the Paris suburb of Créteil over dilapidated buildings, overcrowded classrooms and teacher shortages, and has since spread to thousands of lycées, Al Jazeera reported. Authorities say more than 900 police officers have been injured since it began, while more than 6,700 minors have been taken into custody, according to reports cited by Al Jazeera.

Two cases have galvanized critics of the police response: a 15-year-old in Lens lost a hand to a stun grenade, and a 16-year-old in Tours lost his sight after being hit by a rubber bullet.

“This is a moment of fatigue in the country,” Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu said Thursday. “We are in an atmosphere of perma-crisis: wars, inflation and issues surrounding purchasing power.” President Emmanuel Macron appealed for “calm and respect” on the eve of the protests.

The unrest comes as Lecornu’s government pushes a 2027 budget of spending restraint, including a public-sector pay freeze, after a deficit of 152.5 billion euros last year — 5.1% of GDP. Far-right National Rally leader Jordan Bardella, who leads polls ahead of next year’s presidential election, predicted “a day of chaos for France.”

Sources: DW, Al Jazeera, CBC News

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Pope Leo XIV Leaves Hospital Four Days After Lung Cancer Surgery and Plans Sunday’s Angelus After Urging Putin Toward Peace: October 17, 2026

ROME — Pope Leo XIV is being discharged from Rome’s Gemelli Hospital on Saturday afternoon, just four days after surgeons removed a cancerous growth from his lung, BBC News reported, citing the Vatican.

The Vatican said the 71-year-old pontiff will lead the traditional Angelus prayer and blessing for crowds in St. Peter’s Square on Sunday — the same setting where, a week earlier, he surprised the world by announcing he needed surgery.

Tuesday’s 90-minute operation removed the lower lobe of the pope’s right lung after he was diagnosed with adenocarcinoma, the most common form of lung cancer, DW reported. Doctors said blood tests and a chest X-ray showed “steady improvement.” Results of further tests to determine whether the cancer has spread have not yet been announced.

On Friday the Vatican released the first photographs of Leo since the surgery, showing him celebrating Mass for hospital staff. His physicians said his recovery “allows him to carry out his normal daily activities completely on his own.”

Also on Friday, Leo spoke by phone with Russian President Vladimir Putin — their first call since June 2025 — to urge “dialogue and peace,” and called for a humanitarian ceasefire in the Russian-occupied Ukrainian city of Oleshky so civilians can be evacuated and food and medicine delivered, the BBC said.

The pope’s schedule had been cleared until October 20. The Vatican says planning is “going forward” for a November 6–17 trip to Uruguay, Argentina and Peru, where Leo served for years as a missionary, though it remains unclear whether he will be fit to travel.

Sources: BBC News, DW

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Trump Waives Congress’s Sweeping Russia Sanctions Two Days Before They Took Effect as Zelenskyy Urges Americans to Speak Up: October 17, 2026

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump has signed an executive order waiving a sweeping package of sanctions on Russia that Congress passed and he signed into law in September, blocking measures two days before they were due to take effect, BBC News, CBC News and DW reported.

“I am hereby waiving the application of such sanctions, restrictions, and duties provided for in the Graham Act,” the order said, adding that Trump had certified to Congress that the waiver is “in the national interests of the United States.” The White House posted the decision late Friday and did not immediately explain how it served that interest, DW said.

The Lindsey Graham Act gave the president power to impose tariffs of up to 100% on the top buyers of Russian oil and gas — most significantly China and India — and targeted senior Russian figures including Vladimir Putin, Russian banks and Moscow’s “shadow fleet” of tankers. Many of those provisions have now been waived, according to the BBC.

Kremlin envoy Kirill Dmitriev called the move “an important and truly historic moment.” Democrats pushed back: Rep. Don Beyer called it “Trump’s latest surrender to Putin,” and Sen. Richard Blumenthal, who helped draft the bill, said the waivers had “everything to do with sucking up to Vladimir Putin.”

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Saturday it was unfortunate the U.S. had decided to “completely disregard” the law. “This Act could have helped enormously — and still can! But it needs to actually work, and every voice in support of it matters,” he wrote on X, as CBC News reported.

Zelenskyy said Russia struck more than 15 Ukrainian energy facilities overnight, warning that Moscow “is trying to cause a blackout in Ukraine – right before winter.” Ukraine’s air force said Russia launched four cruise missiles and 332 attack drones. Zelenskyy also said Ukrainian and U.S. negotiators spoke on Friday and could meet next week.

Sources: BBC News, CBC News, DW

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World Brief, Evening: October 16, 2026

Donald Trump says the Starshield slowdown for Ukraine “wasn’t me” as EU leaders wrapped their Brussels summit behind Volodymyr Zelenskyy; Oregon police named the Silver Rail Elementary gunman and credited a teacher and a passing father with stopping him; and the new White House press secretary is out after less than five days. Ten stories as of Friday evening, October 16.

1. Washington / United States, and Kyiv / Ukraine. President Donald Trump denied limiting Ukraine’s access to Starshield, SpaceX’s military-grade sister network to Starlink, telling reporters as he left the White House, “It wasn’t me and I don’t think it was Elon,” and adding he was “not sure” it “ever came down,” BBC News reported. That came hours after Zelenskyy said speeds still hadn’t been restored; Elon Musk has suggested the Pentagon could be responsible, and Reuters reported Thursday that the order came from inside the White House. A bipartisan group of U.S. senators signed a letter demanding an investigation. Zelenskyy put it bluntly on X: the service wasn’t switched off, its speed was cut, and Ukraine then couldn’t intercept some jet-powered Shahed drones. In Rome, Italy’s defense minister Guido Crosetto told the BBC that restricting Ukraine’s satellite and intelligence access would be “a complete mistake, a major mistake.”

2. Brussels / Belgium, and Rome / Italy. EU leaders ended their two-day summit closing ranks behind Zelenskyy, promising to keep sanctions on Russia for as long as the full-scale invasion goes on and condemning Trump’s diesel deal with Vladimir Putin — though Bulgaria’s prime minister broke ranks to back it, Euronews reported. Zelenskyy asked for an extra €70 billion next year, and leaders told the European Commission to come up with a way to cover it. There was no deal on the 2028–2034 budget; Council President António Costa takes over those talks ahead of a special summit he has called for November 26. French President Emmanuel Macron vowed EU states would not abandon Ukraine, per the BBC. Also Friday, Pope Leo XIV — pictured for the first time since his lung surgery and cancer diagnosis, saying Mass at a makeshift altar in Rome’s Gemelli Hospital — phoned Putin to urge a ceasefire in Russian-occupied Oleshky, where food and water have been cut off; the Kremlin said “it has been agreed to cooperate on this matter,” BBC News reported.

3. Bend / Oregon, United States. Police identified the gunman in Thursday’s attack at Silver Rail Elementary as Griffin J. John II, 16, a former special-needs student at the school who targeted a special-needs classroom, firing as many as 15 shots from a 12-gauge shotgun and carrying about 44 more rounds, Al Jazeera and the BBC reported. A teacher threw her phone at him, then tackled him and fought for the gun; Police Chief Mike Krantz said she “almost certainly helped prevent more bloodshed.” Family members identified the man who ran in with a legally concealed .40-caliber pistol from his vehicle and shot the teen as Kaylub Giamanco, 36, a carpenter with two daughters at the school; police haven’t confirmed his name. Two victims were named: Rhoam Summer, 5, and teacher Meghan Lambert, 25. Police are still working out how the teen got the shotgun; the motive isn’t clear.

4. Washington / United States. Katie Zacharia is leaving the White House press secretary job after less than five days, the BBC confirmed, hours after Trump told reporters, “honestly, if I were you, I’d reconsider.” Her first briefing Tuesday lasted 14 minutes with three questions, and on Thursday she acknowledged she had not passed a bar exam after being described as an attorney. It is the quickest exit on any Trump press team; Anthony Scaramucci lasted 10 days as communications director in the first term. House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries posted that “MAGA extremists continue to fall apart.”

5. Aden / Yemen. A day after the deadly strike on the presidential palace, two Houthi missiles landed near the runway at Aden International Airport, about 500 meters from a plane preparing to take off; all passengers and crew were safe, Information Minister Moammar al-Eryani said, per Al Jazeera. The Houthis said they hit a Saudi forces command headquarters and a weapons depot in Aden province. Government forces claimed “territorial gains” in eastern Marib province, and the Saudi-led coalition said it downed missiles and drones over Riyadh. Iran’s foreign ministry denied any role in Houthi operations.

6. Nairobi / Kenya. Kenya confirmed its third case of Bundibugyo-strain Ebola — a 65-year-old woman, a close relative of the first two patients, who has been in quarantine since October 6 — and said there is no sign of community spread, Al Jazeera reported. The Health Ministry said 127 of 130 listed contacts have been traced and quarantined, and that the country has no restrictions on travel, trade or gatherings. Next door in Congo, the outbreak has passed 9,000 cases and 4,300 deaths since May, and the Africa CDC says more than $700 million in donor money for the response is unaccounted for.

7. New Delhi / India. Police detained Abhijeet Dipke, founder of the Gen Z-led Cockroach Janta Party, as hundreds gathered at Connaught Place to demand the resignation of India’s election chief, BBC News reported. Thousands of police and paramilitary personnel sealed off Central Park, the planned rally site. It was Dipke’s second detention in under a week, and with co-leaders Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka jailed for five days on Wednesday, all three of the movement’s main leaders are in custody. The party accuses the Election Commission of manipulating voter lists to favor the ruling BJP; both deny it.

8. São Paulo / Brazil. Internal Meta messages reviewed by Folha de S.Paulo acknowledge that President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s Instagram accounts were hit by restrictions during the campaign while the platform recommended challenger Flávio Bolsonaro’s profile and WhatsApp channel, Al Jazeera reported, citing the paper. Meta told Reuters the technical issues were already public and that “any suggestion that Meta favors one side is false.” On Thursday a judge on Brazil’s top electoral court ordered Meta to treat both candidates equally or pay 500,000 reais a day. The runoff is October 25.

9. Southwest of Acapulco / Mexico. Hurricane Trudy lost its eye and weakened unexpectedly, to 85 mph (140 km/h) at 6 p.m. CST Friday, about 220 miles southwest of Acapulco, and the National Hurricane Center no longer expects it to be a major hurricane at the coast. The center should approach southwestern and west-central Mexico Saturday and pass near the coast Saturday night into Sunday. A Hurricane Warning runs from Manzanillo north to Cabo Corrientes. Forecasters still warn of 4 to 8 inches of rain, locally 15, in Michoacán, Colima and Jalisco, with life-threatening floods and mudslides possible.

10. Hagåtña / Guam, and Suwarrow / Cook Islands. Tropical Storm Champi is strengthening fast and could be a Category 3 typhoon when it passes just south of Guam on Sunday morning local time, with gusts near 249 km/h, up to 20 inches of rain and 35-foot surf forecast, the U.S. National Weather Service said, according to RNZ Pacific. Guam and Rota are under Typhoon Warnings; Governor Lourdes Leon Guerrero raised Guam to Condition of Readiness 2, and the Northern Marianas declared a significant emergency. Far to the southeast, the depression we flagged this morning became Tropical Cyclone Wati, a Category 1 storm near Suwarrow — the region’s first cyclone, two weeks before the season officially begins, RNZ reported.

Coming Up

Confirmed dates on The Watch: the IMF and World Bank Annual Meetings in Bangkok wrap up October 18. October 19, Alberta votes on whether to move toward a binding independence referendum. October 25, Brazil’s presidential runoff (Flávio Bolsonaro vs Lula). The Brussels summit is now in the books, and the board notes the special EU budget summit set for November 26. Full list at the link.