Pope Leo XIV returns to Vatican after lung cancer surgery

This is the evening edition of the One News Page Global Briefing, for Saturday, the seventeenth of October, twenty twenty-six. Here is what matters now.

Pope Leo X I V has returned to the Vatican after being discharged from Rome's Gemelli Polyclinic on Saturday, four days after surgeons removed the lower lobe of his right lung to extract a cancerous tumour. The seventy-one-year-old U S-born pontiff was declared fit for discharge by his doctors, Luigi Carbone and Stefano Margaritoria, who said they were seeing continued improvement. The Vatican had initially projected a week-long hospital stay and cancelled his audiences through Tuesday. The procedure was performed on Tuesday to remove a lump from the Pope's lung. He is currently scheduled to travel to Latin America in November.

Meanwhile, in the United States, Katie Zacharia is leaving the post of White House press secretary after only about five days, a tenure that would make her the shortest-serving holder of the job. President Donald Trump told reporters on Friday that he had asked her to reconsider whether she wanted to stay in the position, and two U S officials said she was being moved out of the role. Her departure follows a turbulent debut at the briefing podium and mounting scrutiny over her legal credentials, including an inconclusive answer about where she had passed the bar exam and reports that she does not appear to be registered to practise law in any state where she has lived. The issue was also pressed during an appearance on a conservative cable network.

In Oregon, a sixteen-year-old gunman opened fire at Silver Rail Elementary School in Bend on Thursday afternoon, killing three children aged five, eight and eleven and a teacher, before being shot dead by a community member, authorities said. Two other people were wounded, including another child and a teacher who were reported to be critically injured. Police said the suspected shooter was killed by a bystander who confronted him. Residents of Bend held a candlelight vigil after the attack.

Elsewhere, the roof of a private school collapsed during classes in Peshawar, north-west Pakistan, on Thursday, killing at least thirty-five people, including dozens of children and a teacher. More than thirty others were injured, several critically, and rescue officials feared additional victims could be buried under the debris. The school's owner has been arrested and the government has ordered inspections of schools. Families of the victims demanded justice, with relatives saying they had warned that the roof was leaking. A senior official in Peshawar said initial reports pointed to weak infrastructure.

In Mexico, a judge has sentenced three men to one hundred and fifty-eight years and nine months in prison each for the twenty twenty-four murders of Australian brothers Jake and Callum Robinson and their American friend Carter Rhoad during a surf trip to Baja California. The men were found guilty last week of killing the trio in what authorities described as an attempted robbery. The case drew international attention, particularly in Australia, where the Robinson brothers were from.

In Washington, President Donald Trump has signed an executive order waiving sweeping new sanctions and tariffs on Russia that Congress passed and he signed into law last month. The measures, named after the late Senator Lindsey Graham, were due to take effect within two days; Trump told Congress the pause was in the national interest but gave no further details. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy urged support for the sanctions and called the move unfortunate, saying it would encourage Russia to continue its assault. Kirill Dmitriev, a Russian presidential envoy, praised the decision as a significant and truly historic moment.

In New Mexico, a state court judge has dismissed an indictment charging actor and director Timothy Busfield with sexual contact with a child, ruling that prosecutors did not act in a fair and impartial manner during grand jury proceedings. Judge Joseph Montano cited prosecutorial misconduct and errors that undermined the process. Busfield, known for his role in The West Wing, had faced four counts of sexual contact of a minor over allegations that he groped a young boy on a television set.

In entertainment news, representatives for actress Selma Blair said on Friday that she did not intend to harm anyone during an alleged altercation aboard a Delta flight that led to her arrest on accusations of assaulting two cabin crew members, a police officer and a nurse. The statement characterised the episode as a medical emergency. Blair's publicist said the actress has a neurological disorder that can cause out-of-control responses.

In France, thousands of demonstrators rallied in Paris and other cities on Saturday in nationwide protests bringing together students, teachers, trade unions and yellow vest activists over high prices and inequality. Police and protesters clashed in Paris and Marseille.

In Scotland, a sixteen-year-old boy and an eighty-year-old man died when a light aircraft crashed near Loch Lomond on Friday afternoon. Emergency services were called to the scene north-east of the village of Drymen in Stirling at about four:forty-five p.m. and pronounced both dead at the scene.

That was the evening edition of the One News Page Global Briefing. Read the complete briefing and explore its supporting coverage at one news page dot com.