At almost every turn, Sen. Marsha Blackburn, the Tennessee Republican running for governor of her state, has voted against Black people’s interests. In 2021 she joined two other Republican senators and introduced a measure to rid classrooms of critical race theory, because she claimed it promotes “division by seeking to dismantle American society.” She voted against the John Lewis Voting Rights Act and the George Floyd Act. And in April, after the Supreme Court’s disastrous ruling in Louisiana v. Callais, the gubernatorial candidate, referring to the state’s largest Black city, wrote on X: “I urge our state legislature to reconvene to redistrict another Republican seat in Memphis. It’s essential to cement @realDonaldTrump’s agenda and the Golden Age of America.”

Despite all her documented hostility toward the Black voters of her state and their interests, on Tuesday, Blackburn posted an artificial intelligence video of herself in the place of the Black hip-hop artist Kendrick Lamar performing his hit “Not Like Us” during the 2025 Super Bowl halftime show in New Orleans.

Blackburn’s hypocrisy is galling. Kendrick Lamar’s catalog is mostly made of songs about Black people being locked outside of mainstream America. “Not Like Us,” a diss track aimed at Drake, has the mantra “They not like us, they not like us,” and it’s a line in the sand about who Black people should accept and support. It would be impossible to name everyone who falls under the Compton, California, rapper’s “they,” but we know it includes MAGA Republicans like Blackburn.

Even so, her X account released the short AI-generated video showing her mimicking Lamar’s halftime show moves. The other AI-generated people with her are backup dancers: Rep. Tim Burchett, Sen. Bill Hagerty and state Sen. Brent Taylor, along with WWE wrestler Kane, whose real name is Glenn Thomas Jacobs, former mayor of Knox County, Tennessee. Blackburn captioned the post “Tomorrow. Ready to roll.”

“You’ve taken my Blues and gone,” Langston Hughes writes in the first line of his 1940 poem “Notes on Commercial Theater.” The poem accuses white entertainment moguls of taking Black art forms, changing them “So they don’t sound like me” and making them more palatable for and marketable to white audiences. Using an AI program 86 years later, Blackburn does the same thing to hip-hop, which is currently the most dominant form of Black musical expression.

According to PEN America, the Trump administration has banned almost 600 books written by Black authors or authors representing minority groups, or books dealing with slavery, from Defense Department schools. Black studies programs at colleges and universities have been disbanded. And companies have rolled back their diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. In 2017, Lamar was awarded a Pulitzer Prize for his album “DAMN.,” which the award committee praised as “a virtuosic song collection unified by its vernacular authenticity and rhythmic dynamism that offers affecting vignettes capturing the complexity of modern African-American life.”

Nothing about that description suggests Blackburn would be a fan. It seems more likely that she would find a way to signal her disapproval. But still, she released a video putting herself in Lamar’s place.

Play

GOP Sen. Blackburn warns Taylor Swift will be banned by socialists July 9, 2021 / 07:40

Blackburn’s video isn’t blackface in the technical sense, but it’s blackface in the figurative sense. She’s mocking a culture she has no respect or appreciation for. I take Black music seriously, and in response to Blackburn’s hypocrisy, I find myself, like the title of a Hughes short-story collection, “Laughing to Keep from Crying.”

The brilliant thinkers Hanif Abdurraqib and Lauren Michele Jackson suggest that not every example of cultural appropriation is problematic. Cultural appropriation happens every day, and at times, they point out, the people doing it are not aware that they’re doing it. But that’s clearly not the case here. Blackburn made a campaign video using a catchy Black song and an iconic Black cultural moment to promote her candidacy — even as she favors weakening Black political strength and silencing voices who rightly condemn systematic racism.

No matter what AI-generated slop she puts out, “She not like us.”

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Danish prime minister Mette Frederiksen attacked Spanish leader Pedro Sánchez on migration during a summit debate in Brussels on Friday (16 October). 

Frederiksen, who despite leading a centre-left party has taken an increasingly hard line on migration, criticised Sánchez for granting renewable one-year legal residence permits to undocumented migrants.

“I have asked the commission to look into whether one country is doing almost everything in the opposite direction of what the others are doing. In other words, you come to a country illegally, and suddenly you’re allowed to be there legally,” Frederiksen said before arriving at the second day of the Brussels summit.

In response, Sánchez told reporters after the meeting with EU leaders that Spain’s regularisation scheme “does not go against the grain” – since there are many countries with similar measures.

In April, Spain approved plans to grant legal status to around 500,000 undocumented migrants and asylum seekers. These so-called regularisations are a common labour-migration policy that other countries have also used, including Italy, which has authorised nearly 500,000 non-EU work visas through 2028.

But at the EU leaders’ summit in Brussels in June, several European leaders used the meeting to criticise Spain’s regularisation.

The criticism resurfaced during this October summit, after the summer’s migrant crisis in the Spanish enclave of Ceuta, which some EU governments then weaponised against Spain.

Push for stronger wording

Following a breakfast on Friday (16 October), attended by 16 EU countries backing stricter migration restrictions, Denmark, Poland and Italy had also attempted to link migration to crime in draft EU summit conclusions.

They tried to amend the summit conclusions to call on the commission for extra efforts to monitor national migration measures that can affect other member states, highlight the impact of migration on welfare and public services, as well as avoid “measures that could create incentives for illegal migration”.

However, France and Luxembourg criticised the position of the 16, and leaders had a strategic exchange and agreed to return to the topic at a later date.

According to experts from the Migration Policy Centre, it is hard to conclude whether Spain’s regularisation plans encouraged more migration to the EU.

So-called ‘pull factors’ are difficult to consider in isolation, as migration depends on work opportunities, social networks abroad and other factors, but policies can also play a role. 

Regularisation could pave the way to legal work, generating  “positive employment and fiscal outcomes over time,” the scholars also said.

Denmark itself is not bound by EU laws (due to an opt-out) on border control, immigration, civil and criminal law, or police cooperation, and therefore cannot vote on them in the Council.

Rhetoric versus facts

It is not the first clash between the two socialist leaders on migration, but the timing matters. 

Sánchez faces elections in November, and France heads into presidential elections next spring, where it is feared anti-migrant rhetoric could roll out the red carpet for the far right.

In response to a barrage of criticism from the likes of Austria, Czech Republic and, Sánchez said that the numbers on illegal migration returns speak for themselves. 

“See what is happening in Spain – some politicians are willing to replace the population only so they can be … in government,” said Czech prime minister Andrej Babiš ahead of the meeting on Friday. “I am convinced that for some countries, it is too late – and that some day we will have to defend our borders so that migrants don’t come to us from Western countries if it continues like this. And we, of course, are preparing for this.”

“It’s a road to hell,” added Babiš, who belongs to the far-right Patriots for Europe group.

His comments, Sánchez said, resembled the rhetoric of the far-right political party Vox in Spain, now polling close to 20 percent. “One thing is the rhetoric, the blablabla, and another thing is the facts,” he said.

Ceuta crisis

The situation in Ceuta escalated at the end of July 2026, when tens of thousands of people simultaneously attempted to cross over from Morocco to the autonomous enclave.

The Spanish have since deployed additional security measures to regain control over the territory. 

A majority of newly arrived migrants were eventually returned to Morocco, but thousands remained in the city of 80,000 people – many of whom are unaccompanied children and teenagers.

The crisis has exposed tensions between Spain, Morocco and the EU on border control and asylum and put into question who is responsible for migrants. 

French president Emmanuel Macro previously said: “Spain was the target of an attack. Call it a hybrid attack if you like, but it was an information attack. Traffickers, and probably people seeking to destabilise Spain, led many people living in poverty to believe there was an opportunity, using false information and creating an information bubble.”

Meanwhile Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni previously called for a suspension of the Schengen free movement agreement with Spain.

The whole situation triggered tit-for-tat border closures between Spain and Italy. 

On Thursday (15 October), Italy decided not to renew the security checks with Spain, paving the way for a week of negotiations between Madrid and Rome to reach a final agreement. 

Please enjoy the latest edition of Short Circuit, a weekly feature written by a bunch of people at the Institute for Justice.

New case! Last year, Texas passed a law prohibiting municipalities from prohibiting home businesses, so long as they don't cause parking or traffic issues. And yet! The City of Venus says IJ client Rosi Paredes cannot open a daycare (with a max of 6 kids) lest vehicles parked out front for a few minutes during pick up and drop off discommode the community. Rosi even offered to stagger arrival and departure times and have parents park in the driveway. That's bananas! Rosi is state-licensed and inspected; she has lots of experience; and her neighbors are eager to enroll their kids with someone they trust close to their homes. Click here to learn more.

New on the Short Circuit podcast: Interested in how to hide several kilos of contraband in a minivan but don't have time to watch The French Connection? Our episode is shorter.

1. California conservation group publishes a report recommending against consuming American lobster because, it says, fishing practices endanger right whales. Unsurprisingly, Maine lobster fishers disagree. Many would consider that just a difference of opinion; but for litigious lobstermen, it's supposedly defamation. First Circuit: The "group defamation rule" bars this suit because general statements about a large group generally aren't defamatory against the individual members.
2. You may wonder what could have turned out differently for Sebastian Flyte, of Brideshead Revisited, if London bobbies hadn't caught him drunk driving. The same may be true of a Pennsylvania man who was convicted of two DUIs over 20 years ago and now can't own a firearm. Third Circuit (en banc): Wonder no more as disarming him is unconstitutional. Concurrence: For this guy, sure, but in the future the gov't has set up an administrative process that'll let us get out of ruling on these. Dissent: Cars, like guns, are dangerous.
3. An old DUI may be one thing, but if you're convicted of "terroristic threats" you ain't ever getting your gun rights back, says the Third Circuit (en banc). And that's true even though some states used to bar tramps from owning guns because they were "outside the social and political order." Concurrence 1: Felons are all the same. Concurrence 2: Maybe we shouldn't be relying on old laws that excluded minorities from firearms ownership? Dissent: I get this crime sounds bad, but the dude did the time and now just wants his rights back.
4. Fairfax County and Arlington, Va. school districts adopt bathroom and overnight-stay policies allowing students to use the facilities "consistent with the student's gender identity." Feds: That's a Title IX violation. Schools: Actually, not having those policies would be a Title IX violation. Feds: Whatever, we're cutting your funding. The schools sue. District court: Too bad I'm not the Court of Claims. Fourth Circuit: For an injunction district court is fine. Remanded. Dissent: "Plaintiffs cannot bypass Congress' choice and sneak into district court by dressing up a contract claim in statutory clothes."
5. Since 1998, USAC, a private corporation established by the FCC, has administered the collecting of billions of dollars from telecom companies for use ensuring universal service in rural and underserved areas. Fifth Circuit: But Congress didn't specifically authorize USAC, nor did Congress having USAC run some temporary programs during the pandemic belatedly ratify it. So the FCC is going to have to have another look at its Fourth Quarter 2025 contribution factor.
6. Home renter in Jackson, Mich. objects to code inspectors entering her home for a suspicionless inspection based on an administrative warrant. She's arrested for obstruction, charges are dropped, then she sues the arresting officials for violating the Fourth Amendment by arresting her without probable cause. Sixth Circuit (unpublished): May I introduce you to the "clearly established" prong of qualified immunity?
7. Milwaukee officer runs red light, kills motorist. He didn't see the light change because he was either looking at his phone—he'd been sexting on a dating app—or at his computer. District court: Might be a substantive due process violation. Seventh Circuit: Cancel the trial. This doesn't shock the conscience. (Negligence claims were reportedly settled for the max under state law, $500k.)
8. In 2019, mom wins at custody hearing, but both kids want to go home with dad. A Taney County, Mo. judge—now unrobed—overhears their argument in the courthouse lobby and threatens to put the kids in foster care. When they still won't leave with mom, the judge has them locked in holding cells. (They leave with mom.) Eighth Circuit (2023): No judicial immunity. Eighth Circuit (2026): And no qualified immunity. That was so obviously unconstitutional that a prior case on point isn't necessary. The jury verdict stands. (IJ filed an amicus brief at each stage, urging these results.)
9. California's No Vigilantes Act requires non-uniformed federal law-enforcement officers in California to display visible identification. Feds: Intergovernmental immunity! Ninth Circuit: Intergovernmental immunity. A preliminary injunction must issue.
10. Man is convicted of federal murder for his role in the shooting and drowning death of a man off a fishing boat nearly three miles off the coast of California. The Ninth Circuit first takes us on a fascinating jaunt through 200 years of the federal gov't's jurisdiction over crimes at sea, determining that the feds can prosecute murders at sea. Nevertheless, the court vacates the conviction on account of the district court's dismissal of a holdout juror experiencing a mental health crisis. Given that her crisis was based on pressure from other jurors to reach a verdict, a mistrial was the only path forward. (His co-defendant fared poorly in her appeal.)
11. The feds generally have jurisdiction to prosecute crimes committed in Indian country, but not when both the victim and defendant are Indians. Tenth Circuit (en banc): Overturning precedent, we now hold it's the defendant's burden to prove their Indian status. So these two guys, whose convictions for crimes against Indian kids were vacated because the feds didn't prove their non-Indian status, are now going to have to prove their ancestry, tribal affiliations, etc.
12. This Tenth Circuit (unpublished) opinion is notable less for denying collateral relief to a federal inmate on an ineffective-assistance-of-counsel claim, and more for helpfully (and in your summarists' experience, unusually) including Westlaw links for the cited authorities.
13. Tenth Circuit: It's clearly established that officers mustn't shoot nonthreatening people who are armed with something other than a gun. And the distinctions this Oklahoma officer makes between prior cases and his fatal shooting of a man holding a bat are too minor to trigger qualified immunity. To trial this must go.
14. To vote by mail in Kansas, a voter must first send a written application to their county election office requesting a mail ballot. In 2021, the state enacted a law prohibiting private parties from partially prefilling those applications before sending them to voters. District court: The law was enacted with an improper purpose, which can be inferred from contemporaneous widespread public vitriol about mail-in voting. Tenth Circuit: The law's justifications, text, and enactment history reveal no such purpose, so the inference was unreasonable. The law survives intermediate scrutiny.
15. After a pair of wrong-door raids by federal law enforcement in Collinsville, Ill. in 1973, Congress amended the Federal Tort Claims Act to ensure victims of such raids would have a cause of action against not only the individual agents but also the federal gov't. Eleventh Circuit (2024): This Atlanta family, whose home was mistakenly raided by an FBI SWAT team in 2017, does not have a cause of action. Supreme Court (2025): Try again. Eleventh Circuit (2026): Actually, the SWAT team leader does not get qualified immunity, and we should take this case en banc to reconsider our FTCA precedent. (This is an IJ case.)
16. Florida imposes age restrictions on social-media platforms that use "addictive features." Platforms sue, alleging a First Amendment violation, and get a preliminary injunction. Eleventh Circuit: Reversed! The law is subject—and likely to survive—intermediate scrutiny. (Ed.: Judge Newsom has a very interesting self-concurrence about the continued viability of as-applied challenges under intermediate scrutiny in the wake of a curious footnote in the Supreme Court's ruling in West Virginia v. B.P.J.)
17. Déjà vu! Georgia imposes age restrictions on social-media platforms. Platforms sue, alleging a First Amendment violation, and get a preliminary injunction. Eleventh Circuit: Reversed! Plaintiffs put all their eggs in the "facial challenge" basket at the PI stage, and they just didn't build the necessary record.
18. Admission to the Florida bar costs $700 if you apply soon after law school. But if you've been a member of another state's bar for more than a year, the cost jumps to $1.6k and can go as high as $3k depending on the applicant's years of admission. Members of the bars of New Jersey and Michigan sue, alleging that the law violates the Dormant Commerce Clause. Eleventh Circuit: Nope. The law treats applicants alike, and "[t]here's just more to investigate for experienced applicants than there is for new ones."
19. And in en banc news, the Fifth Circuit (10-7) will not reconsider its decision that Texas's no-snapping-pics-in-bathrooms statute likely doesn't violate the First Amendment rights of a woman who photographed a transgender politician hand-washing in the women's restroom of the Texas State Capitol.

Bananas! The City of Grapevine, Tex. has ordered a learning pod run by a teacher with nearly 30 years' experience to vacate its rented space in the offices of a local museum until 10 pages of outrageous and costly demands (like rezoning and renovating) are met. This month, IJ sent the city a letter urging them to knock it off.

Nuts! The Town of Ogunquit, Me., a touristy spot with no shortage of whimsical yard art, has fined a family nearly $2k for having tin roosters in their yard because, it is said, the roosters are unpermitted advertising for the family's small business, a breakfast restaurant that's attached to their home. In fact, the roosters are lawn art that have become symbols of autism awareness; their six-year-old autistic daughter has found comfort in them during transitions to and from the school bus. This month, IJ sent the town a letter urging them to knock it off.

The post Short Circuit: An inexhaustive weekly compendium of rulings from the federal courts of appeal appeared first on Reason Magazine.

• President Donald Trump said he told Katie Zacharia to reconsider the White House press secretary job.
• Shortly after, a White House official said she is "transitioning out" of the role.
• She lasted five days in the role after mounting scrutiny over her legal credentials.

Embattled White House press secretary Katie Zacharia is out of the job after just five days, making her the shortest-tenured person to hold the role in history.

President Donald Trump said on Friday that he told Zacharia to reconsider taking on the high-profile job.

Shortly after his statements, The New York Times and CNN reported that Zacharia had been fired after less than a week in the role. A White House official told Business Insider that she is "transitioning out" of the role.

"I said to Katie just two minutes ago, I said, 'Katie, you know, you don't have to do this if you don't want,'" Trump told reporters at the White House, adding that Zacharia responded that the job is "a lot tougher" than she thought.

"I said to her, 'Honestly, if I were you, I'd reconsider. You think about it, but I would reconsider,'" Trump said.

A conservative commentator who has repeatedly described herself as a lawyer, Zacharia made her White House press briefing debut on Tuesday and quickly came under intense scrutiny over her legal credentials.

She was widely panned after the roughly 14-minute briefing, most of which was spent on reading from prepared remarks. After the briefing, while alongside Trump, Zacharia was asked which state she passed the bar exam in and replied, "When I moved to China," raising eyebrows.

National headlines soon followed reports that Zacharia had not been licensed to practice law in any US jurisdiction.

On Thursday, Zacharia said she took the bar exam but failed, and never retook it.

Trump told reporters on Friday that Zacharia had been treated "very badly" and "very unfairly" by the media.

"She's been treated very rough, and she's a nice person, very nice person," the president said. "I've watched her for years on television, but I said, 'Is this for you, Katie? Because, honestly, you don't need this.'"

"She's been treated, I would say, very nastily," he said.

A rocky start

Following her first briefing, CNN reported that "several White House officials" were questioning how long she could remain in the role.

The news of Zacharia's ouster means Trump will be searching for a top spokesperson again after Karoline Leavitt left the role in August.

Previously, Jonathan Daniels held the record for shortest tenure. Daniels served as White House press secretary for just 19 days before President Franklin D. Roosevelt died in office. (He briefly served in an interim capacity for President Harry Truman.)

In the modern era, press secretaries have historically served roughly a year in the role, a fact that CNN noted when Trump's first-ever White House press secretary, Sean Spicer, departed after 182 days in August 2017.

During the first Trump administration, Anthony Scaramucci famously spent just 11 days as the White House communications director before he was booted from the position.

Scaramucci, known as "The Mooch," weighed in on Zacharia's departure in an X post, writing, "Records are made to be broken. But I take no pleasure in other people's pain."

Before becoming press secretary, Zacharia worked for Trump Media, the parent company of Truth Social, and served a brief stint at the Department of Homeland Security.

Compared to her predecessors, her résumé was void of the campaign and Capitol Hill experience that previous White House press secretaries brought to the challenging role.

Beijing warns against ‘discriminatory’ step after France drops opposition to British role in Made in Europe package

No 10 has left the door open to imposing tariffs on Chinese-made electric vehicles as part of the Made in Europe package, prompting a warning from Beijing that such a move would be “discriminatory”.

Downing Street said on Friday that it would “welcome the objective to have the UK included in the Industrial Accelerator Act” after France dropped its opposition to Britain joining the scheme.

Beijing warns against ‘discriminatory’ step after France drops opposition to British role in Made in Europe package

No 10 has left the door open to imposing tariffs on Chinese-made electric vehicles as part of the Made in Europe package, prompting a warning from Beijing that such a move would be “discriminatory”.

Downing Street said on Friday that it would “welcome the objective to have the UK included in the Industrial Accelerator Act” after France dropped its opposition to Britain joining the scheme.

French authorities are preparing for hundreds of demonstrations on Saturday, 17 October, as student unrest converges with protests over living costs, public spending and government policy. Up to 40,000 demonstrators are expected in Paris, where police and organisers remain divided over march routes.

France is preparing for a nationwide wave of demonstrations on Saturday, 17 October, with approximately 500 protest actions under consideration and more than 90 marches being organised, according to the Interior Ministry. The mobilisation brings together high-school students, trade unions, farmers and supporters of the Yellow Vest movement, raising the prospect of further confrontation after nearly a month of unrest.

Police estimates suggest that around 40,000 demonstrators could gather in Paris, with approximately 150,000 more expected elsewhere in France. The figures remain preliminary, while authorities warn that some protests could involve road blockades, disruption to essential infrastructure and violent clashes.

Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez initially outlined preparations for 250 gatherings and 80 marches on Friday morning. Subsequent assessments from his office indicated that as many as 500 actions were being considered, although not all had been formally organised.

Paris Faces Dispute Over Demonstration Routes

The authorities are particularly concerned about developments in the capital, where negotiations between police and protest organisers have failed to produce agreement over the proposed routes.

Paris police prefect Patrice Faure has rejected proposals for marches terminating near the Opéra district or Place de la Concorde, citing security concerns surrounding central government institutions.

According to details of the security preparations, police have proposed an alternative route between Place de la Bastille and Place de Clichy. The CGT trade union and climate campaigners have accepted the proposal, but student organisations and Yellow Vest representatives continue to oppose it.

Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu has convened an interministerial crisis unit to coordinate the government’s response. Security officials have warned that attempts to obstruct major transport routes or critical infrastructure will not be tolerated.

The Interior Ministry has also indicated that stun grenades, whose use was suspended during the student protests, could again be deployed in cases of particularly serious urban violence.

Yellow Vests Return Amid Rising Living Costs

Saturday’s demonstrations are being promoted as a revival of the Yellow Vest movement, which emerged in 2018 following opposition to fuel taxation before developing into a broader protest against living costs, economic inequality and government policy.

The latest mobilisation has gathered support from organisations demanding measures to address rising fuel, energy and food prices. Campaigners are also challenging the government’s proposed 2027 budget and its implications for public services.

The agricultural union Confédération paysanne has called on farmers to join the demonstrations, arguing that rising agricultural fuel costs and deteriorating conditions in rural communities have increased pressure on producers.

The union has also linked its demands to environmental policy, public-service provision and access to affordable food.

The CGT, student unions and climate organisations have similarly expressed support for the protests, while political backing has come from La France Insoumise and the French Communist Party.

Student Protests Enter Their Fourth Week

The mobilisation follows weeks of demonstrations involving secondary-school pupils, teachers and public-sector workers. What began as protests over shortages of teachers, overcrowded classrooms and deteriorating school buildings has developed into a nationwide confrontation over education policy and policing.

As EU Today previously reported, between 400 and 500 secondary schools faced partial or complete disruption earlier this month as students organised blockades and demonstrations.

The movement has subsequently expanded beyond its original educational demands, with student organisations raising concerns about university admissions procedures, police tactics and government spending priorities.

The scale of the unrest has placed considerable pressure on French authorities. According to figures from the Justice Ministry, 6,877 people were placed in police custody during the protests between late September and 8 October, approximately 86 per cent of them minors.

Violence during the demonstrations has resulted in injuries among police officers, students and educational staff. Clashes on 8 October led to 504 arrests and injuries to 48 police officers, according to Interior Ministry figures.

Education Minister Édouard Geffray has announced emergency measures to address teacher shortages, including the deployment of replacement teachers. The ministry says 2,000 of the 3,000 promised replacements have already been assigned, but student organisations maintain that the measures are insufficient.

Growing Pressure on the French Government

The planned demonstrations come as France faces a difficult debate over public spending, taxation and the 2027 budget. Lecornu’s government must balance demands for higher salaries and increased investment in education against mounting pressure to reduce the deficit.

France’s deteriorating public finances have already attracted scrutiny from eurozone partners, while domestic opposition to spending restraint has become a central issue ahead of the 2027 presidential election.

The convergence of student organisations, trade unions and Yellow Vest campaigners could broaden the protests beyond the education sector, particularly if demonstrations over living costs attract participants who have not joined the recent school protests.

However, the extent of that mobilisation remains uncertain. Online protest maps contain substantially more proposed actions than the authorities’ estimates, and participation figures will not be established until Saturday.

For the government, the immediate test will be whether the demonstrations remain peaceful and whether the authorities can prevent disruption to transport networks and public services without provoking further confrontations with protesters.

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky said on Friday (16 October) that the US-Russia ‘diesel deal’ came as a surprise and could lead to further sanctions relief for Moscow.

“We cannot treat the agreements concerning diesel and coal as isolated cases … gas could be next. I am absolutely convinced of that,” Zelensky told reporters in Brussels, after meeting with EU leaders. 

“The risks I am talking about are clear: sanctions could be progressively eased,” he warned.

EU leaders are expected to “regret” the diesel deal in their summit conclusions, while discussions on a new package of sanctions against Russia are still underway.

“It is not a time to release sanctions on Russia,” said EU Council president Antonio Costa on Friday, alongside EU Commission president Ursula von der Leyen and Zelensky before the discussion with EU leaders.

“We will not lift any sanctions unless Russia ends the war,” confirmed von der Leyen, adding that Europe will keep working on “pressuring Russia”.

Europe has adopted 21 packages of sanctions on Russia since the beginning of the war, alongside the listing of thousands of individuals and entities, and is currently working on the 22nd.

But one Ukrainian senior diplomat told EUobserver that the coming months could be crucial to agree on more sanctions against Moscow, since February is seen as a possible deadline given the upcoming 2027 French presidential elections.

Russia’s economy has come under growing pressure from Western sanctions. Although a month-on-month decrease in exports was observed (six percent for fossil fuels, eight percent for crude oil), the US diesel deal could offer Moscow a potential lifeline. 

No concessions

The diesel deal is widely seen as a way to restart peace talks. At the same time, the United States is pushing Kyiv and Moscow toward a negotiated settlement, which puts Ukraine under growing pressure to come to the table, even though any deal could force it to make painful concessions.

Zelensky, however, has warned against any deal that would compromise Ukraine’s sovereignty or territorial integrity.

“Putin plans to stick around much longer. He is building a Russia that looks like North Korea,” he wrote on X.

Instead, the Ukrainian president has turned to European “real leaders”, seeking to shore up their political and military support and strengthen Kyiv’s position in any future negotiations. 

And in the words of von der Leyen, Europe is already helping Ukraine to prepare for “winter-isation”, which for Zelensky should translate into more funds and defence support.

This week, the commission disembursed €2.9bn to Kyiv to purchase drones, air defence systems, missiles, radars, electronic warfare systems and ammunition, as part of the EU’s €90bn loan, backed by EU leaders last year. 

But Kyiv has warned it will need tens of billions more to continue fighting against Russia, as the war intensifies on the front lines and the number of attacks in Ukrainian cities increases.

Ukraine’s defence needs are estimated for 2026 around €23bn and Kyiv still needs to fund a hole of roughly €69.3bn for 2027.

“We will have to increase the funding once again,” German chancellor Friedrich Merz said on Thursday before meeting EU leaders in Brussels. 

Protect Russian frozen assets

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• President Donald Trump chose Katie Zacharia to serve as the new White House press secretary.
• Five days later, a White House official said that she is "transitioning out" of the role.
• She succeeded Karoline Leavitt, who left the job in August.

Katie Zacharia held her first briefing as White House press secretary on Tuesday, taking over the role previously held by Karoline Leavitt.

Days later, a White House official confirmed to Business Insider that she is "transitioning out" of the role after Trump said that he told her to reconsider.

Zacharia was the second press secretary to serve in Trump's second term, and the sixth across his two non-consecutive terms. Leavitt left the job in August to spend more time with her young children.

In a Truth Social post announcing his hiring of Zacharia, President Donald Trump wrote that "She has an unblemished record of support, and has been a loyal and brilliant supporter, right from the beginning," adding that "She is, likewise, a devoted fan and member of MAGA!"

Zacharia did not respond to requests for comment from Business Insider on Friday, after her departure was announced.

Here's what to know about her.

What was Katie Zacharia doing before this?

Zacharia previously worked as a senior communications advisor at Trump Media and Technology Group, which runs Truth Social, a White House official confirmed to Business Insider.

Zacharia previously worked as a spokesperson for former Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem at the Department of Homeland Security, and as a commentator for Fox News and Newsmax.

Her LinkedIn profile also indicates that she serves as general counsel for the conservative nonprofit Fix California, and served as a White House intern in 2006, during President George W. Bush's second term.

Is Katie Zacharia a lawyer?

Zacharia earned a bachelor's degree in political science and government from Pepperdine University and a law degree from Pepperdine Caruso School of Law.

She has described herself as a lawyer, but she confirmed to Fox News' Sean Hannity on Thursday that she sat for the California bar exam but did not pass it or retake it.

"I had already preregistered for the bar exam," she said. "Basically, during the summer, I knew I would be living in China and the results of the bar were inconsequential, and I sat for it because I didn't want to have a withdrawal status."

Zacharia's LinkedIn profile lists her as working as an associate at the Beijing law firm Zhong Lun from August 2011 to June 2013.

Zacharia added that she "consulted attorneys and legal professionals" to confirm that she could call herself a lawyer and offer legal analysis on cable news since she holds a law degree and had "actual substantive legal experience."

Zacharia told Business Insider in a statement that she "practiced international transaction law, with all the appropriate credentials."

The White House referred Business Insider to Zacharia's comments on Fox News.

Who is Katie Zacharia's husband?

Zacharia is married to film producer Tyler Zacharia, who has produced movies such as "Young Washington" and "David" with Angel Studios, a production company specializing in faith-based films.

He also served as an executive producer of the 2019 movie "The Irishman" starring Robert De Niro and Al Pacino, according to his IMDb page.

They wed in 2011.

Does Katie Zacharia have children?

Zacharia and her husband share four children, ages 12, 10, 8, and 6.

At her first press briefing, when Zacharia was asked about balancing work and motherhood, she said her family was planning to move from California to Washington, DC, so she could be present with them while working in the White House. She also called Trump "the most family-friendly president we've ever had."

"The fact that he knew I had four kids, and he knew that this job would be demanding, and still placed his trust in me, shows that I know I'm capable of being able to step up to that," she said.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.