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White House press secretary Katie Zacharia exits after just five days, while Apple's $1,999 foldable iPhone sells out of launch-day pickups. Meanwhile, Trump denies ordering Starlink restrictions affecting Ukrainian drones, oil tops $101 a barrel, and Washington's annual deficit approaches $2 trillion.

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Katie Zacharia is leaving her press secretary role, a White House official said, ending a five-day tenure marked by a halting briefing that took three reporters' questions. An official confirmed the shake-up to CNBC after Trump said he urged her to reconsider, making her stint shorter than Anthony Scaramucci's.

Scrutiny centered on her legal credentials after Zacharia answered "When I moved to China" when asked where she passed the bar exam. Trump said she had been treated "pretty nastily," and her exit lands 18 days before midterms in which Republicans are scrambling to limit losses.

Apple opened preorders for its foldable iPhone Duo Friday, and launch-day pickup inventory sold out as some delivery estimates slipped into late January. Its first foldable starts at $1,999 and passes $3,000 at the 2TB tier, creating a new price point above the Pro and Pro Max.

Apple called demand "nothing short of extraordinary," while analysts told CNBC the real bet is making a small group of top spenders significantly more valuable. IDC expects foldables at just over 2% of global smartphone units this year but nearly 7% of revenue, a gap central to Apple's bet.

President Trump on Friday denied the White House ordered restrictions on Ukraine's military Starlink service, after Elon Musk wrote that the US government controls Starshield systems. Kyiv is in talks with SpaceX and the Pentagon to lift a cap cutting terminals' connections above 100 mph, a Zelenskyy adviser said.

The restriction, imposed without warning Thursday, forced Ukrainian drones to fly slower and made them easier targets, and an adviser said several missions failed. Poland's deputy prime minister Radoslaw Sikorski, whose government buys Starlink for Ukraine, warned Musk that "As your European customers, we are watching you."

Pope Leo XIV, the Chicago-born pontiff, was pictured celebrating Mass from his hospital Friday in the Vatican's first images since lung surgery and cancer diagnosis, as doctors reported steady improvement.

Kenya confirmed a third Ebola case, a 65-year-old relative of the first patient, though the health ministry said there was no evidence of any community transmission.

Masked Israeli settlers attacked Palestinian olive farmers near Abu Falah, and a local official said the attacks injured 12 Palestinians, including four dual Palestinian American citizens.

Illinois has now erased over $1.4 billion in medical debt for almost 700,000 residents, topping its $1 billion goal while spending under $10 million in state money.

The Justice Department reached a settlement forcing reforms on Lexington, Mississippi's police, which a 2024 DOJ report found discriminated against Black people and jailed residents who couldn't pay fines.

The US Coast Guard rescued 16 people off Mexico's Baja California coast after a vessel sank Friday, with 11 others believed missing and one treated for a suspected shark bite.

Wall Street's major indexes closed lower Friday, as the Nasdaq composite sank 2.1% and the S&P 500 lost 1.1%, both posting their worst week since June.

Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin unveiled a plan for a $330 million Florida expansion to build up to 150 New Glenn upper stages a year and eventually support multiple weekly flights.

US crude oil settled at $101.41 a barrel after Iran escalated attacks in the Strait of Hormuz, and diesel averaged $6.33 a gallon nationwide, according to AAA.

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The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists updated its menopause treatment guidelines for the first time since 2014, calling hormone therapy's safety well established and adding new nonhormonal drug options.

Brazil's annual Amazon deforestation fell to its lowest level since records began in 1988, with satellite data showing 3,335 square kilometers lost from August 2025 through July 2026.

German police have detained a Russian man accused of belonging to the Qilin cybercrime gang, whose 2024 Synnovis hack was the first cyberattack directly linked to a death.

Lionel Messi will travel to Spain to receive the Princess of Asturias Award on Oct. 22, then rejoin Inter Miami two days later to face the New York Red Bulls.

Lamar Jackson was ruled out again with an ankle injury for Sunday's game at Cleveland, handing Tyler Huntley another start after he led Baltimore to an overtime win.

The fight over Lakers ownership escalated Friday as Joey and Janie Buss filed a 29-page court opposition to Jeanie Buss's bid to remove them as co-trustees.

Spanish club Basket Zaragoza is now challenging Aday Mara's eligibility to play this season, saying the Thunder rookie remains under its contract, which Oklahoma City disputes.

A New Mexico judge dismissed the indictment against "West Wing" actor Timothy Busfield, citing prosecutorial misconduct and grand jury errors, and prosecutors haven't decided on refiling.

Sean "Diddy" Combs has been transferred to FCI Allenwood Low in Pennsylvania from New Jersey, with his spokesman saying the move was made with safety in mind.

Chuck Lorre, creator of "The Big Bang Theory," is looking back at hits and missteps in his memoir "Sitcom," written after a dear friend kept pushing him.

What it is: The Treasury Department reported Friday that the 2026 fiscal year closed with a $1.992 trillion deficit, about 12% above last year's $1.775 trillion and the third-highest in US history. Only 2020 and 2021 ran bigger gaps, when Washington was sending out trillions in Covid-19 stimulus, and it marks the 25th straight year in the red.

The detail: Social Security was the biggest expense at nearly $1.7 trillion, followed by Medicare at almost $1.1 trillion, while net interest on the debt also topped $1 trillion. Individual income taxes brought in more than $2.8 trillion, but corporate receipts fell about $70 billion to $381 billion after last year's One Big Beautiful Bill Act tax cuts.

Why it matters: The rising debt bill has fed anxiety among bond traders, who pushed 10-year and 30-year Treasury yields to 24-year highs just last week, according to CNBC. Total debt owed exceeded $40 trillion earlier this year and has more than doubled over the last decade, while interest on the public debt topped $1.3 trillion.

What to watch: Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has argued the US can "grow our way out of" the debt, while tariffs set customs records but refunds followed the Supreme Court ruling. Watch whether that growth and tariff revenue can narrow a gap now running at the third-highest level in history, with September alone posting a $27 billion deficit.

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California Highway Patrol troopers helped corral a loose emu dodging Santa Cruz traffic, with the agency noting that while it often handles dogs, cats and deer, "an emu was unexpected."

An Amsterdam zoo's southern ground hornbill became the first bird fitted with both upper and lower 3D-printed beak prostheses, and was using them the same day.

Amateur sculptors in Philadelphia had 90 minutes to turn 6 pounds of scrapple into art, and the judge's vote went to a likeness of mascot Philbert the pig.

Ether is first publicly demonstrated as a surgical anesthetic at Massachusetts General Hospital (1846) · Margaret Sanger opens the first US birth control clinic in Brooklyn (1916) · Walt and Roy Disney found their cartoon studio (1923) · The Million Man March fills the National Mall in Washington (1995)

"Gentlemen, this is no Humbug." — John Collins Warren, surgeon, after the ether operation, 1846

That's a wrap on today's headlines. Thanks for reading, and pass this edition along to someone who could use a quick catch-up.

—The Five Minute Daily Team