Evening Briefing: Monday 17 August 2026
- Petrol: Oil surged to around $90.70, up 2.4 per cent, after the US-Iran deadline expired with no deal and both sides turned to threats. Higher crude tends to feed through to what you pay at the pump within weeks.
- Mortgages: The oil jump revived inflation worries, pushing the 10-year gilt yield back up to about 5.08 per cent. Fixed mortgage rates are likely to stay high while the Gulf crisis keeps energy costs elevated.
- Benefits: Reform added a 20-hours-a-week community work requirement to its welfare plan as scrutiny of the 50-billion-pound sums intensified. Still an opposition pitch — but the autumn’s welfare argument is taking shape now.
Trump Threatens Oman as Iran Warns of Hormuz Offensive
The collapse of the US-Iran deadline turned openly threatening, with President Trump warning he could bomb Oman over the shipping arrangement it is brokering with Tehran, ruling out any extension of the expired agreement and demanding Iran…
Kushner Meets Hamas Leaders in Cairo to Push Gaza Plan
Jared Kushner met Hamas leaders in Cairo in an effort to advance President Trump’s Gaza plan, even as Benjamin Netanyahu rejected the latest framework and insisted Israeli forces would stay in Gaza until Hamas fully disarms. Israeli report…
Seoul Urges Trump to Turn Drill Cuts Into Peace Talks
South Korea responded to President Trump’s order to sharply reduce joint military exercises by urging him to use the moment to restart talks with North Korea, asking the President to “be a peacemaker”. Mr Trump cited his relationship with…
Indonesia Quake Toll Rises to 68 as Thousands Await Aid
The death toll from the magnitude-7.7 earthquake off Flores rose to 68, officials said, as recovery teams reached more collapsed buildings and thousands of displaced people waited for aid. The disaster overshadowed Indonesia’s Independence…
Fuel Shortages Sweep Russia as Ukraine's Drone Campaign Bites
A second wave of petrol-station shortages spread across Russian regions, and Russia took delivery of a gasoline cargo from India — a striking reversal for one of the world’s largest oil producers. The Black Sea port of Novorossiysk was rep…
White House Denies Breach After Burnham Hoax Messages
The White House denied that Susie Wiles’s phone had been hacked, after it emerged that Prime Minister Andy Burnham exchanged messages with an impersonator posing as President Trump’s chief of staff before the contact was suspected to be fa…
Reform Adds Work Requirement as Welfare Sums Questioned
Reform UK added a new plank to its welfare overhaul, saying long-term claimants would have to do 20 hours of community work a week or lose benefits, as scrutiny of the plan’s 50-billion-pound savings claim intensified. Analysts questioned…
Government Defends Phone Alert as Wildfires Burn On
The government said the nationwide emergency phone alert over wildfire risk was “entirely appropriate”, rejecting an accusation from a Conservative MP that the system had been misused. Four major fire incidents remained ongoing, with the p…
Labour MP Suspended Over Covid Loan Questions
A Labour MP has been suspended by the party while it investigates questions over Covid-era bounceback loans made to his businesses. The suspension, confirmed late in the afternoon, removes the whip pending the outcome of the inquiry. The c…
Ministers Drop Plan to Relax Affordable Housing Rules
Ministers are reported to have abandoned a proposal to loosen affordable-housing requirements after a strongly negative response, a reversal landing on the same day as a new planning framework promoting homes near railway stations. The ret…