Evening Briefing: Sunday 11 October 2026
- Flu is early this year: activity through September was higher than in each of the past four seasons, driven by cases in 18 to 24-year-olds. Free jabs go to children and higher-risk groups; everyone else pays about £20 at most pharmacies, or under £10 on some retailer schemes. Last winter’s programme is estimated to have prevented 100,000 hospital admissions.
- If you vote: a bill now going through Parliament would let you use a bank card without a photograph as identification and lower the voting age to 16. The Electoral Commission says about 16,000 people who tried to vote in person were turned away for lack of identification and did not return.
- Filling up: Brent settled on Friday at $104.72, before a weekend in which Riyadh airport was struck twice more, a US jet disabled a cargo ship in the Gulf of Oman, and Washington declared an energy ceasefire that Moscow has not confirmed. None of it is in the price yet. Monday is the first real read.
Trump Declares an Energy Ceasefire and Kyiv Asks When It Starts
“Effective immediately, there is an ENERGY CEASEFIRE in the War between Russia and Ukraine. Both parties have agreed,” the president wrote. Volodymyr Zelensky said it “was news for me” and asked Washington to say when it begins. Moscow has…
Riyadh Struck Again as the Houthis Claim Both Attacks
A cruise missile was intercepted near King Khalid International on Sunday while firefighters tackled a blaze caused by a projectile that hit Passenger Hall Four. Dammam’s King Fahd International was attacked too. The Houthis have now claim…
Poland Detains a Suspect in a Plot Against Tusk
“The man threatening an attack has been detained,” Donald Tusk wrote, thanking police for “swift and decisive action”. The plot targeted the prime minister and his deputy, the defence minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz. A Polish national w…
Pope Leo to Have Lung Surgery After a Nodule Is Found
“The doctors found an early, well-localised nodule on my lung,” the Pope told crowds at the Angelus in St Peter’s Square, announcing it himself. His doctors “believe it would be right to intervene” and he has agreed. The operation is sched…
At Least 139 Dead as a Migrant Boat Capsizes off Djibouti
The International Organization for Migration says at least 139 people died, fifteen of them children, when a boat carrying 305 capsized near Obock on Thursday night. Eighty-four are missing and about 82 were rescued, all Ethiopian national…
Burnham Says Russia Interfered in the Brexit Referendum
“I asked the question coming to Downing Street: well, was there interference in the 2016 referendum from Russia? I’ve had the clear answer that yes, there was,” the prime minister said. He did not say who gave him that assessment, what it…
Questions Over the Speed of the Voting Law Overhaul
The bill would let voters use bank cards without photographs as identification, lower the voting age to 16 and tighten rules on political donations. Ministers are reported to want Lords scrutiny cut from an anticipated ten days to fewer th…
Flu Is Arriving Early in England, the Health Agency Warns
“Flu activity throughout September has been higher than in the same period during all past four winter seasons,” the UK Health Security Agency says, with positive tests, GP consultations and accident and emergency attendances all rising. L…
A&E Consultant Says She Is Terrified of the Scottish Winter
Dr Fiona Hunter, vice chair of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine in Scotland, says she is “completely terrified” about the coming months and that emergency care is at “unsafe” levels, with some patients spending 72 hours on trolleys…
Home Office Revokes a Syrian Surgeon’s Refugee Status
A plastic surgeon who arrived in 2016 and now lives in London with his wife and six children, three of them at university, has had his refugee protection cancelled and faces deportation. The Foreign Office advises against all travel to Syr…