Evening Briefing: Saturday 17 October 2026
- If you drive or heat your home with oil: Brent crude settled at $109.86 a barrel on Friday, having touched $110 for the first time since May, and attacks on Gulf shipping this week reached a wartime high. Iran’s Revolutionary Guards now say the Strait of Hormuz is “closed”; diesel and heating-oil prices tend to track crude.
- If you pay household energy bills: the Resolution Foundation expects bills to rise to around £2,000 from January and wants a temporary discount, averaging £175, for households where no one earns more than £24,000. The chancellor sets out his Budget on 28 October.
- If you are under 30: Brussels is in talks with member states to let young Britons work in any job in the EU under a Youth Experience Scheme. Numbers and university fees are still being haggled over ahead of next month’s UK-EU summit; nothing has yet been agreed.
IRGC Declares Hormuz ‘Closed’ as Attacks on Shipping Hit Wartime High
The navy of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards has declared the Strait of Hormuz “closed”, with four tankers reported hit since Friday, one by a rocket-propelled grenade fired from a small boat. The UK Maritime Trade Operations centre said at lea…
Sisi Says Egypt Ready to Defend Saudi Arabia Against Houthi Attacks
President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said Egypt stood ready to defend Saudi Arabia “if requested” and asked parliament to convene in emergency session to authorise any deployment. “It is inconceivable that we would allow Saudi Arabia, its securi…
Zelensky Presses for Paused Russia Sanctions as US Seeks Putin Summit
Volodymyr Zelensky urged supporters to speak out for the US sanctions package Donald Trump paused hours earlier, saying Washington had chosen to “completely disregard the Lindsey Graham Act”. He disclosed that Rustem Umerov, Kyiv’s lead ne…
Hundreds Arrested as Cost-of-Living Riots Engulf French Cities
More than 270 people were arrested as protests uniting students with a revived yellow vest movement turned violent across France. Protesters burned down Lyon’s tourism office, stormed Marseille’s town hall and torched cars in Paris, where…
Israeli Settlers Attack European Diplomats in West Bank Village
Israeli settlers attacked European diplomats visiting the Palestinian Christian village of Taybeh, east of Ramallah, to observe the olive harvest, smashing a vehicle window. The diplomats were reported to be from France, Belgium and Poland…
Bailey Joins Walkout at IMF Meeting in Protest at Russia
Andrew Bailey, the Governor of the Bank of England, joined finance leaders who walked out of an International Monetary Fund meeting in Bangkok when Anton Siluanov, the Russian finance minister, addressed the group in Russian. The Bank conf…
Swinney Declares Independence Campaign Under Way in Dig at Burnham
John Swinney told the SNP conference in Aberdeen that the campaign for a second independence referendum “has already begun”, launching a drive called Choose Scotland backed by a six-figure war chest. In a veiled retort to Andy Burnham, the…
British Under-30s Could Work Freely in EU Under Youth Scheme
Brussels is in talks with member states to let young Britons work in any job in Europe under the Youth Experience Scheme, as Andy Burnham prepares for next month’s UK-EU summit in Brussels. Earlier negotiations had raised fears that Britis…
Army Chief Warns Britons Must Consent to Sacrifices for Defence
General Sir Roly Walker, the Chief of the General Staff, told around 700 soldiers at Catterick Garrison that citizens must “consent to sacrifices to prioritise defence and security”. “You didn’t know this, but our nation is going to need y…
Healey’s Budget Headroom Halved as Borrowing Costs Climb
John Healey’s headroom against his fiscal target has been halved from £24 billion to £12 billion by higher borrowing costs, the Resolution Foundation estimates, eleven days before his first Budget on 28 October. The Chancellor insisted tha…