Morning Briefing: Saturday 17 October 2026
- If you drive or heat your home with oil: Brent crude ended Friday at $109.86 a barrel, up almost 4% on the day, and overnight Iran’s Revolutionary Guards claimed that a supertanker had struck a mine in the Strait of Hormuz. Diesel and heating-oil prices tend to track crude.
- If you are thinking of buying an electric car: Downing Street has not ruled out tariffs on Chinese-made EVs as the price of joining the EU’s Made in Europe scheme. Chinese models currently face only the standard 10% import duty in Britain; higher tariffs could push up prices for buyers, though no decision has been taken.
- If you are waiting on the Budget: it is on 28 October, and the chancellor has returned from the IMF meetings in Bangkok to finish it. The Fund’s managing director, Kristalina Georgieva, urged him to “stay the course” on cutting the deficit; nothing on tax or benefits has yet been announced.
Trump Waives New Russia Sanctions Two Days Before They Took Effect
Donald Trump has used an executive order to suspend much of the Graham Act, the Russia sanctions law he signed last month, telling Congress the pause “is in the national interests of the United States”. The waivers cover 100% tariffs on th…
Iran Says a Supertanker Hit a Mine on an Unauthorised Hormuz Route
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards say a supertanker carrying more than two million barrels of crude caught fire after striking a naval mine while crossing the Strait of Hormuz by a route Tehran has not authorised. The claim, carried by Iranian m…
Russian Strikes Kill Eight and Cut Power to a Million Ukrainians
Russian attacks on nine Ukrainian regions on Friday killed at least eight people, injured 60 and cut electricity to more than a million, Ukrainian officials said; most have since been reconnected. Kharkiv, Kramatorsk, Volyn and Rivne were…
Houthi Missiles Land Near Aden Airport as the Saudi Front Widens
Yemen’s internationally recognised government says two Houthi missiles landed near the runway at Aden International Airport on Friday, 500 metres from an aircraft preparing to take off; all passengers and crew were safe. The information mi…
Trump’s Press Secretary Leaves After Five Days in the Job
Katie Zacharia is leaving the post of White House press secretary five days after a 14-minute debut briefing in which she took three questions; a White House official told the Guardian she had been fired. Moments before her exit was announ…
Healey Makes the Growth Case for Heathrow as Burnham Holds Back
The chancellor has struck a markedly warmer note than the prime minister on a third runway. “The case for a third runway at Heathrow has always been a case for growth,” John Healey said in Bangkok. Andy Burnham has called it “a matter for…
Police Assess Palestine Action Post by Security Adviser’s Wife
The Metropolitan Police is assessing a post on X by the author Sarah Helm, wife of the national security adviser Jonathan Powell, which read: “God help us authors who support Palestine and Palestine Action.” The group is proscribed as a te…
No 10 Leaves the Door Open to Tariffs on Chinese Electric Cars
Downing Street says it would “welcome the objective” of including Britain in the EU’s Made in Europe scheme after France dropped its opposition, but a Franco-German proposal would require the UK to align dynamically with EU trade defences,…
Half of Britons Now Back Rejoining the EU, Polls Suggest
Brexit is back on the agenda as the prime minister talks up closer ties with Brussels. A poll of more than 11,000 people published this month found half of Britons would rejoin and 28% opposed; More in Common’s modelling in June found just…
Devon and Cornwall Police Pay Nine Women Over Abusive Officers
Devon and Cornwall police has formally apologised and paid compensation to nine women who allege the force promoted and protected male officers despite knowing they were accused of domestic abuse. The chief constable, James Vaughan, apolog…