Morning Brief, Sunday 18 October

Donald Trump signed an executive order exempting Russia from new Graham Act sanctions that were due to take effect on 17 October 2026. Marco Rubio described the move as a 60-day pause to examine how sanctions and tariffs affect the global economy and the United States. Congress had approved the law with large bipartisan majorities, so the White House is now overruling a sanctions push it had accepted only weeks earlier.

Volodymyr Zelensky called the decision unjust and said it encouraged Vladimir Putin to keep attacking Ukraine. He also said Washington had signalled that a meeting could take place in the week of 19 October, and that Kyiv still wanted pressure applied to Moscow. The Ukrainian president linked the sanctions pause to a wider easing of pressure, including an arrangement allowing some Russian diesel exports.

The timing is awkward for Kyiv. Zelensky said Russia had hit more than 15 critical generation and transmission facilities across several Ukrainian regions between the evening of 16 October and the morning of 17 October. He said more than 320 Shahed-type drones, loitering munitions and missiles were used in what he described as an attempt to trigger blackouts before winter.

Moscow welcomed the pause, and Russian negotiator Kiril Dimitriev said the law could otherwise have halted US-Russia economic cooperation. In Washington, Democrats and some Republicans attacked the decision, with six Republican senators joining bipartisan efforts to block the diesel deal.

France's protests moved from mass mobilisation to serious damage. The CGT union put turnout above 500,000 people on 17 October, with marches over public education, living costs and police violence. Lyon and Nantes each drew about 20,000 people, while Rennes drew about 10,000. The interior ministry said most demonstrators marched peacefully, but it also reported 272 detentions across France, including 195 in Paris.

Paris saw the sharpest early clashes at Place de la République, where police used a water cannon and firefighters put out vehicle fires. Prosecutors cited by BFMTV said many detentions involved taking part in a group intent on violence or damage, carrying weapons, possessing explosive products or concealing faces. The march later moved to Place de Clichy and ended more calmly.

Limoges suffered the worst symbolic blow. Its city hall, inaugurated in 1883 and modelled on the Paris town hall, was destroyed by fire and its bell tower collapsed. Laurent Núñez said the fire was set during the riots, and reports said a group of individuals was responsible. Firefighters worked to stop the blaze from consuming the whole building.

Emmanuel Macron said people who destroyed property, attacked prefectures and businesses and looted town halls would be prosecuted and punished. Sébastien Lecornu accused extreme-left groups of organising violence in several cities and said the government would not be intimidated. Smaller student protests also spread to Brussels and Liège, where Belgian police used tear gas and water cannon.

Iran's Revolutionary Guards said two supertankers struck naval mines in the Strait of Hormuz on 17 October and caught fire. They said each ship was carrying more than two million barrels of crude oil, and accused the first vessel of switching off positioning and radar systems to cross without Iranian permission. The Guards did not name the ships, give their flags or identify the origin of their cargo.

The claim remains unverified. UK Maritime Trade Operations did not report the two supertanker incidents, though it did report a separate attack near Jubail on 16 October in which a rocket-propelled grenade fired from a small boat damaged the rear left section of a tanker. Further south, security staff on a liquefied natural gas tanker fired warning shots at a small boat near the Bab el-Mandeb strait after that boat fired twice.

Tehran has limited passage through Hormuz in retaliation for US and Israeli strikes on its territory. Before the war that began in late February, about a fifth of the world's hydrocarbons passed through the waterway, which is 30 km wide at its narrowest point. Ship traffic has fallen from more than 130 vessels a day to a few dozen in recent weeks, and Iran has reportedly imposed tolls of up to $2 million per ship for safe transit.

The Guards also said a cargo ship on an unauthorised route struck a naval mine and sank with more than 2,500 containers aboard. Reports identified it as the GFS Pride, and Iranian forces urged fishermen to navigate carefully among containers still floating at the surface.

Masked settlers surrounded a convoy carrying diplomats from France, Belgium and Poland in Taybeh, east of Ramallah, during the olive harvest on 17 October. Army Radio, citing local witnesses, said seven masked settlers circled one vehicle, demanded identity documents and smashed a window of a Belgian consulate car. Videos shared online showed one diplomat thrown to the ground, identified by AFP contacts as Bernard Baudoux, a 78-year-old French mayor.

The same bout of settler violence also injured Heidi Levine, a Washington Post photographer documenting the Palestinian harvest. Her daughter told the Associated Press that a finger on Levine's left hand was almost completely severed and required surgery. She also said Levine had a fractured rib, fractures in several vertebrae and numerous lacerations.

Isaac Herzog telephoned Levine and apologised, according to his office. The Israeli army condemned what it called a serious act of violence and said the consulate visit had not been coordinated with it. A preliminary check found no soldiers at the scene, and police opened an investigation after receiving footage. No arrests or charges have been reported so far.

Marco Rubio said Washington was deeply troubled by the images and urged Israel to intervene firmly. Mike Huckabee, the US ambassador, used sharper language on X.

“Attacking a photographer was a despicable act of terrorism by masked cowards”

Belgian foreign minister Maxime Prevot condemned the attack and said Belgium would keep pressing the EU to sanction those responsible and those who back them.