The Morning Briefing: Sunday, October 18, 2026
Trump puts his own Russia sanctions law on ice, Saudi air defenses battle another wave of Houthi drones, settlers beat a French mayor in the West Bank, and Wall Street posts its worst week since June - plus the midterms 16 days out.
Sixteen days before the midterm elections, President Donald Trump put his own Russia sanctions law on ice, Saudi Arabia fought off another wave of Houthi drones, and masked settlers beat a visiting French mayor in the West Bank. Here are the overnight developments that will shape the week ahead.
Trump puts Russia sanctions on ice; Ukraine fumes
WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump signed an executive order Friday waiving most of the new sanctions and tariffs on Russia imposed by the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act, a law he himself signed in September. The measures – tariffs of up to 100 percent on the five largest buyers of Russian crude and natural gas, plus steep duties on Russian goods – were due to take effect this week.
The waiver drew fire from both parties. Republican Sens. John Cornyn and Thom Tillis and Rep. Don Bacon joined Democrats including Sen. Richard Blumenthal in condemning the move, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky wrote on X that the decision “definitely helps only the Russians” and “only feeds their satisfaction and their desire to continue killing people.” Kremlin envoy Kirill Dmitriev called it “an important and truly historic moment.” Trump told reporters Saturday at his Mar-a-Lago club that he had not yet announced a final decision: “A lot of you don’t know what my decision is yet, but we’ll figure it out.” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the president would take up to 60 days to assess the economic effects, citing the Iran war and Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia as forces driving energy prices higher. The waiver follows a U.S.-Russia deal to release more Russian diesel into global markets; Kyiv briefly agreed to Washington’s request to stop striking Russian refineries but has since resumed the attacks. Rubio delivered the news before boarding a flight to Samarkand, Uzbekistan, for a C5+1 meeting with Central Asian leaders today. Read our earlier coverage of the waiver and the 60-day review.
Saudi air defenses down drones as Egypt offers to help
RIYADH – Saudi Arabia said Saturday it intercepted four Houthi drones over Riyadh, the Eastern Province and the south, and the Saudi-led coalition reported Sunday that it had downed two more drones near the capital, a third in the east, and two ballistic missiles aimed at the southwestern city of Khamis Mushait. The Iran-backed Houthis have kept up missile and drone attacks on Saudi oil sites, tankers and airports since the conflict flared back to life in July; a strike on Riyadh’s airport last week killed 13 people.
Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi said his country was willing to “carry out any measure to protect” Saudi Arabia if Riyadh asked, while stressing Cairo sought only defense, not war. President Trump said the U.S. war with Iran would end “very quickly” and predicted fuel prices would fall below pre-war levels once it does. Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, said Tehran was open to dialogue with Washington based on “mutual respect and credible guarantees,” and told a meeting in Baghdad that Iran had sent a seven-day plan through Qatar to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. In Yemen, the Houthis released 159 prisoners in a Red Cross-coordinated exchange, and a military delegation from Lebanon is due to join U.S. and Israeli officials in Tampa, Florida, on Oct. 20. Read our coverage of the strikes on Aden airport and Saudi air defenses.
Settlers beat French mayor, attack European diplomats in West Bank
TAYBEH, West Bank – Masked Israeli settlers attacked a delegation of European diplomats on Saturday near Taybeh, beating a visiting French mayor and smashing the window of a Belgian consular vehicle during a visit supporting Palestinian olive farmers. Bernard Baudoux, 78, the mayor of the northern French town of Aulnoye-Aymeries, told Reuters he was kicked and struck with iron bars despite wearing his official tricolor sash. Belgium’s consul general, French and Polish diplomats and Archbishop of Cambrai Vincent Dollmann were in the group.
Belgium’s foreign minister, Maxime Prevot, said on X that he condemned “in the strongest terms” the attack on his country’s diplomats and Palestinian farmers, and that Belgium would press the European Union for sanctions against violent settlers. Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar condemned the attackers as “Israeli rioters,” and police opened an investigation; the military said the delegation’s visit had not been coordinated with it. The attack came a day after settlers seriously injured Washington Post photographer Heidi Levine during the harvest – she required surgery for a nearly detached finger and also suffered a broken rib and broken vertebrae, the Associated Press reported. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has courted settler voters ahead of an upcoming election, according to Reuters.
Markets: Nasdaq’s worst week since June as oil holds near $110
NEW YORK – Wall Street ended the week with its worst showing since June. The Nasdaq fell about 4 percent for the week ending Oct. 16 and the S&P 500 lost about 2 percent, as investors sold AI-linked stocks over debt and spending worries: CoreWeave dropped 12 percent Friday and roughly 25 percent for the week, and the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index fell for an eighth straight day. Brent crude settled at $109.86 a barrel, up nearly 4 percent on the day, touching $110 for the first time since May as the wars in the Middle East and Ukraine strained supply.
Inflation remains the complication. Consumer prices rose 3.7 percent from a year earlier and wholesale prices 6.3 percent, the largest annual gain since 2022. Federal Reserve Chair Keven Warsh spoke at an IMF event in Bangkok without addressing rates, and traders now see an 82 percent chance the Fed holds its overnight rate steady at the Oct. 27-28 meeting, according to the CME FedWatch tool. The International Energy Agency plans to release more than 400 million barrels from emergency stocks, and the United States is pursuing a 17-million-barrel swap from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. Read our full report on the Nasdaq’s slide.
Midterms 16 days out: polls and prediction markets point to a blue wave
With the Nov. 3 midterm elections 16 days away, prediction markets on Kalshi and Polymarket give Democrats about a 90 percent chance of taking the House and about 62 percent of winning the Senate, with a full sweep the most likely single outcome at roughly 60 percent. Democrats need a net gain of four Senate seats; 35 seats are on the ballot, including special elections in Florida and Ohio to fill the terms of former Sens. Marco Rubio and JD Vance.
The polling points the same way. RealClearPolling’s average gave Democrats an 8.1-point edge on the generic congressional ballot as of Oct. 14, and New York Times/Siena polls showed Democrats leading Senate races in Texas, Alaska and Ohio. President Trump’s approval sits around 37 percent in recent surveys, with three-quarters of adults saying the country is on the wrong track. The Senate contests expected to decide control include Texas (James Talarico vs. Ken Paxton), Maine, Ohio’s special election (Sherrod Brown vs. Jon Husted), Iowa, Kansas, Alaska and Michigan. Read our coverage of Trump’s $100 million Kentucky drug plant pledge and of Musk’s $158 million bet on the Texas Senate race.
Weekend roundup: Auburn shocks No. 1 Georgia
Auburn stunned No. 1 Georgia 27-24 on Saturday as kicker Alex McPherson drilled a 34-yard field goal at the gun – the second straight week the top-ranked team lost to an unranked opponent. The kick capped a comeback from severe ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease in 2024 that cost McPherson his entire large intestine and 55 pounds. In the NFL, the Houston Texans (1-4) meet the Jacksonville Jaguars (4-1) at Wembley Stadium in London this morning at 9:30 a.m. ET, and the Tampa Bay Rays beat the Cleveland Guardians 7-3 in the ALCS on Saturday.
Elsewhere: Tesla demonstrated its Roadster with SpaceX cold-gas thrusters Thursday, lifting the driverless car in brief hops – Musk himself called it hopping, not sustained flight – with deliveries planned for 2028. An F-22 pilot directed Anduril’s YFQ-44A Fury drone from the cockpit in a test at Edwards Air Force Base, a first for the fighter jet. “Street Fighter” opened to a projected $31 million, the best domestic debut in the video game franchise’s film history. And the CDC’s measles count reached 4,410 cases for 2026, with Pennsylvania’s outbreak at 1,222 cases and a federal “disease detective” deployed to help. Read our report on the measles outbreak.
