CORGI Morning Brief · Tuesday 20 October 2026

Day 235, and today’s focus is a single chain running from the Gulf to the streets of Europe: the CENTCOM-region fuel squeeze is now the detonator of the worst European unrest in years, and it is reshaping both domestic politics and energy diplomacy. France is the epicentre — nationwide rioting and looting on 17–18 October drew a televised address from President Macron (‘anger and shame’; rioters who ‘sought to bring down the Republic’ would ‘pay’), roughly 2,300–2,400 arrests over the weekend and about 1,000 police injured, with PM Lecornu ordering partial curfews.