5. General world news
Ukraine diplomacy:
US envoy Steve Witkoff met Putin in St. Petersburg, and Russia released Stephen Hubbard, a retired Michigan teacher jailed on mercenary charges. That came a day after he met Zelenskyy in Oslo (AP via 10TV; Reuters via Investing.com).
Starlink dispute:
the WSJ reported that Musk ordered a slowdown of a military-grade Starlink service Ukraine relies on. Accounts conflict on who decided:
- Secretary Rubio says access is up to SpaceX under its commercial contract, not the White House.
- Reuters' sources and Zelenskyy say the decision came from the White House. The administration denies it.
- Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX): "Helping Putin in Ukraine is reckless" (Reuters via Investing.com; CNBC).
Gulf shipping:
an unknown projectile set fire to a tanker off Oman, near the Strait of Hormuz. The fire is out and the crew is safe. It's the latest attack on ships transiting without coordinating with Iran (AP via News4Jax).
France:
Macron vowed "no repeat" of last weekend's riots ahead of a Yellow Vest march Saturday. French 10-year yields hit 5%, the highest since 2002.
- Le Pen says the government "has lost control of everything."
- LFI opposes deploying troops.
- Macron said Trump, "among others," is spreading misinformation about the riots (Reuters via Investing.com).
US elections:
in an AP-NORC poll (Oct 8-12), 55% of Democratic voters are confident midterm votes will be counted accurately, down from 75% in 2022. Republicans are at 38% (AP-NORC).