1. (China’s) economy increasingly resembles that of Japan during the long period of stagnation and deflation that followed the bursting of its property bubble in 1990. The parallels are everywhere, from deteriorating demographics, persistent deflation and weak consumer spending to moribund stock and property markets. At around 300 per cent of GDP, according to calculations by Capital Economics, China’s total public and private debt is also closing in on Japanese levels. China’s leaders have studied Japan’s experience in detail, in an effort to avoid the policy mistakes that bedeviled Tokyo’s response to the slump. But despite their efforts, signs of Japan-style malaise, such as reluctant consumers and deflationary pressures, are still proliferating in China. According to Goldman Sachs, an updated version of the Japanization index — a gauge originally devised by the late economist Takatoshi Ito — shows that for the past five years, China has been consistently more “Japanized” than Japan itself. (Source: ft.com)
2. Elon Musk ordered the slowdown of a military-grade version of Starlink relied on by Ukraine, a decision that sparked panic in Kyiv and confusion inside the Trump administration, U.S. officials and people familiar with the matter said. Both Musk and President Trump have expressed anger at Ukraine for attacking Russian diesel refineries in recent weeks, which the president blames for high energy prices. Last week, Musk capped the speeds at which Ukrainian hardware could stay connected to the satellite-based network, the people said, rendering some offensive drones and interceptor drones virtually useless. Musk and Trump discussed the Starlink decision in a call soon after the slowdown became public, while the president was campaigning last week, two of the people said. One of the people also claimed Musk and Trump discussed the matter prior to the decision to throttle Starlink. (Source: wsj.com, 20 October 2026)
3. Elon Musk (14 October 2026):
Starshield systems are owned and controlled by the US government. Any limits on speed or usage are decided by the US military and ultimately POTUS.
Starlink is a commercial service owned and controlled by SpaceX. Usage of Starlink is limited to civilian or defensive activities and cannot be used for offensive military action, as doing so would be inappropriate for a commercial company. (Source: x.com)
4. Leaders of Ukraine, Finland and Norway hailed progress in talks in Oslo yesterday about how to end Russia’s war in Ukraine, but they did not announce any breakthroughs. “I think we made genuine progress today,” said Finnish President Alexander Stubb, who co-hosted the talks with Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre at the request of Ukraine. They were joined by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Steve Witkoff, Donald Trump’s envoy, as well as representatives from France, Germany, the UK, Poland, the EU and Nato. In a press conference after the talks, Stubb said that progress had been made on sticking points to do with Ukraine’s security and the economy, and those proposals would be taken by Witkoff to St Petersburg, where he is set to meet Vladimir Putin on Wednesday. (Source: ft.com)
5. Catherine Belton, The Washington Post:
The Kremlin is counting the Trump administration’s latest turn against Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky as a major triumph and, coupled with political upheaval in Europe, a sign that Western support for Ukraine is finally crumbling.
