Reuters World News - Ukraine's Starlink problem, US inflation and Ohio voters

Episode Date: October 15, 2026

Ukraine says SpaceX has restricted the Starlink connections powering its frontline drones, dealing a major blow to its war effort. Inflation came in hotter than expected in September, putting a Fed rate hike back on the table. Early voting in Ohio shows Democrats turning out in numbers that could signal a midterm shift. And Pope Leo is recovering after lung cancer surgery, with the Vatican unusually open about his condition. Podcasts, breaking news, and video analysis from the source. Download the Reuters app here.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Listen to the Morning Bid podcast ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Sign up for the Reuters Econ World newsletter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Listen to the Reuters Econ World podcast ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Visit the ⁠⁠Thomson Reuters Privacy Statement⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ for information on our privacy and data protection practices. You may also visit megaphone.fm/adchoices to opt out of targeted advertising. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hi, I'm Kim Vanel in Wanganui, New Zealand. It's Thursday, October 15th. Today, Ukraine faces an extraordinary convergence of threats. As Russia pounds its power grid, and Kiev says, Musk-run satellite communications are being restricted. Inflation stays high, raising the chance rates could be hiked again. And a transparent Vatican says Pope Leo is recovering after his lung cancer diagnosis. This is Reuters World News, bringing you everything you need to know from the front lines in 10 minutes, seven days a week.

Ukraine has entered an extraordinarily exposed moment in its war with Russia. Right as it faced a huge wave of missile attacks on power stations. stations, plunging 600,000 people into darkness, Kiev says Elon Musk's Space X purposefully restricted the satellite communications Ukraine's military relies on. Musk says restrictions on its military version of Starlink are controlled by the U.S. government and ultimately by President Donald Trump. And while Trump hasn't commented on Starlink, he is pressuring Ukraine to stop attacking Russian oil refineries as he pursues a diesel deal with Moscow aimed at bringing down fuel prices.

Reuters Ukraine Bureau Chief Dan Flynn explains. Limiting the speed of the Starlink terminal makes it extremely hard for Ukraine to use this in combat missions. It has been using this terminal on top of its mid-range strike drones to hit military targets deep in the rear of Russian positions, which have been providing weapons and logistic support to the front line. And officials have also said that Starlink is being used on the interceptor drones that Ukraine uses to take down Russian strike drones, these jet-powered Shah-head drones,

that Russia has been raining down on cities like the capsule Kiv, almost 24 hours a day in recent months. As news of the latest Russian attacks rolled in, President Zelensky was in the UK, where he received a full show of support from Prime Minister Andy Burnham. We know that the last few days, the last few hours, have been very dark and difficult days for Ukraine. Burnham pledged $60 million worth of surface-to-air missiles. And while Zelensky was clearly appreciative,

he added that Ukraine does still rely on the US. And we count on partnership with the United States. We just want to be very honest, very clear, be strong partners. That, despite President Trump over the weekend, saying Zelensky should be replaced, although Trump also says Washington is still sharing intelligence. Two commercial ships have sunk near the Strait of Hormuz in the space of 24 hours. They're only the second and third vessels to sink near Hormuz since the U.S. Iran War began. The Singapore flagged GFS Pride went down after being hit by a projectile and catching fire.

All its crew escaped safely. The Antigua and Barbuda flagged Cape Dow also sunk, but it was struck three weeks earlier on September 23rd. One crew member was killed. Iran says it is stepping up attacks in response to the US blockade of its ports and tougher sanctions. It is indicated it wants to keep oil operations. prices high with the U.S. midterm elections looming. Gas prices are showing up in the data in the U.S. Inflation came in hotter than economists expected for September,

and prices at the pump are a big reason why. But there's more. US economics editor Dan Burns explains. Well, the big driver was fuel and energy costs. Gasoline prices were up 9.1%. And that accounted for essentially half of the increase. The issue, though, is that those sustained high energy prices are starting to seep into other parts of inflation. So it's not just concentrated in energy any longer.

If you look at what people refer to as like the super core rate, which is services excluding energy, that was up about 3.2% and has held above 3% now for many months. The report is also changing the conversation at the Federal RRour. reserve. Many investors thought the Fed might be done raising interest rates this year. But Dan says this latest inflation data could be shifting that outlook. A week ago, we were probably at nine out of ten chance that there would be no rate increase in two weeks. But now we're approaching more kind of a coin toss type of scenario. Persistent inflation means a small bump and monthly payments for those on Social Security,

is going to be a 3.6% rise in 27, the largest cost of living adjustment in four years. It will add about $75 a month for the average retiree starting in January. In Youngstown, Ohio, the signs of economic decline are hard to miss. Empty factories, closed businesses, and, like everywhere else, affordability is the biggest issue voted. are thinking about.

For Labor leader Larry Fovre, the struggles are personal. Standing across from a recently shuttered bakery that had been part of the community for more than a century, he talked about what the region has lost. I've watched the good times. I've worked the bad times.

And my family grew up here and some of my family have moved away because there was no jobs here that they could do. President Trump rallied supporters in Ohio. this week as early voting gets underway ahead of the November midterms. I'm asking everybody to pretend, just pretend that I won the ballot. But Democrats are hoping economic frustration could help win back some of the working-class voters

who helped turn Ohio from a swing state into a Republican stronghold. Reporter Richard Cowan recently traveled to two counties in Ohio. I was really taken aback. You asked them what they're thinking about in the run-up to the election, and they're angry. And then when you drill down, they're really upset about prices, grocery prices, gasoline prices. Gasoline prices leads them to talk about the Iran War. They're tired of all the harsh language and the chaos. Ohio, a decade and more ago was known as one of the most keen bellwether states in the country, always swinging back and forth with the times.

According to the initial figures, on the first couple days, there were a lot more Democrats showing up at the polls than Republicans. And these are in places where Republicans outnumber Democrats. And so the question is, does that show more energy on the part of the Democratic Party and Democratic voters to turn out? And might it show that Republicans might just stay home? because one guy, he said, I'm fed up. So if you're fed up, maybe you just don't vote.

Maybe you stay at home. You try to decide whether if you're fed up with the current people in power, can you vote for Democrats? Netflix is laying off about 1,000 employees, 6% of its workforce, in its biggest round of cuts since 2022. That's according to an internal memo seen by Reuters. Netflix shares are down 25% this year, as concerns grow that it's losing viewers to YouTube and TikTok, which offer free content.

For more business and markets news, listen to MorningBit, Rortez's Daily Markets podcast, wherever you get your podcasts. Pope Leo is recovering after surgery to remove the lower lobe of his right lung. The operation lasted 90 minutes and was performed to treat lung cancer. The Vatican says the 71-year-old Pope is already up and walking in his hospital room. Vatican correspondent Joshua McAulay has more. I think it's fair to say at this point that the communication about Pope Leo's health has shown a kind of level of unusual transparency for the Vatican.

For a long time, it was kind of taboo to talk about the health of the Pope, a spiritual figure for the world's 1.4 billion Catholics and just not something you would talk about in polite conversation. Pope Francis also had to be hospitalized several times. as he became more frail, and it was a bit unknown that during his hospitalizations how much information we would get. The Vatican says a trip to Uruguay, Argentina and Peru in November is still on the Pope's calendar. For more on any of the stories from today, as well as more analysis and news shaping our world,

check out Reuters.com or the Reuters app. There's a link in the description to download it and start getting pure news straight from the source. Don't forget to follow us on your favourite podcast player. If you're listening on a smart speaker, just ask for the latest news from Reuters seven days a week. We'll be back a little later with an update.