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Pakistan and Iraq close border crossings to Iran
Pakistan and Iraq have shut some crossings, according to the WSJ. Burnham presses Trump to keep Ukraine on Starlink
Britain’s prime minister, Andy Burnham, asked US President Donald Trump in a call on 23 October for “full access” for Ukraine to the Starlink satellite network, according to Downing Street (via ZDF).
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Transcript
JOHN: Welcome to The Gist. It is Saturday, October 24th, 2026. I’m John.
MARY: And I’m Mary. We are your smart friends on the go. Let’s dive into today’s news and track the power flows.
JOHN: First up, the tightening squeeze on Iran. The U.S. Navy has already blocked Iran’s southern sea routes. That choked off about 80 percent of their trade.
MARY: So, overland routes became their lifeline. But now, neighbors are shutting those doors. Iraq just closed the Al Sheeb crossing. Pakistan shut two of its own crossings last week.
JOHN: Washington did not officially declare a land blockade. But they are getting one anyway. Why? Because the neighbors are doing the heavy lifting for them.
MARY: It comes down to incentives. Take Iraq. Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi blames the closure on drug smuggling. But insiders say the U.S. Treasury pushed hard for this. Iraq needs to keep Washington happy to protect its own financial ties.
JOHN: But there is a cost. Southern Iraq relies on cheap Iranian building materials and produce. Now, everyday shoppers are paying the price at the market.
MARY: Over in Pakistan, it is a delicate dance. They officially closed borders, but Iranian cooking gas and fresh food are still slipping through.
JOHN: Exactly. Islamabad gets to play the gatekeeper. By controlling the faucet, they hold massive leverage over both Tehran and Washington. It is a classic middleman move. You win by making both sides need you.
MARY: Let’s pan out to the Global Overview. In the UK, the government is spending 100 million pounds on a new AI biosecurity lab.
JOHN: The catch? It is backed by the very companies they want to watch. OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google DeepMind are helping out.
MARY: Think of it like inviting casino owners to write the gambling laws. The government gets an inside look at how these complex AI models work. They could not force that access easily.
JOHN: And the tech giants? They get to see the referee’s playbook early. By paying into the lab, they buy a seat at the table when the new rules are drafted. Win-win, but tech gets the edge.
MARY: Next up, the skies over Ukraine. Retired General Ben Hodges warns that limits on Starlink are hurting Ukraine’s defenses. It is disrupting their early-warning systems for incoming missiles.
JOHN: This highlights a massive power shift. A nation’s air defense relies on a network owned by one private company. The access terms can change overnight, without a single government vote.
MARY: Speaking of financial turbulence, JetBlue’s senior creditors are lawing up. They hired restructuring experts at PJT Partners.
JOHN: That is the financial equivalent of putting on armor. When a company’s bonds drop, creditors organize. They are preparing for the ugly fight over who takes the financial hit.
MARY: And over in France, the Yellow Vests are back on the streets.
JOHN: Eight years after they paralyzed Paris, they are joining forces with other protest groups. For the government, a united front of angry citizens is much harder to buy off than a single special interest group.
MARY: Turning to the European Perspective. That Starlink issue in Ukraine? It is echoing all the way to Downing Street.
JOHN: British Prime Minister Andy Burnham just got off a call with U.S. President Donald Trump. Burnham asked for full access for Ukraine on the Starlink network.
MARY: It shows Europe’s structural weakness. European governments do not have their own satellite system to offer. Whoever controls the private American network controls Kyiv’s battlefield options.
JOHN: And Europe’s reliance on the U.S. does not stop at satellites. It extends to science. The Ifo Institute points out that Europe funds brilliant lab research. But U.S. start-ups are the ones cashing in.
MARY: European tax dollars pay for the discovery. But American venture capital buys the patents and brings the product to market. The proposed fix? Steer European grants only to projects that can reach the market. Keep the profits at home.
JOHN: Meanwhile, in Germany, energy costs are hitting the cash register. The Ifo price expectations index just jumped from 21 to nearly 23 in one month.
MARY: That index measures the share of businesses planning to raise prices. With the Bab al-Mandab strait blocked, oil and power prices are surging. Expect German inflation to push past 3 percent very soon.
JOHN: Yet, the economy hasn’t crashed from all the recent rate hikes. Economists now have an answer why. They looked at the neutral interest rate.
MARY: The neutral rate is the Goldilocks zone for borrowing. It is the interest rate that neither speeds up nor slows down the economy.
JOHN: It turns out, that neutral rate actually went up by about two percentage points recently. Central banks thought they were slamming on the brakes. But really, they were just taking their foot off the gas. Policy was way looser than anyone realized.
MARY: Finally, a quick global health update. Kenya’s Health Ministry confirmed a second Ebola death. A 65-year-old woman died in a Nairobi quarantine facility, and seven others are in treatment. Global health officials are watching those containment zones very closely.
JOHN: That is the temperature for today. Across the board, we are seeing the middlemen take control. Whether it is Pakistan guarding the Iranian border, tech giants funding their own regulators, or private satellite networks dictating war strategy, the real power lies with whoever controls the tollbooth.
MARY: Spot on. We will keep tracking those tollbooths for you.
JOHN: And if you found today’s breakdown useful, we would love for you to join us every day. You can subscribe for free to The Gist’s daily newsletter. There is a link right there in the show notes.
MARY: No spam, just the signal. Thanks for listening, stay smart, and we will catch you tomorrow.
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