Axios

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Monday lobbied a bipartisan group of senators to press the Trump administration to remove what he claimed are restrictions on intelligence sharing and weapons supplies.

Why it matters: Ukrainian officials say the Trump administration has quietly imposed these limits without admitting it publicly in an attempt to press Zelensky to accept a deal to end the war that includes more concessions to Russia.

President Trump wants to hold a trilateral summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin in China next month to discuss "denuclearization" — but not necessarily Ukraine.

Why it matters: Such a summit between the leaders of the U.S., China and Russia would be unprecedented.

Japan has launched a potentially historic mission to scoop up soil samples from Phobos — one of Mars' two lumpy, potato-esque moons — and return them to Earth.

Why it matters: The Martian Moons eXploration (MMX) mission could reveal how the red planet's two weird little moons came to exist.

• Some researchers believe they're remnants of a long-ago collision between Mars and some other body. Others think they're former asteroids captured by Mars' gravitational pull.

This weekend brought violence in the streets of France. Monday brought violence in its bond market. And therein lies a warning for other rich countries staring at big fiscal imbalances.

Driving the news: There were outbursts of violence and looting in several French cities, following demonstrations over school quality and cost of living. They included rioters setting fire to the city hall in Limoges.

China's economy grew faster than expected in the third quarter, extending a yearslong pattern in which surging exports have compensated for weak spending and investment at home.

Why it matters: The stronger that China's economy performs, the less pressure Beijing faces to address the domestic imbalances that have made it so reliant on selling goods abroad.

• But what is working for China is becoming harder for its trading partners to tolerate, raising the prospect that its growth model is reaching political and economic limits overseas.

President Trump's moves to avoid new penalties on Russian energy sent shockwaves through Washington, sparking diplomatic tensions and political turmoil.

Why it matters: Trump's push to lower energy prices ahead of the midterms could provide Russia an economic lifeline and is exposing divisions within his own party.

Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear is in open war with prominent Latino lawmakers, and his potential 2028 rivals for president are taking advantage.

• Beshear, as head of the Democratic Governors Association (DGA), has resisted pressure from Latino leaders to invest heavily in Gina Hinojosa's campaign for Texas governor, opting to focus on races in other states.
• In response, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Maryland Gov. Wes Moore have given money to Hinojosa's bid to unseat Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) — and earned praise from Latino lawmakers.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky spoke Sunday with President Trump's envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner about the crisis between the countries and U.S. efforts to resume peace talks with Russia.

Why it matters: It was the first call between Zelensky and senior U.S. officials since tensions spiked between their countries after Trump cut a diesel deal with Russia 10 days ago.

President Trump's top aides offered sharply different explanations this weekend of his Russian diesel deal amid a barrage of bipartisan criticism calling the move a gift to Russia.

Why it matters: Oil, gas and petroleum products help finance Russia's war on Ukraine, and Trump's moves are bringing rifts within the GOP just ahead of midterm elections.

President Trump endorsed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday, just nine days before Israel's Oct. 27 elections.

Why it matters: Trump's decision to weigh in nine days ahead of the election could give Netanyahu a boost at a critical moment in the Israeli leader's fight for political survival, with most polls showing his coalition falling short of the 61 seats needed to form a government.

Former President Barack Obama issued a forceful denunciation of the Trump administration's legal pursuit of Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar over suspicions she fraudulently obtained U.S. citizenship decades ago, an allegation the Minnesota lawmaker has called "disgusting lies."

Why it matters: Obama — who faced false claims for years from Donald Trump that he wasn't an American citizen — is selective about when he weighs in on political issues or the president. His decision to speak out reflects his view that the DOJ raid on Omar's home last week was a betrayal of American values.

California and Louisiana have something surprising in common: Both have among the nation's highest poverty rates when the cost of living is factored in, according to Census Bureau data.

Why it matters: Southern states dominate America's traditional poverty rankings. But that familiar geographic divide starts to disappear when more of a family's financial realities are taken into account.