Chinese President Xi Jinping addressed China’s Communist Party Congress meeting with the swagger of a guy who’s about to become the most powerful Chinese leader since Mao Zedong.

Speaking at China’s biggest political summit (they’re only held once every five years), Xi boasted about his controversial zero-Covid policy, touted the country’s “socialist economic system,” and, in the biggest crowd-pleaser, reiterated his opposition to Taiwan’s independence.

At the end of this weeklong conference, Xi is expected to be reelected to his third five-year term, which has never happened before (he scrapped presidential term limits in 2018).

That isn’t the whole story

While Xi painted a rosy picture of China’s current situation, the reality is that the country’s once-booming economy is slowing significantly, and its ambitions to topple the US as the dominant player in technology just took a major blow, courtesy of the White House.

Earlier in October, the US unleashed one of its biggest pushes yet to wound China’s tech industry, curbing exports of certain semiconductors and chipmaking equipment. The goal? Hamstring China’s ability to develop more advanced weapons and surveillance technology. Because China has struggled to create its own chips for these industries, and still depends on American tech, the rules are likely to do serious damage.

But Washington isn’t just barring the flow of key chips to China, it’s also barring the flow of human talent. As part of the new controls, the US is prohibiting “US persons” from working on Chinese chip development.

That’s a big deal. For instance, dozens of Americans hold leadership positions at Chinese chipmakers. The WSJ found that at least 43 senior executives at public Chinese chip companies (including CEOs) are American citizens, the majority of whom came over after learning the ropes in Silicon Valley. Now, companies are scrambling to tell their American employees to stop working on projects that would violate the new US rules.

So what does Xi think about all this? While he didn’t explicitly reference Washington’s export controls in his speech yesterday, Xi did stress the importance of China becoming self-reliant in order to win the tech battle.

Musk says he’ll fund Starlink in Ukraine after all. Elon Musk said that SpaceX would provide its Starlink broadband internet service in Ukraine for free, just a day after Musk threatened to pull funding because it was too expensive. Musk seems to be doing it begrudgingly. He tweeted, “Even though Starlink is still losing money & other companies are getting billions of taxpayer $, we’ll just keep funding Ukraine govt for free.” Still, this reversal might get him out of the doghouse with Ukrainian leaders.

Biden joins the Great British pile on. As British PM Liz Truss tries to salvage her administration, the US president waded into the fray by calling her tax cuts, some of which she abandoned on Friday, a “mistake.” Truss’s brand-new finance chief, Jeremy Hunt, also acknowledged that parts of her economic strategy were a mistake, and suggested that more plans could be shelved.

You can now apply for student loan relief…kinda. The US government released a beta version of its application for student loan relief, marking the first time borrowers can apply to get up to $20,000 of their student loan debt wiped out. However, this is a beta version, so expect some bugs. The form will only be available periodically (try again later if it’s not working for you now). Plus, no student loan debt will be canceled until at least Oct. 23.

You thought Huck Finn had wild adventures on the Mississippi? Try being a barge on the river right now. Water levels on the Mississippi are approaching their lowest levels in 30 years, creating traffic jams, jacking up shipping prices, and threatening jobs that depend on this critical trade route.

Why is it so dry? The simple answer is always the correct one: There’s been no rain. Vicksburg, Mississippi, which is located on the river, has received less than one inch of rain since Sep. 1.

Meager water levels make transportation on the river much trickier—or downright impossible. Last Friday, more than 2,000 barges were backed up along the Mississippi because certain points were closed.

Why it matters: The Mississippi River is the lubricant of the American commercial engine. The river’s basin accounts for 92% of US agricultural exports, and 78% of global exports of soybeans and feed grains, per the Guardian. When the river was closed at least three times during the Great Plains drought of 2012, the US economy suffered $35 billion in losses.

Big picture: From the Rhine River in Europe to Lake Mead in the US Southwest, “shrinking water levels threaten the economy” has been a recurring theme of 2022. Just waiting to see if any dead bodies turn up…

Hope this week finds all of you sitting on a leafy bench just like this one.

Earnings: Earnings season goes from a trot to a canter this week when some heavy-hitters will give business updates, including Netflix, Tesla, IBM, Goldman Sachs, and P&G. In their reports last week, bank execs said that consumers were still in pretty good shape, despite the gloomy economic outlook.

This league: The NBA regular season starts on Tuesday. Expect plenty of off-the-court drama and also plenty of tanking for a chance to draft 7'4" French phenom Victor Wembanyama.

T-Swift returns: The prolific pop star releases her latest album, Midnights, on Friday. Swift said the album reflects “the stories of 13 sleepless nights scattered throughout my life.”

Everything else:

• President Biden said he’d announce a new effort to bring down gas prices this week (TBD on what exactly that is).
• The House of the Dragon finale is on Sunday.
• The Phillies will continue their quest to wreck the global economy in the NLCS against the Padres.

Stat: A Star Wars-obsessed mother and daughter baking team in the Bay Area have created a six-foot sculpture of Han Solo out of bread. The doughy sculpture, dubbed “Pan Solo,” is the duo’s entry for their town’s scarecrow contest, and we can’t imagine any other competitor standing a chance. Next year, they should follow this up with Ciabatta the Hutt.

Quote:  “I just give from my heart. I never know what I’m going to do or why I’m gonna do it. I just see a need and if I can fill it, then I will.”

Dolly Parton spoke about her giving strategy after receiving the Carnegie Medal of Philanthropy in NYC last week. Without calling any attention to herself, Parton has used her fortune to make a positive impact, such as funding Covid-19 vaccine research, paying for the band uniforms of Tennessee high school kids, and sending 2 million free books each month to children under five.

Read: How the internet is becoming more like TV. (Dirt)

Dive back into the week.

• Shallow dive: A five-minute guide to better typography.
• Medium dive: Dozens of useful fitness tips.
• Deep dive: Take a peek inside the Studio Ghibli theme park.
• Cannonball: Little rules about big things.

George Washington Carver didn’t invent peanut butter: Here’s a list of all the misconceptions you need to unlearn from school.

On CNN’s Chasing Life podcast: Dr. Sanjay Gupta explores the unique sensory experiences of humans and animals. Discover how psychedelics change your worldview, why biases in taste might impact the future of food, and lots more. Listen now.

365 days of cash back: The Apple Card gives you daily cash back on every single purchase—so you can keep spending your money however you want. Apply for the Apple Card here.*

Auto-mated: With federal and environmental pushes for EV development, 5G is powering a new vision for automated manufacturing. Check out this video to see how Ford’s dedicated EV plant is using connected technology to be a driving force. Sponsored by AT&T Business.*

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Turntable: Today’s Turntable is v special because it’s the first one that’s featured the letter “v” in the middle of the jumble. Play it here.

Rivers run through it

We’re dropping the hammer with a beast of a geography quiz this morning. Sorry. Here’s the context: Many cities arose because they are strategically located at the intersection of two rivers. We’ll give you two (or more) rivers, and you have to name the city that lies at their intersection.

In the US…

1. Allegheny and Monongahela forming the Ohio River
2. Missouri and Mississippi
3. Willamette and Columbia

Now for three non-US cities…

1. White Nile and Blue Nile
2. Sava and Danube
3. Gombak and Klang

The term “influencer” is overused these days—but where did it even come from? Learn the answer here.

🖊 Get promoted to CEO of Spreadsheets when you have an Excel Banner Pen in one hand and an Excel Mug in the other. Shop now for over 150 functions and shortcuts right in the palm of your hand.

Morning Brew is hosting a free Leadership Workshop with Julia Boorstin, author of When Women Lead. Register here.

🗓 Retail leaders: The SKU is a can’t-miss retail industry event. You’ll network, strategize, and hear from leaders at top retail brands. Register now.

US

1. Pittsburgh
2. St. Louis
3. Portland, Oregon

International

1. Khartoum, Sudan
2. Belgrade, Serbia
3. Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia