- Donald Trump, his company, and two of his sons have been hit with a $364 million judgment in the civil fraud case, most of which is owed by Trump himself and the company. This is on top of the $83 million he owes to E. Jean Carroll as a result of last month's ruling by another court. While he's expected to appeal, he could well have to front the money. No doubt he can find someone, somewhere, who will help him out, but there will likely be conditions on that assistance, and that could get mighty awkward for national security if he regains the presidency (and the associated access to state secrets) while owing large amounts of money to shadowy operatives somewhere.
- Professors at Brandon University have voted 87% in favour of a strike, with a 76% turnout. Pensions are one of the biggest issues; retirees currently receive between $30,000 to $40,000 a year, a figure unchanged in a decade in a half despite recent inflation.
- Besides the devastating consequences for Gaza, the conflict there has inconvenienced Israeli businesspeople who depend on Palestinians for cheap labour. So they're hiring migrant labourers from overseas to make up for the loss.
- The Philippines is accusing China of using cyanide to destroy the fishery at the Scarborough Shoal, which falls into the Philippines' 200 NM exclusion zone but is claimed by China as their own territory. After all, they need those pesky fishers to go away if they want to be able to "properly" make use of their claim.
- Controversy has arisen over the 2023 Hugo Awards, which were held in Chengdu, China. It has come to light that the organizers of the event excluded numerous authors, including Neil Gaiman, R.F. Kuang, Xiran Jay Zhao, and Paul Weimer from the awards, despite getting enough fan votes, out of fear that honouring them and/or their works could upset the Chinese authorities.
- Australia's new government is following France's lead in giving workers the "right to disconnect" so as not to be bothered by their bosses once they finish work for the day. The opposition is already vowing to support those poor beleaguered bosses by repealing the legislation if they regain power in the next election, but the claims that this will destroy productivity are very much open to question.
- A WestJet flight from Vancouver to Toronto was forced to divert to Winnipeg after a passenger decided they couldn't take another minute in the air and tried to open a door. This seems to be happening a lot nowadays. It's as if the people who were freaking out at the height of the pandemic because they couldn't travel are losing their minds now when they discover that flying isn't the pleasant experience that their rose-coloured nostalgic memories tell them it is.
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