- The US has entered a government shutdown due to the failure to get a budget through Congress. Among other things, this means that air traffic controllers and TSA workers, who are considered "essential", will be expected to show up for work despite not getting paid; it is widely expected that many of them will call in sick and flights will be grounded. Other federal workers will simply be laid off until the budget crisis is resolved, and programs such as Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, also referred to as "food stamps") are expected to run out of money.
- Donald Trump is again expressing a desire to annex Canada. He had stopped talking about that for a while after the election of Mark Carney, but his mind has wandered back in that direction. Carney, for his part, is hoping to placate the Americans by lifting or reducing restrictions on US dairy sales in Canada.
- A bill before the North Carolina legislature will, if passed, prohibit overseas citizens from casting a ballot in that state. This is part of a broader push by the Republicans to disenfranchise overseas voters. Until 2016, the majority of overseas voters were military personnel stationed abroad, but now the majority are civilians; presumably they fear that people exposed to foreign media without the countervailing influence of the military might be too reasonable (read: anti-Trump) for comfort.
- Winnipeg police are investigating after a fire broke out at the constituency office of Manitoba Families Minister Nahanni Fontaine on Tuesday morning. This comes a week after the windows were smashed at the same office, and also follows several fires at the office of Housing Minister Bernadette Smith.
- South Africa's ambassador to France, Nathi Mthethwa, fell to his death from the 22nd floor of the four star Hyatt Hotel in Paris. One naturally wonders if maybe he annoyed the Russians in some way, however his wife had reported receiving a "disturbing message" from him and had reported him missing, which seems to suggest a more mundane (though no less tragic) explanation.
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