- European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen says she would like Canada to become an "associate member" of the European Union. This is not currently a formal status that a country can have, however. Mark Carney says that he doesn't want to formally join the bloc but is calling for a "deeper partnership" between Canada and the EU, saying "We are not fair-weather allies. We do not pursue zero-sum deals". No prize for guessing who he's contrasting himself with. This is alarming to Susan Collins, a Republican senator from Maine, saying that it "doesn't help rebuild the good relationship" that Canada and the US once had. Trump is, of course, more blunt, saying that such a move could be considered a "hostile act" and has threatened to stop trading with the EU if that happens.
- The threats against the Israeli directors of the film NAZA have escalated. Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu says he will introduce new legislation to facilitate stripping citizenship from people who "smear" Israeli soldiers. Meanwhile rightwing mobs are threatening the families of directors Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor. A large crowd of these brownshirts gathered outside the home of Szor's parents, with one speaker calling for Szor and Abraham to be executed and for their families' homes to be demolished.
- Canadian computer scientist Yoshua Bengio, sometimes called the "Godfather of AI", is expressing some optimism that the uproar over the technology will lead to restraints. He notes that at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, many governments that weren't normally inclined to take the kind of action that was needed did so when the need became obvious. Several leaders in the industry have also admitted that a "slowdown" might be needed; some observers are skeptical, however, suspecting that if the companies do allow regulation it will be done in such a way as to keep new startups from entering the industry, effectively pulling up the ladder behind them. Even if that's true, though, it might still be preferable to no regulation at all.
- A news helicopter crashed in Los Angeles on Tuesday, killing the pilot and camera operator as well as a pedestrian on the ground. The crew were covering a fatal crash involving a transit bus. The driver who had crashed her SUV into the bus has been charged with murder; this seems excessive but manslaughter would seem an appropriate charge given the degree of negligence that appears to have been involved in that crash.
- A 44 year old North Dakota man attempting to cross the border at the Emerson-Pembina crossing fled at high speed after being directed into secondary screening. He then attempted to evade the RCMP, damaging a police vehicle in the process, but was captured and found to be carrying a loaded handgun. He faces numerous charges.
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