Greetings! Happy National Chicken Soup Day to those celebrating.

Let’s get into today’s top stories.

🇨🇦 G7 foreign ministers huddle as friction rises. Top envoys met in Canada to coordinate on trade, Ukraine, the Middle East, and a hardening tariff climate. Briefings emphasized supply-chain security, export controls, and standards for critical minerals that keep factories humming without empowering adversaries. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) context loomed over defense pledges and sanctions architecture, especially where dual-use tech blurs lines. Ministers pressed for humanitarian access metrics that are concrete, not rhetorical, and for maritime deconfliction where insurance costs now telegraph risk. Currency and energy desks watched the communiqués for hints on price caps and FX stability bands. The signal underneath is institutional muscle memory after two turbulent years of shocks. Outcomes will be measured in shipping rates, not podium adjectives.

🇿🇦 South Africa shrugs at American G20 boycott. South Africa’s president called Washington’s decision to skip the G20 summit “their loss,” framing multilateral absence as self-inflicted leverage decay. The Group of Twenty (G20) matters because it links 80% of global GDP to real policy execution on debt, climate, and health financing. Delegates will still hash out language on tariffs, data flows, and green industry subsidies that decide where factories land. Middle-income nations sense room to maneuver when superpowers leave chairs empty. Investors read attendance as a proxy for who will underwrite risk when storms hit ports and grids. Diplomatic math is simple: be there to be heard, or be absent and be defined. The communiqués will move more than headlines if lending windows and timelines are attached.

🏛️ House returns for a shutdown endgame vote. After nearly two months away, lawmakers reconvened to advance a package to reopen agencies and restart frozen payments. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) will tally back pay, vendor penalties, and interest that make even short closures expensive. The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) will issue restart memos that agencies translate into hiring, inspections, and contract catch-up. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) expects controller training gaps to dent holiday throughput even after funding resumes. States counting on disaster and education reimbursements want calendar certainty more than victory laps. Markets priced a modest relief bid while muni desks trimmed shutdown premia on new issues. The roll-call clock, not rhetoric, will decide travel and payroll calendars.

📊 Poll shows rising frustration with Trump’s governance. New Associated Press - National Opinion Research Center (AP-NORC) findings indicate more Americans are dissatisfied with how the administration is managing the government amid the prolonged shutdown. The movement reflects fatigue with cascading delays in flights, benefits, and permits that touch everyday routines. Independents registered the sharpest souring, a cohort that often flips the map in statewide races. The White House points to growth and markets, but households grade on reliability rather than indexes. Political scientists note that crisis duration is a better predictor of sentiment than crisis size. Campaigns will test whether pocketbook frictions or cultural signals anchor 2026 voting. Approval moves in increments, then the graph looks like a verdict.

🪙 Philadelphia Mint strikes the final penny. The American 1-cent coin is being canceled, and the Philadelphia Mint began pressing its last batch as production lines pivot to other denominations. Officials cited production costs that exceed face value and the inefficiency of handling low-value coins in retail. The United States Mint highlighted recycling and die-change timelines so collectors can track the end-of-run series. Economists expect minor short-term rounding effects that wash out in basket pricing. Charities and coin-counting services will run transition campaigns to mop up jars and drawers. Vending and parking operators will post guidance as cash interfaces update. A century of copper-colored habit ends with a press release and a pallet.

💰 What $2,000 tariff dividends would really mean. The proposal would rebate tariff revenue to households, marketed as a direct payout that offsets higher sticker prices. Trade economists warn that tariffs are taxes paid by importers and often passed through to consumers and small firms. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) literature shows import duties lift input costs that ripple through food, apparel, and electronics. Administration allies pitch the dividend as middle-class relief; critics see a circular transfer that returns one dollar after charging two. Retailers forecast tighter margins and inventory pruning if rates rise into peak season. Budget scorers will ask whether the math nets positive after compliance and timing frictions. For exhausted Americans, the politics may be simple, but the price tags at checkout are even simpler.

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That’s all for today!

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See you tomorrow!