Greetings! Happy National Civics Day to those celebrating.

Let’s get into today’s top stories.

🇯🇵 Trump to meet Japan’s new leader in Tokyo. The itinerary includes a joint session with the new prime minister and an address to American troops, setting the tone for defense, chip supply chains, and a fraught Indo-Pacific. Briefers say discussions will touch on deterrence posture, ballistic-missile defense, and economic security rules that braid export controls to alliance strategy. Markets will parse language on yen stability and industrial policy more than photo lines. Any side mention of Taiwan or East China Sea patrols will be read as signal, not scenery. Protocol is theater, but staffing choices and side-meetings usually reveal the plot. Watch verbs like “expand,” “accelerate,” and “synchronize,” which translate into budgets later.

🇹🇷 PKK says it will withdraw fighters to Iraq. The Kurdish Workers’ Party framed the move as a repositioning that could reduce clashes inside Turkey while preserving command structures across the border. Ankara will test the claim against ground reporting, drone feeds, and incident counts along known infiltration routes. Security analysts note that past “pullbacks” sometimes shifted violence rather than ending it. Baghdad and Erbil now face renewed pressure to police remote terrain where lines blur and loyalties shift. Diplomats will ask whether the step opens space for political talks or just resets the clock. If attack rates fall, border deployments and rhetoric typically follow.

🥫 Notice posted: No federal food aid November 1. The administration published guidance that Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits will not go out if the shutdown persists into next month. Over 41.7M, or 1 in every 8, Americans rely on SNAP benefits, including an estimated 15.4M+ children. State agencies are bracing for call-center surges and retailer confusion in neighborhoods where EBT cards are the difference between dinner and debt. Grocers warn that a missed cycle hits small stores first, where cash buffers are thin. Food banks already running hot will flip to emergency footing, with volunteers covering the gaps that policy leaves. Sadly, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) contingencies do not refill pantries. Bottom line: Governors want a stopgap to keep payments flowing while Congress fights on paper.

🏦 Shortlist for Federal Reserve chair narrows to five. White House aides say interviews and vetting are focused on a handful of finalists as inflation, labor-market cooling, and a skittish bond curve raise the stakes. Central bank independence will be the subtext of every question, from balance-sheet runoff to supervision after regional-bank stress. Investors care less about names than about reaction functions and tolerance for above-target prices. A chair who leans “higher for longer” could steepen the curve and clip equity multiples; a perceived dove would tug the other way.

⚓ Two Navy aircraft lost from USS Nimitz. The service reported back-to-back losses within 30 minutes during carrier operations, triggering parallel safety and mishap investigations. Flight-deck crews train for compound incidents, but sequential losses are rare enough to prompt fleet-wide reviews. Investigators will work flight data, weather, and maintenance logs to triangulate cause. Operational tempos will be adjusted only if patterns emerge beyond this event. Families were notified as recovery efforts continued. Mishap boards will publish findings after technical work finishes.

💊 Voter anger over rising premiums tests Republicans. Constituents are pressing lawmakers about Affordable Care Act (ACA) subsidies, plan choices, and out-of-pocket spikes as the shutdown stalemate drags on. Policy staff are weighing targeted fixes, but leadership remains split on scope and timing. Premium math is unforgiving when risk pools thin and outreach pauses. Employers see higher renewal quotes, feeding the feedback loop into household budgets. Health systems warn that deferred care becomes expensive care. Politics promises speed; actuarial tables insist on patience.

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That’s all for today!

Much obliged and many thanks for reading and sharing today’s newsletter.

See you tomorrow!