Sébastien Lecornu, appointed as French Prime Minister in early September, resigned less than a month later after his cabinet collapsed within 14 hours of being announced. The resignation stemmed from the conservative Republicans party’s withdrawal of support over the controversial nomination of Bruno Le Maire as defense minister, deepening political instability in a divided Parliament. The French government is increasingly showing signs of strain as fiscal concerns have triggered not only massive unrest among French citizens, but also making governing nearly impossible as leaders are left with little to no good choices.

Sanae Takaichi recently won the Liberal Democratic Party leadership race, positioning her to become Japan’s first female prime minister with a focus on reviving Abenomics through fiscal expansion and loose monetary policy. Her selection led to a surge in Japan’s 30-year bond yield, a weakening yen, and a nearly 5% rise in the Nikkei 225 index amid concerns over inflation and delayed Bank of Japan rate hikes. Given not only the increasingly global economic volatility, but the ongoing political tensions in East Asia, the new prime minister will definitely have her hands full.

The International Criminal Court convicted Ali Muhammad Ali Abd-Al-Rahman, known as Ali Kushayb, on 27 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity for atrocities in Darfur between August 2003 and March 2004. As a Janjaweed militia commander, he directed attacks involving mass murder, rape, torture, and village destruction, marking the ICC’s first conviction for the conflict that killed up to 300,000 people and displaced 2.7 million. While accountability is always a good thing, it will be interesting to see how forthcoming convictions will be interpreted by those currently committing war crimes in Sudan.

The U.S. Supreme Court just began its new term, and will entertain several cases testing the expansiveness of executive powers, including implementing tariffs, firing federal agency officials, and making changes to the interpretation of birthright citizenship. This focus follows the court’s approval of 20 emergency requests from the administration since Trump’s second term began, allowing actions like agency takeovers and potentially reshaping government structures. If nothing else, the Supreme Court exists to bring clarity to our collective understanding of our constitutional order, so this docket will be consequential not only in light of these current constitutional challenges but as a guiding force for what we ought to make of executive authority going into the future.

The partial U.S. government shutdown entered its sixth day due to a partisan deadlock over extending Affordable Care Act subsidies set to expire at the end of the year. The ongoing shutdown may result in worker furloughs, mass layoffs, and risks to programs like WIC food assistance. It seems that polarization is not just a buzzword meant to indicate that party members are unwilling to work together but rather a meaningful metaphor that increasingly our leadership class has ideas that are incompatible with one another. This is a serious problem for our republican form of government.

The U.S. State Department released its three-year strategy to incorporate AI and data analytics into diplomacy for an America First foreign policy. The plan outlines two goals: pioneering cutting-edge statecraft for 21st-century challenges and accelerating technological adoption to enhance decision-making, efficiency, and global mission outcomes. The role artificial intelligence should play in governance will clearly be one of the most interesting points of discussion in the coming years, so as it is rolling out, it is of note to think about what these early efforts at implementation are meant to solve.

Over 400 Massachusetts neighborhoods, including Boston areas like Allston and Roxbury, could qualify as new Opportunity Zones in the federal program’s second phase based on economic criteria. This would enable increased private investment to spur development and address poverty in underserved communities. This reminds us very much of Reagan-era neoliberal economics in which the promises of opportunity have little relationship to the experiences of those being oppressed by the need for mass poverty under crony capitalism.

Recently, Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro signed an executive order meant to develop state-specific vaccine programs and guidance independent of federal restrictions from the CDC’s reformed advisory committee. The order mandates insurance coverage for FDA-approved vaccines and establishes a state safety net to provide free vaccines to 1.5 million underinsured or uninsured children. This seems to be a good reminder of the utility of a federal system in which Florida and Pennsylvania, for example, can implement radically different strategies in relation to state-level medical mandates.

Pittsburgh City Council passed an ordinance which establishes “housing status” as a protected class under civil rights laws to prevent discrimination in housing applications. This covers past or present homelessness, temporary housing, or lack of rental history, allowing affected individuals to file complaints with the Commission on Human Relations for investigation and enforcement. The legal designation of protected class usually creates a litany of legal troubles in terms of enforcement and protection, so it is unclear to us why this was a necessary step to ensure homeless people are not unfairly kept from being considered as applicants for housing. We remain hopeful, however, that this will provide some insight into dealing with the problem of urban homelessness.

Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker proposed a $194.6 million first-year budget for the H.O.M.E. initiative to create and preserve 30,000 housing units across all neighborhoods. Nearly half the funds target affordable housing preservation, repairs for basic systems, and financial aid like rent assistance and low-interest loans for households earning up to 60% of the area median income. This looks a lot like rent stabilization, which has quite a controversial history in regards to its effectiveness. The question seems to be what role should the government play in the housing market.