Wednesday Night #2326

On behalf of all Wednesday Nighters, we extend our deepest sympathy to Doug Sweet and Marjo on the loss of Marjo’s mother, Solange Pelletier. Doug posted a beautiful tribute to his mother-in-law on Facebook.
Sam Stein writes: For those of Wednesday Night who knew him and appreciated him as I did, my dear friend of several decades, David Lieber, has passed away after a long struggle with cancer and heart problems. There will be a remembrance ceremony on Friday Oct. 16 at St. John’s Lutheran Church, 3594 rue Jeanne-Mance.
Also, after a long period of failing health, former Mulroney speech writer and Gazette columnist L. Ian MacDonald died on 8 October.
And Stephen Jarislowsky, founder of Jarislowsky Fraser Ltd -one of Canada’s largest and most successful investment firms- whose philanthropy on behalf of education, democracy, the arts, medicine and the environment was exceptional. A footnote to his extraordinary life: he was the unmistakable model for the character of Stephen Horowitz in Louise Penny’s novels.

Happy Days!
14 October 1966  Six decades underground: STM, Montrealers celebrate 60 years of metro
Sixty years ago today, Montrealers stepped aboard a brand new metro system. After six decades and 11 billion trips, hopping on and off stations and snaking through the city’s underground is part of the daily routine for over 800,000 residents in the region today.
To mark the metro’s 60th birthday, STM organized a series of activities throughout the metro network.
The festivities began at 7:30 a.m. with the unveiling of a community art installation at the Berri-UQAM station, themed “Metro Moments,” which features some 1,000 memories related to the metro written by employees and customers.

The suspense is over.  The Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded to International Jurist Navi Pillay for promoting international law
Most of the world agreed with the Nobel Committee’s selection of the judge at the International Court of Justice at a time when the committee said international law faces “tremendous pressure” and its institutions are “under attack.”
As might be expected, Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu were less than thrilled. Aside from not receiving the Peace Prize himself (Trump says Norway has ‘indelible stain’ for not awarding him Nobel Peace Prize), Trump would be unhappy because for the second year in a row, a woman, is the recipient, and adding insult to injury, one who upholds the international legal order. He immediately retaliated unveiling broad new sanctions against the ICC  (where Dr. Pillay spent nearly a decade as a judge). Navi Pillay Wins the Nobel! And Trump Goes Nuclear on the ICC
Meanwhile Israel Denounces the Decision to Award the Nobel Peace Prize to Navi Pillay; [Dr] Pillay was drawn into the international spotlight last year as chair of a commission that found that Israel had committed genocide in Gaza.

Global economy
The annual meetings of the IMF and World Bank Group are being held in Bangkok this week. On Wednesday, the Group released the ‘Bangkok Blueprint’ to Combat Cyber-Enabled Fraud in Digital Finance It will take a while to absorb it and the other reports, so we will defer discussion with Peter Berezin and Brett House to a later date.
The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences awarded the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel 2026 to
Robert E. Hall (USA Stanford) and Michael Woodford (USA Columbia U) “for microeconomic foundations of macroeconomic stabilisation”

U.S.-Russia-Ukraine
Trump appears to have (temporarily?) abandoned any attempt at dealing with the Middle East conflagration that he and Bibi started and that has now expanded beyond the initial target -Iran. Instead, he has turned to Russia-Ukraine, rekindling his cozy relationship with Vladimir Putin while abandoning any pretense of support for President Zelensky. Anne Applebaum describes the Russian diesel fuel deal as “an abrupt, Hail Mary attempt to force Ukraine to surrender and to save the Russian economy, perhaps in order to finally complete the multiple business deals that the Russians are known to have discussed with American negotiators and others in Trump’s orbit. These include deals involving the Nord Stream gas pipelines, mineral mining in the Arctic, the Russian assets frozen in European banks, and more. ” (See Long reads)
On Tuesday a further betrayal when Ukraine’s Exposure Grows as Satellite Use Is Restricted and Russia Escalates – A huge attack cut power to 600,000 people in Kyiv, and a Pentagon-funded satellite internet program appeared to be curbed without warning.

Student protests disrupting the governments of France; India; and Albania
France’s students are misérables
Do you hear the students sing?
By Tasha Kheiriddin
… For weeks, students have walked out of classrooms and poured into the streets. What began last month as anger over teacher shortages, crumbling buildings, and a university admissions process students see as unfair has caught like wildfire. Now, protests have reached nearly a third of high schools in the country – and caused headline-making injuries.
C Uday Bhaskar‘s most recent piece: A Nation Stands Divided Over Charges of Electoral Manipulation and Brutal Police Crackdown
… Amidst the ongoing Cockroach Janata Party-led citizen protests at Jantar Mantar against the Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar that saw the Indian capital being turned into a fortress and the request by the Congress Party for a meeting with the Chief Justice, the Supreme Court (SC) made a significant intervention that should have bearing on how the government deals with constitutionally valid protests and dissent.
Riots erupt in Albania’s capital as students join anti-government movement
The latest demonstrations, continuing for a second day, were organized by student groups seeking education reforms. But the protesters have joined a broader anti-government campaign opposed to a development project linked to U.S. President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner.

U.S. Midterms – the aftermath
It seems that the Republicans have accepted that the loss of the House majority is quite certain and The GOP’s goal at this point, according to one senior House Republican, is to “save as many Republican seats as we can.”
President Donald Trump is not helping, this person said, adding he’s “made this election all about himself.”
“Now we have to survive that political storm.” (Burning down the House).
Paul Krugman worries about what Trump will do when Americans show what they really think of him.
“He will, of course, claim that the election was rigged and try to overturn the results. Assuming that he fails, however, then what?
Loss of Congress will limit Trump’s power, but by no means eliminate it. Above all, he will retain immense capacity to inflict destruction on America, not to mention America’s allies. …” (Nerobefehl Nation)
Meanwhile, as Robert Reich points out, the Democrats will face a daunting task if they regain control of Congress. [T]hey will need to focus not only on alleviating high prices but also on eliminating the causes of those high prices. It will be impossible to do the former without attacking the latter.
In addition to ending Trump’s war and his arbitrary tariffs, they must reform campaign financing, and help reduce the influence of big money in politics. One method would be to match public financing with small-dollar donations. … ( The Twin Evils: Unaffordability and Corruption)

Not that we understand much but we believe and hope that it is good news for Alireza
Canada is set to take a quantum-computing leap. What will that mean for Canadians?
… Canada has been a quantum computing pioneer for decades, having an outsized influence relative to its population. We have deep research expertise, a strong talent pipeline, and we lead in a few areas of quantum technologies. For example, the Institute for Quantum Computing and the Perimeter Institute (both at the University of Waterloo), along with Université de Sherbrooke, McGill and University of Toronto, have produced world-class talent. Toronto-based Xanadu is a leader in quantum computing based on photons. Founded in Burnaby, B.C., D-Wave is one of the oldest quantum computing companies in the world, having designed machines to tackle specific mathematical problems.
In 2023, the Canadian government released its National Quantum Strategy, which aims to develop and harness our rich quantum ecosystem. It has three key missions: making our country a world leader in the field, ensuring the privacy and cybersecurity of Canadians, and making quantum sensing technology a key part of our digital infrastructure. These mission objectives will be based on supporting research, developing talent and commercialization. In 2025, McKinsey estimated the quantum technologies market to reach US$100-billion by 2035. …

Events
The Arctic Shipping Summit 2026
18–19 November, Montreal
will bring together senior decision-makers from across the Arctic maritime ecosystem to explore the practical solutions, partnerships and innovations shaping the future of northern shipping.
Over two days, the summit will unite shipowners, vessel operators, ports, coast guards, regulators, insurers, technology providers, infrastructure developers and Arctic specialists for in-depth discussions focused on the realities of Arctic operations. Moving beyond broad strategic debates, the conference will examine the operational, commercial and regulatory factors that directly influence success on the water.

Varia
Congratulations to our friend John Parisella who will receive an honorary doctorate from McGill on 19 October in recognition of his almost five decades of sustained engagement in Quebec’s public life and commitment to education and civic participation.
Pope Leo diagnosed with lung cancer after undergoing surgery, Vatican says
Let us hope and pray that he does not succumb. He is such a breath of fresh air on so many matters, and the world needs him for face-offs with Vance, Trump, etc.
Chrystia Freeland’s new book, Unreliable Boyfriend, is out. Here’s what to know
…Is Trudeau the unreliable boyfriend from the title? No. And it’s not Trump either. As the cover featuring dead flowers in an upside-down Uncle Sam hat implies, the boyfriend in Freeland’s analogy is the United States in its current incarnation.
Peter Frise, did you see the thank you banner from Detroit on Thanksgiving? Nice gesture, hardly likely to have been authorized by Trump!
Trump’s new spokeswoman is a ‘devoted fan’ who lived in Beijing and speaks Chinese
… 42-year-old Katie Zacharia has a story that stretches far beyond Washington’s power corridors.
Her reported experience in China spans international law and a communications role with a non-profit organisation focused on the children of migrant workers, alongside her later career in conservative politics in the US. Check out AP photos –  and The Guardian’s devastating review of her first press briefing: Enter the Zachbot: Trump’s new press secretary malfunctions on podium debut So yet another Blonde Barbie?
Trump’s ambassador to Greece, Kimberly Guilfoyle, resigns after allegations of improper conduct – her offenses are inexcusable but ‘relatively minor’ compared to the rampant grift of the Trump family and their associates see Corruption & crime
Beavers destroy sign warning about beavers
“We wanted to warn you about the potential consequences of beaver activity at the pond and the surrounding area – since beavers dig burrows under the road and fell trees near the pond – but the beavers didn’t want you to be warned, so…they cut down the oak post displaying the hazard notice,” wrote the foresters. “So, if you are around the pond, please exercise caution; and if you spot a piece of wood sticking out of the ground that has been gnawed by beavers, just imagine there was a sign there reading ‘Warning! Damage caused by beavers’.”
Stolen Renoir paintings found behind wall in France following arrests
Renoir art heist suspects were planning ‘imminent’ second robbery, prosecutors say.
The stolen works, “Madame Colonna Romano” and “Young Woman at the Well” by impressionist painter Pierre-Auguste Renoir, were valued at about 4.2m euros ($4.7m).
The AI scandal rocking France’s literary elite has deep political undertones
The Académie Goncourt has removed Canadian-Haitian novelist Thélyson Orélien’s novel from its selection after allegations of AI use.

Long reads
Who is Navi Pillay, the South African judge who won the Nobel prize? We asked her biographer

Anne Applebaum: Trump’s Message to Ukraine Is Now Crystal Clear
The president’s actions over the past 72 hours look like an effort to force Kyiv to surrender.

After Russian Diesel Deal, Trump Faces New Crisis Over Ukraine
President Trump’s surprise decision to suspend sanctions on Russian diesel fuel stunned Ukrainian and European officials, who were meeting with U.S. envoys at an exclusive golf club near Miami.

In three years, Israel’s war on Gaza hasn’t just changed the Middle East, it’s changed the world
A whirlpool of violence has engulfed everywhere from Lebanon to Yemen. Meanwhile, the west has destroyed any political authority it once had