Tuesday, October 20th

What happened

Nationwide protests over living costs and public services turned violent as rioters looted businesses, set fires and attacked public buildings across France. President Emmanuel Macron rejected Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez’s offer to resign, keeping him in office to maintain police command. The unrest grew from student protests that began in September over teacher shortages and poor school conditions. It widened during a fragile period, with France facing mounting debt and a 2027 presidential election. Nuñez said police lost control in major cities and failed to anticipate the scale. Macron blamed far-left agitators and criminals, while Jean-Luc Mélenchon blamed the government. Unions called new strikes for November 5.

What happened

The National Park Service removed more than 400 trees from East Potomac Golf Links, and Judge Ana Reyes temporarily barred further cutting through at least October 26. Trump has announced a plan with golf architect Tom Fazio to close the public course on November 15 for about 15 months and rebuild it as a championship-level course. The D.C. Preservation League and local golfers sued, saying the overhaul could harm historic public land and public access. The administration said the tree work followed a 2019 landscape plan; an Interior official testified most removed trees were healthy. Reyes denied the Justice Department’s recusal request. No final ruling has been issued on longer-term limits.

What happened

Elon Musk urged Anthropic to distribute shares directly to the public, then pledged to give one SpaceX share to every child in America next year. He called it the first of many such gifts. Anthropic had announced a public-benefit fund with 5% of its shares. The company said the fund could support nonprofits or direct payments to groups affected by AI’s disruption of jobs, not lobbying or political donations. President Donald Trump said the SpaceX shares would go through Trump Accounts, tax-advantaged investment accounts for children. At the cited share price, shares for roughly 72 million children would total about $10.5 billion. Details on eligibility and distribution remain unclear.