Fitch Ratings has downgraded America's credit rating from the highest-possible “AAA” to a meagre “AA+”... just like its northern neighbour.   

Catch-up: The credit grader threatened to downgrade the US in May because Congress had not worked out a debt-ceiling deal to avoid throwing the country into default. The US then did strike a deal to avoid hitting the debt ceiling, but Fitch had moved on to other issues. 

Move over soccer and pickleball (especially you pickleball), the title of fastest-growing sport in Canada belongs to cricket. 

Driving the news: The Global T20 Canada (GT20), an international cricket competition featuring several of the world’s biggest cricketing stars, wraps up in Brampton this weekend. 

In Central America, El Salvador’s president has become more popular than the Pope—and no, it’s not because he decided to make Bitcoin legal tender back in 2021.

What happened: The country once known for having the world’s highest murder rate has locked away over 70,000 accused criminals in the last year (part of a sweeping campaign to crack down on powerful gangs) and cut the homicide rate by 92% from 2015 levels.

Forget crypto, the new get-rich-quick strategy is playing pro soccer in Saudi Arabia.  

What happened: Saudi Arabian soccer club Al-Hilal made a record-breaking €300 million bid for French superstar Kylian Mbappé to his current team Paris Saint-Germain, and reportedly intends to offer him a pay package totalling €700 million for a single season.

At the age of 156, Canada is going through a rebellious phase. 

Driving the news: Canada is one of just five OECD nations that refused to agree to extend a freeze on implementing a new digital services tax (DST) on big tech firms. The move puts it on a collision course with the US, which spearheaded the proposed measure

Today marks the start of a two-day NATO summit, where leaders will be discussing the most pressing issue of the day: Barbie vs. Oppenheimer  Ukraine’s odds of joining the alliance.

Driving the news: Ukraine’s path to NATO membership is rockier than it may have initially thought after both US and German leaders said the country wasn’t ready to be let in. 

When your colleagues ask how your weekend was, you can say, “Much more chill than Vladimir Putin’s, that’s for sure.”

Driving the news: Russia was engulfed by unrest over the weekend when mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin led his Wagner Group troops to within a few-hours drive of Moscow before abruptly abandoning his mutiny and going into exile.

Fears are growing that time has run out for the missing submersible Titan and its five passengers.

The latest: The search-and-rescue mission underway in the North Atlantic has yet to find the vessel, and US Coast Guard officials say its air supply will likely be gone around 6 am Eastern time.

Today in not-so-sweet news, the price of your favourite grocery impulse buy is on its way up. 

Driving the news: Cocoa prices have been steadily climbing as the demand for chocolate’s main ingredient outstrips supply. Cocoa futures—the pricing mechanism used to determine what to pay cocoa farmers—are up ~21% so far this year.

According to the UN’s 2022 World Drug Report, seizures of methamphetamines are on the rise. The latest of these huge meth busts comes with a rather ridiculous Canadian twist.