Problem solved. The was a major cock up with the update some 8 hours ago. Can be seen in C:\ProgramData\Malwarebytes\MBAMService\dbupdate.log file. Clearly states:
Deflating DB files in staging area ...
Copying updated DB files.
Copying updated DLL files.
CopyDLLFiles - error: MBAMCore.dll : 32
Successfully scheduled file for copy on reboot
Calling FinishUpdate.
Error: MBAMShim FinishUpdate failed
Did reboot once, didn't help. Maybe watch this first the next time it happens. Before you started to uninstall, clean and reinstalled it again. Wasted time.
And MB? This update was poorly tested. The behavior was similar in January 2017. Anyway this thread exploded in hours. There is no way suddenly all programs failed at once on the same time. A faulty update is more likely. Glad that's solved though within a reasonable number of hours.