Laurent Lant, a civilian who once oversaw the Morale, Welfare, and Recreation program for the U.S. Army Installation Management Command (IMCOM), is charged with stealing over $500,000 in government funds. He allegedly made 18 monetary transfers from Army accounts into a company he formed just days earlier. IMCOM flagged the transactions, and Lant attempted to flee—buying a same-day ticket to Paris—but investigators arrested him before departure. His arrest came just over a year after another IMCOM employee was sentenced to 15 years in prison for stealing $108 million. Lant faces up to 10 years in prison and has been placed on administrative leave pending investigation.
Belgium's Permanent Commission for Linguistic Control upheld a complaint against train conductor Ilyass Alba for violating the country's strict language laws. In 2024, a passenger objected when Alba used the French word bonjour alongside the Dutch goeiemorgen in a bilingual greeting on a train in Dutch-speaking Flanders, as the train approached Vilvoorde, near Brussels. The commission ruled that conductors should use only Dutch in Flanders, but they should use both Dutch and French in bilingual Brussels.
Illustration: Peter Bagge
Officials shut down 15-year-old Max McKinney's bait stand in Spooner, Wisconsin, after deeming it a zoning violation. McKinney sold worms, sodas, candy, and T-shirts from a stand on his family's farm. After only its second weekend in operation, the county's zoning land use specialist sent out a cease-and-desist letter that ordered the stand's closure and removal within 14 days and threatened daily fines for noncompliance.
Tobias Otieno, a former auditor with the Office of the New York State Comptroller, was indicted for grand larceny as a public corruption crime. Prosecutors say from June 2022 to September 2024, Otieno was assigned to audit the town of Wallkill's finances, during which time he used his access to the town's banks accounts to transfer $405,843.25 to his own accounts.
A federal judge ruled Salvatore and Jane Mattiaccio, owners of a construction company in Point Pleasant, New Jersey, can proceed with their lawsuit against former Assistant Ocean County Prosecutor William Scharfenberg, claiming malicious prosecution and defamation. Scharfenberg operated a competing construction business, and the Mattiaccios say he misused his prosecutorial authority to target them in criminal investigations and prosecutions. U.S. District Judge Georgette Castner dismissed most claims in the lawsuit, citing prosecutorial immunity, but claims against Scharfenberg's company and four people affiliated with the prosecutor's office remain.
Illustration: Peter Bagge
A Detroit police officer was arrested for stealing approximately $600 from a woman's purse during a traffic stop. According to the department, the theft was captured on the officer's own body camera.
According to the New Jersey state comptroller, Irvington Township misspent $632,000 in opioid settlement funds on two "Opioid Awareness" concerts in 2023 and 2024. The township held the events without consulting residents or health experts, and it did not use a competitive bidding process before awarding contracts. It also provided no evidence of substantive opioid education despite claiming Narcan was distributed at the events. At the same time, officials rented luxury trailers and cotton candy machines, and awarded $368,500 to businesses owned by the family of a township employee who was tasked with securing musical talent.
Illustration: Peter Bagge
Residents of San Francisco's Dolores Heights neighborhood have long parked in their driveways with part of their cars poking out into the sidewalk, with no issues. But then complaints began to surge, often reported by the city's 311 system, leading to citations. Residents say the sidewalks still have room for multiple people or wheelchairs to pass, and they argue the enforcement feels like a crackdown on car use. Some residents suspect a single complainant is storing images and using them to make repeated complaints.
Turkey's Information and Communication Technologies Authority has blocked access to Grok, social media platform X's AI chatbot. The order followed a court ruling prompted by public complaints about Grok's responses, which allegedly included derogatory remarks when asked about Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
Canada's proposed Bill C-8 would let the Industry Minister secretly order telecom companies to cut phone and internet service to any person or institution if the government claims there are "reasonable grounds" to believe they pose a threat of "interference, manipulation, disruption or degradation" to the national telecom networks. For anyone subject to such an order, the government may also prohibit "the disclosure of its existence," and the bill also provides "no compensation" for any financial losses resulting from a shut-off. Critics say the vague language gives the government power to silence people without explanation or due process.
In England, a National Health Service hospital's official report confirmed that Adrian Poulton, who had Down syndrome and was admitted for a broken hip, died after being deprived of food for nine days. While his hip was healing, doctors listed him "nil by mouth," meaning he was given nothing to eat, but he was never provided an alternative source of nutrition. The report states that lack of nutrition contributed to his death. During that time, his family believed he was being fed in hospital, even as Poulton told his sister, "I don't want to die." In its response, the hospital apologized and said it had carried out a serious incident review and committed to staff education on caring for patients with learning disabilities.
In Orlando, Gerald Neal died after being struck during a police chase that apparently violated department policy. The pursuit began over a driver with an unreadable license plate—an infraction not listed among the forcible felonies that permit a chase under Orlando Police Department rules. Body camera footage shows Neal was first hit by the fleeing suspect, Dornell Bargnare, and then seconds later by Officer Christopher Moulton's unmarked Ford F-150. Moulton didn't appear to realize he'd hit Neal and instead joined other officers checking nearby homes while first responders worked to free Neal, who remained pinned under the truck for 15 minutes before being pulled out. Bargnare was arrested hours later and charged with vehicular homicide. Moulton, whose body camera was off when he returned to his vehicle, remains on paid administrative leave pending an internal investigation.
Marty Quinn, alderman of Chicago's 13th Ward, firmly opposes the construction of "granny flats"—small accessory dwelling units often built in backyards to house family members or provide rental income. A new city ordinance legalized construction of such buildings, but provisions pushed by Quinn gave aldermen sweeping authority to approve or block all such projects within their wards. The ordinance also mandates granny flats be built by union labor, which critics argue could drive up costs and limit affordability for homeowners.
In California, Maurice Hastings spent 38 years in prison for a 1983 murder he always denied committing. From 2000 to 2021, Hastings tried to get evidence at the scene tested for DNA; when it was finally tested, it matched another man, Kenneth Packnett. When Packnett was arrested for car theft three weeks after the 1983 murder, police found items matching those taken from the woman Hastings was convicted of killing, but Packnett was never investigated for the murder. In 2023, a judge declared Hastings factually innocent, and in August, he received $25 million as compensation for the wrongful conviction.
A substitute school van driver for Pennsylvania's West Shore School District got lost multiple times while taking kids home—including a 7-year-old boy whose mom thought he was missing and called 911 in a panic when she was unable to reach anyone at the school. The trouble started when the driver put the right address, but the wrong city, into his GPS, and things got worse when heavy traffic on I-83 forced a detour onto back roads and further confused him. The driver called his supervisor at 4:20 and 4:45 p.m. to say he was lost, and staff from the transportation company Rohrer and the district tried to guide him over speakerphone, but after 5 p.m., they told him to pull over at a local business, where families were then told to go pick up their kids.
The Chicago City Council unanimously approved a $90 million settlement to resolve 176 lawsuits brought by 180 people who were wrongfully convicted and collectively spent nearly 200 years behind bars. The misconduct stemmed from former police Sgt. Ronald Watts. For nearly a decade, Watts ran a special unit within the Chicago Police Department accused of planting drugs, falsifying police reports, and coercing residents of public housing to pay bribes to avoid false drug charges.
Police in South Carolina arrested Alexander Paul Roberts Lewis, a teaching assistant at West Florence High School, on charges of malicious injury to property and disrupting a school. Lewis is accused of spraying fart spray in the school on several days between August 25 and September 19. Students and staff experienced nausea, dizziness, headaches, and respiratory trouble, and the school spent about $55,000 on inspections and repairs.
A judge in South Korea sentenced police officer Shin Mo to eight months in prison, suspended for two years, for repeatedly looking up confidential case files without permission to help friends. Investigators said he accessed private information around 80 times and that he had been caught doing so before, which led to a two-month salary reduction. The court said his actions broke public trust.
In the United Kingdom, Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson is launching a plan to increase the amount private schools pay for required inspections by the government's Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services, and Skills. The government currently pays the majority—effectively two-thirds—of inspection expenses, but Phillipson argues that taxpayers who send their children to state schools should not have to subsidize what she calls "private businesses." The change could potentially triple the fees private schools pay for inspections.
Katie Pasitney and her mother, owners of the Universal Ostrich Farm in British Columbia, were arrested for defying a Canadian Food Inspection Agency order to leave their farm and surrender their birds as part of a response to a bird flu outbreak. The agency fears the disease could spread, so it plans to cull nearly 400 birds. The farmers have resisted, claiming the remaining ostriches are immune. The case took a turn when the Secwepemc Signatory Tribe declared the property unceded land and issued its own cease and desist to protect the animals and land. The case will now go to the Supreme Court of Canada, which halted the cull in the meantime.
A public school administrator in Akron, Ohio, resigned after being suspended for attempting to sell the school district's lawn mowers on Facebook Marketplace. Steven Keenan traded in 11 old mowers to a vendor without the school board's approval, then bought seven of them back at a discounted "friends and family" price, paying $5,693. He then listed five of those mowers for sale online, asking $14,700. Before Keenan resigned, the school board—on the superintendent's recommendation—planned to fire him for breaching the staff code of ethics.
In England, a Thames Valley Police officer visited Deborah Anderson in her home and demanded she apologize for a social media post, or she'd be hauled in for an interview at the police station. The officer presented this ultimatum after someone filed a report saying they found her comments upsetting. Anderson refused the demand, citing her right to free speech. She said she felt particular frustration because the police would not tell her what specific post they were concerned about throughout the encounter. After the Free Speech Union took up her case, the police ultimately dropped the investigation, but they still failed to provide details on the offending comment.
Wyandotte County, Kansas, deputy Richard Fatherley has been charged second degree murder and involuntarily manslaughter after inmate Charles Adair died in custody on July 5, just a day after jailers arrested him on misdemeanor warrants for failing to appear in court on multiple traffic violations. Adair, who suffered from heart disease and liver cirrhosis, clashed with staff as they removed him from his wheelchair in the detention center's infirmary. One officer knelt on Adair's back in a shoulder pin maneuver, breaking his ribs and sternum. Those injuries caused "mechanical asphyxia," blocking his breathing and causing his death, which his autopsy ruled a homicide. Prosecutors declined to say whether it was Fatherley who pinned Adair, but he is the only officer who will be charged.
A jury in Riverside County, California, has convicted former sheriff's deputy Oscar Rodriguez of voluntary manslaughter for killing Luis Carlos Morin in 2014. Rodriguez met and started dating Diana Perez, the mother of Morin's two children, when she called 911 to complain that Morin had active criminal warrants and she didn't want him around her. On Jan. 27, 2014, Rodriguez took a patrol car without telling supervisors and drove alone to Morin's home to arrest him. When Morin tried to run, Rodriguez tried to subdue him, during which he fired a fatal shot into Morin's chest. While prosecutors requested 10 years in prison, the judge sentenced Rodriguez to one year in prison—most of which he had already served—and 10 years of probation. The county has already paid $7 million to settle a wrongful death lawsuit from Morin's family.
Equatorial Guinea's government imposed a year-long internet outage for Annobón, an island province, after residents complained about a construction company's use of dynamite. Protesters wrote to the government with concerns about the explosions, which they say pollute their water and farmlands. Instead of helping, authorities responded by cutting off the island's internet access, which has impacted hospital services and banking, and caused residents to face high phone bills
Scammers exploited a glitch in New York City's Summer Youth Employment Program, using prepaid cards meant to pay youth for work to run a massive ATM scam. The cards had a $200 transaction limit but no limits on transactions. Over three days, scammers withdrew about $17 million, sometimes taking out tens of thousands of dollars at once. The scheme spread on social media as people bragged about their hauls on TikTok and Instagram. The NYPD and the Department of Youth and Community Development launched investigations. Officials said no taxpayer funds were lost but didn't clarify who was absorbing the losses.
Home security video revealed a babysitter funded by the New York City Administration for Children's Services abusing three boys in her care—brothers aged 2, 4, and 6 years. The video showed La'keysha Jackson beating the boys with belts and hangers, throwing the youngest, and using a Halloween mask to scare them. Jackson was apparently the family's second city-funded sitter; the first was fired after she was found to be drinking and smoking at the playground while watching the kids.
Christina Broadway of Marietta, Georgia, was at a funeral when a city employee entered her home without permission. She only found out because her security cameras caught the intrusion. City officials say he was a code enforcement officer who had a right to enter the home because he thought he saw construction taking place without the proper permits.
Illustration: Peter Bagge
Three members of the Montana National Guard were charged with criminal trespassing after they landed a Black Hawk helicopter on private ranch land without permission and stole elk antlers. The haul reportedly included two antler sheds and a skeletonized head, valued at a combined $300 to $400.
For four years, Oakland residents complained to the city about dangerous late-night sideshows with cars doing stunts in the area. Finally, they built their own speed bumps, which cost $3,000 and stopped the sideshows for eight months. But the Oakland Department of Transportation removed the speed bumps for lacking official approval. While city officials say they're working on solutions, residents say the dangerous stunts have returned.
Mark Brave, formerly the sheriff of Strafford County, New Hampshire, was sentenced to three and a half to seven years in prison after pleading guilty to perjury, theft, and falsifying evidence. Brave spent $19,000 in county funds on travel and accommodations to conduct extramarital affairs. He will have to pay the money back as part of his sentence.
In England, Sussex Police fired Seren Sriganesh after he pleaded guilty to conspiracy to pervert the course of justice and several fraud-related offenses. Sriganesh falsely blamed his parents for three driving offenses he committed and accessed police databases to view details of one of the cases. He received 38 months in prison.
Kenneth and Mildred Bordeaux, an octogenarian couple in Lauderdale Lakes, Florida, face $366,000 in fines for six minor code violations on their duplex. The fines stem from issues like a broken window handle and cracked outlet covers, which they quickly repaired after city inspections in March 2024. Despite their prompt fixes, the city took over 220 days to verify the repairs, causing daily fines to pile up. Their lawyer argues the excessive fines are illegal, and they applied for a reduction, but the city offered only a 10 percent cut, leaving over $300,000 for them to pay.
St. Catherine's Monastery, a 1,600-year-old Greek Orthodox site in the Sinai Peninsula, closed its doors to visitors in protest after an Egyptian court ruled that the monastery's land belongs to the government. The world's oldest continuously inhabited Christian monastery and a UNESCO World Heritage Site, St. Catherine's faces an uncertain future as the ruling strips its monks of property ownership.
The International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF) suspended three top officers of the Los Angeles Fire Department's labor union after an audit revealed $800,000 in undocumented credit card spending. The audit found that union president Freddy Escobar made 1,957 transactions totaling $311,498 from July 2018 to November 2024, with over 70 percent lacking receipts. The IAFF placed the union under conservatorship to restore financial oversight.
Illustration: Peter Bagge
Leisa Streeter, a former administrative assistant for Rock Island County, Illinois, faces seven felony counts for allegedly stealing $900,000 in public funds over 21 years. Authorities claim she opened a fraudulent bank account in 2003 as "Rock Island County VIP" and siphoned city funds into it, averaging about $43,000 annually. County officials only noticed the financial irregularities in her department after she retired in June 2024. After her arrest, local news discovered that when the county first hired her, Streeter was likely still on probation from a previous embezzlement conviction.
Responding to a disturbance call, police officers in Grand Prairie, Texas, mistakenly arrived at the home of Thomas Simpson. They say when they knocked on the door, Simpson confronted them with a gun, and they shot him in the leg. Simpson, meanwhile, says the police did not announce themselves as officers before the shooting, and he believed he was confronting burglars. Police admitted they were at the wrong house but blamed the error on 911 dispatch's auto-populated address. Officers also referred Simpson's case to the Dallas County District Attorney's Office for charges of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon against a peace officer.
Deputy Trevor Walker of the Rio Arriba County Sheriff's Department in New Mexico faces charges of embezzlement and fraud after investigators discovered he deposited checks meant for his former employer into his personal account. Walker worked for the Aztec Police Department between September 2022 and August 2023. He received a $17,000 retention bonus that required him to stay for a full year, but he left early and joined the Rio Arriba Sheriff's Office in October 2023. The city of Aztec sued him to recover the bonus, and a judge ordered his wages garnished from his new salary to repay the debt. Due to a clerical error, seven checks totaling nearly $5,300 went to Walker's home instead of Aztec; he signed and cashed them despite not being the payee. New Mexico State Police also found that Walker claimed unworked overtime hours at the sheriff's office.
In Canada, the City of Hamilton told Dan Myles to take down 10 security cameras from the outside of his house. Officials say Myles broke a rule that prevents people from filming beyond their own property. Myles says his cameras are important for fighting crime, and police have even used his videos to help solve crimes in his neighborhood, but a former privacy commissioner says people have a right to privacy on public property. Myles has appealed the city's order.
In England, the Wakefield Council told homeowner Adele Teale to remove "Caesar," a 4-foot gorilla statue made of resin, from outside her house. In a letter, officials said the statue is "obtrusive" and has "caused harm to the greenbelt." Teale has had the statue at her current address for more than five years, without issues. But the council now says she needs permission as Caesar is "not a minor decorative feature" and "out of character with the surrounding area."
Chris Bank of St. Peters, Missouri, is in the fourth year of a legal battle with the city over growing sunflowers in his front yard. Officials first said his sunflowers broke a rule requiring at least a 50–50 ratio of flowers to grass. Bank disputed the violation, which the city dropped. But in 2025, the city changed the ordinance, classifying sunflowers as a crop and limiting them to 10 percent of a front yard. Bank has refused to remove his plants and plans to fight the city in court.
Stuart Brown, a magician in England known as "Magic Stuart," is planning to fight a bill from the Derby City Council for £429 ($584 U.S.). The council says his rabbit, Snowy, needs a license for a performing animal. Brown thinks the fee is too high and that it's unfair to group him with big companies that have lots of animals. He points out that Snowy is not trained and is only used for a few minutes in his shows, which often support charities.
In Ireland, Justice Minister Jim O'Callaghan recently warned against flying the Irish flag as a means of intimidating migrants or "to suggest that this is exclusively an areas that belongs to indigenous Irish people." At the same time, the Dublin City Council is seeking help from the national police after complaints about flying the flag in public spaces.
In New York, the Southampton Village Board banned short-term rentals, requiring a minimum two-week stay for all homes in the area. Officials said the move is aimed at stopping noisy weekend parties by short-term renters that were bothering locals. Some full-time locals are happy about the quieter vibe. But those renting on Airbnb fear it'll kill their business, and restaurant owners worry there will be fewer visitors, hurting the economy. Even before the ban, rentals this summer dropped 30 percent.
The New York City Police Department arrested Trevis Williams after facial recognition technology misidentified him as a suspect in an indecent exposure incident in Manhattan. Even though Williams was significantly taller and heavier than the man described by the victim, and evidence placed him miles away from the crime scene, he was detained for two days. The case was dismissed after the Legal Aid Society presented location data from Williams' cell phone, which showed he was driving from Connecticut to Brooklyn at the time of the incident.
A proposed California law, Senate Bill 712, would have exempted older, collector vehicles from the state's strict smog-check requirements—if they were insured as collector motor vehicles and had historic license plates—because these cars are driven only occasionally. The bill passed earlier committees but was ultimately halted in the Assembly Appropriations Committee, apparently over concerns about negative effects on air quality and state revenue. The law was nicknamed "Leno's Law" after one of its backers, former Tonight Show host and classic car collector Jay Leno.
After the city of Orlando painted over a rainbow crosswalk that memorialized the victims of the 2016 Pulse nightclub shooting, demonstrators protested by drawing on the crosswalk with colored chalk. Police arrested several protesters on felony charges of "defacing a traffic device," which typically applies to traffic lights or crosswalk signals. The charges were later dropped; a lawyer for the protesters noted the water-soluble chalk did not cause enough damage to warrant a felony.
In Montana, former U.S. Forest Service law enforcement officer Nathan Snead was sentenced to five years of probation and ordered to repay $13,923.77 after pleading guilty to theft of government money. Snead lied on his time and attendance record, claiming he worked hours he didn't actually work. Court documents showed he falsified records saying he worked both regular and overtime hours, even certifying they were "true and accurate," while GPS data from his government-issued patrol vehicle revealed it was parked at his house during those claimed hours.
After her indictment on two counts each of destroying government records and violating her oath of office, Republican Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp suspended Cobb County Superior Court Clerk Connie Taylor from office. The indictment followed an investigation initiated after allegations that Taylor illegally kept passport application fees for herself—totaling more than $220,000 in 2021 alone. Taylor allegedly directed an employee to delete emails and financial records, and to destroy documents that would implicate her, saying to "Donald Trump this thing." A review commission found the indictment "adversely affect[s] the administration of the office," leading to her suspension by executive order.
A federal grand jury in Boston indicted former postal fraud inspector Scott Kelley on counts including wire fraud, mail fraud, money laundering, and filing false tax returns. According to prosecutors, Kelley used his position to steal over $330,000 from elderly victims of a telemarketing scam. Scammers contacted elderly people and said they had won a sweepstakes but needed to send in cash to pay the taxes before they could collect their prize. Postal inspectors could flag packages they suspected of being part of a scam but could not open them without the sender's consent. But prosecutors say between January 2019 and August 2023, Kelley used deceptive emails to convince postal employees to send him 1,950 total packages flagged as containing cash from scam victims. He then opened the packages and stole the money, which he spent on a heated pool, Caribbean cruises, and sex with escorts during the workday.
Singapore has some of the world's strictest vaping laws, banning the use, possession, and sale of e-cigarettes since 2018. Despite those laws, vaping has become more popular, especially among young people. As a result, the government is cracking down with tougher penalties, including fines starting at $500 ($388 U.S.), jail time, and even caning for those caught with drug-laced vapes, while foreigners risk deportation. The government is also launching anti-vaping campaigns in schools and public spaces, and adding vape disposal bins at places like Changi Airport.
In Illinois, Oak Park and River Forest High School removed exterior doors to student bathrooms. The intent was to stop problems like vaping, skipping class, and fighting, and the school reports fewer incidents since removing the doors. But students are pushing back: Laila Rosenthal, a junior, started a Change.org petition opposing the policy—with over 600 signatures so far—saying bathroom doors are important for students' privacy and security.
In New York, former Mid-State Corrections Officer Brandon Montanari admitted he and two colleagues kicked and punched an inmate in a hallway at the prison in April 2023, and they later tried to lie about it during the investigation. Montanari pleaded guilty to violating the inmate's rights under color of law, and his attorney requested a sentence of only probation. But a federal judge sentenced him to 37 months in federal prison, the maximum recommended by the sentencing guidelines, because she felt Montanari had not accepted responsibility. The other officers, Michael Williams and Rohail Khan, have also pleaded guilty and will be sentenced in September.
In California, former U.S. Postal Service worker Mary Ann Magdamit pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bank fraud. Magdamit admitted that over three years, she stole checks and credit cards from the mail, activating the cards and cashing the checks to fund international trips and luxury purchases. She openly displayed her lavish lifestyle on her Instagram account. When law enforcement officials searched Magdamit's apartment, they seized 133 stolen credit and debit cards, 16 checks from the U.S. Department of the Treasury, and luxury goods. She is scheduled for sentencing on October 27 and faces up to 30 years in prison.
Parents in Vancouver, Canada, are frustrated because city rules block them from teaching their kids how to swim during public swim times. They say lifeguards prevented them from giving their children "unsanctioned swimming lessons" and must leave instruction to city programs, even though spots in those lessons are very limited. Parents argue this policy makes it harder for children to learn basic water safety skills, especially since many families can't get into official classes. They also point out that nearby communities, like North Vancouver, allow parents to work with their kids during public swims, making Vancouver's restriction seem unfair and inconsistent.
Democratic Denver Mayor Mike Johnston and his advisors used the encrypted messaging app Signal to communicate about the city's migrant crisis. The app was set to automatically delete messages, a practice that open records experts and officials criticize as a deliberate effort to evade transparency and potentially a violation of Colorado's open records law. Denver attorney Steven Zansberg, an expert in open records law, called the administration's actions "unlawful." The mayor's office moved discussions of migrants to Signal in response to record requests from a conservative legal group and potential interference from the Trump administration. But this took place after the city's information security officer advised that encrypted messaging apps were "for personal use only" and not for "city work."
After the fifth shoplifting incident, Rob Davies put up a sign in the window of his vintage clothing store in Wales, calling the thieves "scumbags." After receiving a complaint from a member of the public, police visited the store and told Davies to take the sign down because it could cause offense. Speaking to The Times, Davies expressed frustration with the police's handling of the situation, saying he no longer reports thefts because they do not take them seriously.
The California Assembly Transportation Committee voted to advance Assembly Bill 435, which would require all children under age 10 and shorter kids under 13 to sit on a booster seat. Teens up to 16 years old would also be banned from the front seat altogether unless they meet the height requirements. Currently, children at least 8 years old or 4 feet, 9 inches tall do not have to use a booster.
Illustration: Peter Bagge
A Canadian man was sentenced to life in prison in Dubai for possession of cannabis and CBD products. Kevin O'Rourke was traveling to South Africa through Dubai International Airport when he was stopped and searched. Authorities found 118 grams of cannabis and CBD, which O'Rourke's wife says he uses to treat the chronic pain from Addison's disease, a rare and life-threatening condition. His life sentence was overturned in February, and he was allowed to return home after eight months in detention.
Over 61 years, David O'Connor had driver's licenses in four states, including a commercial license for work as a truck driver. But when he went to get a REAL ID, Tennessee Driver Services Center officials not only refused to issue one but also revoked his driver's license, citing a state law prohibiting licenses for noncitizens. O'Connor, a Navy veteran, has been a citizen since birth, but he was born in Canada, where his parents temporarily lived at the time. When Tennessee officials saw his birth certificate, they assumed he was Canadian and refused to believe otherwise.
Italian aviation officials blocked a British Airways flight from leaving Milan for London after a surprise inspection found some seat cushions were too wide and thick. Cushions on exit rows are supposed to be smaller to create more room in case of an evacuation. To fix the problem, the air crew called out serial numbers for the correct seats and had passengers check their cushions to see if any matched those numbers. They were able to locate enough cushions to swap out for the exit rows, and the flight departed after a delay of an hour.
From October through December 2024, South Fulton, Georgia, Mayor Khalid Kamau made $26,000 in unauthorized purchases on his city-issued credit card. That spending included more than $5,000 in plane tickets, including a 20-day trip to Ghana. Kamau defended the trip, saying it was part of his economic development plan for the city.
Illustration: Peter BaggeIllustration: Peter Bagge
A federal judge awarded $1.5 million to a family whose children were wrongly detained at the border in March 2019. The family lives in Mexico, but the children, who are U.S. citizens, attend school in the United States. When the children attempted to cross the border as they regularly do, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents detained them and interrogated one—a then-9-year-old girl—because they believed the picture on her passport was not of her. The judge ruled that CBP violated its own policy both by having a single agent interrogate her and by not recording it. In all, agents held the girl for 34 hours and only let the children go when their mother began giving interviews to the media.
Lino Monteleone of Montreal received a $186 Canadian ($133 U.S.) parking ticket after a bus stop sign was installed overnight in front of his house, replacing a legal spot where his daughter's car was parked. On April 1, 2025, Monteleone's doorbell camera showed city workers setting up the sign just before 8 a.m. A parking agent issued a ticket just minutes later at 8:05 a.m. Montreal's public transport agency said the sign was added due to nearby construction and that it doesn't notify residents about new bus stops because there are 10,000 in the city.
An Islamic Shariah court in Indonesia's Aceh province sentenced two men to public caning for engaging in what was deemed "sexual acts." The two men, 20 and 21 years old, were arrested after being seen kissing and hugging in a public park. Prosecutors sought sentences of 85 cane strokes, but since each defendant was polite and cooperative, the judges only assigned them 80 strokes each.
Authorities in Nova Scotia fined Jeff Evely fined $28,872.50 ($20,826.27 U.S.) for violating a province-wide ban on entering the woods. Evely, a retired veteran, deliberately broke the rule to challenge the ban in court, arguing that the government was overstepping its authority and that the ban was unnecessary. This is not the first time Evely has tried to challenge such a ban: Courts dismissed a previous attempt because he had not been charged. His legal team believes that since he was fined, he now has the standing to legally challenge the ban. The Nova Scotia government enacted the ban to help prevent wildfires, and officials say it was recommended by experts.
Pro-life activist Isabel Vaughan-Spruce is under police investigation for a third time after silently praying outside an abortion clinic in Birmingham, England. The police investigation comes despite two previous arrests for the same thing that resulted in a settlement in her favor and a formal apology from the police. British law bans activities intended to influence or cause distress within a "buffer zone" around abortion clinics. Vaughan-Spruce, who is being supported by the legal group Alliance Defending Freedom International, argues that silently praying is not a criminal offense and that everyone has a right to freedom of thought. The police have asked prosecutors to decide if there is enough evidence to charge her.
A European Union proposal called "Chat Control" is gaining support from a majority of member states. The plan would require messaging platforms like WhatsApp and Signal to scan all user-generated content, even if it is end-to-end encrypted. Proponents argue this is necessary to combat the spread of child sexual abuse material, but critics claim it would lead to mass surveillance and destroy digital privacy. The plan involves client-side scanning, which would inspect content on a user's device before it is encrypted. This would also necessitate mandatory age verification, effectively ending anonymity on these platforms.
Suffolk County, Massachusetts, Sheriff Steven Tompkins has been indicted for allegedly extorting a Boston cannabis company. According to a federal indictment, Tompkins pressured an employee to sell him $50,000 worth of company stock before its initial public offering—citing, as justification, his help with the company's "Boston licensing efforts" and that they "would continue to need Tompkins's help for license renewals." When the value of his investment later dropped, Tompkins allegedly demanded a refund of the full $50,000; prosecutors say he was reimbursed at company expense, disguised as a loan repayment. Tompkins, who has been sheriff since 2013, faces as many as 20 years in prison and up to a $250,000 fine if convicted.
The United Kingdom is establishing an elite National Internet Intelligence Investigations team to monitor social media for posts against migrants and early signs of civil unrest, operating from the National Police Coordination Centre in Westminster with officers from across England and Wales. Critics claim the initiative infringes on free speech and prioritizes surveillance over policing. "Labour have stopped pretending to fix Britain and started trying to mute it," said Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp.
