Shell-shocked: California man arrested for attempting to traffic wild turtles

Donald Do allegedly sought to export 292 loggerhead musk turtles under the false claim they had been captive-bred

A California man, who received a federal permit to export turtles under the false claim that they had been captive-bred, has been arrested on wildlife-trafficking charges, authorities said on Friday.

Donald Do and an unidentified accomplice allegedly sought to export 292 loggerhead musk turtles to Taiwan from December 2022 to May 2024. The accomplice obtained the US Fish and Wildlife Service export license, after which, authorities say, Do purchased turtles poached from the wild in Florida and other locales. Do had also allegedly sent instructions for the animals to be shipped to San Francisco.

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source https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/may/16/california-turtle-trafficking

Car Rams into Pedestrians in Northern Italy, Injuring at Least 8 #wanitaxigo

UK and France extend ‘one in, one out’ small boats pilot scheme until October

Asylum seekers express dismay at continuation of scheme agreed last year that has failed to stop crossings in Channel

The Home Office is extending a controversial scheme to stop asylum seekers crossing the Channel in small boats, the Guardian has learned.

The UK prime minister, Keir Starmer, and the French president, Emmanuel Macron, signed a deal they hailed as “groundbreaking” last July, known as “one in, one out”.

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source https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026/may/16/uk-and-france-extend-one-in-one-out-small-boats-pilot-scheme-until-october

Iraqi accused of multiple terror attacks in US and Europe arrested and charged

Mohammad Baqer Saad Dawood al-Saadi appeared in US federal court to face six terrorism-related charges

The US justice department has arrested and charged an Iraqi national accused of involvement in nearly 20 alleged terror attacks and attempted attacks across the US and Europe.

The wave of violence attributed to Mohammad Baqer Saad Dawood al-Saadi has caused huge concern in many European countries but especially the UK, where Jewish community centres, charities, synagogues and other sites have been targeted in recent weeks.

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source https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/may/15/iraqi-terror-attacks-arrested-charged

Tennessee school district bans Alex Haley’s Roots under 2022 state law

With third-highest number of books banned, state removes renowned work about slave trade from library shelves

A Tennessee school district has banned Roots, the author Alex Haley’s groundbreaking novel and one of the most renowned and influential works about the horrors of the transatlantic slave trade.

Knox county schools (KCS) took that step under a state law that has disappeared hundreds of titles from school libraries and alarmed advocates of free expression.

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source https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/may/15/tennessee-book-ban-alex-haley-roots

Louisiana senate passes bill to eliminate one of two majority-Black congressional districts

If state’s house passes bill, redrawn map could could give state Republicans a 5-1 congressional majority

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On Thursday, the Louisiana state senate voted 27-10 to pass a new congressional map that would eliminate one of the state’s two majority-Black House districts. The resulting map could give Louisiana Republicans a 5-1 congressional majority.

The supreme court’s recent decision in Louisiana v Callais, a case that centered on the state’s congressional maps, severely weakened the Voting Rights Act (VRA). The fallout from the decision was swift, with several other southern states calling special sessions to pass redistricting maps that would limit Black voting power.

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source https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/may/14/louisiana-senate-bill-black-congressional-districts

Utah woman who wrote book on grief gets life without parole for killing husband

Kouri Richins was convicted for lacing her husband’s cocktail with five times the lethal dose of fentanyl

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A Utah mother who published a children’s book about grief after the death of her husband and was later found guilty of killing him has been sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Kouri Richins was convicted in March of aggravated murder for lacing her husband’s cocktail with five times the lethal dose of fentanyl at their home near Park City in 2022.

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source https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/may/13/utah-woman-husband-death-murder-sentence