“Mayor Eric Adams announced a $38.9 million settlement with Starbucks on Monday over violations of New York City’s law guaranteeing fair working conditions, a resolution that city officials said was the largest worker protection settlement in the city’s history. The city’s Department of Consumer and Worker Protection found that Starbucks had violated the law more than half a million times since 2021 by failing to provide workers with stable schedules. More than 15,000 hourly workers are expected to receive restitution payments under the agreement. … Under the settlement, most employees who worked for Starbucks in an hourly position from July 2021 through July 2024 will receive $50 for each week they worked.” (12/01/25)
“A judge in Minnesota is facing heat after she overturned a guilty verdict for an individual convicted in a $7.2 million fraud scheme that involved taxpayer money. Abdifatah Yusuf and his wife Lul Ahmed were charged in June 2024 after they were accused of stealing $7.2 million from the state’s Medicaid program while running a home healthcare business that lacked an office building and operated ‘for years out of a mailbox,’ according to the Minnesota Attorney General’s Office. Prosecutors said Yusuf received Medicaid money for services that weren’t provided and overbilled for services that didn’t have documentation. Yusuf allegedly used the money to fund ‘a lavish lifestyle’ that included shopping sprees at ‘luxury clothing stores including Coach, Canada Goose, Michael Kors, Third Degree Heat, Nike, and Nordstrom.'” (12/01/25)
“Four Sydney men have been charged with criminal offenses over their alleged involvement in the distribution of child sexual abuse material linked to an international child sex abuse ring, police said Monday. A New South Wales state police task force identified the Sydney-based network while investigating the online distribution of encrypted child sexual abuse material involving ritualistic and satanic themes, Det. Supt. Jayne Doherty said. … Police also seized electronic devices allegedly containing thousands of videos depicting the abuse of children from babies to 12-year-olds. ‘Police will allege in court that this international group were engaging in conversations and the sharing of material which depicted child abuse and the torture of children involving symbols and rituals linked to Satanism and the occult,’ Doherty said.” (12/01/25)
“Prosecutors Monday argued a Massachusetts man was responsible for the grisly murder of his wife who disappeared more than two years ago while his lawyers insisted the man panicked after she suddenly died in bed. Ana Walshe, a real estate agent who immigrated from Serbia, was last seen early on Jan. 1, 2023, following a New Year’s Eve dinner at her Massachusetts home. Her body has never been found. Her husband, Brian Walshe, faces a first-degree murder charge, after agreeing to plead guilty last month to lesser charges of misleading police and willfully disposing of a human body in violation of state law.” (12/01/25)
“Airbus fleets were returning towards normal operations on Monday after the European planemaker pushed through abrupt software changes faster than expected, averting a prolonged crisis over the discovery of a space-related computer bug. Dozens of airlines from Asia to the United States said they had carried out a snap software retrofit ordered by Airbus, and mandated by global regulators, after a vulnerability to solar flares emerged in a recent mid-air incident on a JetBlue A320. … Sources familiar with the matter said the unprecedented decision to recall about half the A320-family fleet was taken shortly after the possible but unproven link to a drop in altitude on the JetBlue jet emerged late last week.” (12/01/25)
“Civilian deaths and injuries from landmines and explosive remnants of war have risen to their highest level in four years, according to the Landmine Monitor 2025 report launched in Geneva on Monday. It documents 6,279 casualties in 2024. Children remain especially vulnerable, particularly in conflict-affected countries where displaced families are returning to heavily contaminated areas. ‘Civilians made up 90 per cent of casualties in 2024,’ said Loren Persi, Impact Team Lead for the report. ‘And children remained a significant portion of all casualties, almost half … In Afghanistan, 77 per cent, so over three-quarters of all casualties, were children, which is horrific.’ The launch was led by the International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL) and hosted by the United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR).” (12/01/25)
“British MP Tulip Siddiq has been handed a two-year prison sentence in Bangladesh in her absence following a corruption trial she did not attend. Siddiq, a former U.K. minister, was found guilty of influencing her aunt, Bangladesh’s ex-Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, to secure a plot of land for her family in the outskirts of the capital Dhaka, according to a BBC report of the trial. Siddiq, a former U.K. Treasury minister, has strongly denied the claims and is unlikely to serve the sentence. She is based in London and is the MP for the London constituency of Hampstead and Highgate.” (12/01/25)
“Luigi Mangione watched stoically in court Monday as prosecutors played surveillance videos showing the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson on a New York City sidewalk last year and Mangione’s arrest five days later at a McDonald’s in Pennsylvania. The videos, including footage from the restaurant previously unseen by the press or the public, kicked off a hearing on Mangione’s fight to bar evidence from his state murder trial, including the gun prosecutors say matches the one used in the Dec. 4, 2024, attack.” (12/01/25)
“Pope Leo will meet leaders from Lebanon’s diverse religious sects on Monday and is expected to urge Lebanese not to abandon their country despite years of conflict, political paralysis and economic crisis that have prompted waves of migration. Leo, the first U.S. pope, visited Lebanon’s Catholic community before hosting a dialogue with members of the Sunni Muslim, Shi’ite and Druze communities, as well as migrant workers and other Christians. The pope, on what he has described as a mission of peace, has urged Lebanon’s leaders to persevere with peace efforts in the aftermath of last year’s devastating war between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah, and continued Israeli strikes.” (12/01/25)
“Ukrainian naval drones hit two oil tankers from Russia’s so-called ‘shadow fleet’ as they travelled through the Black Sea, Ukrainian officials have said. Footage verified by the BBC shows waterborne drones speeding through the waves into the vessels, before detonating into a ball of flame, sending black smoke into the air. The targeted tankers were named by Turkish authorities as the Kairos and Virat, both flagged to the Gambia. Both were hit off the Turkish coast on Friday, with the Virat reportedly struck again on Saturday. No casualties were reported. The attacks appear to be an escalation by Kyiv as it tries to hit Russia’s oil revenues, which are critical for funding its war in Ukraine.” (11/30/25)
