“‘It was pretty soon after James was born that I knew something wasn’t right,’ says Laura. She and her partner, Beth, have two children — James, and their eldest Kate – both conceived through IVF treatment at a clinic in Turkish-occupied northern Cyprus. The two women used their own eggs and carefully chose one anonymous, healthy sperm donor. They told the clinic which ordered the sperm for them that it was important the same donor was used for both babies — so their children would be biologically related. But when James was born, they both noticed that his ‘beautiful’ brown eyes were very different to those of his biological mum, Beth, and the sperm donor the family had requested. … Beth and Laura decided their children should take a DNA test. The results indicated neither child was related to the sperm donor their parents had selected.” (03/31/26)
“The Justice Department is suing the Minnesota Department of Education, asking a federal court to force it to comply with the Trump administration’s policies prohibiting transgender student-athletes from competing in girls’ sports. … Federal prosecutors are asking the court to rule that the Minnesota Department of Education and the Minnesota State High School League are violating Title IX’s prohibition on sex-based discrimination over their policies allowing transgender student-athletes at federally funded schools to compete in girls’ sports and use spaces designated for girls, such as bathrooms and changing rooms.” (03/31/26)
“The Trump administration is pushing the FBI to look into an old investigation on California Rep. Eric Swalwell, a sitting member of Congress and leading Democratic candidate for California governor, the Washington Post reported last week. Swalwell, a former prosecutor and unsuccessful 2020 presidential candidate, called the FBI probe ‘nonsense’ and suggested last week that the president’s directive is an attempt to influence the California governor’s race in which Swalwell says he is ‘the favorite’. ‘Through great reporting, we now know the outrageous ends the White House will go to target political opponents,’ he said in an emailed statement to SFGATE. ‘As was Trump’s mortgage case against me, this decade-old story is, of course, nonsense.’ FBI Director Kash Patel reportedly has pushed investigators to revisit files from a decade-old investigation into Swalwell and a suspected Chinese operative, the outlet reported, citing three anonymous sources.” (03/30/26)
“Australia’s e-safety commissioner warned platforms like Meta, YouTube and TikTok of ‘major gaps’ in their enforcement of the social media ban for under-16s, almost four months after the law came into effect. ‘While social media platforms have taken some initial action, I am concerned through our compliance monitoring that some may not be doing enough to comply with Australian law,’ commissioner Julie Inman Grant said in a statement on Tuesday. The legislation requires 10 of the largest social media networks, including TikTok, Instagram, Snapchat, YouTube, Facebook, and X, to keep under-16s away or face fines of up to A$49.5m (£26.5m), making it one of the world’s toughest digital restrictions. … Ms Grant said the watchdog was ‘currently investigating potential non-compliance’ by Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, and YouTube.” (03/31/26)
“Iran attacked and set ablaze a fully loaded crude oil tanker anchored at Dubai port, with the strike damaging the vessel’s hull, in the latest strike on merchant vessels in the Gulf and strait of Hormuz amid the US and Israel war on Iran. Dubai authorities said the drone attack on the Al Salmi tanker caused a fire on board that was extinguished early on Tuesday, hours after the attack was first reported. They later confirmed there was no oil leak.” (03/31/26)
“Manhattan’s top fraud prosecutors met with Polymarket to discuss whether lucrative bets on the prediction market platform have violated insider trading and other federal laws. The meeting follows a warning from Jay Clayton, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District and former SEC chairman, who told a securities law conference that criminal cases involving prediction market activity were coming. … One newly created Polymarket account turned $32,000 into over $400,000 in less than 24 hours after the capture of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro. In another instance, a trader netted nearly $1 million from making remarkably accurate Iran war bets on the platform. Polymarket and Kalshi are scrambling to get ahead of the scrutiny. Polymarket issued new rules last week banning trades based on confidential information. Kalshi, which has long banned insider trading, went further by blocking politicians and athletes from trading in their own markets and said it has referred over a dozen cases to law enforcement in the past year.” (03/30/26)
“Russia has ordered a British diplomat to leave the country over allegations of spying, the latest in a series of expulsions of embassy staff from both sides. The Federal Security Service (FSB) claims the man provided false information when applying to enter the country, as well as trying to obtain sensitive information during informal economic meetings, according to state media reports. The diplomat has had their accreditation revoked and has been ordered to leave the country within two weeks. A UK Foreign Office spokesman called the move ‘complete nonsense’ and accused Russia of an ‘aggressive and co-ordinated campaign of harassment against British diplomats.’ In a statement, they said Russia has been ‘pumping out malicious and completely baseless accusations about their work.’ ‘The UK does not stand for intimidation of British embassy staff and their families,’ they added.” (03/30/26)
“Israel’s Parliament on Monday passed a law approving the death penalty for Palestinians convicted of murdering Israelis. The bill’s passage marked the culmination of a years-long push by Israel’s far-right to escalate punishment for Palestinians convicted of nationalistic offenses against Israelis. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu came to the chamber to vote yes in person. The law makes the death penalty — by hanging — the default punishment for West Bank Palestinians convicted for nationalistic killings. The law also gives Israeli courts the authority to impose either the death penalty or life imprisonment on its own citizens. It is not retroactive and will apply only to future cases. The measure has been harshly condemned by Israeli and Palestinian rights groups, who say it is racist, draconian and unlikely to deter attacks by Palestinian attackers.” (03/30/26)
“Spain has closed its airspace to U.S. planes involved in the Iran war, its defense minister said Monday, marking the latest step by Europe’s loudest opponent of U.S. and Israeli involvement in the conflict in the Middle East. The country earlier said the U.S. couldn’t use jointly operated military bases in the conflict, which Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has described as illegal, reckless and unjust. Defense Minister Margarita Robles said the same logic applied to the use of Spanish airspace in the conflict. ‘This was made perfectly clear to the American military and forces from the very beginning. Therefore, neither the bases are authorized, nor, of course, is the use of Spanish airspace authorized for any actions related to the war in Iran,’ Robles told reporters, and called the war in Iran ‘profoundly illegal and profoundly unjust.'” (03/30/26)
“The leader of a sex-focused women’s wellness company that promoted ‘orgasmic meditation’ was sentenced Monday to nine years in federal prison on forced labor charges, federal prosecutors said. Nicole Daedone, co-founder of OneTaste Inc., was also ordered to forfeit $12 million during the hearing in Brooklyn. That was the amount she sold the California-based company for, according to John Marzulli, spokesperson for the Office of U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York. … Daedone’s lawyers didn’t immediately respond to an email seeking comment after the sentencing. Rachel Cherwitz, the company’s former sales director, was set to be sentenced later Monday. During the roughly one-month trial, prosecutors said the two women ran a yearslong scheme that groomed adherents — many of them victims of sexual trauma — to do their bidding.” (03/30/26)
