German law requires retail stores to close on Sundays and Christian holidays to give employees a day off. Supermarket chain Tegut has solved this problem by fully automating its stores, with Sunday sales accounting for 25% to 30% of its sales. But the court ruled that supermarkets must also give the robots a day off on Sundays. A store workers union has filed a lawsuit to force the stores to close, saying it fears the company’s success could erode support for the state’s blue laws.
An internal investigation found that four Connecticut police officers logged hundreds of fake tickets in 2018 to appear more efficient. Investigators found the officers’ conduct could have constituted a felony, but they failed to notify prosecutors. Chief State’s Attorney Patrick Griffin opened a criminal investigation in late 2022 after learning about the investigation from reporters, but the officers will not face charges because the statute of limitations has expired. Two of the soldiers were discharged without penalty and each received a pension of nearly $70,000 per year; the other two were given short-term duty before being transferred to new units.
When federal agents arrested Penny McCarthy at gunpoint outside her Phoenix home, they insisted she was Carole Anne Rozak, a 1999 murderer in Oklahoma City. Homer Homer is a fugitive wanted for a probation violation. The U.S. Marshals Service said McCarthy’s fingerprints matched Rozak’s, but they later admitted there was a mismatch and blamed the misidentification on a computer glitch. A judge dropped all charges against McCarthy.
Police Scotland received thousands of complaints in the first days after the country’s new hate crime laws came into force. Former Scotland first minister Humza Youssef said a “small proportion” of the many complaints were “turning into actual investigations” but staff were working overtime to clear them up. Youssef, who supports the law, said even if complaints start to decrease in the future, it will take “weeks or months” and cost “hundreds of thousands of pounds” to deal with the backlog.
An Iranian court has sentenced rapper Toumaj Salehi to death after finding him guilty of “corruption of the planet.” Salehi has been arrested multiple times for his songs criticizing government misconduct and suppression of dissent.
The Chechen Minister of Culture requires that the tempo of all music (vocal or instrumental) across the country be kept between 80 and 116 beats per minute to preserve “the Chechen mentality and musical rhythm” and “the cultural heritage of the Chechen people.” Following the backlash, Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov said the demands were just “suggestions”.
In Italy, the Milan city council is considering a law that would ban the sale of ice cream, pizza and other takeaway food and drinks after 12:30 pm on weekdays and 1:30 am on weekends and holidays. The move is aimed at reducing the noise caused by people gathering on the streets. The law is particularly unpopular among ice cream merchants, who have long sold ice cream late at night.
Justin Champlin, the former chief deputy tax assessor for Ascension Parish, Louisiana, was arrested on two counts each of damaging public records, computer tampering and misconduct in office. Police said Champlin illegally lowered his property assessment on two separate occasions to lower his tax liability. Champion was fired in early April following an internal audit.
