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Daily Mail
an hour ago
- Politics
- Daily Mail
Labour-run council approves plan to fine locals for swearing
A Labour-run council has approved a plan to fine locals up to £100 for swearing, drinking and 'misusing' public spaces. The crackdown on antisocial behaviour will be enforced in four seaside hotspots in Kent. Thanet District Council announced the bid to enforce the new public space protection order (PSPO) earlier this month in Birchington, Margate, Ramsgate, and Broadstairs. The newly approved order will make it an offence to refuse to stop using certain language if requested to do so by an officer. Under the order, the language restricted is described as 'foul or abusive language [used] in a manner likely to cause harassment, alarm, or distress to a person within hearing or sight, judged by the standards of a "reasonable person."' The council said the plans were introduced because of a rise in antisocial behaviour in Kent. They were approved on July 24 and will come into force after the required legal notice period. A spokesperson said: 'The Proposed Public Spaces Protection Order (PSPO) was approved at a Cabinet meeting on Thursday 24 July 2025. 'The PSPO was put forward with the aim of reducing antisocial behaviour in Thanet's main towns, and is similar to previous PSPOs in place between 2018 and 2024. 'They mirror the same restrictions in place across many other districts and boroughs, including in other parts of Kent in line with powers under the Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014. 'There was strong support for proposals in response to a recent public consultation, with a majority of respondents indicating agreement.' In addition to swearing, the order also restricts gathering in anti-social groups, misusing public places, excreting bodily fluids, consuming alcohol, consuming legal psychoactive substance, and causing humiliation or degradation. In the first instance, anyone found to be breaking the rules will be spoken to by enforcement officers. However, if the behaviour continues, fines of up to £100 can be issued. The council initially tried to introduce the PSPO in July 2024 but the proposals were scrapped after the Free Speech Union (FSU) blasted them as 'draconian' and threatened legal action. Commenting on the order's approval, Councillor Heather Keen, Cabinet Member for Communities at Thanet District Council, said: 'We've listened and these measures are designed to reassure residents and set clear expectations around acceptable public behaviour in Thanet. 'It crucially provides us with the tools to intervene earlier which we hope will successfully prevent situations from escalating. 'The overwhelming support from local people, businesses and the police during the consultation process is evidence that these measures are welcomed. 'Every year our residents tell us feeling safe is a top priority. 'I'm proud to say that we've listened and hope this serves as a reminder that antisocial behaviour will not be tolerated in Thanet.' Councillors have said that signs explaining the PSPO's rules will be displayed in each town. A report explained: 'The causes of this are complex and the PSPO is recognised by all of those working with such behaviour as being one of the effective tools for dealing with this. 'The Council sought to implement a PSPO in similar terms to the one that it is currently proposed in the summer of last year. 'This was however subject to the threat of legal challenge. As a result, a decision was made not to implement this PSPO. 'Since that time police report experiencing increased difficulties in managing some of the identified forms of anti-social behaviour.'
Daily Mail
an hour ago
- Politics
- Daily Mail
Labour-run council approves controversial plan to fine locals £100... for SWEARING
A Labour-run council has approved a plan to fine locals up to £100 for swearing, drinking and 'misusing' public spaces. The crackdown on antisocial behaviour will be enforced in four seaside hotspots in Kent. Thanet District Council announced the bid to enforce the new public space protection order (PSPO) earlier this month in Birchington, Margate, Ramsgate, and Broadstairs. The newly approved order will make it an offence to refuse to stop using certain language if requested to do so by an officer. Under the order, the language restricted is described as 'foul or abusive language [used] in a manner likely to cause harassment, alarm, or distress to a person within hearing or sight, judged by the standards of a "reasonable person".' The council said the plans were introduced because of a rise in antisocial behaviour in Kent. They were approved on July 24 and will come into force after the required legal notice period. A spokesperson said: 'The Proposed Public Spaces Protection Order (PSPO) was approved at a Cabinet meeting on Thursday 24 July 2025. 'The PSPO was put forward with the aim of reducing antisocial behaviour in Thanet's main towns, and is similar to previous PSPOs in place between 2018 and 2024. 'They mirror the same restrictions in place across many other districts and boroughs, including in other parts of Kent in line with powers under the Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014. 'There was strong support for proposals in response to a recent public consultation, with a majority of respondents indicating agreement.' In addition to swearing, the order also restricts gathering in anti-social groups, misusing public places, excreting bodily fluids, consuming alcohol, consuming legal psychoactive substance, and causing humiliation or degradation. In the first instance, anyone found to be breaking the rules will be spoken to by enforcement officers. However, if the behaviour continues, fines of up to £100 can be issued. The council initially tried to introduce the PSPO in July 2024 but the proposals were scrapped after the Free Speech Union (FSU) blasted them as 'draconian' and threatened legal action. Commenting on the order's approval, Councillor Heather Keen, Cabinet Member for Communities at Thanet District Council, said: 'We've listened and these measures are designed to reassure residents and set clear expectations around acceptable public behaviour in Thanet. 'It crucially provides us with the tools to intervene earlier which we hope will successfully prevent situations from escalating. 'The overwhelming support from local people, businesses and the police during the consultation process is evidence that these measures are welcomed. 'Every year our residents tell us feeling safe is a top priority. 'I'm proud to say that we've listened and hope this serves as a reminder that antisocial behaviour will not be tolerated in Thanet.' Councillors have said that signs explaining the PSPO's rules will be displayed in each town. A report explained: 'The causes of this are complex and the PSPO is recognised by all of those working with such behaviour as being one of the effective tools for dealing with this. 'The Council sought to implement a PSPO in similar terms to the one that it is currently proposed in the summer of last year. 'This was however subject to the threat of legal challenge. As a result, a decision was made not to implement this PSPO.
The Guardian
2 hours ago
- Politics
- The Guardian
One day inside the deportation machine at a federal immigration court in New York
A brother is torn from his sister. A father arrives for his immigration hearing with his family, only to find that they will be leaving without him. A woman, seemingly relieved after emerging from her hearing, finds that her life is about to change when she is apprehended by federal officials waiting just outside the door. These are just some of the moments that happened on a single day in the Jacob K Javits federal building at 26 Federal Plaza in New York City, the largest federal immigration courthouse in Manhattan. Courthouse detentions have been one of many flashpoints in the Trump administration's expanding crackdown on immigration, as federal authorities seek to arrest 3,000 people a day. There have been reports of arrests at courthouses across the country, from Phoenix to Los Angeles to Chicago, turning routine hearings into scenes fraught with anxiety and fear. A recently filed class-action lawsuit against the Trump administration seeks to bar the practice of courthouse arrests. Immigration court presents an especially precarious situation. Not showing up for a hearing can have serious consequences, but as the Guardian observed in the hallways outside courtrooms in New York, showing up also has serious consequences. Even though some people had been granted follow-up hearings, they were detained by federal officials in the hallway and rushed to a stairwell for holding elsewhere in the building. On 18 June, representatives Jerry Nadler and Dan Goldman attempted to conduct oversight on the building's 10th floor, where people have been held, sometimes for days at a time, but were rebuffed by federal officials. Recently released footage shows the harsh conditions faced by people held on the 10th floor. What follows is a visual timeline of a single day inside the halls of the Jacob K Javits federal building, where some people found their lives forever changed. 8.57am – A family walks towards a courtroom past masked federal agents. Only the father has a hearing, and his family would not be allowed to enter the room with him. They would have to wait elsewhere. 9.51am – A federal agent checks a stack of documents containing identifying information for people slated for detention. 10.11am – Federal agents load a detained man into an elevator. 10.17am – Federal agents wait. 10.30am – Federal agents lead a detained man to a stairwell. 11.25am – The New York City comptroller, Brad Lander, left, escorts a man to the elevator after his hearing. Lander has made regular appearances at the federal building to observe cases and help people leave the building. He was arrested on 17 June as he was attempting to help escort someone out. A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson said Lander 'was arrested for assaulting law enforcement and impeding a federal officer', though video evidence of the encounter debunks that allegation. He was subsequently released the same day. 11.45am – After successfully escorting a man to the elevator, Lander then returns to a courtroom to observe another case. At 11.45am, he stands in the doorway and announces to federal agents that a man named Carlos has been granted a follow-up hearing in 2029. He asks the assembled agents if they would allow him to return for that hearing. No one says anything in response. 11.46am – Chaos breaks out as multiple federal agents grab Carlos while his sister screams. 11.55am – Court employees had informed a sketch artist that she wouldn't be allowed inside the courtrooms at the federal building, despite the fact that such artists are generally permitted in courtrooms where cameras are banned, as in high-profile federal trials. The sketch artist resorts to drawing the scene in the hallway. She would subsequently be allowed into the courtroom. 12.58pm – A half-eaten snack bar sticks out of a tactical vest. 1.51pm – After emerging from a hearing, a woman is immediately apprehended by a masked federal agent who asks for her name and to look at her documents. Upon reviewing her documents, the agent tells her she can leave. 'Have a nice day,' he says in Spanish. 2.11pm – Federal agents detain the father from the family observed at 8.57am and lead him to a stairwell. The Guardian later observed a photojournalist telling the man's family in Spanish that he had been arrested. Their oldest child broke down in tears as the other two slept, after waiting for him for hours after their arrival. The mother said he had no criminal history and that their asylum cases were in progress. 2.58pm – The last woman to emerge from her hearing holds a stack of documents in her hand, and she smiles briefly before a masked agent whose T-shirt reads 'police' apprehends her. Her smile fades to an expression of fear as she learns that she will not be allowed to leave. Federal agents then rush her to a stairwell.
Daily Mail
5 hours ago
- Politics
- Daily Mail
North Korean youths face forced labor for 'South Korean' dialect
Four North Korean youths could face a year in brutal forced labour camps after reportedly being arrested for 'talking like South Koreans'. The group, all in their twenties, were arrested in Chongjin, the country's third largest city, after being reported for mimicking lines from South Korean films. State security authorities were tipped off by a local residents who had overheard the four. The young adults are currently being questioned by Chongjin's Ministry of State Security and could be sentenced to a year in Kim Jong-un 's cruel labour camps, according to Daily NK. North Korea has increasingly cracked down on what it claims are South Korean influences in recent years. Kim Jong-un has previously described K-pop as a 'vicious cancer ' while they have targeted other slang words. A 2020 law made the distribution of South Korean programmes punishable by death, while those watching it could face 15 years in a prison camp. A year later the brutal regime passed a law, Article 41 of North Korea's Youth Education Guarantee Act, which banned young people from speaking or writing 'in odd speech patterns that are not our own.' The use of 'non-socialist' language is also prohibited but South Korean slang is thought to be quietly spreading among young people. 'These days, young people are careful to avoid South Korean speech during official activities because they know about the crackdowns, but when they're with friends, they use it without hesitation—mimicking lines from South Korean movies and shows,' a source told Daily NK. People's phones and messages are being searched for South Korean slang, according to a report from South Korea's Unification Ministry based on the testimony of hundreds of defectors. Searches of homes have also increased since 2021, with authorities looking for signs of outside culture. Meanwhile, last year, footage emerged of two teenage boys being sentenced to 12 years of hard labour for watching K-dramas. The rare footage showed two 16-year-old boys being handcuffed by uniformed officers in front of hundreds of students at an outdoor stadium at an unknown location. The youngsters were arrested for not 'deeply reflecting on their mistakes' after they were caught watching South Korean television, which is banned in the North along with K-pop music. Minors who broke the law would be sent to youth labour camps in the past, and generally the punishment would be for less than five years. Footage from inside the hermit nation is rare as Kim Jong Un forbids the release of any video and photos of life in the country from being shown to the outside world.
France 24
a day ago
- France 24
French drug baron transferred to new supermax prison
Amra is among the first convicted drug traffickers to be sent to the new supermax prison Amra made headlines when he escaped in May 2024 at a road toll from a prison van following an attack by suspected accomplices in which two prison guards were killed. After a months-long manhunt he was caught in Romania and extradited to France. He is among the first convicted drugs criminals to be taken to Vendin-le-Vieil, in northern France, as part of a government campaign against the drugs trade. It is one of two brand new high-security prisons. Justice Minister Gerald Darmanin, who announced the transfer on X, has said he wants to lock up 200 of France's biggest drug traffickers in the two top-security prisons in a bid to crack down on networks that operate from within jails. The main purpose of the supermax prisons is to prevent drug barons from continuing operations © Michel Euler / POOL/AFP In October, a high-security prison wing is to open in the northwestern town of Conde-sur-Sarthe. As part of the new regime, mobile phone signals will be jammed and prisoners will undergo mandatory searches after every contact with the outside world. At the Vendin-le-Vieil jail, the exercise yard has been concreted over to prevent objects from being hidden and an airport-style body scanner installed. Grating has been added to the bars on the cells and hatches installed on all doors so prisoners can be handcuffed before they leave their cells. A glass screen now prevents physical contact between inmates and visitors. At the time of the deadly ambush, Amra already had a long history of convictions for violent crimes that started when he was 15. Amra was suspected of ordering hits from prison, including in the months leading up to his breakout. © 2025 AFP
