Haiti gang attack kills around 40 near capital, mayor says
Gang members attacked displaced people sheltering in a church near Haiti's capital and killed around 40 people, Kenscoff Mayor Massillon Jean said Monday. Jea…
Crime & Public Safety — August 2026
Belgium missing boy: child's body found near Onhaye
Belgian authorities said a child's body was found near Onhaye on August 24 in the search for five-year-old Tymeo Brigou, who went missing with his father in Ju…
UK wrong-way crash kills seven, 12 arrested
British police said Monday they had arrested 12 people after a car pursued by officers crashed while driving the wrong way on a major road in northeast England…
Zolani Tete: four arrested after boxer killed
South African police said Monday they had arrested four people in connection with the killing of Zolani Tete, a former two-time boxing world champion. Police…
Sweden to form school attack commission after killing
Sweden will form a commission to propose measures against school attacks, the government said on Monday, days after a sword-wielding assailant killed a 17-year…
Swiss bar fire owner detained in abuse case, media says
Jacques Moretti, co-owner of the Swiss bar where a New Year fire killed 41 people, has been arrested and placed in pre-trial detention after alleged violence against his wife and co-owner Jessica Moretti, local Geneva broadcaster Leman Bleu reported. The alle…
Lebanon arrests TikTok food influencer in drug case
Lebanon arrested Georges Dib, a TikTok food influencer known as “Doctor Food”, at his home in the northern governorate of Akkar on Sunday, a judicial source told AFP. The source said Dib, who has more than eight million followers and owns a confectionery busi…
Mount Fuji father left son for hours, police say
A father left his seven-year-old son alone for hours on Japan's Mount Fuji while continuing a climb, police and local media reported. A local police officer i…
Montreal teen arrested after FBI school attack tip
Canadian federal police arrested a teenager on Friday after an FBI warning that he was planning to attack a school in Montreal, the Royal Canadian Mounted Poli…
Swedish police order TikTok, Meta to remove crime ads
Swedish police said Friday they have ordered TikTok and Meta to remove 30 posts offering payment for criminal services since mid-July, as gangs increasingly us…
Sweden school attack suspect remanded in custody
An 18-year-old man arrested after a fatal sword attack at Brinell school in Fagersta, Sweden, has been remanded in custody on suspicion of murder and attempted…
South Africa police find $37m meth lab, arrest five
South African police said they found a crystal meth laboratory on a farm near Musina, close to the border with Zimbabwe, and arrested five foreign nationals.…
Nigeria kidnap victims recover after 308 freed
Nigeria kidnap victims, including children and women, are being treated in Ilorin after 308 people were freed in August in what the government called a major s…
New York Harbor boat captain arrested after 2 deaths
US immigration officials have arrested Manuel Hernandez, the captain in a New York Harbor boat tour accident that killed a woman and her five-month-old daughter, authorities said. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detained Hernandez, 46, after a Coast Guard…
22 Indian sailors on seized ships are safe, India says
India's foreign ministry said Friday that 22 Indian sailors were aboard two foreign-flagged vessels seized by gunmen in the Gulf of Aden this week and that all…
Munich Jewish centre arson suspect identified
German investigators said they had identified a deceased far-right suspect who likely carried out a 1970 arson attack on a Jewish centre in Munich that killed seven Holocaust survivors. Police and prosecutors in Munich said the renewed investigation “strongly…
Bolivia Amazon town faces Brazilian gang violence
Bolivia's Amazon border town of Guayaramerin is facing fear over Brazilian organised crime groups that have moved across the Mamore river to compete for cocain…
DEA conference in Argentina focuses on drug trafficking
Security agency representatives from around 100 countries met in Argentina on August 19 for talks on joint efforts against drug trafficking, in the first time…
Nigeria arrests influencer in $28.8m cocaine bust
Nigerian authorities have arrested online celebrity and influencer Afolabi Kazeem Michael after a cocaine seizure that the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency…
Pattaya suitcase murder victim suffocated, police say
A 17-year-old Thai girl whose body was found in a suitcase in Pattaya in June died of suffocation, police said Wednesday. An Australian man, 45-year-old Simon…
Indonesia seizes 2.6 tonnes of meth from ship
Indonesia seized 2.6 tonnes of liquid methamphetamine hidden on a Tanzanian-flagged vessel near Bengkalis in Riau province, in one of the country's biggest dru…
Sydney Swans suspend five players over hotel conduct
The Sydney Swans suspended five players for the rest of the Australian Football League season after club executives said they stayed out late, drank and brough…
Bolivian president adviser arrested over ex-partner shooting
Bolivian police arrested Fernando Cerimedo, an Argentine political consultant and close adviser to President Rodrigo Paz, at an airport in Santa Cruz after his…
Kabul school blast injures at least 42 children, UN says
A blast at an education centre in Kabul injured at least 42 children aged nine to 14, the United Nations mission in Afghanistan said Tuesday, while the cause r…
Philippine school shooting guns tied to customs agent
Philippine customs authorities suspended an agent who owned guns allegedly used by a ninth-grade student who authorities say livestreamed himself killing a sch…
Somali pirates use seized ship to hijack Lutuf
Somali pirates used a previously hijacked vessel to seize the Cameroon-flagged cargo ship Lutuf off Somalia, Puntland security officials said. The officials s…
Pakistan detains 258 foreigners in Islamabad scam raid
Pakistan authorities said Monday they had detained 258 foreigners after a raid on an alleged scam call centre in Islamabad. An official from the Federal Investigation Agency said the centre was operating in Gulberg Green, a housing society on the outskirts of…
Antonello da Messina paintings stolen in Sicily
Four works by Renaissance artist Antonello da Messina have been stolen from a museum in Messina, Sicily, Italy's culture ministry said Sunday. The ministry described the works as being of "extraordinary value". It said the theft happened late Saturday and inc…
Romanian embassy fire in Bern prompts witness appeal
Swiss police are still seeking witnesses after a fire they believe was deliberately started outside the Romanian embassy in Bern. Bern cantonal police said initial findings indicated an unidentified person placed a burning object near the embassy fence on Mon…
Matisse engravings tied by police to Brazil theft suspect
Brazilian police say phone records helped them recover eight Henri Matisse engravings stolen from a Sao Paulo library and tied the case to Laessio Rodrigues, a 53-year-old man accused of masterminding the theft. The pieces, from Matisse's limited-edition 1947…
Americas ministers pledge organized crime cooperation
More than 30 countries across North and South America agreed Friday to strengthen joint efforts against organized crime at a defense ministers' summit in Cusco…
UK family killing suspect arrested in Johannesburg
South African police said they arrested a UK father in Johannesburg on Friday on suspicion of murdering his wife and two young daughters in England. Ndodana M…
London football disorder injures officer; four arrested
One police officer was injured and four people were arrested in central London early Friday after France beat Morocco in a World Cup quarter-final, London poli…
Northern Ireland man arrested over mosque bonfire display
Northern Irish police arrested a 56-year-old man after a replica mosque was placed on a bonfire in Moygashel, a village about 40 miles west of Belfast. Police said they were aware of the item on top of the bonfire and that the man had been arrested on suspici…
Japan woman held over sewn-shut lips allegation
Japanese police arrested a woman near Tokyo on suspicion of assault after her housemate's lips were allegedly sewn shut, officials said Thursday. The 42-year-old victim escaped from a house in Koga, in Ibaraki prefecture, went to a nearby shop and held up a n…
Ndodana Tshuma sought over wife and daughters' deaths
UK police launched an international manhunt Wednesday for Ndodana Mkhanyisi Tshuma, also known as Mark, after his wife and two young daughters were found dead at the family home in Bedford, central England. Police said Tshuma, 45, is suspected of murdering hi…
Kevin Rideout released after Niger kidnapping, group says
American missionary Kevin Rideout has been released after more than nine months in captivity following his kidnapping in Niger, the Christian organisation SIM International said Friday. SIM International said Rideout, who worked with the group, was “in good h…
Ivory Coast land clashes kill seven
Seven people were killed and several injured in land dispute clashes in Kossandji, a village in southeast Ivory Coast, prosecutor Naffissiatou Counta said. Counta said the August 4 dispute between members of different communities caused major material damage…
Syria says drugs sent by balloon seized near Jordan
Syria said Wednesday it had foiled an attempted drug-smuggling operation in Sweida province that used balloons to move narcotics toward neighbouring Jordan. State news agency SANA quoted the drug enforcement department as saying it seized 70 kilogrammes of ha…
Nigeria kidnap victims describe captivity after 308 freed
Nigerian kidnap victims rescued from forest captivity are being treated for severe malnutrition, injuries and trauma after 308 people were freed this month in what the government called the largest single-day rescue operation. The patients at Kwara State Univ…
Greece arrests 281 over fires so far in 2026
Greek authorities have arrested 281 people so far in 2026 over fire-related offences, fire service spokesman Yannis Atropios said, as the country remains on high alert for new blazes. Atropios told public broadcaster ERT that 252 of the arrests since January…
Lebanon army seizes 1.2 million captagon pills
Lebanon's military said Tuesday it seized about 1.2 million captagon pills that were being packed into a vehicle for smuggling out of the country. The Lebanese army said it arrested two people in an area north of Beirut while they were packing the pills. Leba…
British family pays €3,000 after dodging French tolls
Members of a British family paid about 3,000 euros after being stopped in eastern France over unpaid motorway tolls, police said Tuesday. The operators of the A36 autoroute alerted police on Saturday to suspected fraud at a toll booth near Belfort, close to t…
Spain arrests five over alleged trafficking of migrant girls
Spanish police said on August 11 that they had dismantled a criminal ring accused of recruiting unaccompanied migrant girls from care centres in Gran Canaria and moving them to mainland Spain and France, where some were sexually exploited. The Guardia Civil s…
11 French held in Thailand with cannabis, source says
Eleven French nationals have been detained in Thailand since the start of the summer after being arrested with several kilogrammes of cannabis in their luggage, a police source told AFP on Tuesday. A diplomatic source told AFP that French foreign ministry dep…
Liberia nominates drug agency chief after cocaine busts
Liberian President Joseph Boakai has nominated retired Major General Daniel Dee Ziankahn to lead the Liberia Drug Enforcement Agency after two large cocaine seizures in recent weeks. Ziankahn's nomination as director general requires Senate confirmation. He w…
Thai schools told to tighten security after deadly shooting
Thai schools have been told to tighten security after an August 7 shooting near Bangkok in which a 14-year-old killed his grandparents, five school staff and a pupil before killing himself. At Sawasdee Wittaya School in Bangkok on Friday, teachers checked pup…
Galatasaray ultras chief raid finds $1.3m, media say
Turkish police found more than $1.3 million in cash, gold and jewellery at the home of Sebahattin Sirin, leader of Galatasaray's ultrAslan supporters' group, Turkish news agencies DHA and IHA reported Monday. The agencies said the eight-and-a-half-hour raid a…
Ex-Thai MP kills official over money dispute, police say
Former Thai MP Chalong Riewrang shot dead local government official Thongchai Yenprasert outside a government building in Nonthaburi province on Monday after a financial dispute, police said. Thongchai, chairman of the Nonthaburi local government administrati…
Sex doll mistaken for murder victim in Australia
A lifelike sex doll found inside an abandoned suitcase in rural Australia was briefly treated as a possible murder victim before forensic checks showed it was a doll, New South Wales police said. Two men found the suitcase while driving through the countrysid…
Eight dismembered bodies found at Ecuador mine, police say
Ecuadoran authorities found eight dismembered bodies on Sunday in two mass graves at an illegal mine in Pucara, in the southern province of Azuay, police said. Pablo Inga, head of the local judicial police, told the media that the bodies were buried about two…
Saint-Tropez $300,000 watch theft: 4 suspects arrested
French police have arrested four Spanish suspects after a luxury watch valued at about $300,000 was stolen from a Brazilian tourist in Saint-Tropez, authorities said Sunday. The watch was taken on Friday, later recovered and will be returned to its owner, the…
Denmark shooting wounds several in Holbaek, police say
Several people were wounded on Sunday in a shooting in Holbaek, Denmark, police said. Police said they were at several locations in the city, about 70 kilometres west of Copenhagen, after a shooting reported at about 3:45 p.m. local time. Police said they cou…
Zacatecas bridge bodies revive fear in Mexican town
Five bodies found hanging from a bridge in Pozos de Gamboa on July 18 have renewed fear in the Zacatecas town after a period of lower violence in the Mexican state. Five other bodies were found elsewhere in the town of about 5,000 people on the same day. The…
Indonesia seizes 1.3 tons of ketamine from ship
Indonesian authorities seized an estimated 1.3 tons of ketamine worth about 2.07 trillion rupiah, or $116.2 million, from a foreign-flagged vessel, National Narcotics Agency chief Suyudi Ario Seto said Sunday. Suyudi said authorities received intelligence in…
German kidnapped in Niger recovered, Algeria says
Algeria said on August 8 that it had taken charge of a German citizen kidnapped about two weeks earlier in neighbouring Niger by an armed criminal group. Algeria's defence ministry identified the man as Ulumaskan Sinan. It said he was received by the Algerian…
Rotterdam stabbing suspect arrested after two injured
Dutch police said they arrested a 26-year-old man suspected of injuring two people in a series of apparently random stabbing incidents in Rotterdam on Saturday. Police said the first two incidents happened around 9:30 am on a residential street in Spangen, we…
Thetford anti-migrant protests: five arrested
Police in eastern England arrested five people and escorted asylum seekers to safety after three consecutive nights of anti-migrant protests in Thetford, Norfolk police said Friday. The protests ran from Tuesday to Thursday and targeted buildings protesters b…
Sri Lanka prison unrest kills 3, wounds 23, minister says
Sri Lanka deployed troops to its main maximum-security prison in Colombo and two other jails on Friday after unsuccessful breakout attempts in which three inmates were killed and 23 were wounded, Public Security Minister Ananda Wijepala said. Wijepala told pa…
Thailand school shooting mourners pray for 12-year-old girl
Dozens of students, parents and teachers gathered at a Buddhist temple in Thailand on Sunday to pray over the body of 12-year-old Naphat Chaima, one of eight people killed in a home and school shooting north of Bangkok. Police said the girl died in hospital o…
Spokane fire suspect confessed to planning blaze: police
Police said Aaron Farinacci, the man suspected of starting the Old Trails Fire near Spokane, Washington, confessed to planning the blaze and to setting two dozen other fires since 2025. The Old Trails Fire destroyed 800 structures and devastated neighborhoods…
David Owori killed in suspected Kampala robbery
Uganda paid tribute on Thursday to SC Villa captain David Owori, a 27-year-old footballer who died after a suspected robbery in Kampala. SC Villa said Owori was the victim of a "brutal assault by unknown individuals" near his home on Tuesday and died in hospi…
Italy arrests eight over Sardinia migrant smuggling ring
Italian police said Thursday they arrested eight people accused of belonging to a migrant smuggling ring that took people by small boat from Algeria to Sardinia. Police said the group allegedly carried about a dozen people at a time from the Algerian port of…
Athens suitcase death: man held over UK woman's murder
A 36-year-old man has been remanded in custody in Greece on suspicion of murdering British woman Elisabeth-Jane Ross, whose body was found in a suitcase in Athens. The ANA news agency reported that the man was placed in custody on Thursday. Greek media identi…
Covent Garden stabbing: woman charged after four wounded
A 47-year-old woman has been charged after four men were stabbed in Covent Garden in central London with what police believe was a pair of scissors. Stella Gollovena was charged on Thursday with four counts of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily har…
Nigeria says 308 kidnap victims rescued
Nigeria's government said Wednesday that security forces rescued 308 citizens who had been abducted in different attacks in Niger and Kwara states. Presidential spokesman Bayo Onanuga said President Bola Ahmed Tinubu welcomed the operation. He said 163 of tho…
Mexico arrests 12 in avocado extortion case
Mexico said Tuesday it had arrested 12 people accused of extorting avocado producers and sellers in Michoacan after a two-day US suspension of avocado imports over security concerns. The arrests took place in Michoacan, a central state that is a major avocado…
Uganda boxers unaccounted for after Commonwealth Games
Members of Uganda’s boxing team were unaccounted for after competing at the 2026 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Police Scotland said on Wednesday. Police Scotland said it had received reports of several athletes who were unaccounted for and was making enquiri…
Greek man arrested after father's body found in freezer
A 55-year-old Greek man was arrested in Mystras in the Peloponnese after police found his father’s body in a freezer, the Ana news agency reported Wednesday. Ana reported that the man had kept his dead father in the freezer for two-and-a-half years to continu…
Covent Garden stabbing: two men remain in hospital
Two men remained in hospital on Wednesday after four men were stabbed in Covent Garden, a busy central London area popular with tourists, London's Metropolitan Police said. A 47-year-old woman was arrested on suspicion of possessing an offensive weapon and as…
Portugal seizes five tonnes of cocaine at sea
Portuguese police said Wednesday they seized about five tonnes of cocaine from a container ship on the open ocean and arrested three people. Authorities said the ship was travelling from an unnamed Latin American country when it was boarded about 640 nautical…
Leipzig-Halle airport drone had explosive device: police
Police and prosecutors in Germany said Wednesday that a drone found overnight near a Ukrainian cargo plane at Leipzig-Halle airport was carrying an unknown explosive device. An airport employee discovered the drone, and police used a robot to remove the deton…
Cesar Gastelum death may be tied to cartel posts, Mexico says
Mexican authorities said the shooting death of influencer Cesar Gastelum may have been retaliation for social media posts about a criminal group. Gunmen on a motorcycle shot Gastelum late Tuesday during a livestream in Culiacan, the capital of Sinaloa state.…
South Korean students detained over Osan Air Base entry bid
Eight South Korean student protesters were detained after trying to unlawfully enter Osan Air Base south of Seoul, police and the US military said Wednesday. The Korean Progressive University Student Union posted social media images of its Tuesday demonstrati…
Trump golf course suspect faces federal gun charge
Federal prosecutors have charged Jeanine John Taele, 38, with possessing an unregistered short-barreled rifle after his arrest at President Donald Trump's golf course in Rancho Palos Verdes, California, two days before Trump visited for a Republican fundraise…
Mexico dismantles four clandestine oil refineries
Mexican federal prosecutors said on August 4 that authorities dismantled four clandestine oil refineries and seized almost one million liters, or about 6,300 barrels, of petroleum derivatives. The illegal fuel-processing sites were in the central states of Sa…
UK woman and daughters buried in Zimbabwe after killings
Around 2,000 people attended the funeral in Zimbabwe on Tuesday for a woman and her two daughters who were killed in their home in Britain last month, allegedly by her husband. Nothabo Zandile Tshuma, 42, and daughters Natalie, 15, and Nala, 5, were buried af…
Brazil police probe Telegram election attack plot
Brazilian police are investigating eight suspects accused of plotting attacks in Brasilia during the October 4 presidential election, including alleged plans shared in public Telegram groups, security officials said Tuesday. Victor Fernandes, digital rights s…
Greece arrests crew of Italian boat over €800,000 coral
Greek authorities have arrested the crew of an Italian leisure boat after it was intercepted off the island of Skopelos with illegally harvested coral estimated to be worth 800,000 euros ($920,000). Greece's ANA news agency reported the interception, and a sp…
Indonesia arrests second Malaysian in days over drugs
Indonesian authorities have arrested a 22-year-old Malaysian on suspicion of smuggling methamphetamine and ecstasy into the country, the second Malaysian drug-smuggling arrest reported in days. The person, identified only as DI, was detained in Surabaya on Mo…
Sevastopol shooting: soldier killed four, governor says
Mikhail Razvozhayev, Sevastopol's Moscow-installed governor, said Tuesday that an unidentified soldier killed four people, including three civilians, in the Russian-annexed Crimean city. Razvozhayev wrote on Telegram that initial information indicated the sol…
Nigerian judge freed after kidnapping, police say
Nigerian High Court judge Faruku Hassan Bunza has been freed after being kidnapped from his home in northwestern Kebbi state, police said Monday. Bunza was abducted by unidentified gunmen in Bunza town on July 26. Bashir Usman, a spokesman for Kebbi state pol…
Pregnant woman dies in Turkey balcony fall, husband held
A 35-year-old woman who was eight months pregnant died after falling from a fourth-floor flat in Bursa, western Turkey, and police detained her husband, state news agency Anadolu reported Monday. The Sudanese woman died late Sunday. Anadolu said her 37-year-o…
Swiss man, CAR soldier killed near Bangui
A Swiss man carrying out a mining survey and a Central African Republic soldier assigned as his security detail were killed in an attack north of Bangui, military officials said Monday. A high-ranking officer told AFP on condition of anonymity that “unidentif…
British woman found in suitcase: Greece arrests suspect
Greek police said Sunday they had arrested a 26-year-old suspect in the homicide investigation of a British woman whose body was found inside a suitcase in an abandoned building in Athens. Police said the victim was a 38-year-old UK national and that her body…
Idaho In-N-Out shooting leaves fatalities, gunman dead
A gunman opened fire at an In-N-Out Burger restaurant in Twin Falls, Idaho, on Saturday, causing fatalities before the suspect also died, police said. Twin Falls Police Chief Matthew Hicks said authorities were still working to determine the number of victims…
Brazil factory stabbing kills three, police say
Police in Brazil said a 33-year-old man stabbed three people to death on Saturday, Aug. 1, at the factory where he worked in Sao Bernardo do Campo, in the greater Sao Paulo area. Police said the man entered the workplace and stabbed the three victims, who die…
Moscow restaurant bombing kills 3, wounds 21, Russia says
Russia's national anti-terrorism committee said a homemade explosive device blew up at a restaurant in Moscow's Kudrinskaya Square on Saturday, killing three people and wounding 21, TASS state news agency reported. The committee said the dead were a woman car…
Sri Lanka prison riot kills inmate as troops deploy
Sri Lanka deployed hundreds of troops and Special Task Force commandos on Sunday after a riot at Mahara Prison, outside Colombo, killed one inmate and wounded six others, police said. Deputy police inspector-general Sanjeewa Medawatte said the situation was u…
Savannah Guthrie appeals for help over missing mother
US television journalist Savannah Guthrie appealed for public help Saturday, six months after her 84-year-old mother disappeared from the outskirts of Tucson, Arizona. Nancy Guthrie disappeared on the night of January 31 to February 1. Recovered security came…
Colombia truck bomb wounds 14 before inauguration
A truck bomb exploded near a police station in Cucuta, close to Colombia's border with Venezuela, wounding 14 people days before President-elect Abelardo de la Espriella is due to take office, officials said Saturday. The latest official toll said 11 police o…
Greek mayor among three held in Athens wildfire arson case
Greek authorities placed Stylida Mayor Giannis Apostolou and two others in pre-trial detention on Friday, August 7, after charging them with arson over a wildfire that burned large areas near Athens. Investigators believe the July 31 fire began with a spark f…