BANNED

WASHINGTON — A Trump administration policy illegally banned transgender troops from military service, a divided panel of federal appeal court judges ruled on Monday.

The majority opinion by a three-judge panel from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia circuit largely upholds a March 2025 ruling by U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes in Washington, D.C. Reyes concluded that President Trump’s executive order to exclude transgender troops from military service likely violates their constitutional rights.

The administration appealed after Reyes issued a preliminary injunction requested by attorneys for six transgender people who are active-duty service members and two others seeking to join the military. The appeal court’s majority decided that the injunction should be narrowed to the plaintiffs currently serving in the military but not those seeking to join.

The ruling won’t immediately go into effect, allowing the administration time to ask the full appeals court to hear the case.

The U.S. Supreme Court allowed the transgender military ban to go into effect last year, as litigation continues to play out. Another lawsuit challenging the ban was filed in Washington state and led to a ruling in favor of the plaintiffs challenging the policy in that case.

In January 2025, Trump signed an executive order that claims the sexual identity of transgender service members “conflicts with a soldier’s commitment to an honorable, truthful, and disciplined lifestyle, even in one’s personal life” and is harmful to military readiness.

In response to the order, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth issued a policy that presumptively disqualifies people with gender dysphoria from military service. Gender dysphoria is the distress that a person feels because their assigned gender and gender identity don’t match. The medical condition has been linked to depression and suicidal thoughts.

The policy “appears to be driven by the bare desire to harm a politically unpopular group: persons who identify as transgender,” Judge Robert Wilkins wrote for the majority. Wilkins was nominated to the court by Democratic President Obama.

In a dissenting opinion, Judge Justin Walker said judges lack the power to second-guess the decision to exclude transgender troops.

“We have neither the expertise nor the authority to decide whether the military can exclude the plaintiffs from its ranks. The Constitution assigns that authority to Congress and the Commander in Chief,” wrote Walker, who was nominated by Trump, a Republican.

Judge Judith Rogers, who was nominated by Democratic President Clinton, joined Wilkins’ opinion but also partially dissented.

Kunzelman and Whitehurst write for the Associated Press.

MISBEHAVING Brits could be slapped with a permanent flight ban under new Labour rules.

Labour Ministers are currently looking at establishing a blacklist to stop abusive behaviour towards cabin crew and disruption to travel.

This includes considering how information about drunk and abusive passengers could be shared between airlines.

Currently, if you misbehave on a flight you can be banned by the airline you are travelling with – but other airlines would not know this.

If the new rules were to go ahead, it would mean that public officials could keep information about passengers, including a history of any bad behaviour during flights.

In an airport setting, public officials would likely include police, border force officers and immigration officers.

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The official would then warn an airline if the passenger was trying to check in with them.

Then, the airline could decide whether or not they want the passenger travelling with them.

The new system would be compliant with data protection rules, so no new legislation would need to be created for the rules to be introduced.

Having said this, data protection rules don’t allow airlines to share information about travellers, hence the need for a public official.

It comes as the number of drunken and violent incidents on planes has risen in recent years.

Earlier this month, a drunk woman believed to be British lunged at another passenger, causing chaos on an easyJet flight.

A government source said: “Everyone should be able to enjoy a pint at the airport, but anti-social behaviour on flights is totally unacceptable.

“It threatens the safety of passengers and crew, and disrupts hard-earned holidays.

“There are already tough laws in place to deal with offences committed on flights, but we are exploring with industry how we can better address this issue, ensuring we crack down on people who persistently cause chaos.

“Everyone should be able to fly without fuss.”

Tim Alderslade, Chief Executive of industry body Airlines UK, said: “UK airlines have a zero-tolerance approach to disruptive behaviour.

“Additional measures for the most serious cases of disruption, including the creation of a national ban list, are an important next step in ensuring a tiny minority of passengers cannot disrupt air travel for the majority.

“We welcome the government’s support for further action and will work closely with ministers on delivering the right solutions.”

According to LBC, Phil Ward, Chief Operations Officer of Jet2, also said the airline would support new rules of sharing passenger information between airlines.

He said: “The creation of a national database will mean that, as well as being banned from flying with us, disruptive passengers can also be banned from flying with other UK airlines.”

In a recent YouGov survey of 5,000 adults, 37 per cent said they supported the proposal for new rules, with 38 per cent saying they somewhat supported it.

Only 11 per cent opposed.

Being drunk on a flight is a criminal offence and can lead to a fine of up to £5,000 and two years in prison.

A meeting will be held later this month where industry leaders will discuss the plans.

The Sun’s Head of Travel shares her thoughts

LISA Minot, The Sun’s Head of Travel, shares her thoughts:

Plans to blacklist drunk and abusive passengers on a nationwide database can’t come soon enough.

Onboard incidents have skyrocketed in recent years and a full ban on those found guilty across all airlines would be the kind of punishment that would have real consequences.

At the moment, while one airline can ban a passenger for life, data protection means other airlines are not alerted.

Having seen the chaos a drunken passenger can wreak myself on a flight from Cape Verde back to the UK anything that will show disruptive passengers there are real consequences is a good move.

Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary has repeatedly called for a ban on passengers drinking in departure lounges but why should the vast, innocent majority pay for the sins of a tiny minority?

This proposal is a much more sensible way of ensuring planes are not turned into battlegrounds without punishing the law-abiding passengers.

Collina asked for protocol to be updated so the VAR could step in if a foul occurred before the ball was in play.

There have been several examples, such as a goal scored by England in their 1-1 draw against Uruguay at Wembley in March.

Cole Palmer delivered a corner into the area, but before the ball was kicked Adam Wharton blocked the run of Jose Maria Gimenez.

That allowed the ball to run through to Harvey Barnes, who saw his effort saved by Fernando Muslera, and Ben White tapped in from close range.

VAR protocol did not previously allow a review for a foul before a corner has been taken, but the Italian asked Ifab for permission to change this.

The Ifab has now accepted the request, and says that any foul before the ball is in play that has a direct impact can be reviewed.

This will apply to a goal, penalty kick or disciplinary sanction which happens on a corner or free-kick

The measure will be applied for the World Cup and reassessed after the tournament.

It means that for the England goal, the VAR would be able to suggest a retake of the corner because of the foul by Wharton on Gimenez.

“We think this is very unfair, that the goal is given when the defender is prevented from being able to defend,” Collina said.

“A clear, illegal block made by an attacker. The only objective was to prevent the defender from being able to defend on his opponent.

“We are very confident to receive a clarification from the Ifab before the World Cup, saying that the VAR can intervene just before the ball is in play. We are convinced that nobody can object.”

This will only apply to attacking fouls, and not to defensive fouls for holding or pulling.

Collina also explained the new rule for players who cover their mouth with a hand, arm or shirt in confrontation with an opponent.

This will now be a red card after the controversial incident involving Benfica winger Gianluca Prestianni and Real Madrid’s Vinicius Jr in a Champions League game in February.

Prestianni received a six-game ban from Uefa for homophobic conduct.

“If the conversation is friendly, they can continue to do it without any problem,” Collina said.

“When the conversation is confrontational, covering the mouth means that you are doing something very wrong, potentially, and the sanction is the red card.”

Collina also said his referees would be ready to monitor grappling inside the area, with officials provided with data on the tactical approach of teams.

After eating a lot of fast food, some of it on roller coasters, YouTuber Allen Ferrell has been banned by Six Flags from all of its amusement parks nationwide. For life.

McDonald’s chicken nuggets were apparently an ultra-processed food item too far for the folks at Six Flags’ Cedar Point in Sandusky, Ohio.

“This guest has been banned from all Six Flags parks for life,” a Cedar Point spokesman explained in an email Thursday to Cleveland TV station WKYC. “Safety is a cornerstone of our business and we have zero tolerance for inappropriate and unsafe behavior.”

Zero tolerance for inappropriate behavior? Zero? Where’s the fun in that?

“Our ride safety policy strictly prohibits all loose articles on rides, including food which can become a choking hazard,” the spokesperson continued.

“I had no idea that eating a 10-piece chicken nugget on a roller coaster would be a national headline, but here we are,” Ferrell told Fox 8 News in Cleveland.

He said he gets the park’s point with the ban, even though he’s been going there since he was a kid and is a huge fan of the operation.

“I understand. And we kind of worked it out,” he told Fox 8 News. “They just don’t want other people getting hurt on the ride. But me personally, it was a really fun challenge.”

Ferrell’s shtick on social media is accepting challenges from his followers and then taping himself attempting to do what they propose. Eat a McDonald’s Big Mac inside a Burger King. Throw a plunger at a Target sign. Bowl blindfolded until he gets a strike.

“If anyone asks,” Ferrell tells one apparently bored ride operator in the video that documented this particular coaster crime, “I do not have chicken nuggets in my underwear.”

Ferrell decided to try the challenge on the park’s Millennium Force ride, a “looming giant amongst a park full of them,” a coaster that was “designed for the purpose of proving bigger is better.” A roller coaster that when it was created in 2000 “demanded an all-new category just to classify its one of a kind nature,” giving rise to the “giga-coaster.” According to Cedar Point, as all of this verbiage is, Millennium Force “shoots riders over hills, past lagoons and through tunnels, all at unthinkable speeds.”

The ride actually tops out at 93 mph, a speed often thought about on freeways in the Los Angeles area when traffic is going 8 mph. It’s quite thinkable to eat fast food in a car in L.A. But it turns out what was really unthinkable was Ferrell getting all 10 nuggets down the hatch before the Six Flags ride was over.

In the video, which had almost 800,000 views on YouTube as of Friday afternoon, he morphs from happy snacking dude to dude moaning in discomfort, struggling to shove nuggets in his mouth while unintentionally applying dipping sauce to his face via G-force.

“Oh, I failed,” Ferrell says, wiping off the face-sauce as the coaster pulls up to the platform and someone in line blurts, “Are those chicken nuggets?”

Turns out he snarfed seven of them, he confesses to the two guys in front of him in the coaster car. Ferrell said later that he was glad to be in the back row because it meant nobody behind him got sauced.

That said, watching the sweet-and-sour sauce flying in slow motion is actually quite amusing. But eating nuggets that have been in one’s underwear?

The perma-ban sounds like the least of his problems.

Petr Vlachovsky, ⁠a Czech women’s football club coach who filmed players in changing rooms, has been banned for life.

European football’s governing body says it has issued a lifetime ban ⁠to Petr Vlachovsky, ⁠a Czech women’s football coach who secretly filmed his players.

In a statement issued on Tuesday, UEFA’s Control, Ethics and Disciplinary Body (CEDB) said it had decided to ban Vlachovsky “from exercising any football-related activity for life” following an investigation into allegations of potential misconduct.

“The CEDB further decided to request FIFA to extend the abovementioned ban on a worldwide level and to order the Football Association of the Czech Republic to revoke Mr Petr Vlachovsky’s coaching licence,” the statement added.

Czech media reported that the coach was convicted in ⁠May 2025 and initially received a suspended one-year prison sentence and a five-year domestic coaching ban for filming FC Slovacko’s players in changing rooms, the youngest of ⁠whom was 17. According to the indictment cited by the Czech media, Vlachovsky confessed and expressed regret.

Vlachovsky had also previously served as coach of the Czech women’s Under-19 team.

“This is a deeply serious and distressing matter which came to light ⁠in 2023 and had a significant impact on our club, ⁠and above all on the players affected,” a spokesperson for FC Slovacko told the Reuters news agency.

“From the moment we became aware of the allegations, the club acted immediately, terminated its cooperation with the former coach, and ⁠cooperated with the relevant authorities.

“Throughout this process, the club has regarded itself as an injured party and has treated the ⁠matter with the utmost seriousness, sensitivity and respect for ⁠those affected.”

Football players’ union FIFPRO welcomed the ban as well as UEFA’s request for world football governing body FIFA to impose an international ban on Vlachovsky.

“This outcome sends a strong and necessary message that abusive and inappropriate behaviour has no place in football and ‌that ‌safeguarding the wellbeing of players must remain a priority at every level of the game,” FIFPRO added in a statement.

Several cruise lines have introduced new passenger rules in 2026 – and if these are broken, passengers could be fined, removed or even handed a lifetime ban from the ship

Several cruise companies have introduced a raft of new rules in 2026 to ensure the safety of passengers travelling on board — but those who break them could find themselves thrown off the ship. As technology continues to advance and people snap up the latest gadgets, cruise operators are keeping their policies up to date to safeguard holidaymakers and protect their privacy while travelling at sea.

There is a comprehensive list of regulations that passengers must adhere to when sailing with cruise operators including Disney, Virgin, P&O and Fred. Olsen. Should any of these rules be breached, travellers could face a formal warning, a financial penalty, or even be removed from the vessel and handed a lifetime ban.

Don and Heidi, a couple who have clocked up 100 cruises between them, regularly share updates and handy tips on TikTok, and have been keeping a close watch on shifting cruise policies over recent months.

Don said: “Cruise lines are instituting new policies and in 2026, these behaviours will get you fined, banned, or removed from the ship entirely.

“One, recording other passengers without their consent using technology like Meta Glasses is a serious violation of privacy policies and fellow cruisers are reporting it.

“Two, flying a drone from the ship is banned on nearly every cruise line. Get caught launching one and you’ll be escorted off at the next port.

“Three, fights on cruise ships are all over the news and lines are done looking the other way. Passengers involved in physical altercations are now being banned from certain cruise lines for life.”

The couple behind the video also used the chance to explain what happens when passengers break three longstanding cruise ship regulations – smoking violations, missing the muster drill, and attempting to smuggle prohibited items aboard.

Don said: “Four, getting caught with prohibited items in checked luggage and you get escorted to a security meeting. Try to bring something more serious on board and you could be handed over to authorities at the next port.

“Five, this isn’t optional. It’s international maritime law. Skip the muster drill and crew will track you down to complete it. Refuse entirely and you’ll be removed from the ship before a set sail.

“Six, lighting up on your balcony, in your cabin, or anywhere else outside the designated smoking areas can get you fined and repeat violations can get you escorted off the ship.

“This includes vaping. Don’t forget to share this one with your cruise mates for your next sailing.”