The NCAA, the governing board of college athletics for more than 1,100 colleges and universities, is looking into a gambling ring that was recently busted by law enforcement in New Jersey. It involved 14 people, including athletes, and had connections to organized crime. Joseph "Little Joe" Perna, a reported member of the Lucchese crime family, and several family members were charged Thursday with racketeering, conspiracy, money laundering, and other gambling offenses. They allegedly ran illegal sportsbooks that transferred 2ドル million between 2022 and 2024 using offshore accounts. It comes as the NCAA is deciding whether to let college athletes and staff to legally place bets on professional sporting events.

The ruling coalition agreed to a plan to increase the size of the army this week, as Europe faces wider pressure to boost its military capacity. Given the country’s deep aversion to militarism, the parties were divided over how to hit the target of roughly 80,000 more troops if not enough volunteers join. Their compromise was to create a database of the fitness and willingness of all men turning 18, starting next year. The list will guide conscription, if that becomes necessary.

Years after a chunk of a 1,300-year-old cypress tree went missing from the state Capitol, a Louisiana grand jury this week indicted former House speaker Clay Schexnayder on charges of felony theft and malfeasance. The former speaker has said he was gifted the piece of wood in 2013 but left the 20-foot long artifact, harvested in 1936 at Lake Maurepas, when he vacated his district office in 2024. The grandson of the man who gave the cypress chunk to the state in 1955 had been on the hunt for the missing wood. He got a break when he saw it in the background of a TV interview with Rep. Schexnayder.

Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt stayed the execution of Tremane Wood on Thursday morning. He will now serve out a life sentence without parole. Mr. Wood claims it was his brother, now deceased, who had fatally stabbed Ronnie Wipf during a joint robbery. The state Parole Board recommended clemency for Mr. Wood. So did Mr. Wipf’s family. Gov. Stitt, who has only issued clemency once before during his 6 years in office, pointed to the victim’s family "as models of Christian forgiveness and love."