COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Joshua Bogdan was born and raised in the United States. The only time the New Hampshire resident has left the country was for a day and a half in seventh grade, when he went to Canada to see Niagara Falls.

Even so, that did not mean proving his U.S. citizenship in last fall’s local elections was easy.

The 31-year-old arrived at his voting place in Portsmouth and handed the poll worker his driver’s license, just as he had done in other towns when arriving to vote. She said that would no longer do.

The poll worker said that under the state’s new proof-of-citizenship law, which took effect for the first time during town elections in 2025, Bogdan would need a passport or his birth certificate because he had moved and needed to reregister at his new address. A scramble ensued, turning the voting process that he had always found fun and invigorating into a nerve-wracking game of beat the clock.

“I didn’t know that anything had officially changed walking in there,” he said. “And then being told that I had to provide a passport that I’ve never had or a birth certificate that’s usually tucked away somewhere safe just to cast my vote — which I’ve done before — it was frustrating.”

A national push, despite noncitizen voting being rare

Bogdan’s experience in New Hampshire is a glimpse into the future for potentially millions of voters across the country. That is if Republican voting legislation being pushed aggressively by President Donald Trump passes Congress and a “show your papers” law is put in place in time for the November elections.

The Safeguard American Voter Eligibility, or SAVE America Act, cleared the U.S. House last month on a mostly party-line basis. Republicans say it would improve election integrity. Trump has called its safeguards common sense. The bill is scheduled to come up in the U.S. Senate next week for voting and debate.

Republican messaging has mostly highlighted a less divisive provision in the bill that would require voters to show a photo ID, but the mandate for people to provide documentary proof of citizenship to register to vote in federal elections is likely to have the most wide-ranging consequences. Noncitizens already are prohibited from voting in federal elections, and it is not allowed by any state. Cases where it occurs are rare.

Obtaining the necessary documents under the SAVE Act is not as easy as it might sound. A similar effort was tried in Kansas a decade ago and turned into a debacle that eventually was blocked by the courts after more than 30,000 eligible citizens were prevented from registering.

A long list of documents to use, but with caveats

Rebekah Caruthers, president and CEO at the Fair Elections Center, said the legislation’s strict documentation requirements could move the U.S. “in the opposite direction” of representative democracy.

“If this bill passes, it would deny millions of eligible Americans their fundamental freedom to vote,” she said in an email. “This includes millions of people who make up your communities, including married women, people of color and voters who live in rural areas.”

The list of qualifying documents in the SAVE Act for proving citizenship appears long, but many of them come with qualifiers.

Under the bill, a REAL ID -compliant driver’s license would have to indicate that “the applicant is a citizen,” but not all do. Only five states — Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Vermont and Washington — offer the type of enhanced REAL IDs that explicitly indicate U.S. citizenship.

Standard driver’s licenses, generally available to both citizens and noncitizens, often do not include a citizenship indicator. Some states, including Ohio, have recently added them.

The stipulations continue, buried in the fine print.

While military ID cards are listed as qualifying documents under the act, they will not suffice on their own. The bill says a military ID must be accompanied by a military “record of service” that indicates the person’s birthplace was in the U.S.

A DD214, the current standard-issue certificate of release or discharge for all military service branches, does not currently fulfill that requirement. According to the Pentagon, that document only lists where someone lived at points of entry and discharge and a person’s current home of record. It does not list where someone was born.

Obtaining a passport requires time and money

For most provisions, the SAVE Act contains no phase-in period that would give voters and local election offices time to adjust. If passed by Congress and signed by Trump, its documentary proof-of-citizenship mandate would apply immediately, meaning it would be in place for this year’s midterm elections.

That could lead to a rush to obtain documents by those who want to register or need to reregister. A 2025 University of Maryland study estimates that 21.3 million Americans who are eligible to vote do not have or have easy access to documents to prove their citizenship, including nearly 10% of Democrats, 7% of Republicans and 14% of people unaffiliated with either major party.

A passport would most effectively meet the requirement, but only about half of American adults have one, according to the State Department, and the SAVE Act requires the passport to be current. An expired one does not count.

Obtaining a passport in time for a looming voter registration deadline is another potential hurdle.

Workers who process passports had layoffs at the State Department reversed, but just last month the department forbid passport processing at certain public libraries that had long helped relieve pressure at the department. Government libraries, post offices, county clerks and others still provide the service.

It takes four weeks to six weeks to get a passport, according to the department’s website, excluding mailing time. A new passport costs $165 for adults while renewals cost $130, and the photo costs $10 or $20 more. The turnaround time can be sped up to two weeks or three weeks for an additional $60 — and for even faster processing, add $22 more. The fully expedited process for a new passport would cost at least $257.

Birth and marriage certificates

A birth certificate may be a quicker and cheaper choice for most people, but there are twists.

The SAVE Act requires a certified birth certificate issued by a state, local government or tribal government. What does not appear to qualify is the certificate signed by the doctor that many new parents are given in the hospital when their child is born. It provides information similar to a certified birth certificate, but would not meet the letter of the federal legislation.

Like passports, birth certificates can sometimes take weeks to obtain. Those who live near their birthplaces can visit the local vital statistics office, but staffing shortages and escalating demand for REAL IDs have caused significant backlogs in some states. In New York, the waiting period for certified copies is four months, the state said. Average processing times for online certificate requests vary widely by state, from as few as three days to 12 weeks or longer.

People whose birth certificates don’t match their current IDs — mostly women who changed their names when they married — would likely need additional documentation to register to vote under the bill. A 2023 Pew Research Center survey found about 80% of women in opposite-sex marriages in the U.S. take their husband’s last name.

A major change to the voting process, but with no extra money

Notably, the SAVE Act does not provide any money to help states and local governments implement the changes or promote them to voters.

For Bogdan, that was part of the problem when New Hampshire’s proof-of-citizenship law took effect. People who have voted elsewhere in the state are not required to show proof of citizenship in their new towns if poll workers confirm their registration history, but Bogdan said workers at his polling place did not seem to know that or try to look up the information.

He eventually was able to cast his ballot because, by luck, he had recently retrieved his birth certificate from his parents’ house more than an hour away so he could apply for a REAL ID. But he said government notices to voters would help prevent possible disenfranchisement.

“Young voters like myself don’t always carry around our birth certificate, Social Security card, all that important stuff, because it’s not used ever or very often,” he said. “And so all those young kids who are going to go out and try and vote will be held back from that.”

Currently, it is a crime to own an XL Bully dog in England and Wales unless you have a valid certificate of exemption – and owners who fail to obtain these certificates risk having their pets seized.

In order to obtain a certificate of exemption, XL Bully owners must obtain third party public liability insurance for their dog.

When XL Bullies were officially banned under the Dangerous Dogs Act in February 2024 following a spate of attacks, the Dogs Trust agreed to provide insurance so well-behaved bullies could remain with their families.

I’m generally in favour of banning Bully XL’s, but how strict are the muzzle and leash mandates for banned breeds? Seems crazy to stop dogs being allowed to run free in open space if there aren’t other dogs or children around!

— Ash Sarkar (@AyoCaesar) September 15, 2023

Yesterday, (March 12), The Dogs Trust charity announced it would no longer be providing this insurance due to the mounting cost.

The charity said it will stop issuing new insurance policies and renewing existing insurance policies for banned breed dogs after June 30 2026, as per The ECHO.

Carla Lane Animals in Need said the loss of affordable insurance means “legal, innocent across the UK will be at risk of seizure and destruction”.

Current XL Bully laws in the UK

According to the government, it is a criminal offence to own or possess an XL Bully dog in England and Wales unless you have a valid Certificate of Exemption.

It’s also an offence to:

• sell an XL Bully dog
• abandon an XL Bully dog or let it stray
• give away an XL Bully dog
• breed or breed from an XL Bully dog
• have an XL Bully in public without a lead and muzzle

A spokesman for the charity, which supports bully breed dogs, said on Facebook: “Carla Lane Animals in Need are appalled to see the horrifying, disappointing and fear-inducing email sent to thousands of exempted dog owners today confirming that Dogs Trust are withdrawing third party liability insurance, one of the conditions that keeps exempted dogs legal.

“We would urge owners not to panic at this stage, indications are the government will provide some form of solution.

The removal of insurance policies will apply to all banned breed dogs

“However we want to be clear in our message to the government that this change means that legal, innocent across the UK will be at risk of seizure and destruction yet again unless an affordable alternative is provided immediately, and assistance offered to owners who now have to understand and navigate yet another transition just to keep their dog alive.”

The removal of insurance policies will apply to all banned breed dogs, not just XL Bullies. Owners must continue to have valid insurance up to and including June 30 2026.

A notice on the government website reads: “You do not need to take any additional action right now. Defra will contact you directly in June to let you know what you need to do.”

An elderly woman died after falling through a gap in a wall and plunging 30ft into a river near a British landmark.

Kay Wilson, 78, slipped through a gap in a stonewall at Barnard Castle in Durham County, before she fell into the River Tees below and drowning.

Kay was on the east bank of the river when she landed on some rocks and was carried off with the current.

The incident happened at around 11.30pm on December 6 last year, but a coroner earlier this month suggested her death could have been prevented.

Senior coroner Jeremy Chipperfield said at an inquest on March 6 that Kay had died by accidental drowning, and wrote a prevention of future deaths report to Durham County Council.

Mr Chipperfield’s report said there was a breach in the stone wall running from north to east above the river, which provides ‘unrestricted and unguarded access’ to a severe vertical drop.

‘In my opinion action should be taken to prevent future deaths and I believe your organisation has the power to take such action,’ he said in the report to Durham County Council.

‘You are under a duty to respond to this report within 56 days of the date of this report, namely by May 1 2026.

‘I, the coroner, may extend the period. Your response must contain details of action taken or proposed to be taken, setting out the timetable for action.

‘Otherwise you must explain why no action is proposed.’

The council’s head of highways, Mark Readman, said the local authority would carefully consider the concerns raised in the report.

He said: ‘Our thoughts and condolences are with Ms Wilson’s family.

‘We have received the coroner’s report and will respond following careful consideration of the concerns raised.’

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.

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Locals found a decapitated head in a black box on the roadside by a bank in Culiacan, Sinaloa before police went on to find another head a few metres away

Two human heads were left on the roadside near a bank as police investigate the chilling discovery.

Police rushed to the scene in Culiacan, Sinaloa when the first body part was found on Wednesday. It was located inside a black box on the outskirts of the Mexican town of Tepuche, by a branch of the Bienestar bank.

And then on Thursday morning while detectives continued their investigation of the site, they found a second head which was only a few metres away. The heads have been taken away for forensic examinations. Local media reports one of the victims to be a 23-year-old who had been missing. The other victim is also believed to be from the town.

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Violence continues to grip Mexico with an upsurge following the killing of El Mencho, who was the leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel. He died after a military operation last month.

El Mencho was Mexico’s most powerful cartel leader and one of the United States’ most wanted narco fugitives. His death during an attempt to capture him in Jalisco state was the highest-profile blow against cartels since the capture of former Sinaloa Cartel boss Joaquin ‘El Chapo’ Guzman, a decade ago.

Mexico’s defense secretary Ricardo Trevilla said the army and national guard launched an operation in the southern part of Jalisco state to capture El Mencho, involving the Mexican air force and special forces. Intelligence gathered about one of El Mencho’s romantic partners led them to his hideout, he said.

The cartel counterattacked, and in the ensuing confrontation federal forces killed eight members of the criminal group. El Mencho and two of his bodyguards were wounded and died later during transfer by air to Mexico City, Trevilla said.

Rocket launchers capable of shooting down aircraft and destroying armoured vehicles were seized at the scene.

Omar García Harfuch, secretary for security in Claudia Sheinbaum’s Mexican government, says the country will have a “zero impunity” for drug traffickers. Donald Trump has threatened higher taxes if the country does not make steps to stop the supply of drugs over the border into the US.

Mike Vigil, former chief of international operations for the DEA, said Mexico had sent “a strong message to Donald Trump’s administration that they are fighting aggressively and effectively” against the most powerful cartels. He added of the operation against El Mencho, that “the majority of the information came from the Mexican armed forces and all credit goes to Mexico.”

A second man has been arrested in connection with the murder of Jordan Gray. Here’s everything you need to know.

• What is the latest development? On Thursday, March 12, Police Scotland confirmed that a second man has been arrested in connection with death of Jordan Gray. They have previously said they are treating the incident as murder. The man, aged 30, was arrested after officers executed a warrant at an address in Motherwell on Wednesday, March 11. He has since been released pending further enquiries.
• What happened? Detectives were called to a home on Shields Court in the Muirhouse area of Motherwell on December 15 after dad Jordan had suffered a fatal shotgun wound to his chest. Jordan, 27, was found the day after he had been shot by his cousin Samuel Durnion.
• Has anyone been charged? A 58-year-old man, Robert Clark, had previously been arrested in connection with Jordan’s death on Tuesday, March 10. On Wednesday, police confirmed that he has been charged.
• What were the charges? Clark appeared at Hamilton Sheriff Court on Thursday, March 12, charged with murder and possession of a gun in a public place. He made no plea and was committed for further examination and remanded in custody.
• What have Jordan’s family said? Speaking in January as detectives continued their enquiries, the family said: “The outpouring of love we have had since Jordan’s death is testament to the fact that he was a well liked young man and yet someone stole him from us. We are devastated by our loss. His sisters and wee brother are struggling to understand how someone could do this to their big brother. Jordan’s baby will have to grow up without knowing how much his dad loved him.”

Read More: Second man arrested over ‘gunshot’ death of young dad in Motherwell home

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Beth Chadwick first started teaching dance fitness in person in 2025 after having her first baby, helping local mums get moving while navigating the challenges of new motherhood.

She said toward the end of last year, she wanted to reach even more women in their own living rooms, especially as she prepared for her second postpartum season.

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The first video was published on the channel just four months ago.

Beth said: “After having my first baby I lost 70lbs following this method, and I wanted other mums to know it’s possible to feel strong and confident again without a huge ticket price attached to it.

“Maternity leave can leave many mums without ways to pay for gyms or fitness classes, so I decided to share my workouts online for free.

“Fitness should be accessible to all mums, especially postpartum, no matter how little time or money they have.”

MoveFit Mama Fitness has reached nearly 100,000 subscribers on YouTube (Image: MoveFit Mama Fitness)

Beth said filming takes place in her living room and her workout routines combine fun dance routines with effective fitness exercises, making them achievable for mums of all fitness levels.

She said her channel – MoveFit Mama Dance Fitness – has already built a supportive online community, with thousands of mums sharing success stories and motivating one another for staying active while managing family life.

Beth said: “I started these workouts just to help a few mums – I honestly thought it would find a few hundred mums at best, but seeing thousands join in from across the UK, USA and Europe has been incredible.

“You really can get moving at home, even when your baby is napping, when you have no time to spare or if your kids are grown up and you’re wanting to get back into fitness.”

Beth said she hopes to continue expanding her free fitness offerings and inspire more mums to prioritise their wellbeing.

For more information go to https://www.youtube.com/@MoveFitMamaFitness

Clear off counters and other surfaces

Pick stuff up off the floor

Do the dishes

Remove any health and safety hazards

Secure your pets

Communicate your preferences and priorities

Put any sentimental items and valuables in a safe spot

Olga Pankova via Getty Images

What’s not necessary? Pre-cleaning the house

The major road has been locked down between Fife and Dundee this afternoon due to a crash.

The A92 has been closed in both directions today due to a crash. The incident took place around 10.45am on Saturday, March 14 when emergency services were alerted to a road traffic collision on the major Scots road.

Crews, including Police Scotland, Scottish Ambulance Service and Scottish Fire and Rescue Service, rushed to the scene after receiving calls and remain on site. The route is closed in both directions from Kilmany to Rathillet.

Drivers have been urged to steer clear of the area and find an alternative route. Images show blue-lit emergency vehicles tending to two cars, one which sits stationary in the middle of the road with all its doors flung open.

Another lies abandoned after seeming to have crashed into the grass and dirt on the side of the road. Paramedics can be seen carrying a stretcher.

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It is not yet known how many people or vehicles were involved in the smash, nor if anyone was injured or required hospital treatment as a result.

Locals report that traffic is backed up from St Michael’s all the way past Piketillum in what they have described as “chaos”. More images show heavy congestion on the road, with a line of traffic winding as far as the eye can see.

A Traffic Scotland spokesperson shared on X: “A92 Both Directions Kilmany to Rathillet. The #A92 is CLOSED due to a road traffic collision. Drivers are advised to seek alternate routes.”

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A Police Scotland spokesperson said: “The A92 is currently closed in both directions between Rathillet and Kilmany following a road crash which we were called to around 10.45am on Saturday, 14 March, 2025.

“Drivers are asked to take an alternative route.”

Scottish Ambulance Service and Scottish Fire and Rescue Service have been contacted for comment.

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Lewis Muir, 22, and David Boyd, 22, carried out the burglaries over 10 days from October 1, to October 11, last year.

The pair appeared at Minshull Street Crown Court on March 13, 2026, for sentencing, and the court heard how they targeted homes with high-value vehicles parked outside.

Muir previously pleaded guilty to the offences of seven domestic burglaries and two attempted burglaries, and Boyd pleaded guilty to one offence of burglary and dangerous driving.

The court heard that the pair entered a home on Dumers Chase in Radcliffe, where a couple lived with their seven-week-old baby.

The victims were alerted to trespassers at around 2.30am on October 11, 2025, when the mother woke up to feed her child.

Outside, she could hear her car, a BMW 3 Series, being started. She called her partner, who heroically tried to open the door of the car as it was reversing off their driveway, but was unsuccessful.

The couple did call the police, and officers were able to respond quickly.

At 2.55am, Boyd, who was driving the car, entered into a police chase that lasted around four minutes.

During this time Boyd drove in a way that was “clearly dangerous” down a no-entry street, the court heard.

He drove at speeds of 90 miles per hour down a residential street and at 100 miles per hour through a red light before going off the road and crashing into a fence, causing damage to the vehicle.

Along with their car, a Gucci Bag worth £2,000 was taken, which had been given to the couple as a present at their baby shower and was used as a changing bag.

Inside it, they kept their seven-week-old child’s red book, used to record information about their birth and health, and this has still not been recovered.

The court heard Muir had carried out similar burglaries over 10 days with a resident on Westcott Grove, Royton, Oldham waking up at 2.30am on October 1, 2025.

When they went downstairs, they found their kitchen doors open and assumed their partner must have opened them, so they went back to sleep.

When they woke at 7.40am, their partner told them the lock appeared to be broken on the back door, and four bottles of wine were missing from their fridge.

On the same night, Muir entered a property on Charlbury Way in Royton, Oldham, and took a £10 note.

The court heard that a mother lived there with her two children, and one of them was up late studying for a law exam the next day.

At 4am, the mother got up to make some tea for her daughter and noticed the kitchen doors were open.

She described “screaming” to her children to ask if anyone had been in the house.

They realised £10 had been taken from her daughter’s bag in the living room, and her daughter was unable to take the exam the following day.

The victim said they were “scared because the thieves could have come upstairs and hurt me or my children.”

The court heard that, on October 2, a resident of Sheridan Way, Chadderton, woke up shortly before 3am to noises and went downstairs in her home.

She could see lights in her kitchen and shouted loudly, before calling the police, who arrived in minutes.

She had a 2023 series BMW, and there had been a string of thefts in the area of similar vehicles.

The case was heard at Minshull Street Crown Court (Image: Anthony Moss)

The court heard the same evening Muir stole an Audi A4 S Line and a Nissan Qashqai from another property on Swinford Grove, Oldham, and both sets of keys were also missing.

On October 2, Muir entered a home on Hamilton Avenue, in Royton, at around 2.45am and stole a Louis Vuitton handbag.

On October 3, Muir stole a Black Mercedes EGE AMG and its keys from a home in Oldham.

The resident was alerted to the theft at 6.30am when she noticed the vehicle was no longer parked in the driveway.

After contacting Mercedes, she was told the tracker was no longer on her vehicle and may have been removed.

One victim awoke when he heard his gate making a noise from the inside of his property. When he went downstairs to investigate, he saw two men wearing balaclavas.

He shouted something, and they ran away. After they left, he could see that his back door handle had been damaged, and he stayed there all night, worried they would return.

In fact, many said the locks on their back doors were broken, and one victim recalled their house alarm displaying a ‘tampered’ message.

The court heard from the victims who said they would “have to change their locks” and “struggled to sleep.”

One said: “Both my partner and I are too scared to get out of bed during the night”, explaining that because of the incident, they have had to cough up £300 on new security measures.

They said: “My children should feel safe at home without worrying someone is going to break in at night.”

Another said: “It will take a long time for my family to recover.”

One victim, aged 65, said they keep their walking stick close to them to use for self-defence, they said: “I have had to get a new lock, which will set me back financially.”

The court heard the pair were on licence for previous convictions, including burglary, at the time of the offences.

Boyd had five previous convictions for 26 offences and was serving a 44-month sentence.

Defending Boyd, Miss Eleanor Brambell, read from a letter his mother had written to the court, which said: “he is not a man incapable of help”.

Sentencing Boyd, HHJ Lester-Ashworth said: “This was a deliberate decision to ignore the rules of the road.”

Boyd was handed a sentence of 34 months in custody, but he has already served four months while waiting for this sentencing, so it was reduced to 26 months.

He will also be disqualified from driving for 12 months.

Muir was convicted of burglary offences on November 23, 2021, when he was just 18, and was serving a sentence of four years.

Muir’s defence, Mr Pierce Power, told HHJ Lester-Ashworth that Muir was “immature”, and said: “He’s only got himself to blame for this, but it’s a rather sad fact that since December 2021, save for a few weeks where he was out and about, he spent the majority of that in prison.

“And he will spend a good amount of time in the next few years in prison, so when he comes out, he will have spent a long period of his twenties in prison.”

Sentencing Muir, HHJ Lester-Ashworth said: “This was a spree of offending.

“There were children at home.

“One of the victims was 65 years of age.

“The text messages I have seen demonstrated a planned operation to steal and sell vehicles for financial gain.”

She mentioned screwdrivers were also found in the car.

Muir was given a custodial sentence of six years, and HHJ Lester-Ashworth said it gave her “no pleasure” handing him a sentence of that length at his age

She said: “You do not have to live that life; you can change it.

“Only you can make these changes.”