A coding mistake in Saint Lucia’s public-service payroll system added 12 paid “fresh-air” days to the leave balances of 6,740 government workers. The accidental benefit could cost EC$18.6 million in replacement staff and overtime if everyone uses it, and officials are scrambling to decide whether they can take it back.
A parliamentary hearing in Tokyo has questioned a government claim that nearly all remote communities had daily transport to essential services. Residents and local officials told the inquiry that some counted rides required advance booking or ran only on weekdays.
An Izmir appeals clerk has beaten a government AI system in a nationwide public-service contest, winning a €126,000 grant for his office. Then he recognised the final test: it was based on the heating-aid appeal he once filed for his mother.
A 21-second video from a Warsaw party meeting has forced a governing coalition partner to abandon its hand-picked leadership slate and put five executive seats to a vote of all its members. The decision, announced after delegates drowned out senior officials with cheers, could reshape the party before next year’s budget fight.
A Chilean court has halted the government’s new short-term rental controls, just hours before platforms were due to remove thousands of unregistered listings. The ruling leaves a flagship housing policy in limbo and forces ministers to consider an emergency law.
A leaderless residents’ group has secured a majority on a Can Tho city panel overseeing a 1.8 trillion dong renewal fund, after officials counted its protest ballot as a formal slate. At a public inquiry on Monday, one administrator said the group had been given powers its members never requested.
Britain’s trade minister resigned unexpectedly on Sunday, admitting that deals promoted after a Brussels summit included proposals that were never binding orders. The revelation has put an £86 million export guarantee scheme under scrutiny and threatens to derail the government’s trade claims in Parliament this week.
A violent North Sea storm prompted the largest coordinated evacuation of migrant reception centres ever reported by a German state, with 7,840 people moved to safety in 12 hours. Six days later, Schleswig-Holstein’s legislature passed a first-of-its-kind law requiring emergency shelter plans at every state-funded centre.
South Korea has ordered the recall of 186,400 apartment heat-allocation devices after tests found they could overstate household use, threatening a ₩84 billion (about €54 million) billing dispute. The failure has turned a government-backed energy-saving scheme into a test of whether tenants can trust the charges bundled into their monthly housing fees.
A ruling meant to restore one disputed budget line sent 11.84 billion baht into Bangkok district accounts in less than an hour. City officials say a computer system revived thousands of old spending authorisations, turning a court order into an extraordinary municipal cash release.
A sudden jet-fuel shortage has forced cancellations at Riga’s airport and pushed a €160 million ($185 million) rescue package for the country’s state-backed airline to an emergency vote. The ruling party has suspended 18 of its MPs for opposing the aid, turning a months-long budget fight into a public test of party discipline.
The Philippines’ lower chamber has held its longest election-readiness hearing on record, a 28-hour session prompted by renewed disputes over the country’s 1986 election. Lawmakers ended it by demanding a public timetable for preparations for the 2028 national vote.