If Gov. Jeff Landry signs a bill passed by the Louisiana legislature on Monday, judges could sentence people convicted of sexual offenses against children under 13 to be surgically castrated. That means the state could physically remove testicles or ovaries.
Louisiana and several other states already permit chemical castration for certain sex offenders, which involves a hormone drug cocktail meant to reduce libido but leaves the body intact and is reversible. No state currently allows judges to order the much more invasive, risky, and irreversible surgical castration.
Nonetheless, Louisiana’s legislature is opening a reproductive rights debate – and it’s not clear why, given that chemical castration is rarely applied today. Also, scientists doubt the effectiveness of surgical castration for preventing sex crimes.
Is the conservative Pelican state really OK with giving the state permission to mutilate the genitals of prisoners? Maybe not as much as it seems: The proposed punishment for a convict refusing to go through with the surgery would be 3-5 additional years in prison.
People attend a demonstration to demand the release of Venezuelan opposition politician Juan Pablo Guanipa, who has been re-arrested, in Maracaibo, Venezuela, on February 9, 2026.
The freeing and re-arrest of an opposition figure in Venezuela has become a snapshot of Venezuela’s small window for shifting to democracy.
Violence is once again scorching Nigeria. On Sunday, gunmen killed three people and took several hostages, including a Catholic priest, during an early morning attack in the northern state of Kaduna.
New international org just dropped #PUPPETREGIME
We’re moving toward a world where roads don’t just move traffic — they enable services and transactions. Mastercard is working with Volvo and the North Carolina Turnpike Authority on a pilot that explores in-vehicle toll payments without transponders, signaling how V2X connectivity can make infrastructure a platform for data and payments. This future of connected transportation aims to make travel safer, smoother and smarter. Read the full article here.