The House of Representatives unanimously approved the Common Cents Act, a measure that would end production of the U.S. penny.

In a rare bipartisan vote Monday, Democrats and Republicans backed legislation barring the U.S. Treasury from minting additional one-cent coins. The proposal would also require businesses and individuals accepting cash payments for goods or services to round totals “to the nearest amount divisible by five for the payment or transfer of cash.”

Should the Senate approve the bill, as expected, it would take effect one year later. Lawmakers stressed that pennies already circulating would continue to be accepted as legal tender.

Republican Conference Chair Lisa McClain of Michigan and Rep. Robert Garcia, a California Democrat and the ranking member of the House Oversight Committee, led the House effort behind the measure.

The unanimous House action follows the U.S. Mint’s decision to halt new penny production in November 2025. The legislation would make that pause permanent by preventing any future restart of penny manufacturing.

Making the one-cent coin has become increasingly expensive, with production costs having risen to 3.69 cents per penny—well above its face value. In a press release, the Treasury said ending production could save taxpayers $56 million each year.

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The House vote also builds on an earlier directive from President Donald Trump, who instructed Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent at the beginning of last year to stop making new pennies, describing the practice as “wasteful.”

By May 2025, the Treasury had placed its final order for penny blanks, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Olivia Rondeau is a politics reporter for – News based in Washington, DC. Find her on X/Twitter and Instagram.

A “serious incident” at a women-only swimming session in Melbourne has prompted intense speculation online, as social media users around the world tried to work out what happened.

The regular Sunday night event at Sunshine Leisure Centre in Melbourne’s west was cancelled following the incident. Management initially offered little detail, referring only to “poor behaviour” in a notice that left attendees and online observers searching for answers.

That vague explanation quickly fuelled a wave of theories, with some people suggesting the disruption could have involved anti-trans demonstrators, men trying to enter the session or a political confrontation.

The swimming sessions take place outside regular operating hours and are designed to offer privacy for participants, with only three female staff members permitted to work during the events.

However, Daily Mail understands the women-only swimming session was halted after a physical altercation between female patrons. The dispute is believed to have broken out in the changerooms once the session had finished, reportedly over access to the showers.

Brimbank City Council has since suspended the sessions as it considers how the after-hours program can be managed more effectively. It is understood there was no security present at the event.

A Victoria Police spokeswoman said officers attended the Sunshine Leisure Centre after receiving reports of a fight shortly after 7pm on Sunday.

“No one was injured. A formal report has not been made to police by any of the parties in relation to the incident,” the spokeswoman said.

The centre announced the suspension in a cryptic Facebook post on Wednesday. 

‘Please be aware that following a serious incident involving poor behaviour at our last session, we are temporarily suspending our Sunday night Women’s Only Swimming Sessions until further notice,’ the post read.

‘This pause is to investigate the incident, review the offering, and determine its viability moving forward. We apologise for the inconvenience and appreciate your understanding.’

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With officials initially refusing to reveal what had happened, bizarre theories ranged from someone fouling the pool, to swimmers skinny-dipping, to a transgender access dispute, and, in one particularly colourful claim, university students releasing a hippo into the pool that supposedly required a crane to remove.

Scores of people checked in from London pubs, Scottish living rooms, Canadian lunch breaks, Greek couches, Tunisian holidays and Californian offices, flooding the comments section with speculation while wondering why Facebook had served them the post in the first place.

One London pub-goer wrote: ‘I am sat in a pub in London, why this is on my feed I’ll never know… however, what happened?’

Another added: ‘I’m on holiday in Tunisia and need to know.’ 

As speculation ran rife, Brimbank Mayor Virginia Tachos issued a further statement later that day to address ‘incorrect information’ circulating about why the after-hours sessions had been temporarily paused. 

‘To be clear, this pause is not due to a protest against the Women’s Only Swim Session by men, nor is it because of a transgender woman allegedly being refused entry. These claims are entirely false,’ she said in a statement.

‘The sessions have been paused following a serious safety incident that occurred on Sunday September 13, where participants and Brimbank Leisure Centre staff were exposed to unruly behaviour that occurred amongst a number of attending patrons.

‘Brimbank City Council does not tolerate violence or unsafe behaviour. The health and safety of our patrons, our staff and the broader community is our absolute priority.’

Cr Tachos said the council was conducting a full investigation and a comprehensive risk and safety assessment to determine whether the program, staffed by three females, could be delivered safely in the future.

‘We know these sessions are important to many women in our community, providing an opportunity to exercise and connect with others in a welcoming, safe and comfortable environment,’ she said.

‘Council has an obligation to ensure they are delivered in a way that is safe for everyone – including the Brimbank Leisure Centre employees who support and deliver the program.’

Cr Tachos said council would provide a further update once the investigation and safety assessment have been completed.

He is the self-made superstar whose romantic hits have provided the soundtrack for innumerable weddings, rising from Suffolk pub gigs to sell-out stadium shows around the world. Ed Sheeran’s journey has turned him into one of Britain’s most recognisable global music stars.

But the Daily Mail can reveal that the usually even-tempered singer is said to be “absolutely furious” after becoming caught up in the most divisive dispute of his career. Sheeran reportedly feels he has been “thrown under a bus” by people he had regarded as friends.

Sheeran, 35, has found himself at the centre of a heated backlash involving American rapper Macklemore, his friend of 13 years. While appearing as a support act on Sheeran’s US stadium tour, Macklemore delivered pro-Palestinian speeches, showed images from war-hit Gaza and wore a keffiyeh scarf during a performance of his song Hind’s Hall.

Prominent Jewish organisations objected, while venue owners reportedly threatened to cancel shows unless Macklemore was taken off the line-up. Sheeran spent a week attempting to find a compromise, but the effort did not succeed. The rapper was ultimately removed by the tour promoter, a move Sheeran maintains was entirely outside his control.

Sources have told the Daily Mail that the fallout has left Sheeran “seriously upset”, particularly because he has consistently chosen to keep his own political views out of the public arena.

“This felt very unfair on Ed and he’s understandably pretty hurt and angry that this has now begun to overshadow the tour,” one source said.

The source added: “Even though Ed is a very mild-mannered guy he will speak his mind when he has to. He’ll be absolutely furious at being put in this situation. He’s been thrown under a bus by several people he considers friends.”

The remarkable sequence of events began on September 4 at New Jersey’s MetLife Stadium, which has a capacity of 82,500, where Macklemore opened for Sheeran during the Loop Tour.

The 43-year-old rapper, whose real name is Benjamin Haggerty, is known for hits including Thrift Shop and Same Love. In recent years, his public profile has increasingly centred on his support for Palestine over Israel.

Before performing his protest song Hind’s Hall, he told the crowd: ‘A big part of the reason why I wanted to do this tour is so that I could stand up in stadiums like this and say two words that are very, very dear to my heart: Free Palestine.’

During a concert the following night, Macklemore addressed Jewish fans, saying: ‘Criticism of Israel, criticism of apartheid [sic], being against genocide, is in no way a criticism of you.’

His speeches provoked an immediate backlash. StopAntisemitism accused the rapper of ‘ambushing’ Sheeran’s audience, while the Israeli-American Council launched a petition demanding his removal.

Pink, the US singer who is Jewish, also intervened, saying: ‘You don’t have to agree with [a single] thing Israel’s government does to not want the Jewish family two rows down from you to be scared.’

But perhaps the most consequential intervention came from Robert Kraft, the billionaire owner of the New England Patriots American football team, who refused to allow Macklemore to appear at his 66,000-seat Gillette Stadium in Massachusetts.

Kraft cited the rapper’s comments and a ‘broader history of anti-Semitic rhetoric and imagery that we believe has been deeply offensive and hurtful to the Jewish community’.

For Sheeran, there was an awkwardly personal twist. When Kraft, 85, married ophthalmologist Dana Blumberg in New York in 2022, the singer performed Perfect for their first dance and later described the businessman as ‘super sweet’.

Tour promoter Messina Touring Group subsequently confirmed venues had warned ‘they will not allow a concert to take place with Macklemore on the line-up, which would result in the cancellation of the tour and impact thousands of fans’.

Macklemore alleged that Kraft had telephoned Sheeran telling him he wouldn’t allow the rapper to play at his stadium, and that Kraft had ‘rallied some of the other stadium owners and collectively they gave him an ultimatum: if Macklemore stays on the tour, you will not be allowed to play in our venues.’

Macklemore said his conversations with Sheeran had been ‘rooted in love and respect’ but ended in ‘fundamental disagreement’. While acknowledging that Sheeran had been put in a difficult position, he added: ‘Taking a side can cost you. Money, brand deals, sponsorships, festivals, private shows, relationships and access. I’ve lost all of those things. But there is no neutral position between the oppressor and the oppressed.’

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On Tuesday, Sheeran broke his silence in a statement to his 47 million Instagram followers.

‘Macklemore coming off tour was the promoter’s decision, it was not mine,’ he said. ‘I would never let down the fans who had made plans, nor would I abandon the touring crew and the other support acts and musicians who rely on me for work.’

The singer said he was ‘appalled’ by the conflict and added: ‘I am not complicit. I have my personal views on this devastating conflict. Just because I choose not to speak publicly, it doesn’t mean I don’t have them, and it doesn’t mean I don’t care.’

Explaining his refusal to turn his concerts into political rallies, he said his audience included children and people from all backgrounds who did not arrive expecting ‘a political forum’.

‘I respect Macklemore’s strength of purpose to stand up and shout for what he believes,’ he added. ‘However, there is room for multiple approaches to the same end: Peace. I choose to use my fame and platform to be a place of safety and sanctuary, to maintain diplomacy and keep conversations open, not closed.’

Yet his words did little to calm the storm. Within hours, the remaining artists on the tour began abandoning it in ‘solidarity’ with Macklemore – who in 2014 was forced to apologise for wearing a costume of a hooked nose and black beard at a concert in Seattle, which critics said was an anti-Semitic caricature.

Finneas, the Grammy-winning musician and brother and long-time collaborator of Billie Eilish, withdrew from six forthcoming South American dates.

Irish singer-songwriter Aaron Rowe, who had been booked for all ten remaining North American concerts, followed, despite saying Sheeran was a friend who had ‘changed my life.’ Danish band Lukas Graham, best known for the global hit 7 Years, also pulled out, declaring: ‘Nobody’s bank balance should decide who gets to speak or which suffering we’re allowed to acknowledge.’

Perhaps most painfully, Sheeran’s long-time friends in the Irish folk group Beoga withdrew too. The band helped create the distinctive sound of his hit Galway Girl and had been performing with him at every concert.

The crisis appears dangerous for an artist whose commercial success has been founded upon an approachable image.

Born in Halifax, West Yorkshire, and raised in Framlingham, Suffolk, Sheeran moved to London as a teen, performing in tiny venues.

His breakthrough came in 2011, followed by hits including Shape Of You and Bad Habits. His albums, beginning with Plus and continuing through Multiply, Divide, Equals and Subtract, turned Sheeran into one of the world’s most successful artists.

Sheeran has historically reserved his public interventions for music issues, including ticket touting, copyright law, and Brexit’s effect on touring performers.

Critics have also pointed out he wore a Justice For Grenfell T-shirt at Wembley in 2018 and performed at the Concert For Ukraine four years later, so he is not afraid to weigh in on political issues. Neither intervention, however, threatened to turn an entire tour into a battleground.

Sheeran has reportedly lost more than 200,000 Instagram followers since the row erupted, while his official website was still appearing to advertise Lukas Graham and Aaron Rowe for aturday’s concert.

For years, the British star’s voice has filled one stadium after another. But now he risks being drowned out by the shouting of people he once considered friends.

A Utah couple could remain in prison for as long as 30 years after their 18-month-old daughter died amid what authorities described as horrific neglect, allegedly left in a soiled crib scattered with waffles while loud music played nearby.

Mitchell Chestnut Murray and Carrie Marie Murray, both 32, were initially charged in Utah’s First District Court in December with first-degree aggravated murder and second-degree aggravated child abuse following the March 19, 2025, death of their daughter, Ruby Marie Murray.

In July, the pair pleaded guilty to aggravated child abuse and a reduced count of child abuse homicide, both second-degree felonies, KSL reports.

Each parent was sentenced to two consecutive prison terms of one to 15 years over Ruby’s death. They will also be added to Utah’s child abuse registry.

Prosecutors said the toddler’s fatal malnutrition and dehydration came after a prolonged and severe pattern of neglect by her parents.

According to charging documents, the Murrays displayed a “depraved indifference to human life” by allegedly exposing Ruby to excessive heat, darkness, isolation or sleep deprivation, as well as conditions involving starvation, dehydration, malnutrition and failure to thrive that put her life in danger.

Judge Spencer D. Walsh echoed those concerns as he handed down the sentences on Friday.

“It’s appalling,” Walsh told Mitchell, according to the Herald Journal. “It’s shocking the type of neglect that you demonstrated here.”

Deputies with the Cache County Sheriff’s Office said Carrie called 911 at around 10.30am on March 19, 2025 after she said she found her daughter dead in her crib.

She then refused to perform lifesaving measures – despite being a registered nurse, according to charging documents obtained by Law & Crime. 

‘Carrie informed Dispatch that she was a nurse, and she believed the child to be beyond help,’ reads the probable cause statement.

When police then arrived at the couple’s home in Nibley, some 80 miles north of Salt Lake City, Carrie seemed indifferent to her daughter’s death.

She told investigators her ‘biggest guess’ is that her daughter died from Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS), although she acknowledged that Ruby was ‘older than typical for a SIDS death.’

‘It was her time, I guess,’ the mother-of-two then surmised, adding that she felt no responsibility for her little girl’s death.

‘I feel guilt really strongly – I feel no guilt over this,’ she told investigators.

But the deputies who had responded to the home found the child wearing long-sleeve, footed pajamas and a sleep sack with several blankets despite a nearby space heater that left the temperature inside the room at 77 degrees Fahrenheit, ABC 4 reports.

Inside the crib, there were also several sippy cups and a ‘large amount of pieces of Eggo-style waffle’ with more trash, wrappers and waffle pieces underneath the mattress.

Yet the child weighed only about 17 pounds at the time of her death, putting her under the fifth percentile for children her age. 

As authorities continued to investigate, they learned that during the last four days of Ruby’s life, she was only out of her crib for a little over six hours and ‘the total time another human being was identified as being present with the child was 49 minutes and 15 seconds,’ according to the sheriff’s office. 

During the same time period, the girl’s diaper was only changed six times. 

That was apparently not uncommon for the couple, as Mitchell allegedly told police he is on his computer a lot – both working and playing games.

‘Mitchell explained what he termed “crib days,”‘ the charging documents said. ‘He explained that crib days were days where [Ruby] remained in her crib all day while he worked. He claimed this would occur one to two days per week,’ but would check on Ruby two to three times during the day.

But investigators said Ruby was never taken out of her crib on March 18, even though Carrie informed officers her husband checked on their daughter 16 hours before she was found dead.

During the morning hours of March 19, Ruby was observed on baby monitors and surveillance cameras ‘moving and making noises throughout the night, including crying, whimpering and gasping,’ according to the charging documents.

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Court documents further allege the couple would play music all night from Green Day, Fall Out Boy or Panic! At the Disco while the child slept or when she started crying – which authorities believe inhibited the child’s sleep.

Ruby was ultimately determined to have died from ‘dehydration and undernutrition,’ the Medical Examiner’s Office ruled.

Ahead of the sentencing, family members and friends vouched for both Carrie and Mitchell, calling them caring parents and insisting that Ruby’s death was unintentional.

‘We respectfully ask that you consider the whole of who Mitchell and Carrie are – not only the tragedy that occurred, but also the loving parents, hard workers and devoted family members we know them to be,’ Mitchell’s parents wrote in a letter to the judge.

‘We ask for compassion and mercy as they face the consequences of this heartbreaking accident and try to rebuild their family.’

Mitchell’s grandmother also claimed in a separate letter, ‘I don’t think you could find a man of finer character’ than her grandson, while Mitchell’s brother asked the court to consider the whole family – noting they still have a six-year-old child at home.

‘If there is an opportunity for mercy, rehabilitation, supervision or alternatives that would allow them to remain in their child’s life while still fulfilling the court’s requirements,  I respectfully ask that those options be considered,’ he pleaded.

The parents also had an opportunity to plead for leniency at their sentencing hearings on Friday, with Mitchell apologizing for his actions.

‘I regret what happened,’ he said. ‘I should have done better. I’m sorry.’

Carrie also read a note filed with the court on September 4 in which she said that knowing she is responsible for her daughter’s death is ‘horrific.’

‘I am so incredibly sorry. I will never stop being sorry. I pray for forgiveness frequently,’ she wrote. ‘I had so many plans, hopes and dreams for Ruby that will now not happen. I love Ruby. I am remorseful and sorrowful knowing that I failed her. My actions and inactions led to the worst thing that has and will ever happen to me.’ 

She went on to say that even though it was unintentional, she now has to live with the fact that Ruby’s life was ‘far too short.’

‘I want to help other parents avoid the situation I am in,’ Carrie said, arguing: ‘No punishment is worse than living without my daughter while on this earth.’

But her attorney, Kenneth Frizzel, argued she was less culpable in her daughter’s death than her husband because she worked long hours as a nurse and did not turn on the space heater.

He also pointed to her struggles with depression and anxiety, her participation in classes while incarcerated and her stated desire to help other parents in the future as reasons to sentence her to just one year in county jail and probation.

Prosecutors, though, argued her work schedule did not excuse her lack of involvement with her daughter, noting she spent only 49 minutes in the same room with the child during the period captured on video and had no interaction with her during the final 55 hours of her life.

‘Lots of people work tough jobs with long hours and make the time to check on their child,’ prosecutor Dane Murray said.

Judge Walsh ultimately said he believed Carrie’s remorse was sincere, but found she had fallen ‘so far below the standard of care that any reasonable parent would offer a little girl.’

He argued that the case could not be viewed simply as a momentary failure to monitor a space heater, citing months of poor nutrition, sporadic diaper changes and bathing and a ‘shocking lack of human interaction.’

The judge also hit out at Mitchell, saying that even though he showed remorse he ‘checked out’ during parenthood – criticizing the time he spent gaming and streaming while his daughter needed help.

‘Parenthood is so much more than throwing an occasional bottle in a crib or tossing a waffle into the crib,’ he said. ‘Justice demands that a very harsh sentence would be imposed because the value of that innocent life is so great.’ 

Still, the couple will receive credit for the 283 days they have already served.

They now have 30 days to appeal their sentences. 

A Sydney mother is seeking answers from health authorities after her seven-month-old daughter was allegedly left with what she believes is a second-degree burn during hospital treatment.

Jaqueline Machado, 38, said her baby daughter, Liyana, suffered the injury to her right hand this week as hospital staff tried to collect a blood sample.

The Daily Mail understands the incident happened at a hospital in Sydney’s west.

Ms Machado said Liyana was taken by ambulance to the emergency department on Monday night after developing a low body temperature and an alarming rash over her torso and face.

‘A doctor came in to see us and asked us questions about Liyana’s medical history. At the time, Liyana had a very low temperature and we were obviously extremely concerned about what was happening to her,’ Ms Machado told the Daily Mail.

‘There was a significant focus on the fact that Liyana was unvaccinated. I personally felt judged about her vaccination status, and I became extremely frightened when concerns were raised with us that she could potentially have a serious bacterial infection.

‘The doctor recommended that blood tests be taken to investigate what was happening and, of course, we agreed. We wanted the doctors to investigate.’

Ms Machado said the doctor warned the family that locating a vein could be challenging because of Liyana’s age, and explained they would need to assist in holding her still.

She said the doctor first used an ultrasound but struggled to find the vein, before placing a light under Liyana’s palm. Ms Machado added she remembers the light staying there for around 20 minutes.

‘Liyana was screaming throughout the procedure. At the time, we believed she was screaming because of the repeated attempts to access her vein. We had absolutely no idea that the light may have been causing an injury to her hand,’ she said.

‘I think that’s the part I find the most traumatic. We were helping restrain our seven-month-old daughter because we believed it was necessary for her medical care. She can’t speak and couldn’t tell us what she was experiencing.’

The Daily Mail understands that medical staff sometimes use ‘cold lights’ to help locate tiny veins in infants in a technique known as transillumination.

Ms Machado said her husband, Daniel Rojas, later noticed a blister on Liyana’s hand when another doctor came in to take another blood sample after the initial sample had coagulated.

But she said they soon realised that the ‘perfect circle’ blister appeared to align with the torch that had been placed on Liyana’s palm earlier – one Ms Machado claims was not medically approved by the hospital.

‘When we first saw the blister, we didn’t know what had caused it,’ she said.

‘We asked the doctor whether it could somehow be connected to whatever was making Liyana unwell, and we understood from that conversation that infection was one possibility being considered.’

Liyana was then started on a course of antibiotics to treat the suspected infection.

‘The next doctor used a different light… my husband is a mechanical engineer and he recognised the type of torch that had been used earlier from his line of work.’

The mother of two, who has a sizeable online following for her wealth strategy tips, shared images of Liyana’s hand to her ‘Mumpreneur’ Instagram page on Tuesday, where a weeping and engorged blister could be seen.

She told her followers the alleged incident has ‘f***ing broken her as a mother’. 

Liyana has now been referred to the Plastic Surgery/Burns Unit at Westmead Children’s Hospital for a specialist follow-up next week, where doctors will assess the severity of the injury and treatment may be required.

‘At this stage, we simply don’t know the full extent of the damage. We have been told that the burn could be partial or deeper and that surgery may potentially be required, but we won’t know that until Liyana has been properly assessed,’ she said. 

Ms Machado, who said she doesn’t have much trust in the health system after experiencing a significant reaction to the Covid vaccine, said she is now seeking answers from authorities.

‘Liyana was in so much pain. She was already an unwell seven-month-old baby when we brought her to hospital, and to then discover that she had sustained a completely separate injury while receiving treatment has been incredibly distressing for our entire family,’ she said.

 She added: ‘I just want parents to feel that they’re listened to and that their concerns about their children are taken seriously, without feeling judged for the decisions they’ve made for their children.

‘I also believe there need to be appropriate safeguards and training around equipment being used on babies and children. I don’t want another family to experience what we have experienced… this should never have happened.’

It’s understood Ms Machado is now seeking the services of a medical negligence lawyer.

A spokesperson for Liverpool Hospital told the Daily Mail that representatives have met with Liyana’s family to apologise.

‘The safety and care of our patients is our highest priority. The family’s experience and concerns have been taken extremely seriously, and the hospital is conducting a thorough review of the care provided,’ the spokesperson said.

‘While receiving care in the ED, the baby received a burn during a procedure. The injury was identified and the baby was promptly reviewed by specialist burns clinicians, with ongoing treatment and follow-up care arranged.

‘The baby remains clinically stable and has shown improvement in the condition for which she originally presented to hospital. The hospital has met with the family personally to better understand their experience and concerns and are continuing to provide support. 

‘The family will be kept informed as the hospital’s investigation progresses.’