Palantir extends reach into British state as it gets access to sensitive FCA data 22. March 2026 (17:00) Exclusive: Allowing US tech firm to analyse intelligence in name of tackling fraud raises fresh concerns over privacyCampaign groups rail against Palantir, but the UK contracts keep comingPalantir is to be granted access to a trove of highly sensitive UK financial regulation data, in a deal that has prompted fresh concerns about the US AI company’s deepening reach into the British state, the Guardian can reveal.The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has awarded Palantir a contract to investigate the watchdog’s internal intelligence data in an effort to help it tackle financial crime, which includes investigating fraud, money laundering and insider trading. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Campaign groups rail against Palantir, but the UK contracts keep coming 22. March 2026 (17:00) AI analytics firm has become influential in Whitehall, and FCA deal gives it yet more access to dataPalantir extends reach into British state as it gets access to sensitive FCA dataPalantir’s latest UK contract takes the AI and data analytics company into the heart of one of Britain’s biggest industries: financial services, which accounts for 9% of the economy.The Miami-based company embedded its technology in the NHS in 2023, the police in 2024 and the military in 2025. Land and expand, they say in the tech industry. Palantir has followed the script, building contracts worth more than £500m. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Israeli settlers carry out series of West Bank attacks as security forces stand by 22. March 2026 (16:24) Witnesses describe coordinated raids in which homes and vehicles were set on fire and several Palestinians injuredMiddle East crisis live – latest updatesIsraeli settlers have carried out a series of attacks across the occupied West Bank, setting homes and vehicles on fire and wounding several Palestinians in what witnesses described as coordinated raids on communities.The violence, reported across at least half a dozen locations overnight from Saturday into Sunday, comes amid a wider surge in tensions in the territory. The official Palestinian news agency, Wafa, cited local sources as saying settlers had entered al-Fandaqumiya and the nearby town of Seilat al-Dahr, south of Jenin, late on Saturday. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Suspected meteorite crashes into Houston home, officials say 22. March 2026 (16:18) Nasa confirms meteor after residents reported hearing thunder-like noises about the time the fireball was visibleA suspected meteorite crashed into a home in suburban Houston on Saturday night, according to local residents and officials.Speaking to the local news outlet KHOU11 over the weekend, Spring area resident Sherrie James recalled the incident, saying: “My grandson went to check and said there was a hole in the ceiling … then I saw the rock, and I thought, ‘That looks like a meteor.’” Continue reading...(The Guardian)
James Cleverly says he disagrees with Nick Timothy about Islamic public prayer 22. March 2026 (16:13) Shadow justice secretary had called Trafalgar Square event an ‘act of domination’James Cleverly has said he disagrees with his Conservative frontbench colleague Nick Timothy that public Muslim prayers are an act of domination, as another senior Tory called for the party to respect the right to worship.Kemi Badenoch has defended Timothy, the shadow justice secretary, after he posted images of mass prayer at a Ramadan event on Monday evening in Trafalgar Square, calling it “an act of domination” and “straight from the Islamist playbook”. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
ICE agents will be deployed to US airports on Monday to ease long lines 22. March 2026 (16:01) Trump and border czar Tom Homan confirm plan to assist TSA agents amid partial government shutdown standoffDonald Trump and his border czar, Tom Homan, have confirmed that the president’s administration is sending Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents to US airports beginning Monday to assist with security amid extremely long lines – and to help airport security agents who have been working without pay since 14 February because of a partial government shutdown.Homan will lead the effort, Trump said on Sunday. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Firefighting departments close in some US states amid lack of volunteers 22. March 2026 (16:00) About 65% of US firefighters are volunteers, as New York state says number has fallen to lowest level in 40 yearsOfficials have warned of serious consequences after the number of volunteer firefighters, the bedrock of firefighting in the US, plunged, leading to entire departments closing in some states.About 65% of American firefighters are volunteers, serving in their free time alongside their regular jobs. In 2008 there were 827,000 volunteers nationwide, but that figure dropped to 635,000 in 2023, the last year data is available. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Iran says it will ‘irreversibly destroy’ Middle East infrastructure if US attacks energy sites 22. March 2026 (15:16) Energy and oil sites across region would become ‘legitimate targets’, Tehran saysMiddle East crisis live – latest updatesTehran has said it will “irreversibly destroy” essential infrastructure across the Middle East if the US attacks its energy sites, hours after Donald Trump threatened to “obliterate” Iran’s power plants unless the strait of Hormuz was opened within two days.As Iranian missiles struck two southern Israeli cities overnight, injuring dozens of people and shattering apartment buildings, the developments signalled a dangerous potential escalation of the war in the Middle East, which is now in its fourth week. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Social cohesion has lost its feelgood vibe. What will it take to offer a fair go for all? 22. March 2026 (15:00) The phrase should evoke optimism, positive expectations about the future, trust and belonging. That seems almost out of reach in a chaotic worldOne term has already become the well-intentioned weasel word of 2026: “social cohesion”. A phrase that can be dropped into speeches, inquiries and legislation, its meaning shape-shifts depending on the audience. Is it about “glue” or the rule of law? About community resilience or countering fear? Does it mean finding places of real exchange, or shutting up and getting on?Although it has been in the political lexicon for years, the terror attack that targeted Jewish people celebrating Hanukah in Bondi last December brought social cohesion to the fore as an urgent problem to solve. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Queensland government ‘opens old wounds’ as police officer criticised after Palm Island riots appointed to Legal Aid board 22. March 2026 (15:00) Exclusive: Townsville lawyer and former detective Darren Robinson’s appointment by attorney general Deb Frecklington has ‘brought back a lot of trauma’ for Indigenous communityGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastThe Queensland government has “opened old wounds” by appointing a former police detective who was heavily criticised for his role in events surrounding the 2004 riots on Palm Island to the state’s Legal Aid board, say First Nations community leaders and members of the legal fraternity.The Liberal National party government sacked and replaced all Labor-appointed members of the Legal Aid Queensland board last month. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
