FBI director’s personal email, photos and documents leaked by Iran-linked hackers 27. March 2026 (22:30) The Handala Hack Team published more than 300 emails from Kash Patel’s inbox between 2010 and 2019Sign up for the Breaking News US email to get newsletter alerts in your inboxIran-linked hackers have broken into the personal email inbox of Kash Patel, FBI’s director, publishing photographs of him and other documents on the internet, the hackers and the bureau said on Friday.On their website, the hacker group Handala Hack Team said Patel “will now find his name among the list of successfully hacked victims”. The hackers published a series of personal photographs of Patel sniffing and smoking cigars, riding in an antique convertible and making a face while taking a picture of himself in the mirror with a large bottle of rum. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
California sheriff seizes more ballot materials in defiance of state officials 27. March 2026 (20:33) Chad Bianco, running for governor, previously confiscated 650,000 ballots for baseless voter fraud investigationSign up for the Breaking News US email to get newsletter alerts in your inboxA Republican sheriff in California has confiscated additional ballot materials from a special election, escalating his conflict with state lawmakers who say he is conducting a baseless investigation into claims of voter fraud.On Tuesday, Chad Bianco, the Riverside county sheriff who is running for governor, was already at the center of a legal controversy after seizing 650,000 ballots from last year’s special election. Earlier this week he ordered his office to seize 426 additional boxes of ballot materials as part of the alleged criminal investigation, prompting criticism from lawmakers including Rob Bonta, California’s Democratic attorney general. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
US expects Iran operation to end in ‘weeks, not months’, says Marco Rubio 27. March 2026 (20:23) Secretary of state’s remarks come as Israel threatens to expand its attacks on Iran and Tehran’s missiles and drones target IsraelMiddle East crisis – live updatesWashington expects its operation against Iran to conclude in “weeks, not months”, the US secretary of state has said, despite spiralling violence across the region and a threat from Israel to “escalate and expand” its attacks against the Islamic republic.“When we are done with them here in the next couple weeks, they will be weaker than they’ve been in recent history,” Marco Rubio told reporters on Friday after meeting G7 foreign ministers in France. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
US law enforcement foils plot to assassinate Palestinian American activist 27. March 2026 (20:17) Man was arrested in connection with plan to assassinate Nerdeen Kiswani, following sting by undercover NYPD officerSign up for the Breaking News US email to get newsletter alerts in your inboxLaw enforcement officers foiled a plot to assassinate New York-based Palestinian American activist Nerdeen Kiswani and arrested a 26-year old man in connection with the plan.Kiswani wrote in post on X that late on Thursday, the FBI joint terrorism taskforce informed her that a plot against her life was “about to” take place, and that agents had conducted an operation in Hoboken, New Jersey, in connection to it. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Fulton county accuses FBI of ‘callous disregard’ over ballot seizures 27. March 2026 (20:10) Lawyers say agency made misrepresentations in affidavit to obtain search warrant for January raid of election officesLawyers arguing in federal court for the FBI to return Fulton county’s 2020 election records said the agency’s affidavit to obtain a search warrant relied on misrepresentations that rise to the legal standard of a “callous disregard” for the county’s rights.“The only element that turns the election into a crime is intent, and nothing in the affidavit shows intent,” Abbe Lowell, who is representing Fulton county, said during the Friday hearing at the Richard Russell courthouse in Atlanta. He argued that the FBI was pursuing crimes for which the statute of limitations has expired. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Lloyds bank faces £66m court battle with car loan customers 27. March 2026 (20:04) Law firm is preparing claim on behalf of 30,000 consumers who fear the FCA’s redress scheme will shortchange themLloyds Banking Group is facing a court battle with 30,000 aggrieved car loan customers who are set to abandon the City regulator’s official redress scheme amid fears it will shortchange consumers and favour lenders.The claims law firm Courmacs Legal is planning to file a £66m omnibus claim on behalf of borrowers who believe they were financially harmed by car loan contracts set up by Lloyds’ motor finance arm, Blackhorse. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Schools in England must be compelled to offer pupils healthy food, not junk 27. March 2026 (19:48) School dinners have suffered at the hands of politics and economics for almost 50 yearsAlmost a generation has passed since Jamie Oliver’s four-part Channel 4 documentary series Jamie’s School Dinners exposed the unhealthy reality of the food served to pupils at lunchtime, including – notoriously – fat-heavy, meat-light Turkey Twizzlers. It proved a shaming and effective intervention. His ensuing Feed Me Better campaign led the then prime minister, Tony Blair, to pledge to make school lunches more nutritious and hand schools more money to do that, given the average lunch at that time cost just 45p to make.Problem solved? Unfortunately not. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Missing private investigator evidence in Daily Mail’s case ‘stark’, high court told 27. March 2026 (19:18) Claimants say lost documents hide scale of alleged unlawful information gathering at publisher of the Daily MailThe amount of lost or destroyed documents relating to the Daily Mail publisher’s use of private investigators is “stark in the extreme”, the high court has heard.However, the thin surviving evidence of payments to private investigators contains “conspicuous and often shocking evidence”, according to lawyers for a group of claimants accusing the publisher of using unlawful techniques. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Reform candidate in Wales steps down after apparent Nazi salute 27. March 2026 (19:16) Party announces Corey Edwards’ decision to quit Senedd election campaign on grounds of mental healthA Reform UK candidate for the Welsh Senedd elections in May has announced he is standing down because of his mental health, after a photograph emerged of him apparently making a Nazi salute as an imitation of Adolf Hitler.The announcement by Reform comes a day after Nigel Farage defended Corey Edwards, its lead candidate for the Pen-y-bont Bro Morgannwg constituency, saying he may have instead been impersonating the John Cleese character Basil Fawlty. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Swindon man accused over wife’s suicide tells court it was ‘worst day of his life’ 27. March 2026 (19:06) Christopher Trybus is charged with manslaughter and two counts of rape and coercive and controlling behaviour A man accused of subjecting his wife to a campaign of “physical and sexual violence” said finding out she had died by hanging was the “worst day of my life”.Tarryn Baird, 34, was found dead at her home in Swindon, Wiltshire, on 28 November 2017. Christopher Trybus, 43, is charged with his wife’s manslaughter as well as with two counts of rape and coercive and controlling behaviour. He denies all the charges.In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on freephone 116 123, or email jo@samaritans.org or jo@samaritans.ie. In the US, you can call or text the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988 or chat at 988lifeline.org. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international helplines can be found at befrienders.org Continue reading...(The Guardian)
