Politics live: new standards for datacentres being built in Australia; report warns of drone threat

Programme is being billed as the most ambitious housebuilding project in England for half a centuryMinisters have confirmed the locations for seven new towns, which include under-developed inner-city land, a historic village and an existing new town.The programme is being billed by the housing and communities department as the most ambitious housebuilding project in England for half a century, with the planned construction of between 15,000 and 40,000 homes in each new town. Continue reading...

City hall veteran forecast to beat rightwinger Rachida Dati, while Marseille’s leftist incumbent leads far-right opponentThe Socialist Emmanuel Grégoire was on track to be elected mayor of Paris on Sunday night, roundly beating the former rightwing minister Rachida Dati, early projections showed.Grégoire, a Socialist MP with a long track record at city hall, was running for a united left including the Greens. He was projected to have won with about 53%. This would mark a clear win against Dati, who served in government under Emmanuel Macron and Nicolas Sarkozy and had sought to win the French capital for the right after 25 years governed by the left. Continue reading...

If approved on Monday, as expected, Mullin would replace Kristi Noem, whom Trump fired in early MarchDonald Trump’s nomination of Republican senator Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma to be the president’s next head of homeland security on Sunday advanced toward final confirmation after the US Senate voted 54-37 to limit debate on the appointment.The confirmation vote could come sometime on Monday. If approved, as expected, Mullin would replace Kristi Noem, whom Trump fired from the role of homeland security secretary on 5 March. Continue reading...

17-year-old took time off high school to win goldBeats Belgium’s Eliott Crestan by 0.14 secondsUS teenager Cooper Lutkenhaus made history on Sunday when he won gold in the 800m to becomes the youngest ever champion at the world indoor athletics championship.The 17-year-old, who took time off from his classes at Northwest High School in Texas to compete at the championships, won gold with a time of 1min, 44.24sec, 0.14 seconds ahead of Belgium’s Eliott Crestan. Mohamed Attaoui of Spain won bronze. Continue reading...

Her husband, 19 Kids and Counting’s Joseph Duggar, was recently charged in separate case with lewd behavior against a childArkansas police have arrested Kendra Duggar, the wife of reality TV personality Joseph Duggar, on misdemeanor child abuse charges, in the latest scandal to envelop the family featured on TLC’s 19 Kids and Counting.Kendra Duggar faces four counts each of endangering the welfare of a minor and second-degree false imprisonment, according to the Washington county sheriff’s office in Arkansas. She has a hearing scheduled for Monday. Continue reading...

Customers told not to eat affected pot and sachet products and to return them to place of purchase for refundSeveral porridge products in the UK have been recalled over a possible mice contamination at their manufacturing site.The British porridge and oat drink brand Moma issued a warning for seven versions of its pots and two of its sachets. Continue reading...

Accusations of intimidation and harassment within UK diaspora including ‘aggressive’ and ‘coersing’ videos onlineIranians living in the UK have expressed safety concerns to authorities amid heightened tensions within the community linked to the conflict with the US and Israel.Videos online of individuals allegedly being “aggressive” and “coercing” in London, which is home to one of the UK’s largest Iranian communities, have led to some feeling unsafe, they claim. Continue reading...

Today show host released new statement asking for help in locating mother, 84, now missing for seven weeksSavannah Guthrie and her family have released a new statement about their missing mother, urging Tucson, Arizona, residents to come forward with potential clues about 84-year old’s Nancy Guthrie’s whereabouts.In their statement on Sunday, the NBC Today show host and her siblings said: “We continue to believe it is Tucsonans, and the greater southern Arizona community, that hold the key to finding resolution in this case. Someone knows something. It’s possible a member of this community has information that they do not even realize is significant.” Continue reading...

Governing body to meet to discuss next steps over sexual abuse claims made against suspended chiefThe international criminal court’s governing body is expected to meet on Monday to assess the advice of a panel of judges who have challenged the findings of an investigation into the chief prosecutor, Karim Khan.Last year a UN inquiry into the allegations about Khan’s behaviour is understood to have established a factual basis for claims of misconduct against him. The senior British lawyer has been accused by a complainant of sexual abuse. Continue reading...

US president’s backing comes as Hungary’s PM faces toughest election campaign of 16 years in officeDonald Trump has endorsed Hungary’s prime minister, Viktor Orbán, who faces his toughest electoral challenge next month since taking power 16 years ago, as Europe’s far-right leaders gather for a “grand assembly” in Budapest.In a video message, the US president told the national-conservative Cpac Hungary conference in the capital on Saturday that Orbàn, who has been trailing in the polls behind a centre-right rival for more than a year, was a “fantastic guy”. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Allowing US tech firm to analyse intelligence in name of tackling fraud raises fresh concerns over privacyFCA deal gives Palantir yet more access to inner workings of power in BritainPalantir 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...