Met gets extension to AI project with spy tech firm Palantir after mayor blocked deal

Sadiq Khan said procurement rules had been broken but allows police another 12 months to operate pilot in London

The Metropolitan police have been granted a 12-month extension to a pilot project with the spy-tech firm Palantir while the force carries out a procurement process.

The development comes weeks after the mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, blocked a £50m deal between the Met and the US company to automate intelligence analysis in criminal investigations.

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source https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026/jun/24/met-gets-extension-to-ai-project-with-spy-tech-firm-palantir-after-mayor-blocked-deal

US opens second federal investigation of deadly Tesla crash into Texas home

Driver told authorities he had driver-assistance technology engaged before crash that killed 76-year-old Martha Avila

The US government has opened a second federal investigation into a recent crash of a Tesla that reportedly had driver-assistance technology engaged, struck a Texas home and killed a resident.

Meanwhile, the family of Martha Avila, the 76-year-old resident who was killed, has sued over the wreck.

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source https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2026/jun/24/texas-tesla-car-crash-investigation

Temperatures hit record levels in western Europe

France, Spain and Italy, have been hardest hit by the heatwave so far.

Karl Stefanovic podcast interview with UK far-right activist Tommy Robinson removed from YouTube

Robinson says Pauline Hanson has ‘carried on fighting’ despite backlash in since-deleted episode of the Karl Stefanovic Show

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The Channel Nine TV presenter Karl Stefanovic has praised UK far-right activist Tommy Robinson’s “tenacity” and “courage” in his latest eponymous podcast episode, in which Robinson rails against “the media and the establishment”, Islam, multiculturalism and hate speech laws.

Stefanovic posted a clip on social media on Tuesday morning Australian time in which he is walking down a London street with his arm slung around Robinson, who has spearheaded recent nationalist demonstrations in the UK.

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source https://www.theguardian.com/media/2026/jun/23/karl-stefanovic-uk-far-right-tommy-robinson-podcast-video-ntwnfb

California drivers sue gas stations for allegedly using AI to inflate prices

Firms including BP and 7-Eleven accused of coordinating prices to ‘wring more money from pockets of consumers’

Gas ⁠station ​operators including BP, Circle K, Marathon, 7-Eleven, Walmart and Albertsons were sued on Monday by California drivers ⁠who accused them of using artificial intelligence to boost prices at the pump.

According to a proposed class action, the defendants ⁠violated California’s main antitrust law, the Cartwright Act, by using an AI-based tool that ​uses data from competing gas ‌stations to “coordinate high prices ‌and wring more money from the pockets of consumers”.

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source https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jun/22/california-gas-stations-ai-prices-lawsuit

Planes were just 300ft apart in Boston airport near miss, expert says

FAA investigating incident involving Delta and American jets that forced Delta plane to abort landing attempt

A Delta jet was roughly 300ft (90 meters) from an American Airlines plane during a close call at Boston’s airport that forced the Delta aircraft to abort a weekend landing attempt, an aviation expert said on Sunday.

The Federal Aviation Administration said it was investigating the incident between two commercial flights that happened Saturday at Boston Logan international airport.

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source https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jun/21/boston-airport-planes-jets-close-call

Wowcher apologises for email referencing toddler crocodile attack

Company ‘extremely sorry’ for ‘unacceptable’ email urging customers to ‘Snap up these deals quicker than a croc can catch a kid!’

The discount voucher website Wowcher has apologised after appearing to make reference to a crocodile attack on a toddler at a zoo in an email promoting its offers.

A spokesperson for Wowcher said it was urgently reviewing its marketing content after the subject line of an email on Saturday urged customers to “Snap up these deals quicker than a croc can catch a kid!”

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source https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026/jun/21/wowcher-apologises-for-email-referencing-toddler-crocodile-attack