While You Were Sleeping: 5 stories you might have missed, March 22, 2026
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Emergency response personnel working in Dimona, Israel, following an Iranian missile attack on March 21.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Iran missile hits Israeli town, home to nuclear site
An Iranian missile on March 21 hit the Israeli town of Dimona, home to a nuclear facility, in what the Islamic republic said was retaliation for strikes on its own nuclear site at Natanz.
Dimona hosts a facility just outside the main town widely believed to possess the Middle East’s sole nuclear arsenal, although Israel has never admitted to possessing nuclear weapons.
Iran’s atomic energy organisation earlier accused the US and Israel of hitting the Natanz enrichment complex, but noted there was “no leakage of radioactive materials reported”.
The Israeli army told AFP there had been a “direct missile hit on a building” in Dimona, with Magen David Adom first responders saying their teams treated 33 people injured at multiple sites, including a 10-year-old boy in serious condition with shrapnel wounds.
Over 20 countries commit to Hormuz strait security
REUTERS
More than 20 countries on March 21 said they would contribute to efforts to ensure safe passage in the Strait of Hormuz, condemning Iran’s closure of the vital waterway.
“We condemn in the strongest terms recent attacks by Iran on unarmed commercial vessels in the Gulf, attacks on civilian infrastructure, including oil and gas installations, and the de facto closure of the Strait of Hormuz by Iranian forces,” said the 22 countries, mostly European but also including the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain.
“We express our readiness to contribute to appropriate efforts to ensure safe passage through the strait. We welcome the commitment of nations that are engaging in preparatory planning,” they said in a joint statement.
Trump threatens to put ICE agents in airports
PHOTO: REUTERS
US President Donald Trump threatened to deploy Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to US airports on March 23 if congressional Democrats do not immediately agree to fund airport safety.
Transportation Security Administration (TSA) personnel are set to miss a second full pay cheque on March 27 amid a partial government shutdown in its 36th day as lawmakers clash over funding for the Department of Homeland Security, the parent agency for TSA and ICE.
TSA officers have called in sick as pay cheques have dried up, and the shortage of security agents has disrupted travel at major airports.
Former US special counsel Robert Mueller dies at 81
Robert Mueller, the no-nonsense former FBI chief who documented Russia’s interference in the 2016 US election and its contacts with Donald Trump’s campaign but opted not to bring criminal charges against a sitting president, has died at age 81, multiple news outlets reported on March 21.
His death was reported by MS NOW and a New York Times journalist who posted a statement attributed to the Mueller family.
No cause of death was given for Mr Mueller, a decorated Vietnam War veteran who led the FBI in the aftermath of the Sept 11, 2001, attacks on the US.
India blocks release of Oscar-nominated Gaza film
VIA REUTERS
India has blocked the release of The Voice Of Hind Rajab, a film about the killing of a five-year-old Palestinian girl by Israeli forces, the movie’s distributor told AFP on March 21.
The Oscar-nominated docudrama by French-Tunisian director Kaouther Ben Hania recounts the real-life death of Hind Rajab in Gaza in 2025r as her family attempted to flee during Israel’s war with Hamas.
Mr Manoj Nandwana, of Jai Viratra Entertainment, the film’s Indian distributor, said a member of the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) told him that the film’s theatrical release would “hamper India’s relations with Israel”.
