Bank bosses called to meeting with Reeves over impact of Iran war on UK economy 19. April 2026 (14:06) HSBC, Barclays, Lloyds, NatWest and Santander will this week discuss with chancellor how to limit effects of conflict Middle East crisis – live updatesThe bosses of Britain’s “big five” retail banks have been summoned to a meeting with the chancellor, Rachel Reeves, this week to discuss how to limit the economic impact of the crisis in the Middle East triggered by the US and Israel’s attacks on Iran.The chief executives of HSBC, Barclays, Lloyds, NatWest and Santander have been asked to attend an emergency summit, amid increasing acceptance that a major economic hit from the Iran war is unavoidable. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Hamnet-era mourning jewel from celebrated painting rediscovered after 400 years 19. April 2026 (14:00) Exclusive: pendant appears in 1635 painting Sir Thomas Aston at the Deathbed of His Wife that hangs in the Manchester Art GalleryA Hamnet-era mourning jewel has been rediscovered four centuries after it was immortalised in one of Britain’s most enigmatic and celebrated 17th‑century family portraits.The heart‑shaped pendant was depicted in Sir Thomas Aston at the Deathbed of His Wife, the 1635 life‑size, mourning masterpiece that was painted predominantly in black and white by the Cheshire artist John Souch. It hangs in the Manchester Art Gallery. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Trump tests his luck with the religious right amid feud with pope and AI Jesus posts 19. April 2026 (14:00) Trump appears to have crossed a line with his Christian supporters. Will it come back to bite him in the midterms?Donald Trump’s depiction of himself as Jesus Christ and recent spat with Pope Leo XIV could come back to bite him and the Republican party in the midterm elections, according to experts, with some newly aggrieved Christian groups set to play an outsized role in key races across the US.The president’s Trump-as-the-Messiah Truth Social post sparked immediate criticism among some Christians, including some on the right. Trump, 79, said he thought the AI image of him administering an ethereal light to a stricken man’s head as translucent figures descended from the heavens represented him as a doctor. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Nathalie Baye, prolific star of French and Hollywood cinema, dies aged 77 19. April 2026 (13:06) Actor who worked with the great French auteurs in the 1970s and 80s and starred in Spielberg’s Catch Me if You Can died of Lewy body dementia, says familyThe French film star Nathalie Baye, who starred in Steven Spielberg’s Catch Me If You Can, has died at the age of 77, her family said on Saturday.Baye, a stalwart of French cinema, starred in about 80 films and took home the best actress César, France’s equivalent of the Oscars, four times, including three years running from 1981 to 1983. She died on Friday evening at her home in Paris from Lewy body dementia, her family told AFP. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Falling fertility, debt and AI: is the US headed toward a population crisis? 19. April 2026 (13:00) Americans having less kids plus an ageing population could be a recipe for disaster that further erodes social stabilityRemember environmentalist Paul Ehrlich’s 1960s-vintage prediction about how overpopulation would deplete the Earth’s resources and condemn millions to starvation? His Malthusian condemnation of humanity’s voracious appetite has kept a grip on the debate over the future of the planet, even scaring the young out of having children.Ehrlich was wrong. Yet as we have come around to the thought that overpopulation won’t kill us all, we are being walloped by another demographic emergency: we are not having too many kids, we are having too few. This problem is real. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Multiple people are rushed to hospital after gunfire erupts near University of Iowa
Who will be the next person to walk on the moon? The most likely candidates revealed, as NASA counts down to its return to the lunar surface for the first time in over 50 years