Loyalists of President Mahmoud Abbas won most races in Palestinian municipal elections, election officials said on Sunday, in a vote that for the first time in nearly two decades included a city in the Gaza Strip run by rival Hamas.
Hundreds of senior staff in territory benefit from nearly £30,000-a-year grant per child not available to staff in group’s other hubs HSBC is reportedly reviewing a perk that covers school fees for bankers in Hong Kong as part of a big overhaul of the bank under chief executive Georges Elhedery.Europe’s largest bank is considering whether to scrap the perk for new employees or make changes to total compensation, Bloomberg News reported. No decisions have been made yet. Continue reading...
• A leading AI startup focused on enterprise AI solutions secured $150 million in Series B funding on April 25, 2026.
• The round was led by Lightspeed Ventures and SoftBank, signaling strong investor confidence in scalable AI technologies for businesses.
• This funding underscores accelerating growth in the US enterprise AI sector amid rising demand for efficient AI deployment tools.
• Florida Gators standout Caleb Banks was selected by the Minnesota Vikings with the 18th overall pick in the recent NFL Draft.
• Banks' selection marks a major moment for the Gators program and represents a top-20 draft selection for the defensive player.
• The Vikings bolster their defensive roster with the University of Florida standout in their first-round selection.
Sarah Breeden predicts ‘adjustment’ due to elevated risk including private credit and highly valued AI stocksBusiness live – latest updatesRecord-high global stock markets do not reflect the risks in the global economy, and will fall back, a deputy governor at the Bank of England has warned.Sarah Breeden, deputy governor for financial stability at the Bank, fears that macroeconomic risks are not fully priced into equity markets. Continue reading...
Thousands of research papers have been published based on participants’ data, but there are questions over protection of private informationWith the revelation that the confidential health records of half a million British volunteers have been put up for sale on a Chinese website, we take a look at what the UK Biobank project has achieved – and why concerns have been raised. Continue reading...
The campaign, fronted by a CGI squirrel, is part of government initiative to boost financial risk taking, amid fears UK growth is being stymiedNils Pratley: the ‘Savvy Squirrel looks a hit too tame’City firms are pinning their hopes on a government-endorsed advertising blitz fronted by a finance “savvy” CGI squirrel to encourage cautious British savers to shift out of cash and start investing.The long-awaited retail investment campaign, which will cost up to £50m, is part of the chancellor Rachel Reeves’ nationwide push to encourage more financial risk taking, amid fears risk-averse consumers are losing out and ultimately stymying UK growth. Continue reading...
Local officials and witnesses say attackers shot at students first then those who arrived at the sceneTwo Palestinians, including a 14-year-old schoolboy, have been killed in the occupied West Bank after Israeli settlers opened fire near a school amid mounting assaults on education in the territory, witnesses and local officials have said.The Palestinian health ministry said Aws al-Naasan, 14, and Jihad Abu Naim, 32, were killed in the attack on the village of al-Mughayyir, which also left three others wounded. The head of the local council told Reuters that Israeli settlers had entered the village and opened fire near a school – first at students, and later at others who arrived at the scene. Witnesses said settlers were eventually followed by Israeli soldiers. Continue reading...
Kevin Warsh, Trump’s ‘central casting’, has a long road ahead of convincing board members to lower interest ratesDonald Trump’s fate is to be frustrated by monetary policy.Even assuming he gets his way and Kevin Warsh succeeds Jerome Powell as chair of the Federal Reserve next month, it is unlikely that the president will finally gain control of the Fed. Continue reading...
• Kevin Warsh, President Trump's nominee for Federal Reserve Chair, testifies in his first Senate Banking Committee hearing at 1400 GMT on April 21, 2026, facing questions on Fed independence amid Trump's pressure to cut rates.
• Warsh advocates reducing the Fed's balance sheet, conflicting with recent resumption of regular Treasury purchases in December 2025.
• The hearing addresses hot topics like Fed autonomy and potential rate cuts, with USD firming after Monday's rally rejection.
Experts say attacks, also carried out by settlers, are leading girls to quit school and enter early marriagesIsraeli soldiers and settlers are using gendered violence and sexual assault and harassment to force Palestinians from their homes in the occupied West Bank, human rights and legal experts say.Palestinian women, men and children have reported attacks, forced nudity, invasive and painful body cavity searches, Israelis exposing their genitals, including to minors, and threats of sexual violence. Continue reading...
HSBC, Barclays, Lloyds, NatWest and Santander will this week discuss with chancellor how to limit effects of conflict The 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 that comes amid increasing acceptance that a major economic hit from the Iran war is unavoidable. Continue reading...
• ICICI Bank reported Q4 FY26 net profit of ₹12,949 Cr, surpassing street estimates and bringing annual profit to ₹50,000 Cr milestone.
• The bank declared a ₹12 dividend per share, signaling confidence in its financial performance and shareholder returns.
• Strong Q4 results reflect robust performance in India's banking sector amid evolving market conditions.
• Fraud incidents continue climbing at US banks even with substantial spending on advanced detection tools and analytics.
• The gap highlights limitations in current tech defenses against evolving fraudster tactics.
• This trend matters as it pressures financial institutions to innovate faster, amid rising economic impacts from cyber fraud.
Finance chiefs to join exercise in Washington designed to assess how they would handle collapse of significant bankThe bosses of the central banks and treasuries of the UK, US and EU are to take part in a war game in Washington on Saturday to test how they would handle the collapse of a globally significant bank.Amid growing unease over the risks to global financial stability, the most senior officials from the US Federal Reserve, the European Central Bank and the Bank of England – including its governor, Andrew Bailey – are expected to take part. Continue reading...
• Business banking startup Slash Financial announced $100 million in Series C funding at a $1.4 billion valuation, led by Ribbit Capital, Khosla Ventures, and Goodwater Capital.
• The funds will accelerate development of its AI-driven back office for small and midsized online businesses.
• Founded in 2020, Slash provides an autonomous finance platform, positioning it as a key player in fintech automation.
Release of new Claude model, so far limited to US firms, will expand to British institutions in coming daysBritish banks will be given access in the next week to a powerful AI tool that was deemed too dangerous to be released to the public, as a series of senior finance figures warned over its impact.Anthropic, which has so far limited the release of the new model to a small clutch of primarily US businesses, including Amazon, Apple and Microsoft, said it would expand that to UK financial institutions in the coming days. Continue reading...
Though welcomed by chefs and campaigners, many schools say the government’s plan to remove ‘grab and go’ options from the menu is a step too farIt is lunchtime at Richard Challoner school, a Catholic comprehensive for boys in New Malden, south-west London. The familiar smell of school lunch is beginning to waft around the corridors.In the canteen, there is a moment of calm as the kitchen team make final preparations before year 7 descend – a mass of chatting, laughing boys, with backpacks swinging and empty tummies grumbling. Continue reading...
Thieves believed to have escaped into sewers after holding staff and customers in Crédit Agricole branch for two hoursArmed robbers held 25 people hostage at a bank in Naples for two hours on Thursday, before fleeing through a tunnel.The three thieves entered a branch of Crédit Agricole in the southern Italian city at about 11.30am, taking hostage of staff and customers, who were freed by police a couple of hours later. Continue reading...
Six lenders, including Bank of America, Morgan Stanley and JP Morgan report jump in first-quarter earningsBusiness live – latest updatesBig US banks raked in nearly $50bn (£37bn) worth of profits in the first three months of the year, as they benefited from stock market turbulence triggered by the US-Israeli war on Iran.Wall Street’s largest lenders have reported a jump in first-quarter earnings, reflecting the surge in demand for trading services as investors dumped risky stocks and bonds and sought safer havens for their cash. Continue reading...
• Finance ministers and central bank governors gathered in Washington for IMF and World Bank Spring Meetings are confronting an unprecedented global energy shock caused by the Iran war and Strait of Hormuz closure, according to IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva.
• Georgieva warned that "there will be no neat and clean return to the status quo ante," indicating long-term economic impacts regardless of ceasefire outcomes or efforts to reopen shipping routes.
• The energy crisis is already affecting hundreds of millions of people globally, with decisions made at the meetings regarding resource allocation and emergency funding expected to have tangible impacts on livelihoods in the coming weeks.
Incident took place in small village on day pupils were due back in class for first time in more than 40 daysIsraeli forces have fired teargas at Palestinian schoolchildren who were staging a sit-in in the occupied West Bank after settlers blocked access to their school.The Israeli military said it had dispersed an “unusual gathering”, but did not specify whether its troops had fired teargas at the children on the first day of class since the start of the Iran war. Continue reading...
• Anthropic postponed releasing Claude Mythos, an AI excelling at coding and vulnerability scanning, following high-level meetings with US financial regulators.
• Mythos demonstrated ability to chain unknown security flaws in software at unprecedented speed, sparking 'agent-to-agent war' concerns in cyberspace.
• Partners like Amazon, Apple, Microsoft, Google, Cisco, CrowdStrike, and JPMorgan Chase received restricted previews under Project Glasswing.