NatWest faces £140m hit from Iran war as UK growth slows and inflation rises

NatWest said the economic fallout from the conflict in the Middle East could cost it £140m amid slowing growth and rising inflation even as it reported profits ahead of expectations.Overall, the FTSE 100 lender booked a £283m impairment charge and said that almost half of that was because of a reassessment of its economic forecast to “reflect increased geopolitical risk and weaker equity markets”.The bank said it expected its base case for UK gross domestic product growth to be only 0.4% this year, half that forecast by the International Monetary Fund earlier this month.NatWest reported a 12% year-on-year increase in operating profits to £2bn in the first three months of the year, up from £1

UK house prices jump despite impact of Middle East conflict

House price growth in the UK has surprised estate agents and economists by jumping in April at the fastest annual pace in 11 months, according to Nationwide.The UK’s biggest building society said its mortgage data showed that house prices unexpectedly rose by 3% in April on a year earlier, from 2.2% in March, leaving the typical UK property worth £278,880.House prices also rose for the fourth consecutive month, increasing by 0.4% in April after a 0

Meta threatens to shut down social networks in New Mexico over child safety court case

Meta has threatened to block access to Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp in New Mexico, which would be an unprecedented move in its home country. The ultimatum, made in a court filing this week, comes after the company was found liable and fined $375m for child safety failures in a landmark lawsuit brought by the state’s attorney general. The second phase of the suit, known as the remedies phase, is scheduled to begin on Monday and will determine what actions the tech giant is obligated to take in response.Should Meta lose the second phase of trial, which will begin on 4 May, it would be compelled to introduce a series of reforms to its products. The New Mexico department of justice argues these changes would make Meta’s social networks safer for underage users in the state

Judge cuts off Musk’s AI doomsday talk as his testimony ends in OpenAI case

Elon Musk’s court case against Sam Altman continued on Thursday, after a day of contentious exchanges during OpenAI’s cross-examination of the Tesla CEO. Musk faced more combative questioning throughout the morning, in a glimpse of what may await other prominent witnesses set to take the stand.Witness testimony and evidence has revealed formerly private emails, text messages and diary entries surrounding the formation of OpenAI, giving a behind-the-scenes look at how the tech behemoth was created. Many of the tech industry’s most powerful players are named as witnesses and will give their accounts on the origins of Musk and Altman’s bitter feud. Altman will testify later in the trial, which will last three weeks

Chess: England fail to win senior team world medals for first time in five years

England finished out of the medals for the first time in five years in this week’s world senior team championships for over-50s and over-65s, played at Durres, Albania, as the US, fielding a largely former USSR squad, retained the over-50 gold medals, while a nominally German team, which also included a former Soviet star, won the over-65s event.The US victory was clear but had a controversial aspect in the team’s use of package deals, which are forbidden in Olympiads but still allowed in senior events.Fide World Senior Teams Championships ran from 19-28 April in Durres, AlbaniaAge 50+1 USA 1 – 15 match points (25.5 game points)2 Italy – 15 (23)3 Kazakhstan – 14 (27)4 England 1 – 13 (24)5 Iceland – 12 (23.5)6 Hungary – 11 (21

Robo athletes miss the point of sport – there is no drama without emotion | Emma John

It hurts to miss an unmarked shot in basketball. And it certainly seemed to pain the Alvark Tokyo shooter, halfway through April’s Japanese league game against Shimane Susanoo Magic. As the ball bounded off the rim, the player wheeled away, head lowered, eyes downcast. The disappointment looked glaringly real.Which is interesting, because it was not