News 15/04/26

Two people have been arrested after an attempted arson attack on a north London synagogue, according to the Metropolitan Police.

The incident in Finchley is being treated as an antisemitic hate crime. Officers arrested a forty seven year old woman in Watford on suspicion of arson endangering life, and later detained a forty six year old man on the same suspicion.

Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey says the central bank will not rush decisions on interest rates despite what he called a big energy shock.

Speaking at the IMF in Washington, he said higher oil and gas prices will feed through to prices, but factors make decisions very difficult ahead of the next rate announcement on the thirtieth of April.

The home secretary says sham lawyers who help abuse the asylum system will face the full force of the law.

Shabana Mahmood was responding to a BBC investigation which found firms charging thousands to help migrants pretend to be gay to remain in the UK. The Home Office says it is investigating those identified after a rise in false claims.

The BBC has announced plans to cut between one thousand eight hundred and two thousand jobs as it faces significant financial pressures.

It aims to save five hundred million pounds over the next two years. Interim director general Rhodri Talfan Davies says difficult decisions are inevitable and no options are off the table, including potentially closing entire channels or services.

Developers planning sixteen hundred homes have boarded up the former Thames Valley University site in Slough with advertising without permission.

A retrospective planning application has been submitted to the local council to display adverts around the North West Quadrant. The site was sold in twenty twenty three to support regeneration plans after being originally bought by the council in twenty sixteen.

Two police officers have been charged following the death of a heavily pregnant woman and her unborn baby in south east London.

The 38 year old died after her car was in a collision with a police vehicle on Eltham Road in October 2024, with her baby also not surviving. The Crown Prosecution Service has authorised a charge of causing death by dangerous driving against Metropolitan Police officer Chris Johnson, 56, who was driving one of the vehicles involved. Former officer Danny Tomkins, 35, has also been charged with dangerous driving over the standard of his driving.

Detectives are appealing for witnesses after an attempted arson attack on a synagogue in north London being treated as an antisemitic hate crime.

Two suspects wearing dark clothing and balaclavas approached the building in Fallow Court Avenue, Finchley, shortly after midnight on Wednesday and threw two bottles thought to contain petrol along with a brick. Neither bottle ignited, there was no damage to the synagogue and no injuries were reported by police.

The US president has posted on social media claiming China is very happy he is permanently opening the Strait of Hormuz.

He said he was doing it for China as well as the world and added the situation would never happen again. He also claimed China had agreed not to send weapons to Iran and said President Xi would welcome him when he visits in a few weeks.

A BBC investigation has found a shadow industry of law firms and advisers charging thousands of pounds to help migrants pretend to be gay to remain in the UK.

Undercover reporting revealed people nearing the end of their visas were given false cover stories and coached on creating fabricated evidence, including letters, photographs and medical reports. They then applied for asylum claiming they would be at risk if returned to countries including Pakistan or Bangladesh. The Home Office says anyone exploiting the system will face the full force of the law, including removal.

Skywatchers are being told to look up as the Lyrid meteor shower returns from the sixteenth of April.

The display is caused by Earth passing through debris left by Comet Thatcher. Around ten to fifteen meteors an hour are expected, with occasional surges reaching up to one hundred. The shower is named after the constellation Lyra, where the meteors appear to originate, and is due to peak on the twenty second of April.

US President Donald Trump says America’s trade deal with the UK can always be changed.

Speaking to Sky News, he said the agreement was better than it needed to be but suggested relations have been stronger in the past. He has criticised Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer over his stance on the Iran conflict, but said tensions would not affect the upcoming state visit by King Charles and Queen Camilla.

Google says it is tightening rules on websites using so called back button hijacking.

The tactic prevents users leaving a page and can display unwanted adverts. The company says it has seen a rise in this behaviour and will treat it as malicious from the fifteenth of June, meaning sites could be downgraded or removed from search results.

AA and BSM driving schools have been ordered to refund more than 80,000 learner drivers after using drip pricing.

The Competition and Markets Authority says the firms, both owned by the AA, owe more than £760,000 to customers. The AA has also been fined £4.2m for breaching consumer law, marking the first financial penalty issued by the regulator under its new enforcement powers.

Donald Trump has criticised Pope Leo and NATO in posts on Truth Social. He said Iran having a nuclear bomb is unacceptable and claimed it has killed at least forty two thousand protesters in two months.

In another message he said NATO was not there for the United States and would not be there in the future.

The health secretary has accused the NHS of an appalling culture of medical misogyny as he set out measures in a renewed Womens Health Strategy.

Wes Streeting said there is everyday sexism and the changes aim to stop women being ignored, gaslit, humiliated and disrespected. The strategy says outcomes have worsened with falling life expectancy and fewer women staying healthy until retirement.

A survey suggests sixty six percent of people in Britain are worried about their finances, with many cutting back on food and heating.

Thirty eight percent say their situation has worsened over the past year. A quarter have used savings and some have borrowed from family or friends. More than half say they are in debt and many report what they owe is rising.