George Osborne ‘thought Peter Thiel’s Bayeux tapestry visit would be secret’ 19. September 2026 (17:41) British Museum chair tells Big Brue festival he thought no one would find out about the private viewingGeorge Osborne has said he thought no one would find out about a private viewing of the Bayeux tapestry he organised for the tech billionaire Peter Thiel at the British Museum.The former chancellor, who is chair of the museum, told the Big Brue festival in Somerset that he had been on holiday when the Thiel was shown the medieval artwork. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
MS Now, CNN and Politico say their reporters have been denied access to White House 19. September 2026 (17:39) President said he was banning journalists from those organizations, saying of their coverage: ‘You get sick of it.’Journalists from three US outlets were denied access to the White House grounds on Saturday morning a day after Donald Trump said he would ban them from the executive branch complex in a move that has prompted outrage and shock from free speech advocates.The outlets were television broadcasters MS now and CNN as well as the political news website Politico. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Thick smoke seen near Riyadh airport after air-raid alerts in Saudi capital 19. September 2026 (16:54) Authorities also issued warnings for Jeddah and Yanbu, a major industrial port and home to vital oil facilitiesFlames and a large plume of black smoke were seen rising above Riyadh airport in Saudi Arabia on Saturday after the government sent air-raid alerts to citizens by phone overnight warning of aerial attacks.Explosions were heard in the capital and firefighters battled to extinguish the flames of a burning fuel tank emblazoned with the logo of the Saudi oil company Aramco near the city’s King Khalid international airport. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Jewish heirs of Holocaust victims sue California museum over Nazi-looted art 19. September 2026 (16:52) Pasadena’s Norton Simon Museum holds 16th-century paintings stolen by the Nazis during the second world warJewish heirs of Holocaust victims and their representatives have filed two lawsuits in California staking their claims to Nazi-looted paintings that still hang on the walls of prominent museums in Los Angeles and Auschwitz.This pair of lawsuits are the first to be filed after the recent passage of laws by California and the US Congress, which strengthen US-based claims to artwork that were forcibly taken from Jewish families during the second world war. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Trump’s battle to rename the Kennedy Center has put its future at risk 19. September 2026 (15:30) The president has threatened to block renovations and suggested the landmark could be demolished after courts ruled against his bid to rename it It was born with the world premiere of Leonard Bernstein’s Mass. “Young people will come here and they will see this cultural centre,” Rose Kennedy, the mother of slain US president John F Kennedy, said at that opening night gala. “They will carry some of these ideas back to their different communities.”More than half a century later, the potential death knell came just after 4.30pm on Tuesday with a perfunctory announcement on the public address system: “The centre is now closed to the public. Please exit the centre by way of the Hall of States.” Soon barricades had been erected and security guards were blocking access. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
