As Maria Balshaw steps down after nine years, her successor at the gallery needs to forge a fresh financial and cultural path

Roland Rudd, the chair of Tate, is in a bullish mood when we meet at his offices in the Adelphi Building, which sits on the Thames between the art institution’s two London sites. “Things have never been better,” he says.

It’s a rebuff to any suggestion that the organisation is in flux – and, as if he were expecting the question to arise, Rudd produces a piece of paper from his suit pocket with notes to prove his point. The recent wins, he says, are so numerous that he has written them down so as not to forget any.

Claim of nefarious plot draws attention of lawmakers and president – but are disappearances and deaths really linked?

Are the disappearances or deaths of at least 11 US scientists, each allegedly connected in some way to space, defense and nuclear research, really linked in a nefarious plot: one that involves the Chinese or other state enemies, or possibly links back to UFOs?

A conspiracy theory positing exactly that has roared through sections of the US population in recent weeks, spreading rapidly from the internet into rightwing media and hence into the mainstream press and prompting an inquiry from Congress and questions from Donald Trump.

Christine Dawood found herself trapped on the ship, waiting for signs that the Titan submersible carrying her family would surface. She talks in detail for the first time about those harrowing four days

Walking into Christine Dawood’s kitchen, it’s impossible not to be drawn to the model Titanic in the centre of the room. Sitting in its own glass-fronted cabinet, the Lego ship is almost 1.5 metres long, constructed of 9,090 of the iconic plastic bricks. Dawood’s 19-year-old son Suleman spent almost two weeks building it. “People are always a bit shocked to see it,” she admits. “But what was I going to do? Break it up? Hide it away? Suleman put all those hours in. He’d been fascinated with the Titanic since we went to a huge exhibition when we lived in Singapore.“

I went to that same exhibition when it came to London, and remember marvelling at the china dinner plates that had survived intact; the unused lifejackets that had failed to save someone; the sheet music belonging to the orchestra who had supposedly bravely played even as the ship went down. Instead of a ticket, you were given a replica boarding pass with a real passenger’s name on it. At the end, you could find out who survived and who didn’t.

Being financially equipped to retire feels like a fantasy. And yet plenty of people who could do so are avoiding it

“Retirement.” A word I can hardly spell anymore, it seems so abstract and impossible – like a science-fiction concept from a tattered old novel. In the classic film Blade Runner, “retirement” is the term used to describe the brutal ritual of future cops executing rogue androids called replicants (which auto-correct just tried to turn into “Republicans” against my will, though maybe Google Docs has a Freudian slip function now).

The Blade Runner version of retirement strikes me as more feasible for modern humans – getting blasted by a jackbooted assassin with a phallic-looking blaster – than the traditional process. Actual retirement – cocktails on the beach in between golf games – is as distant as the farthest known star. As glamorous as my life must seem to you, dear reader, it is not that at all. Like most creative types who never bothered to learn to code, I scrape by every month, white-knuckling until the next heaven-sent direct deposit.

The White Lotus actor on an awful audition, an important lesson and her first kiss with Leo Woodall

Born in Massachusetts, Meghann Fahy, 36, understudied for the musical Next to Normal in 2008 and went on to play a principal character on Broadway from 2010 to 2011. On television she was cast in the soap One Life to Live in 2010 and starred in the comedy drama The Bold Type from 2017 to 2021. She appears in The White Lotus season two, The Perfect Couple, Sirens and the forthcoming The Good Daughter. Her films include the thriller Drop, and Rebuilding with Josh O’Connor, in cinemas now. Her partner is the actor Leo Woodall and she lives in New York City.

When were you happiest?
When I realised that I could get myself through anything that came my way.

Many people are taking action now, from taking family on holiday to paying off grandchildren’s student loans or giving tax-free gifts

Many of us are still getting our heads around the price increases and tax tweaks that took effect this month, but you might want to give some thought to next April.

Some big changes to pensions, savings and investments are coming down the track, and there are things you can do now and in the coming months to get ready for them.

Exclusive: Extra social media checks brought in amid growing threat to politicians from extremists

The security company that provides bodyguards for MPs has tightened its vetting processes after it sent a bodyguard with far-right links to protect a politician who was under threat from extremists.

Mitie, which has a £31m contract for the work, is updating its CPO (Close Protection Operative) vetting processes to include regular social media checks. There will also be random checks on the social media activity of those already taken on.

French president cites joint military aid to Cyprus as proof of Europe’s ability to defend itself during trip to Athens

Emmanuel Macron has spoken up for Europe’s ability to defend itself, saying a mutual assistance clause, enshrined in the EU treaty, was unambiguous and “not just words”.

The French president said the pact had already been proved in action when several member states sent military aid to Cyprus after a drone attack against a British airbase on the island on 28 February.

What a barnstorming finish to this FA Cup semi-final, which featured three goals in eight minutes and ended with Nico González as the hero who swept Manchester City to a historic fourth consecutive final.

The Spaniard’s winner came in the 87th minute. Bernardo Silva, only just introduced by Pep Guardiola, tapped to Jérémy Doku, who fed González. From outside Southampton’s area, to the left, the midfielder let go a rising 30-yard shot that rocketed into the net and left Tonda Eckert’s team heartbroken, having taken the lead not long before.

US president says ‘too much time’ has been ‘wasted on traveling’ as Israel strikes Lebanon, claiming Hezbollah also launched rockets

We have some images coming through the newswires of Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, speaking with Pakistan’s army chief, Asim Munir, and other officials in Islamabad this morning.

Araghchi arrived in Pakistan last night. He wrote on social media that his trip would focus on “bilateral matters and regional developments”.