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Exclusive: devolving tax is part of plans to give local areas more power in areas including justice, health and educationMinisters are considering handing over billions of pounds raised by business rates to regional mayors as part of one of the biggest shake-ups of the English tax system in recent years.Steve Reed, the local government secretary, said the government was working on plans to devolve the tax, which has been the subject of recent protests by pubs and other hospitality businesses. Continue reading...

‘Coastal uplift’ exposes coral and kills marine life, as residents say shorelines extended by up to 200 metresA powerful earthquake that killed at least 61 people in the Philippines this week raised the seabed by as much as 2 metres (6.6 feet), exposing coral and harming marine life, the environment department said on Sunday.At least 40 people are still missing after the 7.8-magnitude tremor in southern Mindanao island on Monday, according to updated tolls from the disaster agency. Continue reading...

• Creator Fund has raised $56 million to implement the Silicon Valley student venture capital model within Europe, focusing on backing PhD founders at the earliest stages. • The funding round was led by KfW Capital, the venture arm of Germany’s state development bank, with additional support from the Export and Investment Fund of Denmark and over 70 limited partners. • This initiative is significant as it targets high-potential academic researchers before they have developed formal pitch decks, bridging the gap between deep-tech research and commercialization.

• Nscale, a crypto-mining spinout from Arkon Energy, has emerged as a leading provider of AI data center infrastructure in Europe. • The company has raised nearly $4 billion from major industry players, including Nvidia, Dell, and Nokia, recently closing a $2 billion Series C round. • This funding has propelled Nscale to a $14.6 billion valuation, marking one of the largest Series C rounds for any European company.

Family were enjoying a waterside barbecue in Bochum before members ended up in jeoparty in riverA cyclist has been praised for having “stepped in decisively” and rescuing four members of a family who nearly drowned in the Ruhr River in Germany during a waterside barbecue that nearly ended in tragedy.The family of eight had set themselves up on the riverbank in the western city of Bochum, the local fire brigade reported, but the gathering took a panicked turn when one woman got too close to the water’s edge and toppled down into the current, police told local media. Continue reading...

Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre’s assessment means terror attack ‘highly likely’The UK terrorism threat level has been raised to “severe” by the Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre after the Golders Green stabbings, meaning a terror attack is thought to be “highly likely”.The home secretary, Shabana Mahmood, described Wednesday’s attack as a vile act of terrorism. “Today, the national threat level has increased to ‘severe’, which means a terrorist attack is considered highly likely,” she said. Continue reading...

Ajay Haridasse needed assistance at 26-mile markAaron Beggs and Robson De Oliveira came to aidA pair of Boston Marathon runners who teamed up to help a fellow athlete across the race’s finish line have been praised for their “beautiful moment” of sportsmanship.Ajay Haridasse, a 21-year-old university student from Wakefield, Massachusetts, found himself stumbling after passing the 26-mile mark in Monday’s race. After falling for a fourth time, he was “getting ready to crawl” to the finish line, Haridasse told the Boston Herald. Continue reading...

Exclusive: The club, owned by Hollywood stars Ryan Reynolds and Rob Mac, received the grant without a contract or final state aid assessment in placeWrexham AFC, the football club part-owned by Hollywood stars Ryan Reynolds and Rob Mac, was given a £3.8m government grant without a contract or a finished state aid assessment in place, raising questions over whether the award was lawful.The club has received £18m in taxpayer-funded grants – far more than any other in the UK – to help to redevelop its stadium, the Racecourse Ground (Y Cae Ras in Welsh). Continue reading...

Locals say the Ha Giang loop is rugged, unpredictable and congested, with some guides not prioritising safetyThe recent death of a British gap-year student on the Ha Giang loop, a popular motorcycle tour through the mountains in north Vietnam, has heightened concerns about a trail reputed to be one of the most dangerous in the country.Orla Wates, 19, from Surrey, was riding as a pillion passenger when she fell off and was hit by an oncoming truck, according to local media. She was taken to hospital in Hanoi, where she died from her injuries last week. Continue reading...

Documents obtained by Guardian show company increased different fees to ‘offset revenue loss’ from FTC rule changeFollowing a wave of regulations banning the surprise fees that appear at the end of a transaction, Ticketmaster stopped charging the extra few dollars it added to each order at checkout. Typically shared with the venue, the order processing fee was a boon to a global platform that sells hundreds of millions of tickets a year.But documents obtained by the Guardian show that while Ticketmaster eliminated this fee to comply with the rules, the company simply raised the cost of different fees in a number of its venues to ensure it didn’t lose money. Continue reading...

Nasa reports show repeated warnings of close calls before crash that killed two pilots and injured 41 othersSign up for the Breaking News US email to get newsletter alerts in your inboxPilot safety concerns about New York’s LaGuardia airport were filed to aviation officials months before Sunday’s collision between an airplane and a firetruck left two pilots dead and 41 other people hospitalized.According to the aviation safety reporting system administered by the US space agency Nasa, a pilot using the airport in the summer wrote, “Please do something,” after air traffic controllers failed to provide appropriate guidance about multiple nearby aircraft. Continue reading...

Daria Boyarskaya coordinating OSCE mission to monitor next month’s parliamentary vote in countryHungarian rights groups have raised concerns over the appointment of Vladimir Putin’s former interpreter to a key role in an international election monitoring mission, amid fears of Russian interference ahead of Hungary’s crucial vote next month.Daria Boyarskaya, who worked for many years for Russia’s foreign ministry and interpreted in numerous high-level meetings including one between Putin and Donald Trump, is now a senior adviser at the parliamentary assembly of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE-PA), based in Vienna. She is coordinating the body’s mission to monitor next month’s parliamentary election in Hungary. Continue reading...

Reform UK leader was paid to make remarks about imprisoned rapper and ex-Honduran president in Cameo videosNewly unearthed Nigel Farage videos reveal support for rioter, neo-Nazi event and far-right slogansNigel Farage called for the release of the imprisoned rapper Sean “Diddy” Combs and commended the efforts to free a former Honduran president jailed in the US for drug trafficking.The Reform UK leader was paid to make the remarks on the personalised video platform Cameo, which allows users to commission celebrities and public figures to record short video clips. Continue reading...