Braintree District Council has proposed freezing its share of council tax for 2026/27, keeping the Band D charge at £206.01, and plans extra funding for community projects including £255,000 for festive lights and £400,000 over two years for cost-of-living support.
Barratt and David Wilson Homes gave a £500 donation to Cat Assist Team Whitchurch (CATW), a volunteer-run rescue that opened in 2020 and cares for sick and abandoned cats in the Whitchurch area.
Researchers report a hand stencil in Sulawesi dated to at least 67,800 years ago, described as the oldest securely dated cave art, and the cave sequence shows painting continued across many millennia with later additions around 4,000 years ago.
Astronauts evacuated from the International Space Station spoke publicly after a rare medical evacuation, and one crew member said the onboard portable ultrasound "came in super handy".
Officials say a landslide at Mount Maunganui Beachside Holiday Park has left multiple children unaccounted for while emergency services search the site; a separate landslip in Welcome Bay killed two people, authorities said.
Official figures show public sector net borrowing was £11.6bn in December, down from £18.7bn a year earlier, with year-to-date borrowing at £140.4bn.
Grenoside Pantomime, based at Grenoside Community Centre in Sheffield, is staging its 50th annual show with The Little Mermaid, opening on 30 January and planned for eight performances.
Construction has started on Basildon Health Centre in the Eastgate Centre; the first phase is due by autumn and aims to provide about 50,000 appointments a year.
A woman in Wiltshire was diagnosed with cervical cancer after attending a routine screening and was later declared cancer-free following treatment.
Crimestoppers has offered a £20,000 reward for information after fresh DNA testing cleared Peter Sullivan, who had spent 38 years in prison for the 1986 murder of Diane Sindall.
