About 40 people were killed and 115 injured in a blaze at a New Year’s Eve party at an upmarket Swiss ski resort, with the disaster likened to scenes from a horror film. Most of the victims of the fire in Crans-Montana are thought to be young people, but identification of the bodies is expected…
Getty Images People in China will pay a 13% sales tax on contraceptives from 1 January, while childcare services will be exempt, as the world’s second-largest economy tries to boost birth rates. An overhaul of the tax system announced late last year removes many exemptions that were in place since 1994, when China was…
Kevin Church/BBC News These tiny beads could have been stitched onto clothing or attached to jewellery Intriguing new discoveries in a mediaeval cemetery in Wales have brought archaeologists closer to solving the mystery surrounding the women buried there. They’ve found what appears to be a small building and have unearthed domestic and decorative artefacts, including…
Contributed Edward was one of the first children in England to receive the gene therapy Zolgensma through the NHS. A five-year-old boy who received the world’s most expensive drug as a baby has made “incredible progress” and can walk independently, his mother said. Edward, from Colchester, has spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), which means he lacks…
Wide demonstrations erupted as Iran’s deteriorating economy sparked unrest in the Islamic republic’s rural provinces on Thursday, resulting in at least six deaths in the first clashes between security forces and protesters, officials said. The deaths could mark the beginning of a tough response by Iran’s theocracy to the demonstrations, which have slowed in the…
Getty Images The era of complete anonymity in cryptocurrency transactions is rapidly closing. Governments around the world are implementing stringent new regulations, forcing crypto users to share account details with tax officials. The global shift aims to close the “tax gap” by reporting and taxing digital asset transactions like any other investment. Why This is…
BBC Regular meet-ups with children at a Portadown primary school have provided “a lifeline” for some elderly residents of nearby retirement housing. A scheme that started four years ago brings Primary Two pupils at Bocombra Primary School together with elderly residents living in apartments at Quarry Gardens. The five- and six-year-olds meet with their “friends”…
