UK government

Microsoft has pulled out of Nscale's planned AI datacentre at Loughton in Essex over power supply concerns, a fresh setback for a project the UK government hailed as the country's largest AI datacentre and a blow to the British company's ambition to float on Wall Street this year.

French police used a 4x4 vehicle paid for by British taxpayers to charge at student protesters in Dunkirk, the French government has confirmed, prompting an investigation into the misuse of UK funds intended to prevent asylum seekers crossing the Channel.

Residents of Totnes, a historic market town in Devon, have turned their Saturday gatherings on a riverside field into 'play protests' against plans to sell the land for housing. The UK government has approved the sale of the 1.5-hectare Lower Field by King Edward VI Community College, and campaigners fear the loss of a beloved open space used for decades.

The UK government is drawing up plans to force employers in England to pay more to train workers over the age of 25 than youth apprentices, as part of an effort to reverse a sharp decline in young people entering apprenticeships. The Guardian understands ministers intend to overhaul the apprenticeship funding scheme, increasing the cost of training an older worker by 25% to encourage businesses to hire and train younger staff instead.