The building is being redeveloped to include student accommodation and restaurant space

A former Cambridge restaurant has been demolished to make way for new student accommodation. The plans by Downing College will see a city centre site next to Parker’s Piece redeveloped into 26 student rooms with restaurant space.

Several buildings located at 19-35 Regent Street have been demolished to some extent for the redevelopment of the site. These include the former Cuba Libre restaurant and bar.

Downing College Developments Ltd submitted plans to redevelop the buildings on Regent Street. These were approved by Cambridge City Council in September 2024.

CMP Architects, who designed the project, said that the site was “occupied by poorly maintained buildings, which had been heavily and incoherently manipulated over the years”.

The planned layout will see a retail unit on the ground floor, as well as a restaurant space intended to serve both residents and visitors.

The plans include a retail unit on the ground floor, intended to provide a restaurant serving both residents and visitors. Above this, the student accommodation will feature 26 en-suite rooms

Student accommodation above the retail unit will include a total of 26 en-suites. A council officer said the development would see a “modest reduction” in market housing but would provide more “much needed” student accommodation.

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An application from The Dubliner to expand its bar area into its first floor has been approved by City of York Council.

The Irish bar’s plans stated the refurbishment would refresh the bar and help support the building’s long-term commercial viability.

But a neighbouring business objected over live music at the bar which they said could be disruptive and council public protection officers said other noise complaints had been lodged.

Council planning officers ruled the expansion would support York’s evening economy but barred the venue from staging live performances or playing recorded music on the first floor.

Plans from the bar, in Tanner’s Moat, are set to see the internal partitions separating the rooms in the first floor landlord’s accommodation demolished.

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The four-bedroom flat previously served the venue when it traded as The Maltings pub which closed prior to The Dubliner opening there in December 2024.

A new bar, seating, toilets and food preparation area are set to be created on the first floor following the demolition works.

Plans also include removing the existing ground floor kitchen and changes to the current bar to allow coffee to be served there.

Works to improve accessibility, including putting new disabled and unisex toilets on the ground floor, are also planned.

Men’s toilets on the ground floor are set to be moved to the first floor to free up room for the changes.

The Dubliner, in Tanner’s Moat, York (Image: The Dubliner)

The venue’s application stated the works would not alter the outside appearance of the building which dates back to the 19th Century.

They added the changes would help made the building’s continued use as a pub and live music venue viable.

Plans stated: “The alterations involve a significant change to extend the licensed public drinking area.

“The comprehensive internal alterations, including the crucial change of use on the first floor, are sympathetic to the building’s character, as they are contained within the existing structure.”

An objector based in neighbouring officers said they could already live bands when they play on the bar’s ground floor, though only in their kitchen and breakout rooms.

But they added they were fearful of further disruption if live music is allowed on the first floor.

Council public protection officials said they had received complaints about live music but the venue told them it had no plans for performances on the first floor.

Planning officers stated the works were considered acceptable.

They said: “The first floor has been assessed as having sufficient sound insulation between the party walls for a busy pub or bar.”

“The applicant has advised that the live music will only be in the ground floor, where a stage is provided, and no recorded or live music will be played at first floor.”

Compared to other parts of the world, the EU on the whole has been fairly reluctant to embrace digital economic innovation. The bloc has been suspicious of cryptocurrencies, and treated them as a potential threat to a financial system where stability is paramount.

But the first half of 2026 has been full of clear risks to that stability. Wars, tariffs and shaky military alliances have changed everything.

Nato has been undermined, spending priorities have changed, and trading relationships are not as solid as they used to be. As the former Italian prime minister (and former president of the European Central Bank) Mario Draghi, recently remarked: “For the first time in living memory, [the EU is] truly alone together.”

So perhaps now is the time for the EU to grab hold of some important economic innovations – and stop being so dependent on the US.

One step towards digital economic sovereignty could involve the European Central Bank (ECB) issuing the digital euro sooner than planned (it’s currently due to land in 2029). Like the digital pound being considered in the UK, a digital euro would function as public money in digital form, complementing – not replacing – physical cash. It would be backed by the ECB and usable for everyday payments across the euro zone.

A digital euro would be used by consumers and small firms every day, and is a project which has been studied by the ECB since 2020. In China, the digital yuan is already in wide circulation.

A second step could be to modernise banking infrastructure so that European (rather than US) stablecoins could be more widely used for making payments in euros.

At the moment, almost all of the world’s stablecoins (a type of cryptocurrency designed to maintain a stable value) are pegged to US government bonds. Europe should focus on creating the financial and regulatory conditions for stablecoins backed by euro bonds to run into a European digital infrastructure.

The point of a European stablecoin would be to help European firms trade more efficiently – stablecoins can be faster and cheaper than traditional fiat currencies (which are government issued). Similarly, the digital euro would aim to make retail and household payments more secure and more efficient.

Both moves would help to challenge the US dollar’s dominance when it comes to global financial transactions. And there are some very good reasons why Europe should strongly consider doing just that.

First, the EU urgently needs to prepare for the possibility that at some point, somebody in the US may consider withholding European access to the the likes of Visa, Mastercard and American Express – the systems which Europeans use to make millions of payments every day.

As a sanction, this would be extreme – but by no means impossible. It has already been imposed on some judges at the International Criminal Court who made decisions which were not liked in Washington.

Pay your own way

Another good reason to build an EU-centred payment system is that it brings autonomy for the future. For instance, Europe may become less happy about accepting a dollar-dominated trade system where Europe ends up financing the US deficit by using dollars for international transactions. Instead, it may seek to promote the euro as part of a new multi-currrency financial order.

The two innovations – European stablecoins and a digital euro – could also create an area of the global economy where Europe manages to gain a competitive advantage by looking for a third way between the US and China.

For in the US, a digital dollar issued by the FED is about to be banned by Donald Trump, partly due to concerns over privacy. And in China, national stablecoins are to be prohibited so as not to jeopardise the monopoly of the central bank.

It’s possible then, that a successful euro-pegged stablecoin market could increase international use of the euro, while also reducing the EU’s reliance on US payment systems.

Overall then, the need for stability in an increasingly unstable global economy, may be the trigger for Europe to finally embrace change. The bloc may come to view digital currencies as a vital part of its strategic infrastructure, similar to energy networks, telecommunications systems or defence capabilities.

At the very least, it should stop seeing them as a risk – and start treating them as a tool that could help to bring economic and geopolitical resilience.

Nasa has named the crew of its next Artemis mission, which it promised would be an “extraordinary demonstration of what is possible”. Artemis is the ambitious American-led effort to the return humans to the lunar surface by 2028.

However, the Artemis III mission will not travel to the Moon. Instead, the Orion spacecraft will stay in low Earth orbit and aim to dock with lunar landing vehicles launched separately by one or two space companies.

Nasa astronauts Randy Bresnik, Frank Rubio and Andre Douglas and Italian European Space Agency astronaut Luca Parmitano will carry out the mission in late 2027.

There are two potential landers that could fly on their separate mission to then rendezvous with the Orion spacecraft; one made by Elon Musk’s SpaceX and the other by Jeff Bezos’ firm Blue Origin. They will carry astronauts down to the Moon’s surface on subsequent missions.

However, the timetable for Artemis III and the first mission to return astronauts to the lunar surface (Artemis IV) has been thrown into doubt by the recent explosion of a New Glenn rocket. This rocket is intended to launch Blue Origin’s lander, called Blue Moon.

The blast could add significant delay to the Artemis schedule and there is speculation that it could even put the US out of contention to reach the Moon before China, which is planning its own Moon landing mission for 2030.

On May 28, 2026, Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket, which is able to carry heavy payloads, was undergoing a standard engine fire test. For reasons which are still unclear, a huge explosion destroyed the rocket and damaged Blue Origin’s only launchpad, located at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.

To reduce costs, Nasa’s Artemis programme relies on companies like Blue Origin to deliver key elements for lunar missions, like the landers.

Rockets capable of lifting heavy payloads into orbit will be needed for launching the building blocks of Nasa’s Moon base, which will be assembled over the next few years.

Under previous plans, SpaceX’s Starship vehicle would have been used as the lander for the first two Artemis missions to touch down on the Moon. However, Starship ran into problems during flight tests, so Nasa hatched a plan B.

This backup plan brought Blue Origin’s Blue Moon lander into the mix for Artemis IV, the first mission back to the lunar surface. Now, with the explosion, even their Plan B seems to have moved out of reach.

How bad is the situation though? Blue Origin only has one launch pad that, at the moment, cannot be used. But recent updates by the company’s CEO, Dave Limp, indicated that the situation may not be as dire as it might have been. He indicated that New Glenn might even return to launch before the end of the year.

The propellant farm (which stores the rocket fuel and oxidiser that are pumped into the rocket just before launch), as well as the water tower were undamaged. So were the booster and upper stages of another New Glenn rocket held in the pad’s integration facility. The launch tower will only need to be repaired and not rebuilt.

To gain some insight into the potential impact on the timescale for a next launch, we might be able to look at a similar situation faced by SpaceX in September 2016 where a Falcon 9 rocket exploded on one of their launchpads.

They were able to continue only four months after, but from one of their alternative launch sites, none of which were fully operational at that time. But Blue Origin has no alternative site at all. SpaceX needed more than a year to start up operations again on their damaged launch site.

Kiko Dontcev, vice president of launch at SpaceX, commented on the task ahead for Blue Origin. He described the rebuild as a high precision dissection of the damaged site to help better understand the incident. “In the initial days and weeks after you’re using a scalpel not a bulldozer,” he commented on X.

This might cast doubt on hopes that New Glenn could launch again this year. Indeed, Nasa’s chief Jared Isaacman told CNBC that the launch pad might not be restored until 2028. Currently, we just do not have the full picture of the damage and work needed. So, we can only hope that New Glenn launches can resume as soon as possible.

Nasa is already trying to limit the impact of the New Glenn explosion by urging Blue Origin to look at other rockets for launching its Blue Moon lunar landers. This would allow Nasa to still meet its deadline of landing astronauts on the Moon in 2028.

But New Glenn is still needed to land hardware such as the lunar terrain vehicles for Artemis missions and a robot rover called Viper, which will scout for water ice at the Moon’s south pole.

Exploring with pride

However, with 2030 approaching fast, the knock-on effects of the explosion could lead to China beating the US to the Moon. But the Artemis programme had already been hit by delays as a result of Nasa’s dependence on government whims and variable funding. Overall, the Artemis programme has had a relatively tight budget to work with.

Space agencies like Nasa must try (as much as possible) to decouple their efforts in space from ongoing turmoil in domestic politics. It could also do well to rely less on ventures led by billionaires, who often have their own private objectives.

One could view the Chinese lunar programme as being more stable, because of their one-party state as well as their strong sense of national pride. However, there is also a lack of transparency in their space programme and a focus on propaganda.

As an outside observer, it appears that Nasa’s current timeline for landing on the Moon and establishing a permanent lunar base is slipping away. But this may not be the disaster some in the space industry think it is. Perhaps we should embrace a pride in exploring space as a community of nations working together.

As a new growing season unfolds each spring, garden communicators receive an influx of dozens of not-yet-available sample plants from breeders and growers, tasked with evaluating their potential.

One such expert meticulously trials these new varieties. Some are integrated into existing garden beds and borders, others are placed in containers, while a dedicated “Maternity Ward” – a three-foot-deep strip of soil – houses the remainder. This rigorous observation continues throughout the entire season.

The purpose of this extensive evaluation is to provide consumers with informed recommendations. By the time these plants reach garden centers the following year, the expert can confidently highlight those that demonstrated superior performance.

While personal preferences for certain colors, shapes, and textures naturally exist, the assessment prioritizes objective merit. Key criteria include the plant’s ability to thrive, its reliability in blooming, and its resistance to disease or infestation. Such insights are crucial for gardeners before investing their hard-earned money in new introductions, regardless of their initial appeal.

This spring marks the retail debut of the plants trialed last year, with the most impressive performers now available to the public.

Digitalis Arctic Fox ‘Lemon Cream’ and ‘Rose’ foxgloves

Suitable for horticultural zones 5-9, the the old-time cottage garden biennials with bell-shaped flowers that rise on 18-24-inch spikes are known for attracting hummingbirds and pollinators. They survived an especially harsh winter in my zone 7 garden and are blooming profusely as I write. Note: Digitalis is highly poisonous, so it should be grown out of the reach of small children and pets.

Agastache mexicana Summerlong Series

Also known as hummingbird mint, the plant is available in coral, lilac, peach, magenta and lemon. Suited for zones 7-10, it grew without issues, bloomed well for a first-year plant and returned nicely in the sunny, street-facing border outside my fence. When mature, it’s expected to reach 16-22 inches tall and 16-22 inches wide.

Calibrachoa Superbells ‘Magic Double Grapefruit’

These stunning “million bells” plants produce lovely lemon-yellow buds that open to reveal double flowers, which take on a soft pink hue, creating a beautiful, mottled pink-and-yellow effect. Suitable for sun and part sun, the drought-tolerant plant reblooms through frost, trailing nicely over the edges of hanging baskets in full sun.

Anemone Harlequin ‘Cameo’

This perennial, hardy in zones 4-9, produces joy-inducing, daisy-like pink flowers with uneven petals and bright yellow centers on mounded plants from early summer through frost. Suited for full sun to part shade, the plant should reach 14” tall (26” including flower stems) and 18 inches wide.

Echinacea French Tips

Full disclosure: I’m partial to Echinacea (coneflowers) of every color and size. But I found this variety to be especially cool for its white-tipped pink petals that are reminiscent of a French manicure. The flowers land at different heights on mounded plants that attract pollinators and bloom nearly nonstop from summer through fall. Hardy in zones 4-9, they’re expected to reach 20-24 inches tall and 24 inches wide at maturity. And like most coneflowers, they’re considered deer-resistant.

Lobelia Laguna Royal Blue Pearl

These airy plants remain covered in deep blue flowers with white centers all summer long, filling sunny containers densely. They would also work well as edging plants or in rock and crevice gardens. Treated as annuals, the plants are 8-12 inches tall with a 10-12-inch spread, and are more heat-tolerant than earlier Lobelias.

Supertunia Mini Vista Pink Cloud

These petunias bloom continuously through frost as a container or bedding plant. Their ruffled petals set them apart from standard petunias, and each flower’s fading white center provides eye-catching detail against its cotton-candy pink petals. Expect them to grow 6-12 inches tall and trail up to 24 inches in a pot.

Begonia Hula White

This one demands another disclaimer: I’ve never really cared for begonias (something about their thick stems). But that all changed when I received this unique variety with a spreading habit and dense branching that allowed cheery, yellow-centered white flowers to completely obscure those stems. The plants grow 6-10 inches tall and 20-27 inches wide in either sun or shade.

Light Pink Beacon and Blue Pearl Impatiens

Beacon Impatiens are always a great choice for their resistance to downy mildew, a fatal disease that often plagues the straight species Impatiens walleriana. These new varieties produce vibrant yet elegant and understated flowers that perform like champs in full to part shade. They spread abundantly and bloomed from spring through fall. They would work equally well in beds or trailing over the sides of containers, growing 14-18 inches tall and 12-14 inches wide.

Spreading Petunia Shock Wave Rose Vein

These bi-colored beauties spread while retaining a somewhat mounded shape, so they didn’t sprawl out of control, as some petunias might. And their two-toned, boldly colored blossoms with a star-shaped center pattern commands attention without clashing with nearby plants. Grow them in full sun and expect them to reach 7-10 inches tall and 20-30 inches wide.

Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs has been accused of sexual assault of a child actor in a new lawsuit, days after a new probe into potential fresh criminal charges.

The 56-year-old rapper is already serving time in federal prison, after being charged with sex trafficking, racketeering, and transportation to engage in prostitution.

He denied all allegations and pleaded not guilty, but was eventually sentenced to two charges of transportation for prostitution.

Combs was sentenced to four years and two months in jail at the low-security prison Fort Dix in New Jersey. He also received a $500,000 (£371k) fine.

Now, a former child actor is suing him for an alleged sexual assault, which reportedly took place at a Hollywood Hills party in 2007.

According to court documents seen by TMZ, the John Doe claims he was invited to have a private talk about career opportunities by the music mogul.

The lawsuit alleges that Combs began rubbing parts of the child actor’s body once they were alone, before performing oral sex while pleasuring himself.

The man claims he said the situation made him uncomfortable before the oral sex began.

Once Combs was finished, he reportedly promised to keep the actor in mind for future opportunities and left the room. After this, the former child actor left the party.

Alongside Combs, he is also suing some agents for damages, claiming they had a duty of care to protect him from situations like this alleged assault.

In response to the claims, the former rapper’s rep, Juda Engelmayer, told TMZ: ‘The allegations from this so-called nameless child actor are false and ridiculous. 

‘He’s just another hater in a long list of people trying to get in on the money gravy train encouraged by personal injury lawyers. Mr. Combs has never sexually assaulted anyone — and that includes any child! These allegations will be disproved like all the rest.’

This new lawsuit comes as the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office confirmed that both the Los Angeles Police Department and Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department have submitted investigative presentations relating to claims made by a single alleged victim.

The case is still under review but relates to alleged victim Jonathan Hay, a publicist who filed a civil lawsuit against Combs in July 2025.

He is accusing the music mogul of sexual battery, according to the Daily Mail, with Combs denying all allegations against him.

According to Hay’s lawsuit, the alleged incidents took place in Los Angeles in 2020 and 2021 while he was working on a remix tribute project connected to the late Notorious B.I.G. alongside the rapper’s son, CJ Wallace.

During one studio session in September 2020, Combs is accused of criticising the music being produced and encouraging Hay to take ketamine.

Hay alleges in the civil filing that he was then left alone with Combs, who allegedly masturbated onto one of the late rapper’s shirts and ordered him to ‘finish him off’. The lawsuit further claims Combs threw the shirt at him afterwards.

A second incident outlined in the lawsuit claims Combs forcibly made Hay perform oral sex in March 2021.

Additionally, Wallace was accused of conspiring with others to facilitate assault, which he denied.

Combs is currently serving a prison sentence for transportation for the purposes of prostitution, but was found not guilty on more serious racketeering and sex trafficking charges.

He is currently set to be released in 2028, although he will serve more time behind bars as TMZ reported his date was bumped back an extra month.

While it is unclear why his sentence has been extended, multiple outlets have reported on the star’s alleged poor behaviour behind bars.

He was originally set to leave prison on May 8, 2028, but his release has now been pushed to June 4, 2028.

Metro has reached out to Combs’ rep for comment.

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Victor M. Rivas, 40, was detained following a major search effort that required the use of drone technology to locate him in the marshland.

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The Social Security program is on track to become insolvent by the end of 2032, a shift that would trigger an automatic 22 percent reduction in monthly checks for beneficiaries, according to the latest trustees report.

The baseline projection represents a slight acceleration from last year’s report, which estimated that the Old-Age and Survivors Insurance fund would be depleted in 2033. The Social Security Administration attributed the revised timeline to the fiscal impact of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act on the taxation of benefits.

If Congress fails to intervene before the trust funds are depleted, the agency stated it would only have sufficient revenue to cover 78 percent of scheduled benefits.

The shortfall stems from long-term demographic shifts in the United States. An aging population has resulted in a rising number of beneficiaries drawing from the system, paired with a declining ratio of active workers contributing through payroll taxes.

Policy experts stress that insolvency does not equate to total bankruptcy or the end of payments. Because the program continuously collects payroll taxes from current workers and employers, monthly checks would continue to go out, though at a reduced rate.

This is a developing story.

Punters have been pouring into the stadium and lapping up the booze ahead of what could be a wet and rainy gig.

Gary Barlow, Howard Donald and Mark Owen are bringing their circus-style tour back to Sunderland, complete with trapeze artists, balloons, and giant elephant in tow on the revival of their hit 2009 tour, which has already been branded the “greatest show in town”.

They are expected to treat fans to a set packed with their biggest hits, from Back for Good and Patience to more recent favourites, with a few new surprises also promised.

Drinks prices for the Take That concert have now been revealed.

A pint will set concertgoers back £7.50 for beer and cider, while wine and cocktail drinkers can be expected to pay about £7.95.

Sprits and Cocktails at Take That (Image: THE NORTHERN ECHO)

Beer and cider

• Madri / Carling cider – £7.50 a pint
• 2 pints – £15
• 3 pints – £22.50
• 4 pints – £30

Cans and wine

• Carling, 500ml, four percent ABV – £7.95
• Fruit / apple cider, 500ml, four percent, ABV – £7.95
• White / red wine, up to 12 per cent, ABV, 250ml – £7.95
• Rosé wine, 187ml – £7.95

Prosecco

• Prosecco, 125ml – £7.95
• Prosecco, 125ml – 2 for £15

Cocktails and mixed drinks

• Cocktail cans, 250ml, five percent, ABV – £7.95
• Cocktail cans – 2 for £15
• Blue spiced margarita, regular 285ml – £9
• Blue spiced margarita, large 455ml – £15
• Aperitivo spritz, regular 285ml – £9
• Aperitivo spritz, large 455ml – £15
• Vodka lemonade can, 250ml – £7.95
• Gin and tonic, large 250ml – £7.95

Soft drinks

• Water, 500ml – £2.95
• Coke- £3
• Fanta – £3
• Sprite – £3