What has gone wrong at Zipcar – and is UK car-sharing market dead?

Rotherhithe Community Kitchen in south London has been delivering hundreds of cooked meals a week for the last two years to pensioners and vulnerable residents. Yet the volunteer group’s plans have been thrown into disarray by the news that they will not have access to cars and vans on New Year’s Day.The group had relied on Zipcar, the car-sharing company that offered customers the ability to access its fleet of vehicles from the street using an app. The company caused shock across London on Monday when it said it would shut down UK operations from 1 January.It will mean many of the volunteers will be unable to collect food from the Felix Project, a charity that gathers surplus food from supermarkets, cafes and restaurants

UK’s small brewers call for chancellor to think again on business rates

Brewers have joined calls for the chancellor to reconsider changes to business rates that it says could be “the difference between closure and survival” for pubs.In an open letter to Rachel Reeves, the Society of Independent Brewers and Associates, which represents about 700 beer makers, said it wanted to “express our deep concern at the impact of last week’s business rates decisions on the hospitality sector”.Many hospitality businesses are already battling lacklustre trade as consumers rein in spending on non-essentials amid higher household bills, food price rises and tax increases.In her budget last week, Reeves announced she was introducing “permanently lower tax rates for over 750,000 retail, hospitality and leisure properties”, paid for with higher rates on the UK’s biggest businesses, including tech companies such as Amazon.The package included £3

The AI boom is heralding a new gold rush in the American west

Driving down the interstate through the dry Nevada desert, there are few signs that a vast expanse of new construction is hiding behind the sagebrush-covered hills. But just beyond a massive power plant and transmission towers that march up into the dusty brown mountains lies one of the world’s biggest buildouts of datacenters – miles of new concrete buildings that house millions of computer servers.The Guardian’s journalism is independent. We will earn a commission if you buy something through an affiliate link. Learn more

Hundreds of Australians complain of wrongful social media account closures but ombudsman can’t help

More than 1,500 Australians in the past two-and-a-half years have complained to the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman about digital platforms, with a third complaining about wrongful account terminations.But the TIO – which is responsible for complaints about mobile phone service, land lines and internet services – has no powers to do anything about it.The TIO’s report, released on Wednesday, comes before Australia’s social media ban, which will see teenagers under 16 banned from about 12 social media platforms from 10 December. The federal government has set out that the platforms must have quick appeals processes in place for people who have been wrongly assessed as being under 16 to regain access to their accounts.In the report, the TIO referred to Karen – not her real name – whose business page on social media was linked to her personal account

Lando Norris rules out asking McLaren for team orders to help F1 title bid

Lando Norris would not want McLaren to have to use team orders to aid him in winning his first world championship at the season finale in Abu Dhabi this weekend. Both he and his teammate, Oscar Piastri, insisted they had not yet discussed the potential use of orders for the decisive grand prix.Norris goes into the 24th and final race of the season as favourite but still in a close, high-pressure fight with Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and Piastri, enjoying a 12-point lead on Verstappen and 16 on Piastri. Norris will take his first title if he finishes in front of both his rivals or claims third place or better. Verstappen would need to win and hope Norris finishes outside the podium places while Piastri would need to win and have Norris finish sixth or lower

Nathan Lyon in ‘filthy’ mood after Test omission as Crawley hails ‘phenomenal’ Root

Nathan Lyon admitted he was furious after being dropped by Australia for the first time in 13 years of home Tests as the battle for the Ashes got back under way in Brisbane on Thursday.In his absence Joe Root plundered the home side’s all-seam attack for an unbeaten 135 on the first day at the Gabba, his 40th Test century and his first on Australian soil, an effort Zak Crawley acclaimed as “one of his best”.Lyon, Australia’s all-time third-highest Test wicket-taker, described his mood as “absolutely filthy” as he came to terms with being snubbed. “I’m letting things settle down in my own head and trying to make sure that I’m doing whatever I can to make sure the guys representing Australia do the right thing and get the right result for us,” he said.“I’m not the first player to miss a Test match and I won’t be the last