Rio de Janeiro's IT agency IplanRIO launched Rio 3.5, a 397B parameter AI model, claiming it surpassed leading models. Nex-AGI, an AI alliance, revealed Rio 3.5 is largely a merge of their Nex N2 Pro model and Alibaba's Qwen 3.5, sparking an attribution dispute.
Citigroup introduces a blockchain platform for tokenized shares of pre-IPO companies, targeting wealthy and institutional investors, with initial access for foreign investors and later expansion to the US.
Germany's Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil plans to ease the controversial receipt obligation. Initially, receipts for purchases up to 30 euros will be abolished, with a shift towards digital receipts. The government also aims to tighten cash register requirements to combat tax evasion.
Two letters debate public sector defined-benefit pension schemes. One argues the £1tn liability figure is misleading and that good pensions help attract staff, while the other suggests raising pay to allow workers to fund their own pensions.
Former Indian cricketer Kirti Azad has debunked a viral social media image claiming to be the hotel bill from India's 1983 World Cup victory celebrations. Azad stated the receipt from London's Grosvenor Hotel is fake, including a forged Kapil Dev signature, and that celebrations occurred at the Westmoreland Hotel.
The UN has received a letter from Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov containing 12 questions regarding the Bucha incident. A response has been drafted but not yet sent.
Greece's state budget surplus in Q1 2026 exceeded its target by more than double, reaching €5.175 billion. However, the headline figure was inflated by one-off entries, with the underlying surplus estimated at €358m.
Financial advisors warn that HSA holders risk IRS penalties if they don't keep receipts for out-of-pocket medical expenses when using the account as a long-term investment vehicle. While HSAs offer triple tax advantages, account holders must maintain documentation for decades if they wait to reimburse themselves, as the three-year audit clock starts at the time of withdrawal, not the original expense.
Evidence from the Epstein files suggests the late financier housed alleged abuse victims in London flats after UK police decided not to investigate trafficking claims. Six women have since accused Epstein of sexual abuse.
UK government borrowing fell to £132bn in the year to March 2026, down almost £20bn from the previous year. The figure came in slightly below the £132.7bn forecast by the Office for Budget Responsibility. March borrowing alone was £12.6bn, the lowest for that month since 2022. Borrowing as a percentage of GDP fell to 4.3%, its lowest level since 2019-20, just before the Covid pandemic.
Researchers from the National Museum of Denmark and University of Copenhagen have identified what may be the world's oldest known beer receipt, a 4,000-year-old cuneiform tablet recording 16 litres of high-quality beer and 55 litres of ordinary beer delivered by a man named Ayalli for workers in the Sumerian city of Umma. The discovery challenges assumptions that early writing was used mainly for literature or royal monuments, demonstrating instead that practical administrative purposes like tracking trade, labour and resources drove the development of writing systems.
