The U.S. capture of Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro has Russia extremely worried - and it could have a big impact on the war in Ukraine.
How much protection does the benefit system afford the newly unemployed? We use UK bank account data to track financial impacts of job loss. Workers who lose their job and receive unemployment benefits see their spending decline by around 20% in the first few months following job loss.
Aman Navani, Research and Policy Analyst, Work Foundation at Lancaster University examines the future difficulties of the Minimum Wage looking forward. The UK Government has announced a 4.1% increase in the National Living Wage from April 2026, offering an above-inflation boost for millions of low-paid workers who continue to face cost-of-living pressures.
While UK Budget consequentials and economic developments have eased day-to-day spending pressures, Shona Robison will have her work cut out to decide how to plug a £1 billion-plus gap in capital spending plans she announced just over six months ago. This is the headline message of Scotland's Budget Report 2026-27, which is published on 9 January 2026 by the Fraser of Allander Institute at the University of Strathclyde.
Where the US has moved from "hot" to “cooling,” the UK has moved from fragile recovery to near-stagnation. UK GDP growth has been weak to flat, with repeated quarters hovering around zero.
For the past few years, the defining feature of the US economy was exceptional resilience. It had shown Strong job creation, Rapid wage growth, High consumer spending and businesses hoarding labour after post-pandemic shortages.
A growing number of high-paid professionals in the UK are choosing to work fewer hours. Some commentators claim this signals economic weakness, declining productivity, or the consequence of bad tax policy.
UK is now accelerating £200 million to equip UK Armed Forces with new kit to be ready to deploy as part of the Multinational Force for Ukraine. The Government has allocated £200 million of funding to prepare the UK Armed Forces to deploy as part of the Multinational Force for Ukraine (MNFU), the Defence Secretary has announced during a visit to Ukraine.
Update - A new warning for Sunday 11 January 2025. Friday Ice is expected to form widely again as surfaces refreeze through the evening and overnight.
The Highland Council's Justice Service team in Inverness will be hosting an open day on Wednesday 28 January. This is a chance for members of the public to come along and find out more about community sentences in Scotland and particularly in Inverness and surrounding areas.
In recent months there has been growing debate over business rates in the UK, particularly following indications that the UK government is reversing part of its planned approach in England. This has led to questions about whether a full policy U-turn is taking place and how developments in England might affect Scotland, where business rates are devolved.
Over 40,000 people were signed off work every day by GPs over the last year, a new analysis reveals. Five million people now claiming benefits with no requirement to work, including 300,000 under-24s.
In January 2026, the Trump administration unveiled a radical overhaul of U.S. dietary guidelines, marking one of the most significant shifts in federal nutrition policy in decades.
Historic Environment Scotland (HES) must put strong controls in place to prevent fraud and ensure value for money after unacceptable weaknesses were found in its governance. The audit of HES's 2024/25 accounts reported weaknesses in governance arrangements, including: procurement issues, data breaches, unclear processes for complimentary tickets to events at its venues, and no formal register of interests for the Executive Leadership Team.
For years, Highland communities have been told that relief was just around the corner. The A9 would be dualled by 2025.
Caithness has long been the forgotten corner of the Highlands when it comes to road investment. Councillors and communities have heard pledge after pledge: resurfacing programmes, capital budgets, "priority works." Yet when the tar cools and the winter rains return, the fabric of those promises begins to tear.
Time to decide if you have not already..
Partnership to increase economic opportunities with the Greater Paris Region. Scottish businesses will benefit from strengthened links with the Greater Paris Region following a new partnership agreement between the Scottish Government and Île-de-France.
Across the world's oceans sails a shadowy fleet of tankers — vessels with transponders switched off, flags obscured, and ownership hidden behind shell companies. This "dark fleet" has become the lifeline of sanctioned regimes such as Iran, Venezuela, and Russia, moving oil illicitly to buyers willing to risk reputational damage for cheap barrels.
Greenland, the largest island on Earth, possesses some of the richest stores of natural resources anywhere in the world. These include critical raw materials - resources such as lithium and rare earth elements (REEs) that are essential for green technologies, but whose production and sustainability are highly sensitive - plus other valuable minerals and metals, and a huge volume of hydrocarbons including oil and gas.