Following the announcement on 23 December 2025 that Air Charter Scotland have been appointed to take over the Wick-Aberdeen air service, tickets for the service are now available for sale. Tickets can be bought directly from the operator at https://aircharterscotland.com/ , and will also be available through online vendors such as Google Flights and Skyscanner.
Buy-now-pay-later is an appealing proposition. You get what you want now, but you delay settling the bill until later, with no interest and no fees.
Ketamine use in the UK has increased sharply over the past decade, shifting from a niche club drug to a mainstream concern for public health, policing, and education. Once perceived by many users as a relatively low-risk substance, ketamine is now associated with rising hospital admissions, long-term health damage, and growing use among teenagers and young adults.
Five Scottish regions to benefit from a share of a new £140 million UK Government Local Growth Fund. Launched today [Thursday 8 January] by Scottish Secretary Douglas Alexander, the Local Growth Fund will help drive economic prosperity across Scotland.
Business rates are a tax on most commercial properties, including shops, pubs, restaurants, hotels, offices, warehouses and factories. They are the main property tax that businesses pay to local authorities each year and are calculated based on: a property's rateable value (an estimate of its annual rental value).
A major national security think tank has issued a stark warning that British aid money intended for civilians in war zones is being systematically looted by militant organisations. As much as £300 million potentially ending up in the coffers of terror groups each year.
What began as a local investigation into a nonprofit's misuse of child nutrition funds has now erupted into one of the largest fraud scandals in U.S. history.
The Minnesota fraud scandal has exploded into national headlines in January 2026, prompting congressional hearings, political fallout, and renewed investigations into billions of dollars in suspected misuse across state-run social programs. Governor Tim Walz has dropped out of the governor's race, and federal prosecutors estimate the fraud could exceed $9 billion.
From Shetland to the Borders, people across Scotland are being urged to check if they are eligible for financial support. Social Security Scotland helped over 960,000 people receive the money they were entitled to in financial year 2024/25.
For more than three decades, Scotland's council tax system has existed in a kind of fiscal time capsule. Every home in the country is still taxed according to what it was worth in 1991—a different economic era, before devolution, before mass buy-to-let, before Edinburgh became a global property hotspot, and before entire regional housing markets diverged sharply in value.
The Declaration of Intent signed in Paris on 6 January 2026 sets out shared principles and intentions among the United Kingdom, the French Republic, and Ukraine regarding future multinational military support for Ukraine in the event that a ceasefire or peace agreement is reached in the ongoing war with Russia. Key points include: Support for Ukraine's Sovereignty and Security The UK and France reaffirm their commitment to Ukraine's territorial integrity within its internationally recognised borders and support its Euro‑Atlantic integration.
The United Kingdom is confronting a demographic trend with profound long-term consequences: a falling birth rate. Recent analyses, including those from the Resolution Foundation, indicate that this trend is likely to continue for decades, resulting in fewer people of working age, increased pressure on public finances, and significant challenges for pensions, labour markets, and social services.
When people think of "aid scandals," they often imagine money diverted overseas. Yet some of the most troubling failures have occurred within the UK itself, where vulnerable citizens — women fleeing domestic abuse, children in unsafe homes, and families in crisis — have been denied the support they were promised.
Across the UK and beyond, politicians talk endlessly about affordability — yet nothing improves. Why? Because they are blaming inflation when the real issue is structural income extraction.
Average house prices in Highland reached £217,000 in October 2025 — up nearly £40,000 since 2020. Meanwhile rents rose to £719 per month and this steady rise has made home ownership increasingly unaffordable for young people, especially in tourism-heavy and rural areas.
Dating apps and social media platforms must now prevent cyberflashing, as it becomes a priority offence under the Online Safety Act. Online Safety Act strengthened as ‘cyberflashing' becomes a priority offence.
Debate about public- and private-sector pay in the United Kingdom is both persistent and politically charged. Claims that public-sector workers are "overpaid" clash with counter-arguments that years of restraint have eroded living standards for nurses, teachers and civil servants.
In July 1944, as World War II neared its end, delegates from 44 nations gathered in Bretton Woods, New Hampshire. Their mission was ambitious: to design a new international economic order that would prevent the chaos of the interwar years and foster stability in the post‑war world.
Maps of the Council's gritting routes by priority and policy are available online at www.highland.gov.uk/gritting (external link) The information provided is a summary of reports from operational staff and is intended to give a general indication of typical conditions in each area at a point in time. It is not intended to imply that any individual route is entirely snow and ice free and drivers must be aware that conditions can change rapidly and make their own assessment of conditions for travelling.
Waiting times remain one of the most significant pressures facing NHS Scotland. Despite clear national standards designed to ensure timely access to care, performance across elective treatment, diagnostics, cancer services, and emergency care continues to fall short of targets.