62 m. ago ‘Brighter future’ ahead for Scots under Budget plans, claims Shona Robison

The Scottish Finance Secretary has unveiled her draft tax and spending plans for 2026-27.

Politics

73 m. ago DWP reveals two new payments to support cost of living in 2026

Applicants will not need to be claiming benefits to qualify

Economics

75 m. ago ‘A very tough moment’: how Trump has put museums in jeopardy

A study has shown the devastating impact of arts funding cuts on institutions across America and many within the industry are concerned for what’s nextFrom Times Square to the Washington Monument, America saw in the new year with a bigger bang than usual, celebrating the fact that 2026 marks the nation’s 250th birthday. Yet as the US looks back, precious repositories of the nation’s history are facing an uncertain future.Museum attendances are down. Budgets are precarious. Cuts in federal funding are taking their toll. And Donald Trump’s culture wars are spreading fear, intimidation and self-censorship among some directors and donors. Continue reading...

Politics

76 m. ago ‘I think they want to break us’: Russian strikes on energy grid give freezing Kyiv some of its darkest days

Impact of raid on infrastructure rivals early weeks of war when tanks tried to force their way into Ukraine’s capitalOn the night of 9 January, amid warnings from Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, of massive and imminent Russian airstrikes, Tetiana Shkred began cooking for her children at midnight.Concerned that the power was once again about to be knocked out in her apartment block on Kyiv’s left bank – the side of the city that has been most affected by Moscow’s attacks on energy infrastructure – she cooked until 3am, when her flat was plunged into freezing darkness. Continue reading...

Events

77 m. ago Business rates relief package a ‘sticking plaster’, Scottish ministers warned

Finance Secretary Shona Robison has announced her Budget for 2026-27.

Events

80 m. ago Kyren Wilson finds Masters form right on cue to rebound from ‘low point’

World No 2’s victory continues run of 6-2 match resultsJohn Higgins faces Barry Hawkins in late Tuesday gameKyren Wilson, the 2024 world champion, defeated Si Jiahui in impressive fashion to reach the Masters quarter-finals with the 6-2 result continuing a curious statistic: every match at Alexandra Palace this week up to their encounter had finished with the same scoreline.After edging the first frame following a run of snookers, Wilson – yet to win a tournament this season having broken his cue at the start of the campaign – looked set to build a maximum in the next, but just missed the 11th red into the bottom corner pocket as he moved 2-0 ahead. Continue reading...

Politics

82 m. ago Liverpool transfer ruled out as 'urgent' Conor Bradley replacement search underway

Liverpool are said to be exploring multiple right-back options in the January transfer window after Conor Bradley sustained a season-ending injury against Arsenal

Politics

85 m. ago 'We're in a state nobody can imagine': residents describe devastating rainstorm in Gaza – video

A rainstorm swept across the Gaza Strip, flooding hundreds of tents and collapsing homes sheltering families displaced by two years of war. At least six people have been killed, local health officials said. Three months since a ceasefire halted major combat, Israeli forces have ordered the near-total depopulation of nearly two-thirds of Gaza. More than 2 million people have been forced into a narrow strip near the coast, with most living in makeshift tents or damaged buildings Continue reading...

Events

87 m. ago Joseph Beuys review – the grotesque bathtub containing all the horrors of modern history

Thaddaeus Ropac Gallery, LondonThere’s no escape from the torments of the past in this show, which celebrates the German artist at his most Wagnerian, enchanting and sickening you simultaneouslyBorn in 1921, Joseph Beuys was the “perfect” age to fight for Hitler and he did, with the wounds to prove it. The Andy Warhol portraits that complement this exhibition, without actually being part of it, brutally catch his gaunt, ravaged face in the glare of a photo flash under the hat he wore to hide burns sustained in a plane crash while serving in the Luftwaffe. The most haunting portrait turns Beuys into a spectral negative image, all darkness and shadow, his eyes wounded, guilty, lost. This was in the 1970s when Beuys was a charismatic one-man artistic revolution, inspiring young Germans to plant trees, lecturing about flows of ecological and human energy – and, in breathtaking performances, speaking to a dead hare or spending a week locked in a cage with a coyote.All that remains today ...

Events

89 m. ago Major changes on the horizon for Cardiff residents amid council plan to save millions

There are no cuts proposed by Cardiff Council for 2026/27, but councillors noted they would still be facing a £22.7m budget gap

Politics

1 hour ago BTS World Tour: How to get tickets and presale for BTS in London as two Tottenham Hotspur Stadium shows confirmed

Here’s everything you need to know about BTS’ World Tour - including how to get tickets and presale for London.

Economics

1 hour ago I think 2026 is going to be the year of the Edinburgh pub, so I tried this overlooked local boozer

There is a lot happening on the gastropub front

Politics

1 hour ago Jon Stewart on the Minneapolis ICE shooting: ‘We are in a confusing, dark place’

Late-night hosts discussed national outrage over the killing of Renee Nicole Good as the Trump administration ramps up ICE operations in MinneapolisLate-night hosts recapped a weekend of nationwide protests over the killing of Renee Nicole Good by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer as Donald Trump made a social media post referring to himself as the “acting president” of Venezuela. Continue reading...

Events

1 hour ago South Korean prosecutors demand death penalty for former president Yoon Suk Yeol

Yoon is on trial for insurrection charges, after trying to declare martial law in late 2024South Korean prosecutors have demanded the death penalty for former president Yoon Suk Yeol over his failed martial law declaration in December 2024, in the first insurrection trial of a Korean head of state in three decades.Prosecutors characterised the case as the “serious destruction of constitutional order by anti-state forces”, telling Seoul central district court that Yoon had “directly and fundamentally infringed upon the safety of the state and the survival and freedom of the people”. Continue reading...

Events

1 hour ago New devolved benefit payment rates for pensioners, disabled people and families from April

Social Security Scotland will deliver 17 benefits and one-off payments in 2026.

Economics

2 h. ago Xabi Alonso failed to control Real Madrid’s egos in brief and bitter reign

Hired as a systems coach, the manager was undermined at a club where players – and Florentino Pérez – call the shotsPep Guardiola sat in the press room at the Santiago Bernabéu and told Xabi Alonso to do it his way but around here, he knows, it tends not to work out like that, which is precisely why he said so. Saying it is one thing, doing it another, doing it successfully something else entirely, and a month and day after being offered that advice, handed that defence, Alonso was gone. On Monday afternoon, not long after landing from Saudi Arabia, a meeting was held at Valdebebas and then came the statement, short and unsentimental. He was a “legend” as a player, but no longer coach at Real Madrid.Alonso is the 11th manager to last less than a year in two decades under the president, Florentino Pérez. He had begun work only seven months before, and that was earlier than he intended. It had started with the Club World Cup in the US, his first big decision to accept the demand to ta...

Events

2 h. ago Russian shadow fleet oil tanker drops anchor three miles off coast of Scotland days after it was seized in US commando

The Marinera was spotted off Burghead near Lossiemouth on the Moray coast.

Events

2 h. ago Bill Clinton faces being held in contempt of Congress after he and Hillary refuse to testify in Epstein inquiry – US politics live

Republican House oversight committee chair James Comer says he will move to hold former president in contemptDonald Trump is heading to Detroit, Michigan today, where he’ll tour a Ford factory in Dearborn.The president will deliver remarks to the Detroit Economic Club at 2pm ET, to continue his “affordability” tour, where he’s expected to tout the administration’s commitment to revitalising manufacturing and keeping costs down. Continue reading...

Politics

2 h. ago British men’s clothing brand shuts up shop for good after plunging into administration

A BRITISH men's clothing brand has officially closed its doors after entering administration. The specialist outfitter has ceased trading following a period of financial challenges that proved impossible to overcome. The Leeds retailer, Great Clothing Ltd - widely known by its popular trading name Big Boys - confirmed the news this week. The development marks...

Economics

2 h. ago Brits 'throwing holiday away' by taking annual leave for pointless reason

Around 135 millions annual leave days from work are scuppered each year as folk use them to do mundane admin like doctor appointments and home chores

Politics