HM Revenue & Customs figures indicate that thousands of small firms may be deliberately limiting expansion to avoid crossing the UK’s £90,000 VAT registration threshold, fuelling renewed calls for reform of what critics describe as a “cliff-edge” tax system. The data shows that 683,700 businesses reported turnover below the VAT threshold in the year to December 2025, up from 671,000 the previous year. Over the same period, the number of firms reporting turnover between £90,000...
Scottish Power has warned that “shovel-ready” offshore wind farms capable of contributing to the government’s 2030 clean power target have missed out on subsidy contracts to earlier-stage schemes that may not be built in time, or at all. The row centres on the latest Contracts for Difference (CfD) subsidy auction, Allocation Round 7 (AR7), the results of which were published in January. CfDs guarantee developers a fixed price for the electricity they generate, underpinning the...
The UK government has secured what it describes as a “seat at the table” in the fast-moving global race to commercialise driverless cars, after the British Business Bank backed a landmark $1.5 billion fundraising round for British autonomous driving firm Wayve. The investment round, completed last week, valued the Cambridge-founded artificial intelligence company at $8.6 billion, the highest valuation yet achieved by a UK AI start-up. The round was led by SoftBank and supported by...
Most congressional precedents emanate from Capitol Hill. Most presidential precedents emerge from 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. But a precedent which may echo around the halls of Congress and the White House for years materialized in recent days in the snow-covered, wooded village of Chappaqua, New York. That’s where former President Bill Clinton testified under subpoena to the House Oversight Committee as part of its investigation into Jeffrey Epstein. Lawmakers said the panel’s ability to compel testimony...
U.S. forces launched a sweeping military assault on Iranian targets on Saturday, unleashing overwhelming air, sea and missile power in a coordinated operation with Israel. The mission — dubbed ‘Operation Epic Fury’ — began at 1:15 a.m. and struck more than 1,000 sites across Iran within its first 24 hours, according to U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM). Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and dozens of senior regime officials were eliminated in the strikes. The barrage featured...
Several House Republicans are pushing Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., to go to war with the Senate GOP over an election security bill that has little chance of passing the upper chamber under current circumstances. House GOP leaders convened a lawmaker-only call on Sunday in the wake of a massive military operation against Iran launched by the U.S. and Israel. After leaders briefed House Republicans on how the chamber would respond to the ongoing conflict —...
The Strait of Hormuz region became a flashpoint Sunday after U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran under Operation Epic Fury triggered electronic warfare activity and multiple ‘attacks’ on vessels along one of the world’s most critical energy waterways, according to reports. The sudden escalation followed a Feb. 28 warning from U.S. maritime authorities urging commercial vessels to avoid strategic waterways if possible, including the Persian Gulf, Gulf of Oman and Arabian Sea, citing heightened security risks. ‘It...
President Donald Trump vowed Sunday to ‘avenge’ the deaths of three U.S. service members killed in action as the conflict involving Iran deepens across the Middle East. ‘As one nation, we grieve for the true American patriots who have made the ultimate sacrifice for our nation,’ Trump said in a video statement posted on Truth Social. ‘Even as we continue the righteous mission for which they gave their lives, we pray for the full recovery...
Music has changed dramatically over the past two decades. What once required shelves of CDs or a stack of downloaded files now fits easily in a pocket. At the center of this shift is the MP3 format, which made it possible to store, share, and listen to music in a compact digital form. Alongside the format itself, online platforms have emerged to help people search, access, and download audio files quickly. One name that often...
When missiles fly, we expect explosions. We expect smoke, sirens and satellite images. What we do not expect is silence. On February 28, 2026, as fighter jets and cruise missiles struck Iranian Revolutionary Guard command centers during Operation Roar of the Lion, a parallel assault reportedly unfolded in cyberspace. Official news sites and key media platforms went offline, government digital services and local apps failed across major cities, and security communications systems reportedly stopped functioning,...
