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Hospitality shift hours fall 30% as pubs and restaurants cut back amid rising costs

UK pubs and restaurants are significantly scaling back staffing levels as higher costs and weaker consumer demand continue to batter the hospitality sector. New data from Bristol-based hospitality recruitment platform Limber shows that average shift hours posted by hospitality businesses in 2025 are down 30% compared with 2022, underlining the depth of pressure facing operators across the industry. According to Limber, average monthly shift hours per business have fallen from 112 hours in 2022 to...

North Korea test-fires hypersonic missiles, KCNA says

SEOUL — North Korea test-fired hypersonic missiles on Sunday, state media KCNA reported on Monday, to assess its military operational capability regarding war deterrence. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, who oversaw the missile launch, said: “It’s a very important strategy to maintain or expand the strong and reliable nuclear deterrent,” because of “the recent geopolitical crisis and various international circumstances,” according to KCNA. The missiles hit targets about 1,000 kilometers (621 miles) away, over the...

GREGG JARRETT: No, Trump’s order to snatch Maduro was not illegal or unconstitutional

To the surprise of no one, Democrats reflexively denounced Trump’s daring middle-of-the-night grab of Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro and his wife.   If Joe Biden, who offered a $25 million reward for Maduro’s arrest, had done what Trump did, these same politicians would be organizing a ticker-tape parade.   Their condemnation of Trump has nothing to do with the law, although they pretend that it does. Instead, it is transparently driven by their contempt for a...

UK unemployment could hit 11-year high in 2026 as growth stalls, economists warn

UK unemployment is expected to climb to its highest level in more than a decade in 2026, as economists warn that weak growth, rising employment costs and subdued private sector confidence continue to weigh on the labour market. According to The Times’ annual Economists Survey of 48 leading economists, more than two-thirds believe the unemployment rate will end 2026 between 5% and 5.5%, up from its current level of 5.1%. If the upper end of...

Trump and Musk share ‘lovely dinner’ at Mar-a-Lago after public feuding

President Donald Trump and Elon Musk appear to have repaired their once-strained relationship, according to a post shared by the billionaire Tesla founder on X. In a post shared Sunday, Musk wrote, ‘Had a lovely dinner last night with @POTUS and @FLOTUS,’ before adding, ‘2026 is going to be amazing!’ The photo, taken from a Saturday evening event at Mar-a-Lago in Florida, sparked speculation that the pair’s bromance may be back on after more than...

Trump issues direct warning to Venezuela’s new leader Delcy Rodríguez following Maduro capture

President Donald Trump issued a pointed warning to Venezuela’s new leader on Sunday, suggesting severe consequences if she continues to resist U.S. demands following the American-led operation that resulted in the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. In an interview with The Atlantic, Trump said Delcy Rodríguez would ‘pay a very big price, probably bigger than Maduro’ if she fails to ‘do what’s right,’ adding that his administration would not tolerate what he described as...

Venezuela still owes US energy companies billions as Trump calls for new investment

As President Donald Trump  vows to return U.S. energy investment to Venezuela, the Latin American country remains on the hook for billions of dollars owed to American energy companies following years-old legal battles over oil contracts. Once a key supplier to global oil markets, Venezuela reshaped its relationship with international energy companies in the mid-2000s, as then-President Hugo Chávez tightened state control over the oil industry. Between 2004 and 2007, Chávez effectively forced foreign companies...

JONATHAN TURLEY: Why Trump went off script on Venezuela and why it won’t matter

It can fairly be said that the most precarious jobs in the world are those of a golf ball collector at a driving range, a mascot at a Chuck E. Cheese and a Trump administration lawyer. That was evident at the press conference yesterday as President Donald Trump blew apart the carefully constructed narrative presented earlier for the seizure of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores. Some of us had written that Trump had...

Dan Bongino officially leaves FBI deputy director role after less than a year, returns to ‘civilian life’

Dan Bongino returned to private life on Sunday after serving as deputy director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) for less than a year. Bongino said on X that Saturday was his last day on the job before he would return to ‘civilian life.’ ‘It’s been an incredible year thanks to the leadership and decisiveness of President Trump. It was the honor of a lifetime to work with Director Patel, and to serve you,...

Venezuelan dissident outlines risks and opportunities as Venezuela enters post-Maduro era

With Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro extracted from Caracas on Jan. 3, Venezuelans and the world are anxious to learn about the future that awaits. In a press conference following the Maduro operation on Saturday, President Donald Trump announced that the U.S. is ‘going to run the country’ until a transition can be safely made. Isaias Medina, an international lawyer and former senior Venezuelan diplomat, said a peaceful transition is vital for the 9 million to...