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Highland Council-owned D&E Coaches has confirmed the acquisition of Stagecoach’s Thurso and Wick bus operation securing local jobs. This will protect vital services and strengthening public transport provision across the Highlands.

As the UK approaches the Budget, one phrase is going to be repeated again and again is “fiscal headroom”. Politicians, economists and journalists talk about it as though it represents money the Chancellor has available to spend.

There is a much bigger question hiding behind the shock announcement that Syngenta is considering closing its Grangemouth operation and putting 377 jobs at risk. It is not simply whether the Scottish Government can persuade the company to stay.

There could hardly be a better night for the BBC to bring back The Celebrity Traitors. Twenty-one celebrities have entered the Scottish castle, where nobody knows who can be trusted and everybody is wondering who will be the next to disappear.

If you live in Caithness and heat your home with oil, there is probably no need for anybody to explain to you that heating oil is expensive. You have probably already checked the tank and you may even have checked the price twice, just in case the first time was a mistake.

It is becoming difficult to open the news without finding another reason to worry about Britain's economy. Diesel has reached around £2 a litre.

Scotland has a pot of money worth hundreds of millions of pounds sitting on deposit. It came from the development rights for Scotland's offshore wind industry.

There cannot be many places in Britain where you can announce that about 1,000 people are travelling thousands of miles to attend a knitting event and expect people to regard it as an important piece of economic news. But that is exactly what is happening in Shetland.

The Financial Times has revived memories of 1976, when Britain turned to the International Monetary Fund for financial support. But the circumstances today are fundamentally different, and understanding why tells us something very important about government debt, money and the supposed threat of national bankruptcy.

For decades, businesses that needed electricity followed a fairly simple model. Build the factory, office or computer centre, connect it to the electricity grid and pay the bill.

When the cost of living is rising, telling people to save money can sound almost ridiculous. If the household budget is already being squeezed by energy bills, food prices, fuel, council tax and other rising costs, where exactly is the spare money supposed to come from? Yet perhaps that is precisely why we should be talking about saving.

There is a question that is increasingly being asked across the north of Scotland, and it sounds almost absurd when put in its simplest form. Why are we sometimes paying wind farms to stop producing electricity at the same time as Britain is looking for more electricity to power new industries? The answer is that electricity is not necessarily produced where it is needed.

First this is probably the longest article we have published - I think the extra length is justified here because the ownership structure is complicated and the article is educational as much as it is topical - Bill Fernie When most of us switch on a .light, put the kettle on or charge a phone, we probably imagine that the electricity is coming through something called "the National Grid". It is an understandable assumption.

An exciting opportunity has arisen to join QS, supporting UHI North, West & Hebrides with examinations. QS are looking to recruit a Depute Chief Invigilator to be responsible for supporting the Chief Invigilator (CI) with the organisation and supervision of invigilation for National Qualifications, in accordance with QS policy and procedures.

Women going through the menopause are being offered an ever-growing range of supplements promising to help with hot flushes, poor sleep, mood changes, brain fog, tiredness and a host of other symptoms. But new research raises an uncomfortable question: are some women paying hundreds of pounds a year for products that offer little more than a much cheaper ordinary multivitamin? The answer is not that all menopause supplements are useless.

There are times when a story from thousands of miles away makes you look at your own garden slightly differently. Reports from the Russian-occupied Ukrainian city of Oleshky describe residents facing such severe shortages of food that some have reportedly been eating plants growing in their gardens that most of us would simply call weeds.

Five place based residencies across Caithness and Sutherland. The Caithness and Sutherland Culture Collective Partnership invites applications for five artist residencies, each rooted in a different locality and hosted by a partner organisation.

A beautiful mid-terraced, three-bedroom (one with ensuite), stone-built home which retains many of the original features, with a large area of garden to rear. Accommodation comprises vestibule, hallway, lounge, sitting room/dining room, Ashley Ann fitted kitchen and a utility room on the ground floor, upstairs from the landing there are three bedrooms, one with ensuite and a family bathroom.

This doer-upper was started and now looking for a new owner to finish it. Hidden away in Beaufoy Street, this lovely stone-built property has a new fitted kitchen, oak doors fitted throughout and now needs plumbing and electrics to be finished, along with decoration.

Canada has spent generations building its economy around its huge neighbour to the south. Now it is looking across the Atlantic.

The future of disability benefits is becoming one of the more difficult issues facing the UK government, with spending rising rapidly and increasing numbers of people receiving support. A new report from the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) examines what could be changed in Personal Independence Payment (PIP), the main working-age disability benefit in England and Wales.

NUVIA UK is looking for a technically minded and proactive Dounreay Beach Monitoring Project Technician to support the delivery of the Dounreay Beach Monitoring Project and related radiological monitoring activities. This varied role combines fieldwork, instrumentation, technical data analysis, GIS mapping, equipment calibration and report writing.

We’re looking for friendly, reliable and enthusiastic people aged 18 or over to join us as Part-Time Bar Staff Perfect for anyone looking to work a few shifts each week, with opportunities to cover midweek, evenings and weekends. To apply or find out more, please contact Vicky at thecaithnesscollection@hotmail.com .

A college + university like no other  With 19 campuses and centres across the North and West Highlands, Skye, and Outer Hebrides, we cover a geographic area larger than Wales, comprising 40% of Scotland’s coastline. Our campuses and centres are located within historic towns and villages, set amongst the shorelines, mountains, and moors, with local staff working across our region to support our students and communities.   Position: We are seeking a highly organised and detail-oriented Registry and Admissions Officer, with a focus on Registry, to join our Student Records team in Fort William, Thurso or Stornoway.

An entirely fictional account of what might happen if a Roman historian were suddenly transported to America in September 2026. When our Roman historian arrived in America, he was initially rather pleased.

3 bedroom gas central heated double glazed property with kitchen bathroom and WC on 1st floor..