Here are the stories making the headlines locally and across the country this morning.
‘Spare us the fury’: Aberdeen finance boss urged to reveal cuts ahead of crunch vote
Pressure is mounting on Aberdeen’s finance convener to spill the beans on the council budget – or risk a repeat of the furious scenes that erupted last year.
SNP councillor Alex McLellan will reveal where the estimated £20.4m cuts will fall in fewer than six weeks.
It will follow a raging year of announcements and back-pedals from the SNP and Liberal Democrats running the city.
Closures of libraries and Bucksburn swimming pool were at the centre of the storm, which eventually led to legal action being launched.
Depth of worklessness crisis revealed as ONS finds 400,000 more dropouts
Britain’s jobless crisis is worse than previously thought as new estimates show more than 400,000 extra people have dropped out of the labour market amid record long-term sickness.
There are now 9.25 million people aged between 16 and 64 who are not working nor looking for work, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), meaning they are officially classed as “economically inactive”.
Officials have revised the figures upwards because the adult population is almost 750,000 bigger than previously expected, fuelled by greater levels of immigration.
There are 172,000 more people in work than previously realised, as well as 30,000 more unemployed. There are also an additional 414,000 who are inactive, amid a growing trend of long-term sickness.
Snap to lay off 'approximately' 10% of its staff
Social media giant Snap, which operates Snapchat, has announced plans to cut "approximately" 10% of its staff.
The firm said in November 2023 it had 5,000 employees, suggesting around 500 people are facing redundancy.
It comes a day before Snap reports its fourth-quarter results - having reported a net loss of $368m (£294m) in the previous quarter in October 2023.
Snapchat said the move would "reduce hierarchy and promote in-person collaboration".
"We are focused on supporting our departing team members and we are very grateful for their hard work and many contributions to Snap," a spokesperson told the BBC.
Electric van maker once valued at £10bn collapses into administration
A British electric van maker once valued at $13bn (£10bn) has gone into administration after burning through $1.5bn without having sold a vehicle.
Oxfordshire-based Arrival has appointed administrators at EY to find a buyer for the business, blaming “challenging market and macroeconomic conditions”.
Arrival’s Nasdaq flotation in 2021 was the biggest ever for a British company but shares have fallen by 99.98pc as it became clear that the company was unable to service its debts.
“The group’s liquidity position has been impacted by challenging market and macroeconomic conditions resulting in delays in getting the group’s products to market,” the administrators said.