United Kingdom
I write news and features on arts, culture, politics, travel and other subjects. Contributing to Museums Journal, the Guardian, BBC Travel, the Sunday Telegraph and others. Email: knottjp [at] gmail.com
Politics
The historic county names of Cumberland and Westmorland in 1974 were wiped from the political map. Almost 50 years later, they look set to make a reappearance – even if some services will remain county-wide
Council-owned airports have gone from cash cow to a drain on resources during the pandemic – and climate concerns have raised fundamental questions about their future
The government tends to focus on words rather than action when it comes to the integration of public services, writes LGC acting news editor Jonathan Knott.
Should councils and communities raise a glass to their success in protecting the Great British Pub?
How the cabinet office's 'Nudge Unit' has grown to influence policy and strategy across government - and beyond.
Rowena Hoseason was dismayed when she discovered Cornwall county council planned to axe its subsidy for Bude sea pool. "When the council withdrew funding for the sea pool, people here were horrified," she says.
Travel
Nevis is less well-known than other Caribbean islands - and Nevisians prefer it that way. It's only a few miles across the water from lively St Kitts. But here, the most cacophonous noise you'll hear is the chirping of insects among the lush vegetation.
As I reached the small village of Burträsk in northern Sweden, I saw snow piled by the roadsides like icing and a group of reindeer sitting down for a rest. When I got out of the car to take a photograph, they stood up, crossed the road and disappeared into the woods.
The angular façade of the former communist hall of culture is painted in bold colours, vertical stripes of burgundy, ochre and dusty blue echoing the surrounding Slovak countryside on an autumn morning.
In central Riga, people are laying flowers beneath the Freedom Monument. It's a green statue of a woman holding three gold stars on top of a 42-metre stone pillar at the end of a broad, busy street. One woman explains to me that it's the 65th anniversary of the day in 1949 when 42,000 Latvians were deported to Siberia by the Soviet government.
"Take off your clothes," a foreign voice said over the loudspeaker - slowly, rhythmically, emphasising each syllable. "Get into the water." It was not the kind of voice you disobey. So although I was on the Arctic circle, surrounded by ice and snow on all sides, I got in.
I couldn't see them, but there were almost 200 people joining me in this venture, now in its 12th year. Kitted out in yellow or green caps, we were swimming between the islands which, though technically one country, proudly maintain distinct identities.
Arts and culture
Capital projects | The pandemic has led to delayed openings and spiralling costs across the UK
Arts organisations led by BME and disabled people were less likely than other organisations to be successful when applying for Arts Council England's (ACE) National Lottery Project Grants last year, figures obtained by ArtsProfessional reveal.
The 100 top executives at major arts institutions in England and Wales earn pay packages totalling over £10m a year, AP has discovered.