Here are the business stories making the headlines across Scotland and the UK this morning.
UK seizure of Russian shadow fleet vessel ‘just the beginning’
Royal Marines commandos are primed to take further action against sanctioned Russian vessels, with the capture of the shadow fleet tanker in the English Channel “just the beginning”.
In a dramatic pre-dawn raid, British troops fast-roped from a Chinook to capture the Smyrtos, a Cameroon-flagged tanker carrying over 700,000 barrels of Russian crude oil.
The mission came three months after Sir Keir Starmer said that British forces “are now able to board sanctioned vessels that are passing through our waters”.
Find the full article in The Times.
Aberdeen energy jobs will suffer in ‘pincer’ by-election move
Tory-Reform “pincer movement” will destroy Aberdeen energy jobs, the deputy first minister claims in a city visit.
Jenny Gilruth attacked the SNP’s rivals in the final week of the Aberdeen South by-election.
The contest has largely been fought on oil and gas.
Get the full story in The P&J.
Tax delay ‘risks UK becoming a dumping ground’
Britain risks losing more high street shops and becoming a dumping ground for unsafe imports unless ministers move faster to close a tax loophole being exploited by overseas businesses, retailers have warned.
Andrew Murphy, chief executive of The Entertainer, a toy shop chain with more than 150 stores, has expressed “grave concern and profound frustration” over plans to wait until 2029 before abolishing the £135 “de minimis” customs threshold.
The rule allows overseas sellers, including the giant Chinese ecommerce groups Temu and Shein, to ship parcels worth less than £135 into the UK without paying customs duties. British retailers importing goods in bulk must pay duties, VAT and compliance costs on every consignment.
Read more in The Times.
UK and Japan agree £18bn investment deal
The UK and Japan have agreed a multi-billion pound investment deal which UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said will build a "new era of co-operation" between the two nations.
Japanese firms will spend more than £9bn on UK infrastructure and financial services and up to £9bn on UK offshore wind, creating tens of thousands of jobs, Downing Street said as the PM met his Japanese counterpart Sanae Takaichi in London.
The deal comes as the UK's economy struggles to grow, with experts predicting the US-Israel war with Iran will hit the UK particularly hard.
Read the full BBC story here.
UK vows to phase out Russian diesel and jet fuel imports by new year
The UK government has committed to banning imports of diesel and jet fuel made from Russian oil by 1 January 2027.
The ban forms part of the government's package of sanctions on Moscow following the war with Ukraine.
In May, the government said it would gradually phase out the use of diesel and jet fuel refined in third countries from Russian crude oil as it introduced new sanctions, saying extra flexibility was needed due to global oil supply issues.