Keeping up with the news via the web is easy because there are plenty of sites to choose from, including:

BBC News
www.bbc.co.uk
This provides local and national UK news plus coverage of major international events. It also has more detailed reports and explanations.

However, for news from a US perspective, see:
CNN News: www.cnn.com
Or, for a Middle East perspective,
Al Jazeera: http://english.aljazeera.net

For UK statistics and commentary on a range of factors:

National Office for Statistics
www.statistics.gov.uk
Use the search facility to find the required statistics – e.g., search for ‘Social Trends’ to find statistics and commentary on social matters such as population and education.

For UK government information:

Directgov
www.direct.gov.uk
Use the search facility to find the required information – e.g., on law.

The major international bodies have their own websites and these offer information on policies and actions as well as statistics. Among the more useful are (in alphabetical order):

International Labour Organization: www.ilo.org
International Monetary Fund: www.imf.org
United Nations: www.un.org
World Bank: www.worldbank.org
World Trade Organisation:www.wto.org

Again, the above take you to the home page of each organisation and it will be necessary to use the search facility to find the required information.