CATEGORIES

Preying on investors How MicroStrategy's pandemic-era bitcoin bet went stratospheric

In the summer of 2020, as the Covid-19 pandemic upended economies around the world, an obscure US software firm decided to diversify.

FTSE records 5.7% annual gain as aviation stocks fly

Britain's blue-chip stock index has recorded its strongest annual gain since 2021, after lagging behind Wall Street over the past year.

Estate agents expect buyer's market but warn of stamp duty change

Experts predict a buyer's market for house hunters this year, giving them greater negotiating power as the mood of the housing market shifts to \"cautious optimism\".

Xi seeks to allay fears for Chinese economy

China's economy is on course to expand by 5% in 2025, according to its president, Xi Jinping, meeting official growth targets and rebutting concerns that Donald Trump's incoming US administration will harm Beijing's prospects in the new year.

Dutch apprehensive as archive opens to reveal Nazi collaboration

For 80 years, details of their ancestors' collaboration with the Nazis have been buried in rows of filing cabinets in The Hague. But thousands of Dutch families now face having their relatives' history laid bare when an archive opens on 425,000 people accused of siding with the occupier during the second world war.

Dublin's dry pub toasts first year - but now sells booze

Doing Glastonbury sober is a challenge most music festival fans would decline.

Seeds of hope Kharkiv residents work to restore war-ravaged forest

Yuriy Bengus surveyed a scene of destruction. The Zhuravli forest, on the northern edge of Ukraine's second city, Kharkiv, was a blackened mess.

Motion is just time unfolding' Strava artist whose running routes became a hit online

Paused on a busy Toronto street, eyes glued to a map on his phone, Duncan McCabe could easily be mistaken for a lost tourist. Within moments, however, he's on the move. \"I think, at this point, we're along the belly of the whale,\" he says. \"The fin is coming up soon.\"

Former environment chief warns the EU against backsliding on climate crisis

A former EU environment commissioner has warned against backsliding on the protection of nature and the battle against the climate crisis after the bloc decided to delay its landmark deforestation law.

Kickstarting celebrations: kung fu nuns reopen their monastery

About a dozen nuns performed hand chops and high kicks, some of them wielding swords, as they showed off their martial art skills to hundreds of cheering wellwishers at the reopening of their nunnery in Nepal.

Pianist calls on world to cut ties with Venezuela's youth orchestra over election 'theft'

The Venezuelan pianist Gabriela Montero has called on concert halls and music promoters to cut ties with her country's world-renowned youth orchestra as a result of Nicolás Maduro's alleged theft of this year's presidential election.

He Left So Much Town Celebrates Its Most Famous – Yet Down-to-Earth – Son

The signs, made by hand or machine, less than a metre square or the size of a truck, were everywhere in this small town on Monday: \"Thank you, Jimmy Carter\", \"Home of Jimmy Carter\" and, left over from October: \"Happy 100th birthday.\"

Former US president to be honoured with state funeral and national day of mourning

Jimmy Carter, the former US president who died aged 100 on Sunday, will be honoured with a state funeral before being laid to rest in his home town of Plains, Georgia, next to his wife, Rosalynn.

Expert reaction Concern focuses on concrete wall beyond end of runway

Aviation experts have raised safety questions over the placement of large concrete barriers at the end of runways after a plane crashed into one in South Korea on Sunday.

Medical System in Gaza on Brink of Total Collapse, Says UN Rights Office

Israel's pattern of sustained attacks on Gaza's hospitals and medical workers has brought the strip's healthcare system to the brink of \"total collapse\", according to a report by the UN human rights office.

Crash investigators focus on Muan airport runway barrier

Investigators turn to black boxes for vital clues

Starmer Faces Early Test of Climate Leadership With Big Decisions on Carbon Budget

Keir Starmer will face a key test of his claims to leadership on the climate early next year, when the UK's statutory advisers issue their latest advice on future cuts to greenhouse gas emissions.

'I could work every day' Life of a pet detective helping bereft owners amid increase in thefts

Life of a pet detective helping bereft owners amid increase in thefts

Not a 'white space' The black female hikers challenging rural stereotypes

The black female hikers challenging rural stereotypes

Single bus fare cap increases by 50% to £3 today in much of England

Millions of bus passengers in England have been hit by an increase in single fares from £2 to £3.

Hospital porter's sacking for not wearing a mask ruled as lawful

A hospital porter of 20 years who was sacked after refusing to wear a face mask during the Covid pandemic because it made him anxious has lost his claim for unfair dismissal and discrimination.

Sticking to their tongue Welsh group finds language no barrier to European success

The idea of releasing a 23-track double album of pop and rock songs written entirely in Cymraeg - the Welsh language - might be daunting for some artists. But not Adwaith, a post-punk group from Carmarthenshire.

Working from home may harm women's careers, says bank boss

Working from home could harm women's careers because they are less likely to come into the office than their male colleagues, the boss of Britain's biggest building society has warned.

Water rates suggested as key to Lough Neagh algae crisis

The introduction of water rates in Northern Ireland could be the key to addressing crumbling waste water infrastructure and the impact on waterways, it has been suggested.

Man on the run over IPP sentence recall issues plea to justice secretary

A Bolton man who is on the run after being recalled to prison indefinitely has made a direct plea to the justice secretary to intervene in his case.

Icelandic sheepdog is finally recognised as pedigree breed

A dog breed that was namechecked in one of William Shakespeare's plays and is believed to be more than 1,000 years old is to be finally recognised by the Kennel Club as a pedigree.

African-Caribbean families not given sickle cell results for 12 years due to error

An NHS error led to hundreds of families with African-Caribbean heritage being unaware of whether their babies carried certain genetic blood disorders.

Photographer of Hebden Bridge gets the spotlight

She was a working-class woman who took amazing photographs for 70 years, yet she is little known precisely because, some would argue, she was a working-class woman.

Teenage girls in Britain outdrink boys by widest margin in Europe, study suggests

Teenage girls are outdrinking their male peers in the UK at a greater rate than any other European country, according to research.

Keir Starmer PM promises 2025 will be 'a year of rebuilding'

Keir Starmer has promised to rebuild Britain as Labour did after the second world war as he enters a pivotal year for his premiership.