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Global sales fall by 3% in third consecutive year of decline as distilleries scale back production or expand storageThe Scottish whisky market has slipped into a supply glut as US tariffs and falling demand weigh on the country's distilleries.Global scotch sales fell 3% in the first half of 2025, marking the third consecutive year of decline after decades of growth, according to the alcohol data provider IWSR. Continue reading......

Gold is up 70% while the cryptocurrency is down 6% after it failed to bounce back from a rapid October sell-offAnother week, another record high for the price of gold. And another blow to the bitcoin fan club's hopeful thesis about owning “digital gold”. This year has been hard for the bitcoin brigade: while real gold soared in value, their cryptocurrency didn't. Correlation went out of the window. Gold is up 70% so far in dollar terms; bitcoin is down 6%.In theory, conditions should have been perfect for bitcoin if, like gold, it is supposed to be a store of value in uncertain times. Geopolitical tensions have been high all year, with Donald Trump's unclear intentions towards Venezuela now added to the mix. Or, if you take the view that bitcoin is a hedge against currency debasement by governments, the news flow ought to have been encouraging. The US budget deficit remains enormous, with the International Monetary Fund predicting the country's debts will climb from 125% to 143% of annual income b...

GDP rose at an annualized rate of 4.3% over the third quarter, far higher than expectedThe US economy surged over the summer, the commerce department announced on Tuesday in one of the final snapshots of the nation's finances to be released in 2025.Gross domestic product (GDP) – a broad measure of the value of goods and services – rose at an annualized rate of 4.3% over the third quarter, far higher than expected and its fastest rate in two years. Continue reading......

Ex-Treasury secretary and former Barclays chief are named in versions of will belonging to deceased child sex offenderThe former Barclays chief executive Jes Staley and the ex-US Treasury secretary Larry Summers were appointed as executors of Jeffrey Epstein's estate, according to a newly released tranche of documents linked to the now-deceased child sex offender.Filings published on Tuesday by the US Department of Justice included various versions of Epstein's last will and testament, which showed the financier intended to hand responsibility of managing his affairs to associates including the two high-profile men in the event of his death. Continue reading......

Demand for CD players rises 74% this year amid deluxe releases from artists such as Taylor Swift and Pink FloydForget the vinyl revival. CD players and compact discs are back on Christmas lists this year amid a wave of 90s nostalgia and coveted “deluxe” releases from big acts such as Taylor Swift and Pink Floyd.Demand for compact discs peaked in the mid-00s and many households ditched their systems and libraries as digital music took off. But the distinctive whirr is returning to bedrooms around the country, with retailers and marketplaces experiencing an uptick in appetite for vintage tech and music to play on it. Continue reading......

Italy's competition authority says Irish airline implemented technical obstacles to force sales through its own websiteBusiness live – latest updatesRyanair has been fined €256m (£223m) by Italy's competition authority for abusing its dominant market position to limit sales of tickets by online travel agents.The authority said Europe's largest airline had “implemented an abusive strategy to hinder travel agencies” via an “elaborate strategy” of technical obstacles for agents and passengers to make it difficult for online travel agents to sell Ryanair tickets and instead force sales through its own website. Continue reading......

Elon Musk's brand sold 12,130 new cars across the EU last month, down from 18,430 in November 2024Business live – latest updatesTesla continued a run of weak sales in the EU in November, with new car registrations of Elon Musk's brand down a third, while Chinese carmakers' sales soared.Tesla sold 12,130 new cars across the EU last month, down from 18,430 in November 2024, shrinking its market share from 2.1% to 1.4%, according to data from the European Automobile Manufacturers' Association (Acea), a lobby group. Continue reading......

U-turn lifts limit from £1m to £2.5m after protests and warnings that family farms were at riskMinisters will increase the threshold for taxing inherited farmland from £1m to £2.5m after months of pressure from campaigners and MPs representing rural areas.In a statement slipped out just before Christmas, the environment department announced the U-turn which will apply from April when the tax is due to kick in. Continue reading......

Local government secretary writes to town halls warning them against 'part-time work for full-time pay'The secretary for local government has written to all councils to warn that adopting a four-day week for staff puts them at risk of being declared a failing authority, according to reports.Twenty-five councils have discussed a four-day week policy and one, South Cambridgeshire district council, has already moved to the pattern. Continue reading......

The Populist by Nikolay Kononov traces science protege's rise to tech visionary and free speech defenderTech visionary, Kremlin dissident, FSB agent, free speech absolutist, health guru. These are just some of the labels admirers and critics have attached to Pavel Durov over the past decade.The Russian-born tech entrepreneur founded Russia's version of Facebook before going on to create the messaging app Telegram, launch a cryptocurrency ecosystem and amass a multibillion-dollar fortune, all while clashing repeatedly with authorities in Russia and beyond. Continue reading......

Traders on Clevedon's Hill Road say they fear the proposals could hasten the decline of independent retail as councils across Britain look to raise income by forcing shoppers to pay to parkThe shop windows are decked out in their festive finery, there are carols on the stereos and the tills are ringing. The independent stores, cafes and restaurants lining Hill Road in the Somerset seaside town of Clevedon are hoping to take advantage of the crucial pre-Christmas period.The street's colourful shops, along with the town's Victorian pier, are among Clevedon's best-known landmarks, making Hill Road popular with locals and visitors. It even stood in for the high street in the ITV drama Broadchurch. Continue reading......

The chaos is undeniable, but where else are you going to get a pair of jeans and a pistachio-cream panettone cake for such a reasonable price?'Oh it's a mess!” my mum says, shaking her head. “It's like a jumble sale.” I'm fresh from a trip to TK Maxx, and all I'm getting is negativity. A couple of days later I'm watching Educating Yorkshire when it happens again: one of the teachers tells his pupils to tidy up, lest their classroom look like one of its stores.Quite frankly, I'm sick of the slander. Sure, I've been in some branches that do look like a tornado has just blown through them. But, these days, they're few and far between. My local TK Maxx, in a nice enough London suburb, is tidy and organised – so much so that when I hid a pair of Good American jeans the other day to “have a think” and then circled back for them, they had already been moved.Hannah J Davies is a freelance culture writer and editor Continue reading......

Denise Coates's gambling empire reports turnover of £4bn in year to March 2025, up from £3.7bnDenise Coates, the billionaire boss of Bet365, a self-described “ultimate gambler” and Britain's highest-paid woman, took home at least £280m in pay and dividends in 2025 despite a slump in pre-tax profits.Coates's Stoke-based gambling empire recorded turnover of £4bn in the year to March 2025, up from £3.7bn the year before. Pre-tax profits fell to £349m from £627m in the previous year. Continue reading......

Rolling coverage of the latest economic and financial newsTesla's sales didn't fall everywhere last month, though.The Norwegian market was a bright spot – Tesla's sales in Norway rose 34.6% in November year-to-date, led by the mass market crossover Model Y. Continue reading......

Beijing's push to dominate technology through state-backed industrial policy is reshaping global trade and could devastate European industryEmmanuel Macron came back from China in early December empty-handed. The French president's appeal to his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, to help stop the war in Ukraine was never going to gain traction given Beijing's unqualified support for Russia.Urging Xi to address China's surging trade surplus, the result of the country's economic and industrial policies, predictably also fell on closed ears. Continue reading......

The US economy is pumped up on tech-bro vanity. The inevitable correction must prompt a global conversation about intelligent machines, regulation and riskIf AI did not change your life in 2025, next year it will. That is one of few forecasts that can be made with confidence in unpredictable times. This is not an invitation to believe the hype about what the technology can do today, or may one day achieve. The hype doesn't need your credence. It is puffed up enough on Silicon Valley finance to distort the global economy and fuel geopolitical rivalries, shaping your world regardless of whether the most fanciful claims about AI capability are ever realised.ChatGPT was launched just over three years ago and became the fastest-growing consumer app in history. Now it has about 800m weekly users. Its parent company, OpenAI, is valued at about $500bn. Sam Altman, OpenAI CEO, has negotiated an intricate and, to some eyes, suspiciously opaque network of deals with other players in the sector to build the infrastr...

Michael Robinson says the planned changes to the qualifications body will erode our capacity to train skilled workers when our country needs them mostThe changes at City & Guilds that your article describes are concerning (City & Guilds to shrink UK workforce amid £22m cost-cutting drive, 14 December). For decades, City & Guilds has helped young people and adults get the skills they need to build their lives. That legacy now feels like it's hanging by a thread due to the reported £22m cost-cutting drive.What's just as worrying is the apparent shift from a nonprofit mindset to a profit-driven one. If education becomes just another business, there's always a risk that profit comes before impact. For many learners – especially those with few other options – vocational training is their path forward. If prices rise or support is cut, it will hit these people hardest. Continue reading......

Game developer, who was also involved in Medal of Honor and Titanfall, was killed in a car crashVince Zampella, the co-creator of the Call of Duty video game series, has died aged 55.The head of the video game developer Respawn Entertainment and the co-founder of Infinity Ward was killed in a car crash in California, NBC Los Angeles reported. Continue reading......

Move is part of a long-awaited Labour strategy including outlawing hen cages and ending puppy farmingBoiling lobsters while they are alive and conscious will be banned as part of a government strategy to improve animal welfare in England.Government ministers say that “live boiling is not an acceptable killing method” for crustaceans and alternative guidance will be published. Continue reading......

Food and Drug Administration's approval hands drugmaker Novo Nordisk an edge in the race to market an obesity pillUS regulators on Monday gave the green light to a pill version of the blockbuster weight-loss drug Wegovy, the first daily oral medication to treat obesity.The US Food and Drug Administration's approval handed drugmaker Novo Nordisk an edge over rival Eli Lilly in the race to market an obesity pill. Lilly's oral drug, orforglipron, is still under review. Continue reading......