Introduction: FTSE 100 on track for 5% gain this year Good morning, and welcome to our rolling coverage of business, the financial markets and the world economy. It’s the final trading day of the year, when investors will be adding up their profits (or losses) and turning their attention to 2025. 2024 has been another…
A US government fund to compensate people swindled by Bernie Madoff is making its final round of payments, taking the total paid from the fund to the late fraudster’s victims to $4.3bn (£3.4bn). The Madoff Victim Fund is paying out $131.4m from forfeited assets to 23,408 people around the globe in the 10th and final…
Beijing has hit back at accusations that a China state-sponsored actor was behind a cyber breach at the US treasury department, calling the claims “groundless”. The breach was orchestrated via a third-party cybersecurity service provider. Hackers were able to gain access to a key used by the vendor to override certain parts of the system,…
A man has been arrested after an alleged bungled gangland shooting resulted in a high-speed chase through south-west Sydney. Police had attended a home in Edensor Park about 1.30am on Tuesday after two men armed with guns were seen trying to break into a property, before leaving in a Hyundai sedan. The home is believed…
Passengers on the London to Glasgow main line face disruption to services in the coming days because of strikes by train managers at Avanti West Coast. Members of the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT) at the company are due to strike on New Year’s Eve and 2 January in a dispute…
Charli xcx’s Brat summer may have given way to cold winter, but the success of albums by female artists helped arrest a two-decade-long decline in sales of physical music. Women led the way in recorded music this year, according to the British Phonographic Industry (BPI), topping the singles chart for 34 out of the 52…
Some Australians will welcome the new year with showers and storms while others will continue sweltering through heatwave conditions. The Bureau of Meteorology has said the risk of storms will continue along the east coast on New Year’s Day. The risk of severe thunderstorms will continue for parts of Queensland, with showers becoming more extensive…
Wait times for visas to bring parents to Australia are so long that nearly 2,300 applicants died before receiving a visa in the last three years, according to the home affairs department. The department released the data to Senate estimates, revealing that 2,297 parent visa applicants and 87 other family members, such as aged dependent…
The likely first summer case of a potentially deadly mosquito-borne virus has been identified in regional Victoria. Japanese encephalitis, a flavivirus related to dengue and yellow fever, was detected in a resident in the state’s north, the Department of Health announced on Tuesday. The virus has also been picked up by environmental surveillance in northern…
A South Korean court has approved an arrest warrant for President Yoon Suk Yeol, who was impeached and suspended from power over his decision to impose martial law on 3 December, investigating authorities said. The Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO) confirmed a Seoul court approved the warrant requested by investigators examining Yoon’s short-lived…
