Government forced into climbdown on inheritance tax for farmers
Threshold to increase to £2.5mn from April after backlash, following original proposal of £1mn
Panama Canal ports deal at risk after China’s Cosco demands majority stake
BlackRock and shipping group MSC consider walking away from talks
Epstein appointed Staley and Summers as executors of his will
Newly released DoJ documents point to deep ties between influential men and late sex offender
ERG bid gatecrashed by Kazakh businessman
Shakhmurat Mutalip has countered offer from Shukhrat Ibragimov for stake in miner
Buckingham Nicks — a long-unavailable blueprint for the Fleetwood Mac sound
The only album Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks recorded as a duo is more than just a rock curio
The Ten Year Affair by Erin Somers — a millennial’s dance with adultery
A comedic take on the mid-century infidelity novels of Updike and Cheever uses a split timeline to ask potent questions about modern marriage
Copper price hits record high on concerns over tariffs and shortages
Industrial metal has passed $12,000 a tonne as rally continues
Russia launches massive drone attack on Ukraine before winter holidays
Strikes kill several people and leave some regions in the dark as winter temperatures drop
France to approve budget rollover to avoid US-style shutdown
Spending limits for 2025 to be extended into new year but officials warn new budget is needed to finance investments
Dublin gets its first official Catholic cathedral since the Reformation
St Mary’s in a relatively poor part of the Irish capital only had a ‘pro’, or temporary, designation
Christmas without my mum, Skye Gyngell
Evie Henderson, founder of The Yellow World, on motherhood and grief
Ryanair fined €256mn in Italy for ‘abusive strategy’ against online travel agents
Airline plans to appeal against competition authority’s ‘bizarre’ and ‘unsound’ ruling
FirstFT: AI debt boom pushes US corporate bond sales close to record
Also in today’s newsletter: ByteDance’s AI spending spree, and private credit firms snap up consumer debt
‘We have to have’ Greenland, says Trump
US president claims Danish territory is needed ‘for national security’
What Tesco can teach fintech hotshots about cultural imperialism
Cultural hurdles can be just as hard to get over as regulatory ones
Bet365 boss Denise Coates nets £260mn payout
UK’s richest woman received increase despite fall in profits at family-run gambling empire
The year in review (part two)
Our 2025 predictions, reviewed
HSBC board member who led search for chair to retire
Ann Godbehere will step down as a director at next year’s annual meeting
Dotcom tycoon to bankruptcy court: the fall and fall of Robert Bonnier
Amid claims of AudioBoom share price manipulation, a judge found Bonnier lied to secure investment from Nick Candy
The ECB is on hold for an extended period
Read the central bank’s December forecast from the FT’s Monetary Policy Radar team
Ares Management chief eyes private equity as group’s next target
Michael Arougheti says private credit-focused firm has ‘a lot of financial capacity to buy’
EU moves against cheap plastics imports as recycling plants shut
European Commission plans additional checks and stricter rules to shore up ailing industry
Whisky galore: Trump’s tariffs and cost of living create glut of undrunk Scotch
Concern over rural economies as distilleries left with a surplus that has forced some to pause or scale back production