Salah’s Egypt and Iran will contest a ‘pride match’ at 2026 Fifa World Cup December 8, 2025 The 2026 Fifa World Cup match between Egypt and Iran has been designated as host city Seattle’s “pride match”. Homosexuality is illegal in both Egypt and Iran but the local organising committee in host city Seattle – the Seattle Pride Match Advisory Committee, which is not affiliated with Fifa – has said the match on [...]
Law Society welcomes crypto’s new legal status December 8, 2025 The Law Society has welcomed the government’s new Property (Digital Assets etc) Act, which passed into law last week and places cryptos, NFTs and other digital tokens as personal property. This settles years of uncertainty over whether digital assets could be owned, inherited, or recovered in court – a grey area that has frustrated investors [...]
Employment Rights Bill: Workers to get pro-union pamphlets December 8, 2025 Employers will be mandated to tell workers about the option of joining trade unions under new rules coming into force with the Employment Rights Bill. In one of several changes to workers’ rights to be made, bosses will have to inform new hires about what unions do and how they can join one. The change, backed [...]
Global trade resilient but uncertainty persists, IMF director warns December 8, 2025 Trade is expected to stabilise over 2026 but global uncertainty may potentially impact economies by up to two per cent of their GDP, an International Monetary Fund (IMF) director has warned. Jihad Azour, who oversees the MENA, North Africa, Central Asia, and the Caucasus Region, said 2025 was a year “of two cities,” with shocks [...]
River Island sets sights on profit after losing almost £125m December 8, 2025 River Island lost almost £125m in the year before being saved from the brink of administration, it has been revealed. The high street retailer’s restructuring plan, which was approved in August, involved 33 stores being closed with the loss of hundreds of jobs. The proposal also included rents being reduced – some to zero – [...]
Cardiff City’s £100m Sala damages claim set for court in France December 8, 2025 Cardiff City’s £100m damages claim surrounding the 2019 transfer of Nantes striker Emiliano Sala will be heard today in France. The Welsh club argues that they’re owed damages after the death of Sala, who was killed when his plane crashed on the way to Cardiff for a £15m transfer in January 2019. He and the [...]
UK fintech Plum follows Klarna in securing e-money licence December 8, 2025 Smart money app Plum has managed to secure an e-money licence from the City watchdog, Morning Wire can reveal, even as the volume of application approvals slumps. Plum, which was founded by the former head of banking at Wise, Victor Trokoudes, in 2016, has received authorisation to operate as an Electronic Money Institution (EMI) from the Financial [...]
The Great Christmas Feast review: A festive London must-do December 8, 2025 In a sea of A Christmas Carol stage adaptations, The Great Christmas Feast by The Lost Estate is easily up there with the best.
FTSE 100 Live: Reeves to be grilled, interest rates nerves, Netflix swoop, Employment Rights Bill December 8, 2025 Good morning and welcome back to the Morning Wire liveblog covering the FTSE 100 and other big market moves. Rachel Reeves is set to be grilled by MPs at the Treasury Select Committee later this week on the Budget while economists will begin looking ahead to the final interest rates decisions of the year to be made [...]
City policy chairman: London must seize chance to lead on AI December 8, 2025 Following the Budget, the UK can't afford complacency. From AI to pensions, here's how Canada can lead, writes Chris Hayward.