Great Guinness heist: thieves stole truck carrying 35,000 pints

In the days leading up to Christmas, stout-lovers were left reeling from a nationwide shortage of Guinness so severe that some pubs were forced to ration pints of the “black stuff” as taps began to run dry.Supermarkets remain at risk of running out due to customers’ stockpiling, according to reports, while the maker of the popular stout, Diageo, has even sent for back-up Guinness reserves from Ireland.Now it can be revealed that criminals appear to have gone to even greater lengths to beat the drought, with a heist that exacerbated the nationwide shortage.A truck carrying 400 50-litre kegs of the Irish stout – equivalent to 35,200 pints – disappeared from a depot in the Midlands in mid-December, the Guardian can reveal.It is understood the truck, whose contents were destined for pubs desperate for kegs of Guinness during the festive peak, was stolen from a logistics hub near Daventry, in Northamptonshire

FTSE 100 rallies by 5.7% in 2024 in ‘a year of resilience’ for the stock market – as it happened

Britain’s FTSE 100 share index has closed for the year, posting a 5.7% gain for 2024.The index of blue-ship shares listed in London has gained 440 points this year.As the market closed early for New Year, the FTSE 100 ended the day up 52 points or 0.65% today at 8173 points, having begun 2024 at 7733 points

‘Preying on investors’: how software firm MicroStrategy’s big bet on bitcoin 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. MicroStrategy, whose head office is situated next to a shopping mall and metro station in Tysons Corner, Virginia, had decided the steady business of “software as a service” was not racy enough.Instead, it would branch out by investing up to $250m in alternative assets – “stocks, bonds, commodities such as gold, digital assets such as bitcoin or other asset types”.Less than five years later, that bitcoin side hustle has gone stratospheric. MicroStrategy’s share price has swollen twentyfold, lifting its market capitalisation to almost $75bn and catapulting the stock into the Nasdaq 100 index of top technology shares

The most important tech stories of 2024, and also my favorite ones

Last week, we looked back at how 2024 made Elon Musk the world’s most powerful man. Today, we’re looking at a few other important themes that will influence the online and offline worlds in 2025.Google: Ruled an illegal monopoly in August, Google could be broken up. The results are anybody’s guess, but what seemed impossible for a company worth $2.5tn is at play

25 for 2025: unmissable sporting events over the next 12 months

Novak Djokovic will be aiming to begin the new year by doing something he failed to do throughout 2024 – win a grand slam title. It is a somewhat remarkable drought for an athlete of Djokovic’s standards which in part explains why he has asked Andy Murray to coach him in Melbourne. The partnership should make for a fascinating dynamic, on and off court, but may well not prove strong enough to see the Serb secure a record-breaking 25th slam given the form of reigning champion and world No 1, Jannik Sinner. In the women’s draw, Aryna Sabalenka will be seeking to win the title for a third time in a row.After 2023’s enthralling drawn series in England, the sides do battle in Australia in 2025 and, once again, the contest will be split across all three formats, culminating in a one-off, four-day Test match at the Melbourne Cricket Ground that will also be the first day-night Test to take place there, something that is a source of great excitement within the home ranks

Israelis free to play at World Indoor Bowls Championships after U-turn

Israeli players will now be free to compete at next month’s World Indoor Bowls Championships in Norfolk after tournament organisers revoked a ban.Three Israelis had been expected to play at the tournament in Hopton-on-Sea – with Daniel Alomin due to feature in the singles and Amnon Amar and Itai Rigbi in the pairs – but their invitations were withdrawn.The initial ban came following a campaign by pro-Palestinian groups with the World Bowls Tour (WBT) suggesting its decision had been taken after the involvement of Israeli bowlers at the Scottish International Open in August had produced “a significant escalation in related political concerns”.The WBT said the decision “was not taken lightly” and had been made “in the best interests of the event’s success and integrity”. The call was widely condemned by Jewish groups and the local MP, Rupert Lowe, who called it a victory for “the mob”