The value of Bitcoin, which is often seen as a barometer of the entire industry, surged from about $93,500 (£69,500) a coin at the start of 2025 to a high of nearly $124,500 before falling below $90,000 by the end of the year.
Investors who bought when the value was lower and sold when it was higher are in line to pay taxes, but authorities have historically struggled to collect it, says Dawn Register, a tax dispute resolution partner at accountancy firm BDO.
“HMRC has been concerned for some time about high levels of non-compliance among crypto investors,” she says.
The new rules coming in will make it much harder for the crypto rich to hide any untaxed gains, giving the tax authorities much more information about crypto users and their transactions.
Cryptocurrency exchanges, which act like banks for the industry allowing people to exchange standard currency for virtual coins, must now ensure they automatically share up to date and accurate accounts of all their users’ earnings.
Romaine LeGallou heard the Supreme Court of Canada was turning 150 and needed a wardrobe update. And after that, everything seemed to happen so quickly.
She expressed interest. She got a call to make a pitch. Her company was chosen.
Then the real work began.
“It was such pressure for the team. It happened four weeks before I gave birth for the first time!” LeGallou said, laughing.
LeGallou is the CEO of Les Rabat-Joies, a small shop in Saguenay, Que., that makes bespoke court attire for lawyers and judges.
When it comes to designing attire for Canada’s highest court, there is a protocol you have to follow.
But the company was determined to spruce things up.
LeGallou and her staff put in countless hours to make the most of this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
And all of that work seems to have brought this small but mighty team even closer together.
Myriam Herrera, technical lead at Les Rabat-Joies, left, and Romane LeGallou, CEO, right, travelled to Ottawa for discussions and fittings in the lead-up to the creation of the Supreme Court’s new attire. (Submitted by Romane LeGallou)
Doing the court justice
There are strict rules in Canada on how lawyers and judges must dress, depending on the court. Robes are always black, tabs always white.
Les Rabat-Joies finds ways to personalize legal garb that respects tradition.
Clients can choose from dozens of models for tabs, with everything from lace or crocheted collars, to rainbow-stitched tabs and pearls. Standard robes can be lined with prints featuring anything, from St. Bernards to playing cards, Vespa scooters, feathers or zebra stripes.
In other words, a made-to-order robe is business on the outside, but party on the inside.
In French, the word “rabat-joie” means kill-joy. But “rabat” in French also refers to what are known in English as tabs or bands: those two white strips of fabric lawyers and judges wear at their collars in court.
Stéphanie Gobeil, the assistant director of Les Rabat-Joies, says the company’s name plays on that notion, bringing something unexpected, maybe even fun, to the courthouse.
Stéphanie Gobeil, assistant director of Les Rabat-Joies, wants clients to come to the company for legal attire that pops — within measure. (Susan Campbell/CBC)
“We want our clients to know that if they come to us, they’re going to have a court wardrobe that rocks, that’s different from what they’ll find anywhere else,” Gobeil said.
For a long time, jurists in Canada have bought their legal attire from large companies that dressed both lawyers and judges and the clergy.
‘Perfection, nothing less’
During the spring and summer, the Rabat-Joies team devoted itself to creating signature attire for each of the nine justices.
Myriam Herrera is Les Rabat-Joies’ technical lead.
She started working as a dressmaker in her native Nicaragua when she was 14 and worked for years in fashion design. She joined the company in 2024, six years after arriving in Saguenay.
And at the shop, there are two employees whom the business recruited from Nicaragua and Colombia on temporary work permits.
The Cormier symbol, embroidered into the fabric of the justices’ robes and stamped on the buttons, features a stylized ‘S’ and ‘C’. (Submitted by Les Rabat-Joies)
Herrera says the team’s goal is the same for all their custom-made orders.
“We all bring our input to what we design here and make adjustments so everyone leaves with the product they wanted,’’ Herrera said.
LeGallou and Herrera travelled to Ottawa last year to meet with the justices, take their measurements and talk about their own visions for their new robes.
They sourced black silk from Korea. The Cormier emblem, symbol of the Supreme Court of Canada, was embroidered 2,500 times into the fabric. Buttons with the emblem were designed and produced in the region.
Each robe required 40 hours of work.
“Perfection, nothing less,” is how LeGallou describes her team’s commitment to this historic change for the court.
Nine-month-old Abraham, son of Les Rabat-Joies CEO Romane LeGallou, in his custom-made replica of the new Supreme Court robe. (Submitted by Romane LeGallou)
Canada’s 10th — and tiniest — Supreme Court judge
Last September, Herrera and LeGallou returned to Ottawa to deliver the finished robes.
They were a hit.
The ceremonial robes were unveiled publicly at the opening of the Supreme Court season on Oct. 6, in Ottawa.
In prepared remarks, Chief Justice Richard Wagner said the new robes preserved the dignity and the authority of the judicial role.
“They have a modern and simple design that echoes our commitment to openness and accessibility in a way that is distinctly Canadian,” he said.
LeGallou says the move by the Supreme Court to modernize serves as a tacit approval for courts elsewhere in Canada and the people who work there to change things up a bit.
A display of some of the models of tab on offer at Les Rabat-Joies’ shop located in Saguenay’s Chicoutimi borough. (Susan Campbell/CBC)
Around the time the designs were unveiled, Herrera was celebrating her birthday.
LeGallou opened a bottle of champagne and they toasted how far Herrera had come since arriving in Canada.
“It was a day full of emotion,” LeGallou said. “And she is so proud, not just of this realization, but she’s married, she has her three children here. I’m so happy to be part of this great story.”
Herrera had a surprise in store for LeGallou when the two were preparing to deliver the robes to Ottawa. There was a tiny replica of the justices’ attire, tailor-made for LeGallou’s nine month-old son Abraham.
“It was a gift to mark this historic project,” LeGallou said. “I can’t express how touched I was by this gesture.”
The above photo shows the lining of a custom-made robe for one of the shop’s clients, a woman who idolizes U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, whose collars were her trademark. (Susan Campbell/CBC)
The fight to keep the team together
Les Rabat-Joies’ work on the Supreme Court‘s wardrobe has drawn attention and business appears to have picked up.
The challenge, moving forward, is to make sure the team stays together.
Herrera is fully settled in Quebec. But the same can’t be said for the two staff members on temporary work permits.
CEO LeGallou says she wants them to get the chance to do what Herrera did: set down roots in Saguenay and stay.
Changes to immigration rules have put the future of two of the Rabat-Joies’ temporary foreign workers in question. (Susan Campbell/CBC)
But changes to federal and provincial immigration rules have put those workers in a precarious position. Dressmaking is no longer considered a “rare” occupation under Ottawa’s job classifications, which once gave foreign workers a more direct path to permanent residency.
And Quebec’s raising of the bar for French-language proficiency has made it harder for workers to stay.
LeGallou has been in discussions with authorities through her lawyers for months, fighting for a solution that would allow her employees to remain in Canada. She says she’s worried about her business, but she is even more worried about the people to whom she made a promise.
“When I hired them, I was sure I could keep them,” LeGallou said. “Not just for two years.”
The legal battle to keep her team intact is all the more important since the unveiling of the Supreme Court robes, according to the CEO.
“Every week I see more and more orders from new cities, new provinces,” LeGallou said. “The vision is to keep working from Saguenay but to ship our creations across Canada.”
Pakistan’s oil marketing sector is at risk of forced exits and disorderly consolidation if its ongoing fragmentation is not addressed, according to a new report by Mountain Ventures, a Dubai-based advisory service.
The Pakistan OMCs Review 2025 highlights the dominance of a few large players in the sector, noting that 60% of the market share is held by just three players, 95% by the top ten, and 98.5% by the top twenty. The remaining OMCs struggle with small scale and often rely on discounting to remain competitive, which erodes margins and hampers investment in critical areas such as compliance and infrastructure.
“Consolidation will happen regardless. The only question is whether it occurs early and orderly, or later through financial stress, exits, and market disruption,” the report stated.
The report warns that the sector is showing similar signs of weakness to the US airline industry, which faced collapsed margins, bankruptcies, and forced mergers.
Despite solid volume growth in 2025, with gasoline, gasoil, and hi-octane sales increasing by around 10% YoY, the sector’s financial health is under strain. The report pointed out that regulated pricing, persistent discounting, and rising capital requirements are factors contributing to a tightening outlook. In addition, uncertainty surrounding the Infrastructure Development Cess and sales tax recoverability have heightened the working capital requirements of OMCs.
The report also identified owned storage capacity and retail network quality as key operational constraints on the sector’s growth. As gasoline storage capacity becomes increasingly limited, network optimization is now a priority over simply expanding the number of outlets.
The growing presence of global brands such as Aramco, Gunvor, and Wafi Energy is expected to shift market dynamics. These international companies are likely to raise consumer expectations around service quality, operational standards, and product integrity, particularly with their consistent retail formats and strong branding.
Looking forward, the report emphasized that consolidation, rationalization, and capital discipline would be essential in shaping the future of the sector. The growth trajectory of Pakistan’s oil marketing industry will increasingly depend on factors like scale, financial resilience, and execution capability, rather than just demand growth.
Department of Aviation Custodial Worker II Jeanine Wing received the “Unsung Heroes” award from PHL’s Employee Recognition Program. This award serves to recognize and honor employees who play crucial behind-the-scenes roles. Their dedication and commitment are integral to the overall success of the airport.
As a Custodial Worker II, Wing plays a vital role in enhancing the overall visitor experience by ensuring that the restrooms throughout the airport are consistently clean and well-maintained. She’s been at PHL for over three years and works the 2 – 10 p.m. shift. Coworkers describe Wing as being bubbly and friendly.
“I love my job,” said Wing. “I love coming into work. I like helping people. If a passenger does not speak English, I try to assist them as best as I can and guide them to someone who can help them.”
In her nomination of Wing, Department of Aviation Chief Commercial Officer Kate Sullivan shared, “While I was visiting the Terminal C Information Counter, I observed custodial worker Jeanine Wing escorting a very anxious passenger to the desk because his boarding pass did not list the gate assignment. The passenger was extremely nervous about flying, and boarding time was approaching. The volunteer at the desk identified the gate and provided directions to Terminal E. The guest was now even more anxious, realizing that he was not in the right terminal. When they both started to walk away, I heard Jeanine say, ‘Don’t worry, I will walk you to your gate.’ Jeanine supported the passenger throughout the entire experience, getting him to the information desk and personally taking ownership by making sure he got to where he needed to be. All while being very empathetic, attentive, and pleasant.”
At PHL, Wing loves being exposed to people from different cultures and appreciates people’s unique personalities.
The aviation industry fascinates Wing, who loves watching aircraft activity in Terminal F. “It’s just a great experience to look outside and see the planes fly in, I feel so lucky,” she said. “I love seeing how hard employees work at the airport. I love how committed they are to their jobs. It’s refreshing to see.”
Wing believes in maintaining a workplace of compassion. She recalls assisting a passenger with formula and diapers for her baby as one of her most memorable moments at the airport.
“I thank Kate for nominating me for this Employee Recognition award,” said Wing. “I also thank Custodial Work Supervisor I Moda Ndiaye for his kindness and leadership.”
The PHL Employee Recognition Program was established by the airport’s Guest Experience (GX) Department. Honorees are nominated by their peers and selected by the GX Council Steering Committee’s Stakeholder Engagement Committee. For more information the program and to nominate an employee, click here.
David Boothroyd, cabinet member for Finance and Council Reform, said: “I want to reassure residents that we are doing everything possible to respond effectively to the cyber security incident and to keep delivering our services.
“Our priority is to support and protect the most vulnerable in our community, despite the disruption that is being caused.”
“We acted quickly to secure our systems, and we are working towards restoring council services as safely and swiftly as possible, but this will take time. We remain committed to transparency and will continue to provide updates as our recovery progresses,” he added.
Kensington and Chelsea Council said it may take “months” for services to return to normal.
Council leader Elizabeth Campbell said the authority would carry out a review “when the time is right”.
Hammersmith and Fulham Council, the third authority to be impacted, said there is no evidence to date that its systems have been compromised.
Westminster City Council is urging residents to be extra cautious with unexpected calls, emails or texts and to follow official guidance from the National Cyber Security Centre.
January 01, 2026 (MLN): The Oil and Gas Development
Company Limited (PSX:OGDC), operator of the Nashpa Exploration License with a
65% stake, in partnership with Pakistan Petroleum Limited (PPL) holding 30% and
Government Holdings (Private) Limited (GHPL) with 5%, has made a notable oil
and gas discovery at the Baragzai X-01 (Slant) exploratory well in the Datta
Formation, District Kohat.
During the cased-hole Drill Stem Test (DST-02) in the
Jurassic-age Datta Formation, the well produced 4,100 barrels of oil per day
(BOPD) and 10.5 million standard cubic feet of gas per day (MMSCFD) at 32/64”
choke size, with a wellhead flowing pressure of 3,880 psig.
The Baragzai X-01 (Slant) well, which began drilling on
December 30, 2024, reached a total depth of 5,170 meters into the Kingriali
Formation, according to the company’s statement issued today.
Approximately 187 meters of the Datta Formation were
encountered.
Strong hydrocarbon shows during drilling, petrophysical
evaluations from open-hole wireline logs, and fracture indications from image
logs prompted the cased-hole drill stem test.
Earlier, successful cased-hole testing (CHDST-01) in the
Triassic-age Kingriali Formation had already indicated hydrocarbon potential.
This discovery is expected to contribute to closing the
energy supply demand gap using indigenous resources and will strengthen the
hydrocarbon reserves of OGDCL, its joint venture partners, and Pakistan.
Explaining the uses of AI, Prof Sloan said a farmer growing plants in fields needed to check for pests.
“Go back even 10 years, you would have had to manually go around and actually look at all of those plants,” he said.
“Now what you can do, is you can take a machine… you can scan individually, you can compare what you’re seeing very quickly to what a healthy plant looks like.”
He said it was the same with animals, adding: “A cow can tell you by the way it walks, the way it sits, how it spends its time, whether it’s OK or not OK.”
It took time and experience for a person to check them, he said, but with cameras, “we can spot them, we can see them, and we can act really quickly to keep the animals healthy”.
The renovations will also be funded by the Paddle Steamer Preservation Society and the steamer’s owning charity, Waverley Steam Navigation Co.
The £135,000 is needed to replace the ship’s two masts and several windows in the dining saloon with authentic materials.
Mr Semple said: “They are vital components that really give the authentic nature to Waverley.
“Essentially, many parts of the ship could be replaced with more modern materials and fittings which may last longer, but collectively that would change the look and feel of the ship.”
Waverley was built shortly after the Second World War for the London and North Eastern Railway, connecting passengers from Glasgow to towns such as Rothesay and Dunoon.
It was launched in October 1946 and entered service the next year.
Following the end of its working life, the ship was gifted to the Paddle Steamer Preservation Society in 1974 for £1.
