The World Cup winner is to take a job placement at the group

2012 has offered some highs and lows, we've laughed, we've cried and here are our ten favourite moments

The residents of Knightsbridge are suffering. Their simple village ways are under threat and their traditional lifestyle assailed by insensitive newcomers. And the problem, it seems, is the wrong kind of rich people. "Gulfies", to be specific, the local nickname for the moneyed Gulf Arabs who favour that part of London for their summer holidays and prefer to bring their own cars with them rather than rely on a holiday rental.

Wednesday's stock market surge didn't have enough power to last for two days but the benchmark index still managed to hold on to its gains to the distress of short sellers. Some City speculators thought Wednesday's 2.2 per cent gain might not even last into a second day of trading. But those who put their money where their mouth was have been burnt – the FTSE 100 was up a further 19.97 points to 6,047.34 last night.

Andrew Sullivan, the veteran political blogger is leaving the Daily Beast in order relaunch his blog as an independent subscription-based site.

While most were topping up their glasses ready for a midnight toast, 160 Britons spent the hour after 11pm on New Year's Eve filing their tax return, according to HMRC.

Statements of the obvious can be fraught with peril. Just ask Gerald Ratner, who wiped £500m off the value of his jewellery business by admitting that many of its cheap-as-chips products were, in fact, "total crap".

As the nation's favourite brands count their booty from the Christmas sales bonanza, they will be hoping that success in 2013 is defined by more than a bargain rush in the final weeks.

Those loveable meerkats have beaten Vinny Jones...in the race to the most liked advert of 2012.

Public anger at controversial changes to its terms of service, which would have handed Instagram the rights to its users’ photos without paying a penny, forced it to row back furiously.

Civil servants redact secret Downing Street file following sexual-assault revelations, reports Cahal Milmo

The Queen of Christmas television?

Online uproar forces photo-sharing service to backtrack on changes to privacy terms