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Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. Vladimir Putin has apologised to Azerbaijan for what he described as a “tragic incident” involving an Azerbaijani aircraft in Russian airspace on Christmas Day. Moscow phoned Azerbaijani president Ilham Aliyev and the Russian president expressed

Stay informed with free updates Simply sign up to the Private equity myFT Digest — delivered directly to your inbox. The wealth of US private capital bosses jumped by more than $56bn in 2024 as shares of Blackstone, Apollo and KKR hit new highs, fuelled by rapid growth and their addition to the main US

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. Global corporate debt sales soared to a record $8tn this year, as companies took advantage of red-hot demand from investors to accelerate their borrowing plans. Issuance of corporate bonds and leveraged loans climbed by more

Vladimir Putin’s experimental “Oreshnik” missile fired against Ukraine last month was made by Russian companies that still rely on advanced western manufacturing equipment, according to FT analysis. Two top Russian weapons engineering institutes, named as developers of the Oreshnik missile by Ukrainian intelligence, have both been advertising for workers familiar with metalworking systems made by German

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. Russian anti-aircraft fire may have caused a plane to crash in Kazakhstan on Christmas Day, according to defence experts and officials in the region. The Azerbaijan Airlines flight was en route from Azerbaijan’s capital Baku

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Every night without fail, a mobile phone rings in the Holy Family church in Gaza, and a parish priest answers. The voice at the end of the line is that of Pope Francis, head of the Catholic Church and spiritual leader to a global flock of 1.4bn people. For more than a year, the pontiff

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. De Beers Group has amassed its biggest stockpile of diamonds since the 2008 financial crisis, laying bare the group’s challenge in reviving demand for jewels long seen as the pinnacle of luxury. A slump in

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. US companies are defaulting on junk loans at the fastest rate in four years, as they struggle to refinance a wave of cheap borrowing that followed the Covid pandemic. Defaults in the global leveraged loan

Stay informed with free updates Simply sign up to the Property sector myFT Digest — delivered directly to your inbox. The UK’s listed housebuilders are on track to build the fewest new homes for sale in a decade, as planning rules and high mortgage rates hold the market back despite the new Labour government’s push

Unlock the White House Watch newsletter for free Your guide to what the 2024 US election means for Washington and the world Matt Gaetz, Donald Trump’s former pick for US attorney-general, was accused by the House ethics committee of having sex with an underaged girl, paying women for sex and using illegal drugs in an

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. Nick Candy, the new treasurer of Nigel Farage’s rightwing Reform party, has promised Britain “political disruption like we have never seen before” as he claimed to have several other billionaire backers in addition to Elon

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. Palantir and Anduril, two of the largest US defence technology companies, are in talks with about a dozen competitors to form a consortium that will jointly bid for US government work in an effort to

Stay informed with free updates Simply sign up to the Sovereign bonds myFT Digest — delivered directly to your inbox. Investors poured record amounts into global bond funds this year as they bet on a shift towards easier monetary policy by major central banks. Bond funds attracted more than $600bn in inflows so far this

Stay informed with free updates Simply sign up to the Life & Arts myFT Digest — delivered directly to your inbox. As I pack my bags after nine years in Berlin, I’m leaving a city that seems to be trapped in a narrative of its own decline. Veterans say it has jumped the shark. Flats

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. A car ploughed into a crowd of people at a Christmas market in the German city of Magdeburg on Friday evening, killing at least two and injuring dozens more in what local officials said they

Unlock the White House Watch newsletter for free Your guide to what the 2024 US election means for Washington and the world Donald Trump’s team has told European officials that the incoming US president will demand Nato member states increase defence spending to 5 per cent of GDP, but plans to continue supplying military aid

Unlock the White House Watch newsletter for free Your guide to what the 2024 US election means for Washington and the world The US Congress is racing to pass a short-term spending bill by the end of Friday after Donald Trump, Elon Musk and JD Vance convinced Republicans to ditch bipartisan legislation to avert a

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. The Bank of England has kept interest rates on hold at 4.75 per cent as it seeks to contend with both stubborn inflation and lacklustre growth. In a split decision, most members of the Monetary

Stay informed with free updates Simply sign up to the US interest rates myFT Digest — delivered directly to your inbox. The Federal Reserve cut its benchmark interest rate by a quarter of a percentage point but signalled a slower pace of easing next year, sending the dollar higher and US stocks lower.  The Federal

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. Worries over the stagnating UK economy and accelerating inflation are unnerving investors, pushing borrowing costs to their biggest premium over German debt yields since 1990. The spread between the two countries’ bonds has risen above

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. Nissan and Honda are in exploratory talks about a merger of the two carmakers that would create a $52bn Japanese behemoth, according to people briefed on the matter.  The two companies are studying a way

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. A top Russian general has died after a bomb went off at the entrance to his home in Moscow early on Tuesday, investigators said, killing him and his assistant. Russia’s Investigative Committee, a major crimes

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. Rachel Reeves’ increase in business taxes is taking a toll on the UK economy as companies cut back hiring, adding to warnings that the chancellor’s October Budget has sapped corporate confidence heading into the new

Stay informed with free updates Simply sign up to the UK employment myFT Digest — delivered directly to your inbox. UK companies are cutting employee numbers at the fastest rate since the pandemic, according to a closely watched survey that highlights the impact of Rachel Reeves’ tax-hiking Budget. Private sector employment in December fell more

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. Confidence in the UK economy among manufacturers fell after Rachel Reeves’ tax-raising Budget at the sharpest rate since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, in another setback for the chancellor. Manufacturers’ confidence fell to 5.8

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. The London Stock Exchange is on course for its worst year for departures since the financial crisis, as fears mount that more FTSE 100 businesses will quit the UK in favour of New York. A

Every New Year’s Day, Emma Bisley starts asking herself the same question: who is going to win Christmas this year? Since 2023, the cherubic 34-year-old has been head of campaigns for Sainsbury’s, Britain’s second-largest supermarket chain. She thinks about winning Christmas the same way the Grinch thinks about stealing it, which is to say nearly

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. South Korea’s President Yoon Suk Yeol has been impeached by the National Assembly following his failed attempt to impose martial law last week. Opposition parties, which command a majority in the legislature, only needed the

Chancellor Rachel Reeves came to office in July pledging to make stronger growth the number one mission of the new Labour government. Official figures on Friday underlined how far she is from achieving this ambition.  After gaining momentum since 2023, output slipped back in September and October. The figures confirm that businesses and households shied