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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. The UK economy unexpectedly shrank 0.1 per cent in October, the second contraction in a row, in a blow to the Labour government’s economic agenda. The monthly change in GDP published on Friday by the

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. HSBC is reviewing its retail banking operations outside the UK and Hong Kong, a move that could see it substantially scale back operations in countries including Mexico, as it seeks further cost cuts. The bank

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. The European Central Bank has cut interest rates by a quarter point to 3 per cent, as it watered down its hawkish language and warned that growth would be weaker than it had previously forecast.

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. Business leaders have warned chancellor Rachel Reeves at a private meeting that the economic environment is “extremely challenging”, with companies facing major uncertainty due to her tax-raising Budget and the government’s planned package of employment

Stay informed with free updates Simply sign up to the US inflation myFT Digest — delivered directly to your inbox. US inflation rose to 2.7 per cent in November, as the Federal Reserve considers how quickly to press ahead with lowering interest rates. The figure was in line with the expectations of economists polled by

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. UK public sector workers face a fresh pay squeeze next year, after the Treasury said it would not raise taxes to fund more generous awards. The education and health departments said in evidence to independent

Stay informed with free updates Simply sign up to the Financial services myFT Digest — delivered directly to your inbox. Investors’ “relentless” appetite for juicy returns has triggered the biggest boom on Wall Street in complex financial products since the lead-up to the global financial crisis in 2007. The global volume of structured finance transactions

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. The rebel force that toppled Bashar al-Assad sought to consolidate its control of Syria on Monday, amid fears the change of regime in Damascus could fuel regional instability. Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, a one-time al-Qaeda affiliate,

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. Israel has taken more Syrian territory and struck chemical weapons sites in reaction to the toppling of Bashar al-Assad’s regime by a group led by the Islamist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham. The moves come as regional

Show video info Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has fled the country after a stunning offensive by rebels who seized the capital city of Damascus and toppled the dynasty that had ruled for 50 years. Amid scenes of jubilation on Sunday, the rebels proclaimed that “the city of Damascus is free from the tyrant Bashar al-Assad”

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. Syrian rebels say they are closing in on the strategic city of Homs as they push ahead with a lightning advance southwards towards President Bashar al-Assad’s remaining strongholds. “Our forces have liberated the last village

Rachel Reeves will on Monday lay the ground in Brussels for an “ambitious” new economic partnership with the EU, when she promises to fully honour post-Brexit deals struck by the last Conservative government. Reeves will become the first British chancellor to attend a meeting of European finance ministers since Brexit, reflecting her belief that improving

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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. Aviva, the UK insurance heavyweight, has agreed a £3.6bn takeover deal with Direct Line, after winning over its smaller rival with a sweetened bid. The preliminary deal, announced in a joint statement by the companies

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. Thames Water has received a bid from Covalis Capital that would see France’s Suez flown in to help manage a break-up of the UK’s largest water utility before listing it on the stock market. The

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. Bitcoin has surged above $100,000 for the first time, extending a dramatic rally as investors bet on greater political and regulatory support from US president-elect Donald Trump. The price of the world’s largest cryptocurrency has

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. The French parliament on Wednesday voted to oust prime minister Michel Barnier over his proposed deficit-cutting budget, plunging the country into deeper political turmoil. A motion of no confidence was approved by 331 votes in

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 faced mounting calls for his impeachment on Wednesday after his failed attempt to impose martial law triggered the country’s worst constitutional crisis in decades. Opposition lawmakers called on him

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol has signalled he intends to back down from his threat to impose martial law, hours after triggering a political crisis in the east Asian country. Yoon, a hardline former

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. A judge in Delaware rejected Tesla’s attempt to restore Elon Musk’s record $56bn pay package after previously striking it down as a breach of the fiduciary duty of the electric-car maker’s board, dealing a blow

Unlock the White House Watch newsletter for free Your guide to what the 2024 US election means for Washington and the world Nato’s new secretary-general has warned Donald Trump that the US would face a “dire threat” from China, Iran and North Korea if Ukraine is pushed to sign a peace deal on terms that

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. Syrian rebel fighters said they were pressing southward after taking over most of the country’s second city Aleppo, including its international airport, in a lightning assault that poses the biggest challenge in years to Bashar

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. The writer is director of regional security at the International Institute for Strategic Studies and co-editor of the newly-released ‘Turbulence in the Eastern Mediterranean: Geopolitical, Security and Energy Dynamics’ With the world understandably focused on the

Staring at the enormous mound of rubble that used to be her home, Mariam Hosni clutched her daughter’s hand, which gripped a picture of Hizbollah’s venerated former leader Hassan Nasrallah, assassinated by Israel as it escalated its offensive two months ago. The Hosnis’ building in Beirut’s southern suburbs was levelled in the fierce Israeli bombardment

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. Rebel forces have swept into Syria’s second city Aleppo after mounting a lightning offensive that poses the biggest threat to Bashar al-Assad’s regime in the simmering years-long civil conflict.  Images circulated on Friday night on

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. UK dealmaking activity accelerated this week with the announcement of four takeover offers worth a total of £5.3bn, underlining the country’s position as Europe’s foremost destination for mergers and acquisitions this year. On Friday, the

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. UK transport secretary Louise Haigh has resigned after admitting that she had pleaded guilty to a criminal offence over a missing mobile phone. “Whatever the facts of the matter, this issue will inevitably be a

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. Net immigration to the UK exceeded 900,000 for the year to June 2023, the highest annual total on record and much more than previously thought, according to official figures issued on Thursday. The revised Office

Christine Lagarde has urged Europe’s political leaders to co-operate with Donald Trump over tariffs and buy more products made in the US, warning that an acrimonious trade war risks wiping out global economic growth. The European Central Bank chief said in her first interview since Trump won his second presidential term that the EU needed

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. French sovereign bonds and stocks fell on Wednesday as concerns intensified among investors that a dispute over a belt-tightening draft budget could bring down Prime Minister Michel Barnier’s government. The sell-off pushed the gap between 10-year French