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Stay informed with free updates Simply sign up to the Chinese economy myFT Digest — delivered directly to your inbox. Defaults by Chinese borrowers have surged to a record high since the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, highlighting the depth of the country’s economic downturn and the obstacles to a full recovery. A total of

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. UN climate talks on how to limit global warming have focused on renewable energy for too long, according to the chief executive of ExxonMobil, the biggest western oil supermajor. In an interview with the Financial

Israel is planning a campaign against Hamas that will stretch for a year or more, with the most intensive phase of the ground offensive continuing into early 2024, according to several people familiar with the preparations. The multi-phase strategy envisages Israeli forces, who are garrisoned inside north Gaza, making an imminent push deep into the

Federal Reserve officials are preparing to leave their historic interest-rate raising campaign on hold next month for the third meeting in a row — but that does not mean they are ready to discuss cuts. Since July the federal funds rate has held steady at a 22-year high of 5.25 per cent to 5.5 per

Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund has taken a stake in London’s Heathrow airport as the Spanish infrastructure group Ferrovial offloads shares in the UK’s main travel hub that it has owned for 17 years. The stake has been purchased by Ardian, a European private equity group, and the Public Investment Fund, Ferrovial said late on

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. Israel and Hamas are set for a fifth consecutive transfer of hostages and prisoners after the warring sides agreed to extend a pause in fighting for an additional 48 hours.  Under an extension of what

Stay informed with free updates Simply sign up to the War in Ukraine myFT Digest — delivered directly to your inbox. Russia has claimed it repelled a wave of Ukrainian drone and missile strikes on Sunday, a day after it launched the biggest drone attack on Kyiv since the start of President Vladimir Putin’s full-scale

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. A slim boy with dark hair and spectacles dashed down an Israeli hospital corridor towards a man in a checked shirt, who scooped him into a bear hug. After 49 days in captivity, including his

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. Year-ahead outlook season is upon us again and the déjà vu vibe is strong. This time last year, investors and analysts were busy telling the world about their key convictions about 2023. Chief among them:

Donald Trump is planning to gut US President Joe Biden’s landmark climate law, increase investment in fossil fuels and roll back regulations aimed at accelerating the transition to electric vehicles if he is elected next year. Senior campaign officials and advisers to the former president said he would seek to radically overhaul US climate and

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. Canada has withdrawn dozens of diplomats from India after the countries failed to resolve a dispute related to Ottawa’s claims that New Delhi may have been involved in the murder of a Canadian citizen. Ottawa

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. Microsoft has hired Sam Altman and Greg Brockman to lead a team conducting artificial intelligence research, days after the pair were pushed out of OpenAI, the company they co-founded. Writing on X on Monday, Microsoft

Iran’s top diplomat has revealed that Tehran told the US through back channels that it did not want the Israel-Hamas war to spread further, but also warned Washington that regional conflict could be unavoidable if Israeli attacks on Gaza continue. “Over the past 40 days, messages have been exchanged between Iran and the US, via

Stay informed with free updates Simply sign up to the US-China relations myFT Digest — delivered directly to your inbox. US President Joe Biden and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping have reached an agreement to resume communications between their countries’ militaries at a summit in San Francisco designed to stabilise relations after several years of

Stay informed with free updates Simply sign up to the UK inflation myFT Digest — delivered directly to your inbox. UK inflation slowed sharply to an annual rate of 4.6 per cent in October, driven by a fall in the energy price cap, meaning prime minister Rishi Sunak has met his pledge to halve inflation by year

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. Equity specialists at some of the world’s largest asset managers are brushing up on their history and digging into new data sources to convince clients to keep investing in stocks in a world of higher

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. No country has joined the EU since Croatia in 2013. But to judge from the recommendations last Wednesday of the European Commission, there is genuinely new momentum behind the once-stalled project of EU enlargement. Brussels

Skittish financial markets are stuck in an “endless loop” as traders’ reactions to comments from central bankers make it more complicated for those policymakers in their battle with inflation, say analysts and fund managers. In recent months central bankers have signalled that the series of aggressive interest rate rises to curb price pressures may shortly

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. Israel claimed to have helped foil an attack on Jewish targets allegedly planned by Hizbollah in Brazil, where authorities arrested two people on terror charges. Police in Brasília on Wednesday said the arrests in São

Stay informed with free updates Simply sign up to the Science myFT Digest — delivered directly to your inbox. The writer is a science commentator The machinery of government can move surprisingly quickly, especially when oiled by outrage. Within days of the UK’s leading scientific research funding agency assembling an advisory committee on equality, diversity