News

Vladimir Putin is cruising to victory in Russia’s presidential election, cementing his rule for another six years amid his invasion of Ukraine and brutal suppression of dissent. The result of the three-day election ending on Sunday is a foregone conclusion after the Kremlin outlawed all criticism of Putin or the war and blocked any opposition

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. Some 24 years after Vladimir Putin was elected to his first term as Russia’s president in an election that was still broadly free, this weekend’s electoral procession to anoint him to a fifth term is

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. Nato’s European members need to find an extra €56bn a year to meet the alliance’s defence spending target, but the shortfall has halved in the past decade, according to research by Germany’s Ifo Institute for

A below-the-radar trip to Venezuela by Boris Johnson to meet autocratic president Nicolás Maduro was arranged by a hedge fund manager interested in normalising diplomatic relations between London and Caracas, according to people familiar with the matter. Former JPMorgan banker Maarten Petermann, co-founder of London-based Merlyn Advisors, organised the former UK prime minister’s visit by

Stay informed with free updates Simply sign up to the War in Ukraine myFT Digest — delivered directly to your inbox. Ukraine has urged western allies to fund its domestic weapons production with its recently ramped up manufacturing capacity now vastly exceeding the money available for orders. “The fastest way to start production is to

Russian oil tankers circumventing western sanctions are relying on insurance that appears impossible to claim against, according to leaked documents exposing the risks taken by Moscow’s “dark fleet”. The cache of shipping files, seen by the Financial Times and the Danish media group Danwatch, reveals that a number of Russian vessels travelling from the Baltic

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. RedBird IMI is leaning towards a full sale of the Telegraph Media Group following the UK government’s decision to block its Abu Dhabi-backed takeover of the rightwing newspaper, according to two people with knowledge of

The US has held secret talks with Iran this year in a bid to convince Tehran to use its influence over Yemen’s Houthi movement to end attacks on ships in the Red Sea, according to US and Iranian officials. The indirect negotiations, during which Washington also raised concerns about Iran’s expanding nuclear programme, took place

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. Rishi Sunak will attempt to block the takeover of the Telegraph by Abu Dhabi-backed RedBird IMI by changing the law to stop a foreign state buying a British news organisation. The UK prime minister will

China is scrapping a string of infrastructure projects in indebted regions as it struggles to reconcile a need to save money with this year’s target for economic growth. Beijing has ordered a dozen highly indebted areas, many of them less-developed and far from the coast, to curb infrastructure spending as it tries to unwind a

Stay informed with free updates Simply sign up to the US inflation myFT Digest — delivered directly to your inbox. US inflation increased unexpectedly to 3.2 per cent last month, in data set to be scrutinised by the US Federal Reserve as it decides when to reduce interest rates. Economists polled by Bloomberg had expected

Stay informed with free updates Simply sign up to the Equities myFT Digest — delivered directly to your inbox. Growing optimism about the world economy and improved corporate earnings is driving stock markets to record highs, prompting analysts to forecast further gains in what some describe as a “risk reset”. Wall Street’s S&P 500, the

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. Telegram has 900mn users and is nearing profitability, according to the owner of the secretive messaging app, as the company moves closer to a potential blockbuster stock market listing. Pavel Durov told the Financial Times

Stay informed with free updates Simply sign up to the US economy myFT Digest — delivered directly to your inbox. Americans are increasingly happy about the economy but reluctant to give credit to Joe Biden, according to a new poll that underscores the US president’s challenges as he squares off against Donald Trump in this

Stay informed with free updates Simply sign up to the Chinese economy myFT Digest — delivered directly to your inbox. Officials from some of China’s most indebted provinces and cities have met leading state bankers in Beijing in recent days as they step up efforts to renegotiate debt payments on billions of dollars in liabilities

The US has widened its productivity lead over Europe, sparking fears in the EU that it faces a “competitiveness crisis” as policymakers call for greater public and private investment. New data released on Friday showed eurozone productivity fell 1.2 per cent in the fourth quarter from a year earlier, while in the US it rose

Stay informed with free updates Simply sign up to the Central banks myFT Digest — delivered directly to your inbox. Top central bankers in Europe and the US have moved closer to declaring victory over the biggest inflation surge for a generation, with new data giving policymakers confidence they can cut rates by the summer.

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. [embedded content] Joe Biden called on Congress to “stand up” to Russian President Vladimir Putin as he opened his annual speech to Congress with a plea to support Ukraine and criticism of Donald Trump for

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. Nothing screams For Sale louder than a cheap sticker price. A number of listed UK companies seem priced for a quick sale. On Thursday, Britain’s largest private building society Nationwide announced it had provisionally agreed

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. British fiscal events are essentially political. This is particularly true when an election looms. But they need to have the trappings of economic sense and fiscal probity. This is particularly true for Jeremy Hunt, a