What was your childhood or earliest ambition? To work with animals. The novels of Dick King-Smith had a significant impact on my early life. Private school or state school? University or straight into work? Two different state schools in rural County Cork, both Catholic, then art college in Dublin, specialising in sculpture. I was a

Shell has begun the “nightmare” task of extricating itself from its biggest Russian energy project as China’s state-owned companies line up as the only current option for western oil and gas majors divesting Russian assets that much of the world will not touch. The UK-headquartered group is in “early stage negotiations” with Cnooc, CNPC and

As the Russian delegation prepared to speak at Wednesday’s G20 meeting, finance ministers and central bank governors from the US, EU, UK and Canada got up and walked out. They did not stay to listen to what Russian finance minister Anton Siluanov, who joined virtually, or his deputy Timur Maksimov, who was in the room,

Coronavirus infection rates are falling rapidly across the UK, easing pressure on the strained health service, according to official data. About 3.7mn people were infected with Covid-19 in the week ending April 16, according to Office for National Statistics estimates published on Friday. The latest infection figures are 15 per cent lower than those recorded

A KPMG investigation into German property group Adler found widespread governance and compliance shortcomings, the risk of big writedowns and questionable payments to a real estate investor who has long denied influence over the company. Adler, which owns 52,000 flats in north and western Germany, came under fire last year from short-selling group Viceroy Research,

Would you apply for a job which requires you to be “dynamic” or a “digital native”? If you’re over 40, it might not be worth bothering. Until recently, it looked as though Generation X had never had it so good. But age discrimination is alive and well — and the exodus of older workers in

Investors’ expectations for US inflation have shot to their highest level in decades even as the Federal Reserve signals an aggressive tightening of monetary policy is imminent, underscoring the challenge central banks face in convincing markets they can tame runaway price growth. A historic bond rout has intensified this week as officials from both the

It is a basic formula in the television business: make a hit show, renew it and lock in ever bigger audiences. But Netflix, which has spent more than 20 years upending the rules of the entertainment business, may have found a way to defy even this convention. This spring the streaming service will roll out

Belgian brewer Anheuser-Busch InBev is in talks to sell its stake in its Russian and Ukrainian joint venture to its Turkish partner, in a deal that could cause a $1.1bn hit to the world’s largest brewer. The maker of Budweiser, Stella Artois and Corona is seeking to sell its non-controlling interest in joint venture AB

As state after state in America’s conservative heartland adopts reactionary abortion legislation, the beacon of the free world looks bizarrely out of kilter with even socially conservative neighbours like Mexico, where more progressive policies are being implemented. Abortion is already a divisive political issue in the US. It is becoming a business issue too. Companies

Landscape architect Todd Longstaffe-Gowan’s new book is, as befits its subject, a glorious cabinet of curiosities. Covering a wide selection of idiosyncratic gardeners and their equally singular gardens, it ranges from the early 17th to the early 20th centuries, taking in many of the stranger features of the English tradition of landscape design. Longstaffe-Gowan avoids

One thing to start: Greetings from an (unusually chilly) springtime Washington, which is almost bustling again after the pandemic lockdowns, due to the meetings of the World Bank and IMF. The bank and fund have been debating some urgent issues this week: Russia’s invasion of Ukraine; spiralling energy prices; the spectre of stagflation; sovereign debt

China’s renminbi has followed the Japanese yen’s downward path versus the US dollar. Both countries are sticking with loose monetary policies in sharp contrast to the trajectory of the US. But the similarities end there. Chinese companies have more to gain from a weaker currency. This week marked the renminbi’s biggest slide against the US

Emmanuel Macron and far-right challenger Marine Le Pen are going head-to-head in a final appeal to voters as the French president tries to avoid an upset and secure an emphatic second-term victory in Sunday’s election. Macron has cemented his frontrunner status in recent days with his poll lead stabilising at around 55 per cent vs

Are we there yet? It is a reasonable question for bond investors after a historic shift lower in government bond prices to reflect the increasingly hawkish tilt from the US Federal Reserve. Sadly for those left licking wounds, the short answer is ‘probably not’. In fact, judging from this week’s wobbles, the shake-out across markets

She was told off by Mahatma Gandhi, charmed Nelson Mandela and shook hands with Mao Zedong. I suggest there can’t be many others who have hobnobbed with all three. “Not a bad trio,” Romila Thapar jokes. “My claim to fame is simply that I have met these guys!”  Far from it. Thapar, 90, has a

Dear reader, I had two moments of abrupt and instructive disillusionment this week. The first involved a busking violinist whose instrument was hooked up to a portable speaker. A tricky passage from Vivaldi’s “Four Seasons” was surging forth. I dug out a coin, intending to drop it in the violin case at his feet. A

For most of the pandemic we have been cheering on the vaccine scientists and manufacturers, cursing shortages of glass vials or giant growbags and then rolling up our sleeves when the precious doses are made available. No longer. Vaccine tracker Airfinity this month slashed its 2022 global sales forecast for Covid-19 jabs by 20 per

Peru’s president Pedro Castillo will travel to the Andean city of Cusco on Friday to address the demands of protesters angry about the rising cost of living who have blocked roads and a railway this week, stopping tourists reaching the ruins of Machu Picchu. Thousands of Peruvians joined a two-day strike in the Cusco region

Dozens of cities in China are in full or partial lockdown in response to the spread of Covid-19 cases, meaning that a population roughly the size of the US has been stuck at home for several weeks, often with limited access to food and medical care. Among those cities in lockdown, Shanghai has received the