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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

Sir Keir Starmer’s friends say the prime minister needs a holiday. After a year of electoral triumph followed by a precipitous drop in support — with no time off in between — the UK Labour party’s high command appears exhausted. “He needs a break, they all need a break,” said one confidant. “These are people

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

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. The UK economy failed to grow in the third quarter, in the latest blow to a government already under fire from businesses for its tax-raising Budget. GDP did not register any growth in the three

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

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

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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. 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 Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. Novo Nordisk, one of Europe’s largest companies, lost more than a quarter of its value on Friday after its latest obesity drug missed the drugmaker’s goal for an average of 25 per cent weight loss.

Unlock the White House Watch newsletter for free Your guide to what the 2024 US election means for Washington and the world Leading central banks have warned that inflation is proving stickier than expected and that they will only cut borrowing costs gradually in 2025, in a shift that hit bond markets on both sides

Donald Trump is still weeks away from taking the oath of office, but the president-elect’s vow to enact a sweeping policy overhaul is already looming large over the Federal Reserve. The Fed trimmed interest rates by a quarter of a percentage point on Wednesday in its third consecutive reduction, but officials’ projections for half as

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

Stay informed with free updates Simply sign up to the UK inflation myFT Digest — delivered directly to your inbox. UK inflation accelerated to 2.6 per cent in November, in line with analysts’ predictions, cementing expectations that the Bank of England will hold rates steady at its meeting on Thursday. The year-on-year rise in the

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

Bashar al-Assad’s central bank airlifted around $250mn in cash to Moscow in a two-year period when the then Syrian dictator was indebted to the Kremlin for military support and his relatives were secretly buying assets in Russia. The Financial Times has uncovered records showing that Assad’s regime, while desperately short of foreign currency, flew banknotes