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Imagine two countries. The first is proudly Christian, it allowed racial segregation in living memory and racism is mentioned more frequently in its media than anywhere else in the developed world. The second is strictly secular and legally prohibits the collection of data on people’s race, a conscious effort by its leaders to avoid using

Llanwrtyd Wells, in mid-Wales, is known as Britain’s smallest town. In the centre, just off the main road, is a Victorian pub, the Neuadd Arms. As well as being a hotel and a brewery, it’s the official HQ of Green Events, a volunteer organisation manned by a loose collective of greying locals, mainly retirees, who

Apple’s drastic cuts to production forecasts for its Vision Pro headset have focused attention on the device’s most expensive component: the tiny micro OLED displays required to produce genuinely immersive experiences. The Financial Times reported this week that the US technology giant believes it will make fewer than 400,000 units in 2024, having previously made

The conditions for the greatest bond bull market in modern history were set in the 1970s, when inflation hit runaway levels. Central banks, led by the US Federal Reserve, launched a draconian response, pushing interest rates sky-high. Over the 40 deflationary years to the end of 2021, the annualised real return on bonds in the

For 10 years, China’s president Xi Jinping has deployed the Communist party’s internal watchdogs to eradicate political treachery and corruption across almost every facet of Chinese officialdom. Now, these deeply feared investigators are being let loose on a new target: themselves. At least 20 officials from China’s powerful anti-corruption units — the Central Commission for

The budget for the London terminus of Britain’s new HS2 high-speed railway line was “unrealistic” from the beginning, and the government’s decision to delay constructing it will cost at least another £200mn, a report from a cross-party group of MPs warns. The rebuilding of Euston station to accommodate high-speed trains has emerged as one of the

Harriet Clarfelt in New York and Daria Mosolova and Mary McDougall in London, Hudson Lockett in Hong Kong US stocks and bonds fell as investors were caught off guard by robust economic data and a signal from the Federal Reserve that it would raise interest rates further to tame inflation in the world’s largest economy.

Twitter has threatened to sue Meta alleging it stole the company’s trade secrets when creating its rival messaging app Threads, as the new platform attracted tens of millions of users within hours of its debut. Meta unveiled Threads on Wednesday as a competitor to Elon Musk’s Twitter. Chief executive Mark Zuckerberg said on Thursday that

Investors sold stocks and bonds across the world on Thursday as US borrowing costs touched a 16-year high, following strong jobs figures that intensified expectations of further rate rises by the Federal Reserve. Europe’s Stoxx 600 index closed down 2.3 per cent, its biggest one-day drop since March, as the yield on the two-year US

The UK’s financial watchdog has told Britain’s largest banks that it wants to see faster progress on improving savings rates for customers, as lenders come under fire for profiteering. The Financial Conduct Authority said after a meeting with senior bankers on Thursday that “those in the room recognised that they needed to do more to

There is an iron law of social networks: No new network can succeed by simply copying what came before. It takes something different to captivate attention and spark new forms of behaviour, whether that is Snapchat’s disappearing messages, Pinterest’s image boards or TikTok’s scrolling videos. Judged by that standard, Threads, the new Twitter challenger Meta

What on earth is going on in the minds of American consumers right now? That is a question many investors want the answer to. After all, those US shoppers have long been an important driver of the global economy, since private consumption accounts for two thirds of America’s gross domestic product. But recently their behaviour

The rouble sank to its lowest level against the dollar since the aftermath of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine on Thursday, as the repercussions of Wagner’s aborted insurrection heap further pressure on a currency already groaning under the weight of western sanctions. The Russian currency has lost a third of its value since December, trading

Dressed in double denim, thick-rimmed black glasses and shiny leather boots, Mujinga Tshikuta Asamoah bears few signs of the hardship he endured as a child. From as young as 14 years old, he went down narrow holes as deep as 25 metres, carried 50kg bags and washed ore to produce the cobalt essential to the

For decades, the economics consensus has been that fiscal and monetary policy should be largely separate. Governments should provide public services, foster an acceptable distribution of resources and ensure the sustainability of their public finances. Central banks should then set interest rates to maintain price stability. It is a neat and tidy model. The principal

The UK government has lost its legal challenge over the Covid-19 inquiry’s request for Boris Johnson’s unredacted WhatsApp messages, notebooks and diaries, paving the way for a wider release of sensitive government communications from the pandemic period. The Cabinet Office had refused to supply the documents, arguing that some of the material the inquiry had

A top official at the US central bank has called on the Federal Reserve to immediately resume raising interest rates after forgoing an increase last month, citing scant evidence that inflationary pressures are easing as needed. Lorie Logan, president of the Dallas Fed and a voting member this year on the Federal Open Market Committee,