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Investors are piling into high-quality corporate bonds this year at a record rate, reflecting their enthusiasm for an asset class that is typically seen as relatively low risk but now offers the best returns in years. A total of $19bn has poured into funds which buy investment grade corporate debt around the world since the

When Nestlé subsidiary Nespresso was awarded “B Corp” status in May 2022, the founders of tiny Glen Lyon Coffee Roasters could scarcely believe it. Their initial reaction was “dismay”, the Scottish firm said in a post on its website last summer. It had only just attained the same certification, which demonstrates enhanced commitments to environmental

International funding for Chinese start-ups dried up last year, pushing many fledgling technology companies to raise capital and list at home instead of on Wall Street. Dollar investments in the country’s new companies fell by nearly three-quarters last year, declining to 19 per cent of the total capital put into start-ups from 39 per cent

Last year, Japan’s crime rate rose for the first time in 20 years, and did so quite sharply. Alarming, perhaps, and surely nothing to celebrate. Especially since, without that bump, the country was on course to become the world’s first major society to be totally crime-free. Well, sort of.  Japan’s crime figures, say the criminologists,

US secretary of state Antony Blinken said the US is “very concerned” China is considering supplying Russia with weapons and ammunition in Ukraine. Blinken said he told Wang Yi, China’s top foreign policy official, that such support would have “serious consequences” for the US relationship with Beijing during a meeting on the sidelines of the

Revolut expects to sign off on its financial accounts next week after months of delays in finalising the figures as auditors put pressure on the fintech group to improve its internal controls. The UK-based company’s audit committee will meet on Thursday to approve the 2021 financial accounts, which are then expected to be signed off

China’s top diplomat has lashed out at the US, calling Washington’s decision to shoot down a balloon in American airspace “hysterical and absurd”. Speaking at the Munich Security Conference on Saturday, Wang Yi, who holds the top foreign policy position in China’s communist party, said the shooting down “ignored basic facts” and was evidence that

The dollar has rebounded from a 10-month low as investors push up their forecasts for US interest rates after signs of stubborn inflation and unexpectedly strong economic activity. The world’s most important reserve currency rose to a 20-year high in September but tumbled 11.2 per cent over the following four months as US inflation declined

Washington harbours “deep concern” that Russia is working to destabilise Moldova, the US’s top diplomat has said, adding his voice to warnings that Moscow is seeking to overthrow the government of the eastern European nation. Speaking after a meeting with Moldovan president Maia Sandu on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference, US secretary of

Welcome back. Maia Sandu, the pro-western president of Moldova, accused Russia this week of plotting to overthrow her country’s democratic institutions. It’s time to pay more attention to Moldova — and to recognise that not every problem in this precarious, politically splintered state on Ukraine’s south-western border is connected directly to Russia’s war next door.

The White House will next week hold secret talks with Taiwan’s foreign minister Joseph Wu and national security adviser Wellington Koo as part of a special diplomatic dialogue intended to remain private to avoid sparking an angry reaction from China. Five people familiar with the secret talks — known as the “special channel” — said

A son of Qatar’s former prime minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber Al Thani, one of the Gulf state’s richest men, has submitted a bid to take over Premier League club Manchester United. The son, Sheikh Jassim, confirmed his offer for one of the world’s biggest and most prestigious football clubs in a statement

Retail investors are pouring record amounts into US stocks, potentially giving small traders even greater sway over markets than at the height of the “meme-stock” mania two years ago. Then, an army of bored amateur traders trapped at home during the pandemic drove up the share prices of several small, struggling consumer companies such as

The writer is professor of law at University College London, barrister at 11 KBW and author of ‘East West Street: On the Origins of Genocide and Crimes against Humanity’ Four days after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, I wrote in this paper on the crime of aggression, introduced into international law during the negotiations of the

The earthquake that has killed more than 40,000 people and brought destruction and misery to Turkey and Syria lasted approximately 75 seconds. The economic, social and political reverberations will last years. As the experiences of countries as diverse as Haiti, Japan and Turkey itself reveal, it is only once the cameras leave and the world’s

It’s not easy being a contrarian. Generally, it is one of the most reliable tricks in the book: when risky markets are euphoric, sell. When they are in the depths of despair, buy. That is always a subjective process. Right now, though, measures of the mood are throwing off so many conflicting signals that this

When Nicola Sturgeon began campaigning for the Scottish National party as a teenager passionately opposed to Margaret Thatcher, support for an independent Scotland was a minority cause. At the time, in 1987, Scotland was still the Labour party’s fiefdom and it returned 50 MPs to Westminster to the SNP’s three. Even staunch opponents concede that

The Chinese balloon that flew over North America and loitered over nuclear missile silos in Montana before it was shot down over the Atlantic inspired a range of emotions among Americans: fear, anger, but also humour. Comedians on Twitter made light of the craft for what to the untrained eye seemed like a lack of

The US military has wrapped up the salvage operation off the coast of South Carolina to retrieve debris from the suspected Chinese spy balloon that was shot down over the Atlantic two weeks ago. US Northern Command, which is responsible for the defending the American homeland, said the mission was concluded on Thursday after the

The writer is a former head of responsible investment at HSBC Asset Management and previous editor of Lex What a time to be a business columnist — and thank goodness I’m not one. Having to ponder what chatbots mean for companies the world over is some ask. Bill Gates calls “generative AI” as important as

Nurses’ leaders in Scotland have recommended their members accept a new pay offer from the government in Edinburgh, in a breakthrough that looks set to spare patients from the strike action that has affected England and Wales for the past two months. Under the proposed deal, NHS workers in Scotland would receive a rise of