Dutch intelligence authorities have warned of Russian attempts to sabotage its North Sea energy infrastructure and told operators to be on their guard. Russia had instigated “activities that indicate espionage as well as preparing operations for disturbance and sabotage” of underwater cables, wind farms and gas pipelines in the North Sea, said a report published
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Hong Kong has pushed ahead with plans to let retail investors trade cryptocurrencies as it vies with Singapore for supremacy as a digital assets hub. Under plans launched on Monday by the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission, the industry’s two largest crypto tokens — bitcoin and ether — would be opened up to retail
China’s top diplomat is set to discuss the war in Ukraine with senior Russian officials this week, underscoring Beijing’s deepening ties with Moscow that have caused alarm in western capitals. Wang Yi, China’s most senior foreign policy official, may meet Russian president Vladimir Putin ahead of the conflict’s first anniversary, the Kremlin said on Monday.
When does giving someone the benefit of the doubt cross the line into sticking your head in the sand? The leaders of JPMorgan Chase and Barclays need to answer that question in light of newly public allegations about convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and their former colleague Jes Staley. Epstein, a JPMorgan client for more
Kate Forbes, Scotland’s finance and economy secretary, on Monday announced that she would run to succeed Nicola Sturgeon as leader of the Scottish National party and first minister. Forbes, who has been on maternity leave since last summer, is the bookmakers’ favourite to replace Sturgeon, who announced her resignation on Wednesday last week. Her chances
US president Joe Biden made a surprise visit to Kyiv on Monday in a dramatic show of American commitment to Ukraine ahead of the first anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion. His stopover, shrouded in secrecy owing to security concerns, comes at a pivotal moment in the war as Ukraine gears up for a counteroffensive and
There comes a point in many wars where the warring sides wonder what they have got themselves into. By some accounts, Vladimir Putin reached that stage in September. After a series of military setbacks, the Russian leader was showing anger — and even panic. Putin is now said to have regained his equanimity. With the
Good morning. There are decades when nothing happens. Then there are weeks when decades happen. With unerring timing, my holiday happened to coincide with one of those weeks. My apologies (and thanks!) to Jude, Jen, Miranda, Robert, Chris, Lukanyo, and George for filling in with such aplomb. Some thoughts on some of the aftershocks in
European stocks gave up early gains on Monday, as investors weighed the prospect that the world’s biggest central banks would keep interest rates higher for longer to curb inflation. The region-wide Stoxx 600 traded flat while France’s Cac 40 eased 0.2 per cent. Trading activity was more muted as US markets are closed for Presidents’
Good morning. It was a busy weekend in Munich as the world’s defence and security community digested almost a year of horrendous war in Ukraine, an increasingly tense US-China relationship and three ballistic missile tests by North Korea. What a time to be alive. Plus, Poland’s president Andrzej Duda used an interview with the FT’s
Jaime Puerta remembers the last night his life felt normal. He had dinner with his son Daniel and they joked around while flicking through old family photographs. The next morning, the former marine found Daniel unconscious on his bed with ashen skin and a blue tint on his lips. What looked like half a tablet
It is not often that a Pulitzer Prize-winning dramatist gives the keynote speech at a competition policy conference. But last week in Washington, I introduced PEN America president Ayad Akhtar before he gave the lunchtime address at a conference on monopoly policy sponsored by the Open Markets Institute. The pairing wasn’t as random as it
A shortage of construction workers is putting at risk the Biden administration’s ambitious plan to fuel a historic building boom in the US, according to industry executives. The construction sector could be short of as many as half a million workers this year, according to the Associated Builders and Contractors, an industry group, increasing project
Would it be better to be a chief executive who is accountable to Steve Schwarzman instead of Nelson Peltz? Schwartzman is the founder of the private equity juggernaut Blackstone which has made its name taking companies private in leveraged buyouts. Peltz’s Trian Partners, on the other hand, is known for activist campaigns at public companies.
A hedge fund that was one of the highest profile victims of the FTX scandal when half its assets were trapped on the collapsed cryptocurrency exchange has decided to close and return its remaining money to investors. Galois Capital, which last year had been managing around $200mn in assets and was one of the biggest
In May 2021, a group of Chinese banks agreed to lend $300mn to investment bank China Renaissance with a condition: if Bao Fan, the company’s well-known founder, ceased to be its largest shareholder or was no longer chair of the board they could demand early repayment. Nearly two years later, lawyers may soon be poring
The writer is senior economist and head of Japan FX Strategy at JPMorgan It is little wonder that markets were scouring decade-old comments by Kazuo Ueda, the newly announced Bank of Japan governor. A relatively unknown academic outside of Japan who served on the central bank’s board between 1998 and 2005, Ueda’s nomination has prompted
Friday marks the first anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, an event that shocked the world by bringing large-scale conflict to European soil. US president Joe Biden’s visit to Poland at the start of the week will serve as a show of strength to Ukrainian and Nato allies in the face of Russia’s long-expected
Poland’s head of state has called on Nato powers to give postwar security guarantees to Ukraine, on the eve of a visit by the US president to Warsaw to reaffirm the west’s support for Kyiv a year into Russia’s war. Andrzej Duda told the Financial Times that promises of security guarantees “would be important” for
Meta will launch a paid subscription service that allows Facebook and Instagram users to verify their accounts for up to $14.99 a month, chief executive Mark Zuckerberg announced on Sunday. The new feature, called Meta Verified, lets users “get a blue badge, get extra impersonation protection against accounts claiming to be you, and get direct
Demonstrators took to the streets of the Moldovan capital of Chișinău on Sunday, demanding the removal of pro-west president Maia Sandu after US and European officials raised concerns about an alleged Russian plot to topple her government. The protest was peaceful and smaller than previous demonstrations held last autumn. It came, however, amid heightened political