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Stay informed with free updates Simply sign up to the Private equity myFT Digest — delivered directly to your inbox. The wealth of US private capital bosses jumped by more than $56bn in 2024 as shares of Blackstone, Apollo and KKR hit new highs, fuelled by rapid growth and their addition to the main US

Vladimir Putin’s experimental “Oreshnik” missile fired against Ukraine last month was made by Russian companies that still rely on advanced western manufacturing equipment, according to FT analysis. Two top Russian weapons engineering institutes, named as developers of the Oreshnik missile by Ukrainian intelligence, have both been advertising for workers familiar with metalworking systems made by German

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. Russian anti-aircraft fire may have caused a plane to crash in Kazakhstan on Christmas Day, according to defence experts and officials in the region. The Azerbaijan Airlines flight was en route from Azerbaijan’s capital Baku

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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. 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 Artificial intelligence myFT Digest — delivered directly to your inbox. The writer is a novelist In 1989, we bought a tiny house in the shadow of the medieval city walls of Carcassonne. It was the beginning of my love affair with Languedoc — the history,

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

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 The US Congress is racing to pass a short-term spending bill by the end of Friday after Donald Trump, Elon Musk and JD Vance convinced Republicans to ditch bipartisan legislation to avert a

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. The Bank of England has kept interest rates on hold at 4.75 per cent as it seeks to contend with both stubborn inflation and lacklustre growth. In a split decision, most members of the Monetary

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