France and Germany circle the wagons on EU-made AI
Also in this newsletter: Italy redoubles Ukraine support
Amundi to take 10% stake in ICG as it pushes into private credit
Deal with London-based firm boosts French group’s aim to be a ‘consolidator’ in asset management industry
Struggles of the world’s ‘second lung’ put one of the most beloved crops at risk
Lower rainfall threatens the wider belt producing three-quarters of cocoa, study says
Philippine ministers resign as graft scandal escalates
Mounting corruption allegations linked to flood projects have undermined investor confidence and economic growth
FirstFT: Crypto market’s $1tn sell-off
Also in today’s newsletter, race for HSBC chair and Lawrence Summers to step back after Epstein ties
Calls to abandon fed funds targeting are growing louder
The disconnect between the Fed’s policy interest rate and broader overnight money markets is a worry for some
‘Baby Shark’ creator Pinkfong pops in trading debut
South Korean studio seeks global expansion after hit song garners 16bn views on YouTube
Transcript: Crypto’s 2025 U-turn
Marc Filippino speaks to Alison Killing and George Steer
US government needs overhaul to compete with China, panel says
Congressional commission says ‘fragmented approach’ hampering Washington’s response to Beijing
UBS to USA: ‘May I meet you?’
Plus, Blue Owl offers its private credit investors a tough choice and Ashurst and Perkins Coie strike big law’s latest merger
Crypto market sheds $1.2tn as traders shun speculative assets
Bitcoin drops 28% in six weeks as worries over AI stocks spill into digital assets and high-octane bets backfire
The great British revival of Mr Kipling cakes
A nostalgic brand invented by an advertising agency in the 1960s has led Premier Foods’ recovery
New GSK-backed venture targets drug-resistant superbugs with AI
Pharmaceutical group and Fleming Initiative launch project to combat antimicrobial resistance
The Berlin Apartment invites you into a new home — and its many past lives
Short but sweet story strips away layers of history — from the present day back to the 1930s — like wallpaper
What nostalgia for the 1990s leaves out
Huge improvements in the decades since are a reminder that even really knotty problems can get better
UK government’s housebuilding target under threat as councils face exodus of planners
Planning industry has been hit by local authority budget cuts since 2010
ECB’s top supervisor seeks new powers to override bank capital barriers
Claudia Buch says EU should look ‘more favourably’ at waivers to help lenders move money more freely around the bloc
Ex-NatWest chief Alison Rose named UK chair of fintech FNZ
Former head of bank will join group board alongside CEO Blythe Masters
Labour needs a way out of the infernal circle of immigration policy
Politics today is about ‘open vs closed’, but the UK government’s approach risks appeasing no one
Yuja Wang’s VR concert is a retrofuturist spectacle — Ravel would have approved
‘Playing with Fire’ at Paris’s Musée de la musique places the pianist inside a volcano, beneath the sea and on an ice floe
The UK offers rich pickings for activists
Companies may wish they could lift valuations without being bothered, but the cage-rattling stands to benefit investors
Planting flowers and filling potholes: Johannesburg gets G20 makeover
Beautification campaign becomes lightning rod for anger in city where residents say problems are routinely ignored
The growing problem with China’s unreliable numbers
Beijing’s GDP figures have drawn scrutiny for years but the questions have become even more acute amid a property slowdown and reduced transparency in the country
In Paris, the next coffee revolution is quietly brewing
Meet the pioneers reimagining the French capital’s café society, infusing every bean with craft, conscience and creativity