Royal Mail owner writes down value of business by £134mn due to tax rise
Hit to IDS is one of biggest after increase in national insurance contributions announced in Budget
A Man on the Inside — Netflix comedy plants a spy in a retirement home
Ted Danson plays a retired professor-turned-undercover agent in this amiable, bittersweet show
UK government borrowing for October exceeds forecasts at £17.4bn
Data highlights challenges facing chancellor Rachel Reeves
Ofwat puts record 10 water companies on financial watch list
Thames Water most at risk according to regulator’s latest financial resilience report
UN climate summit remains split on money, fossil fuels and gender
Negotiators at COP29 ‘unimpressed’ as latest draft agreements show wide gaps
China’s solar stranglehold and Taiwan’s AI aims
The inside story on the Asia tech trends that matter, from Nikkei Asia and the Financial Times
Former UK deputy prime minister John Prescott dies at 86
Politician was central to Tony Blair’s New Labour project
FTAV’s further reading
Tracking; Dunbarton FC; Cormac McCarthy; Google Scholar; Disney World; American roads; Bluesky; and blandness
The three big market uncertainties
Plus earnings season
Chinese satellite company to challenge Musk’s Starlink in Brazil
Billionaire investor had clashed with Brasília this year over alleged misinformation on his X social media platform
Indian billionaire Adani charged in US over alleged $250mn bribery scheme
Shares in group tumble after prosecutors accuse tycoon and others of lying to investors to land lucrative contracts
Australia introduces bill to ban under-16s from social media
Technology companies face fines of up to $32.5mn for systemic breaches
US seeks Google divestitures including Chrome sale in search monopoly case
Department of Justice also targets Android and asks for curbs on use of content to train AI models
How the European parliament reached a deal on the new commission
Also in this newsletter: Should EU countries still be issuing so many visas to Russians?
FirstFT: Gautam Adani indicted in the US
Also in today’s newsletter, Nvidia revenue nearly doubles and John Lewis head slams UK Budget
Royal Mail owner writes down value of business by £134mn due to NI rise
Transcript: What Elon Musk gains from a friend in the White House
Gideon Rachman talks to Sebastian Mallaby, author of the best-selling book on Silicon Valley called ‘The Power Law’
Transcript: UK inflation creeps back
Sonja Hutson talks to Edward White and Sam Fleming
Otter.ai’s Sam Liang: We can unlock valuable data from meetings and conversations
Co-founder of transcription start-up reckons we can even let avatars take our place in work interactions
The other side of the UK’s infrastructure problem
Well-planned investable projects are in short supply
Tortoise boss makes last-ditch plea with Observer staff set to strike
James Harding confronts fierce opposition but says sale to his digital start-up only way for Sunday title to thrive
French asset manager Tikehau may join march for New York listing
An increasing number of European companies are looking past home exchanges to more liquid markets in US
Thrive Capital: the venture firm staking billions on a few big bets
The ‘all in or all out’ approach of Josh Kushner’s VC business inverts the traditional venture model. Will it pay off?
‘It takes a particular kind of madness’: new life for Ireland’s Big Houses
The country has not had an easy relationship with the once grand homes of the Anglo-Irish elite — leading many to be torched, repurposed or left to rot. But a new appreciation is being nurtured, and a ‘reckoning with the past’