FT News Briefing

US officials say they have recovered $2.3m worth of ransom payments made to hackers who shut down the Colonial pipeline last month, investors pile into Biogen after the US Food and Drug Administration approves the company’s Alzheimer’s treatment, and Mexico’s president Andrés Manuel López Obrador loses his congressional supermajority. Plus, the FT’s Gulf correspondent, Simeon Kerr, explains why Ab...

One of the world’s largest electronics contract manufacturers warns the global chip shortage could last until mid-2022, the G7 advanced economies have struck what they have termed a “historic agreement” on taxing multinationals, and China is taking measures to cool the renminbi rally. Plus, the FT’s venture capital reporter, Miles Kruppa, talks about cryptocurrency startups that aim to disrupt and...

The Biden administration is banning Americans from investing in dozens of Chinese defence and surveillance technology companies, and US job creation is expected to have accelerated sharply in May which could signal an easing of labour shortages. Plus, the FT’s economics editor, Chris Giles, examines whether this current rise in prices is temporary, or whether inflation is back for an extended stay...

A wave of high-profile ransomware assaults over the past two months has convulsed the insurance market, US cinema chain AMC is offering popcorn to its retail investor base and its share price surged so fast trading was briefly halted, and the FT’s sports business correspondent Sara Germano talks about covering Naomi Osaka’s pushback on media coverage.   Cyber insurers recoil as ransomwar...

Former Apollo Global Management chief executive, Leon Black, has been hit with a lawsuit claiming that he raped and harassed a young Russian model, Opec and its allies caused oil markets to jump by sticking with their plan to only gradually release more barrels into the oil market, and Germany’s Green Party is struggling to maintain momentum as a September election approaches. Plus, Djibouti is on...

The surge in pet ownership during the pandemic has helped propel the group behind pet insurer Bought By Many to a valuation of more than $2bn, and a director at the company behind the video game Final Fantasy says 5G could disrupt the reign of the console. Plus, the FT’s greater China correspondent, Kathrin Hille, tells us how Taiwan is dealing with the latest wave of Covid-19 and how it’s affecti...

American retailers are rushing to secure inventory ahead of the year end holiday season, US financial authorities are preparing to take a more active role in regulating the $1.5tn cryptocurrency market, and Russia released $500m in credit to Belarus as western countries target Minsk with sanctions. Plus, the FT’s Unhedged columnist Robert Armstrong explains why he thinks bitcoin might be better th...

  The market for special purpose acquisition companies has become an unexpected casualty of the Archegos Capital Management scandal, and the activist investors who won a stunning proxy battle against ExxonMobil this week said the supermajor would need to cut oil production. Plus, the FT’s markets editor, Katie Market, explains why European stocks are rallying while US equities lose some steam...

Tesla is set to pay for chips in advance to overcome the global chip shortage, and Amazon locks in its $8.45bn acquisition of MGM. Plus, the FT’s US energy editor, Derek Brower, explains what a court case against Royal Dutch Shell and a historic proxy vote at ExxonMobil means for the oil industry and the environment.   Climate activists hail breakthrough victories over Exxon and Shell ht...

England’s National Health Service is preparing to scrape the medical histories of 55m patients into a database it will share with third parties, and dozens of American companies that suspended political contributions after the US Capitol attack are sitting on $28m in unspent cash. Plus, the FT’s senior energy correspondent, Anjli Raval, explains how fossil fuel-dependent economies are vulnerable a...

Deutsche Bank is relocating 100 bankers from London to offices in the EU and Asia as Germany’s largest lender accelerates a corporate restructuring following Brexit, and France’s President, Emmanuel Macron, is caught between financial prudence and political reality as the French economy recovers with a presidential election looming on the horizon. And the US economy is recovering but unemploy...

Today is the final day of the courtroom battle between Apple and Fortnite developer Epic games, which has accused Apple of abusing its position by forcing developers to distribute apps exclusively through the App Store. ExxonMobil faces a pivotal moment this week as shareholders have their say on what critics call an inadequate response to seismic shifts brought on by climate change. The chie...

Israel and Hamas have agreed to a ceasefire that would end an 11-day conflict that has claimed the lives of at least 230 Palestinians and 12 Israelis. And WeWork’s losses almost quadrupled to $2.1bn in the first quarter of this year as the co-working company haemorrhaged more than a quarter of its members and shelled out hundreds of millions of dollars to restructure its property portfolio, and th...

US companies have urged South Korea’s president to free Samsung’s jailed chairman and argue the billionaire executive could boost American efforts to shake off the country’s dependence on computer chips produced overseas. Swedish oat milk producer Oatly raised $1.4bn in its initial public offering on Wednesday, Plus, the FT’s Trading Room editor, Philip Stafford, explains how a warning from Chines...

JPMorgan Chase has shuffled several top executives, and has elevated two women who could be successors to chief executive Jaime Dimon, and the eurozone economy looks like it is recovering from the coronavirus pandemic. Plus, the FT’s Greater China correspondent, Kathrin Hille, explains why the world’s largest contract electronics maker, Foxconn, plans to be more integral to the auto industry. JPMo...

US President Joe Biden yesterday expressed support for a Israel-Gaza ceasefire in a call with Israel’s Prime Minister Netanyahu, and today EU foreign ministers will meet to discuss the conflict, and a biotech company developing medicines that mimic the painkilling effects of cannabis is set to list in London this week. Plus, the FT’s South China correspondent, Primrose Riordan, explains why activi...

AT&T is nearing a deal to combine its content unit WarnerMedia with rival Discovery to create a media giant to compete in streaming, the insurance group Axa said one of its Asian business units was the victim of a “targeted ransomware attack”, and the EU plans to throw its weight behind a push to expand vaccine manufacturing in Africa. Plus, the FT’s European technology correspondent, Madhumit...

Airbnb’s first-quarter revenues showed a strong recovery in travel in the US as pandemic restrictions eased, and Netflix tries to adjust as it moves from streaming industry disruptor to defensive incumbent. Plus, Elon Musk rocked the cryptocurrency market when he announced Tesla will no longer accept bitcoin as payment. The FT’s markets editor, Katie Martin, explains why the electric carmarker’s C...

US stocks suffered their worst losses in months and government bonds also fell after government data showed the US inflation rate jumped to a 13-year high, and the Colonial pipeline has resumed operations following last week’s ransomware attack. Plus, the FT’s Taylor Nicole Rogers discusses a labour shortage in the US that is making it hard for employers to find enough workers as the economy opens...

Companies are dusting off share buyback plans after a blockbuster earnings season, and shareholders are rebelling against executive pay proposals. Plus, the FT’s New Delhi reporter, Jyotsna Singh, explains how India’s second surge is devastating the country’s middle class.  Companies prepare share buyback bonanza as outlook clears https://www.ft.com/content/d7adb226-e9a6-4cd8-9049-35d55c211ca...

The hacker group blamed for the ransomware attack on the Colonial pipeline insisted it only wanted to make money and did not want to cause problems for society, tech stocks tumbled on Monday as investors braced for further signs of inflation, and Vice Media is joining the streaming gold rush. Plus, the FT’s management editor, Andrew Hill, explains why businesses in the UK’s services sector tr...

The US government enacted emergency powers on Sunday in a bid to keep fuel supplies flowing after a cyberattack shut down a key pipeline, and European and US banks are split on whether to bring staff back to the office. Plus, the FT’s race and equalities correspondent, Taylor Nicole Rogers, looks at how much US corporations have lived up to diversity promises they made after the police murder of G...

Angela Merkel has expressed opposition to the Biden administration’s proposal to suspend intellectual property rights for Covid-19 vaccines, and Norway’s Telenor has written off its entire $782m investment in Myanmar but will remain in the country. Plus, the FT’s markets editor, Katie Martin, explains what is behind the commodities super cycle and what it could mean for inflation.  Angela Mer...

Stocks of major vaccine makers were rattled on Wednesday after the US decided to support a plan to temporarily suspend the intellectual property rights for Covid-19 jabs, and India’s coronavirus crisis is hitting the international shipping industry. Plus, the FT’s leisure industries correspondent, Alice Hancock, talks about the European tourism industry’s hopes of emerging from the pandemic with a...

Treasury secretary Janet Yellen said on Tuesday that US interest rates may need to rise so that the economy does not overheat, and US states and companies are offering all kinds of incentives to entice people to get vaccinated against coronavirus. Plus, there are very few women in top roles in European central banking and economics. Two of them spoke to the FT about their experiences and “hidden b...