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Microsoft and Google’s owner Alphabet have quashed investor scepticism around the vast sums spent on developing artificial intelligence, after being boosted by rampant corporate demand for their cloud computing services. The combined market value of the two US tech giants rose by more than $250bn on Friday, a day after each reported double-digit revenue growth

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. Topsy-turvy US economic data released this week left markets in a pickle, but still just outside the danger zone.  Official figures revealed on Thursday that the US economy was not necessarily streaking ahead of the

Shares of Los Angeles-based social media platform Snap jumped more than 30 per cent after its earnings beat analysts’ expectations as increasing demand for its advertising services boosted sales. The company’s revenue of $1.2bn in the first three months of 2024 was 21 per cent above the same period a year earlier.   Net losses narrowed,

Stay informed with free updates Simply sign up to the US economy myFT Digest — delivered directly to your inbox. The US economy grew less than expected in the first quarter of 2024, at an annualised rate of 1.6 per cent, hit by higher inflation data that spooked investors. The growth figure from the Bureau

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. Diamonds may be forever but they are also seriously on sale. Natural rough diamond prices have collapsed 26 per cent in the past couple of years. Tepid US and Chinese demand for diamond jewellery hasn’t

With a spate of high-profile arrests of suspected Chinese and Russian spies in recent days, Germany’s counter-intelligence agents, once criticised for their lack of mettle, may have come in from the cold.  On Tuesday morning, German police swooped on Jian Guo, a staffer working in the European parliament, accused by prosecutors of spying for China.

Stay informed with free updates Simply sign up to the War in Ukraine myFT Digest — delivered directly to your inbox. Russia has threatened to step up its attacks on logistics centres and storage facilities for western weapons in Ukraine, in Moscow’s first direct response to the passage of US military aid for Kyiv. Russian

The sight of a scowling Donald Trump sitting in a New York courtroom, flanked by lawyers, is by now so common that it no longer surprises. Still, there was an added, unspoken tension when the former — and perhaps future — US president appeared in Manhattan criminal court on Monday morning. The charges he was

The Federal Trade Commission has sued to block US luxury goods group Tapestry’s $8.5bn acquisition of Capri Holdings, a move that threatens a bid to create a US rival to European giants LVMH and Kering. The antitrust regulator on Monday alleged that the acquisition would eliminate “head-to-head” competition among the groups’ brands, including Capri’s Michael

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. Manhattan prosecutors accused Donald Trump of lying “over and over again” about payments made in the days before the 2016 election to prevent claims of an extramarital affair with a porn actor becoming public, as

Stay informed with free updates Simply sign up to the Geopolitics myFT Digest — delivered directly to your inbox. After many months of argument and hesitation, the House of Representatives has finally acted. The vote in Washington to provide $61bn in new military aid for Ukraine may be a turning point in the war with

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. The US House of Representatives has begun voting on a $95bn package of foreign aid for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, in what could be a big breakthrough after months of inaction on Capitol Hill. The

After Iran fired a barrage of drones and missiles towards Israel a week ago, 70-year-old Hengameh removed the mirrors from her walls and urged family members to stay away from windows for fear of retaliatory strikes. The Tehran resident, who lived through her country’s 1980s war with Iraq, said: “I am haunted by thoughts of

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. The writer is president of Queens’ College, Cambridge, and an adviser to Allianz and Gramercy National security experts and financial market traders seem to disagree on what will follow the recent escalation of tensions between

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. Iran has activated air defence systems across several provinces, according to official news agency IRNA, after reports that an explosion was heard near the city of Isfahan. Tasnim news agency, which is close to Iran’s

The US House of Representatives is expected to vote this weekend on sending $60bn in new military aid to Ukraine, a move that could end a months-long stalemate in Washington at a time Kyiv is starting to lose ground in its attempt to repel Russian aggression. But the package unveiled earlier this week by Mike

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. Tehran has warned Israel it could review its nuclear stance if its atomic facilities are threatened, as tensions rise following Iran’s attack on Israeli territory last weekend. Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said on Thursday it may

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. Rishi Sunak has been warned by the IMF to take much tougher action to rein in the UK’s public debt, putting a question mark over the prime minister’s cuts to national insurance. The IMF on

Stay informed with free updates Simply sign up to the UK inflation myFT Digest — delivered directly to your inbox. UK inflation slowed less than expected in March, fuelling the debate over how soon the Bank of England will start cutting interest rates. Consumer prices rose at an annual rate of 3.2 per cent, down

Canada’s federal government wants its largest pension funds to invest more in domestic companies, and is hiring the former governor of the central bank to entice them. Stephen Poloz, who led the Bank of Canada from 2013 to 2020, has been given the task of convincing Canada’s pension funds, which manage more than C$4tn (US$2.9tn),