Russian forces launched a barrage of air strikes on Kyiv ahead of an expected Ukrainian counteroffensive, in what the city’s mayor said was the largest drone attack on the capital since Moscow’s full-scale invasion last year. Ukrainian forces said they had shot down 30 “kamikaze” drones in the Kyiv area in the early hours of
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Veteran Balkan politicians know better than to be enthusiastic about deals made under pressure in diplomatic back rooms. But the events of March 18 gave Visar Ymeri, a former leader of Kosovo’s ruling party, reason to be optimistic. “We have a deal,” the EU’s foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell said as he wrapped up a
Saturday’s coronation of King Charles III will be the most public display in seven decades of the curious relationship in the UK between England’s established church and the hereditary monarchy. The King will be accompanied to and from the ceremony by thousands of military personnel, a reminder that Britain’s constitutional monarch remains head of state.
A flood of gilt sales is driving up the UK government’s borrowing costs, investors say, as markets are asked to absorb record volumes of bonds without the Bank of England stepping in to hoover up supply. Bond yields in most large economies have shot up over the past 18 months as soaring inflation drove a
Energy stocks tumbled on Tuesday, falling in tandem with oil prices in response to cooling demand for fuel in the US and China. Shares in large oil companies including Chevron, ConocoPhillips and Marathon Oil each lost more than 3.5 per cent, while Houston-based Halliburton fell by more than 8 per cent. ExxonMobil closed almost 4
UK house prices unexpectedly rose between March and April, according to data from mortgage provider Nationwide that suggests the property market is stabilising as borrowing costs ease. Prices increased 0.5 per cent last month, ending seven consecutive months of decline and beating analysts’ forecasts of a 0.4 per cent fall. Robert Gardner, Nationwide’s chief economist,
Will the deadlock in the Ukraine war be broken in Bakhmut or Beijing? At the moment, all eyes are focused on the much-trailed Ukrainian counter-offensive — which is likely to begin soon. But there are also significant developments on the diplomatic front. Last week, Xi Jinping called Volodymyr Zelenskyy. On a recent visit to Kyiv,
Cutting ties with China would be “unthinkable for almost all of German industry”, the chief executive of automaker Mercedes-Benz has said, as Europe’s largest economy grapples with its deep reliance on Beijing. Ola Källenius said cutting ties with China was impossible and “not desirable”. “The major players in the global economy — Europe, the USA
Silicon Valley Bank’s failure last month stemmed from weakened regulations during the Trump administration and mis-steps by internal supervisors who were too slow to correct management blunders, the US Federal Reserve said in a scathing review of the lender’s implosion. The long-awaited report, released on Friday, had harsh words for the California bank’s management but
At a press conference alongside South Korean president Yoon Suk Yeol in the White House Rose Garden this week, Joe Biden appeared to relish the possibility of a rematch against his one-time opponent Donald Trump. Asked whether he was the only Democrat capable of defeating Trump in 2024, the president, wearing his trademark aviator sunglasses,
European stocks sank at the open on Wednesday as weaker-than-expected earnings from ASM International, the Dutch chip tool manufacturer, reawakened investors fears of a coming economic slowdown. Europe’s region-wide Stoxx 600 and France’s CAC index both fell more than 1.1 per cent in the first hour of trade. ASMI dropped 11.8 per cent in Amsterdam
A new generation of asset management chief executives have called time on a “golden decade” for their industry, warning that it is becoming increasingly difficult to navigate the competing pressures of markets, regulators and politicians. “The complexity of the demands on an asset manager are clearly increasing,” said Ali Dibadj, chief executive of Janus Henderson.
Beijing has been forced to backtrack after its ambassador to France sparked a furore in Europe at the weekend by questioning the legal status of former Soviet states and Ukraine’s sovereignty over Crimea. China’s foreign ministry on Monday contradicted the comments from Lu Shaye, who had infuriated European capitals and fuelled distrust about Beijing’s ambitions
European governments have reacted with anger and dismay to comments by a Chinese diplomat questioning the legal status of former Soviet states and Ukraine’s sovereignty over Crimea. Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, who regained their independence from the Soviet Union in the early 1990s, have said they will summon Chinese diplomats on Monday to complain about
A lobbying firm is launching a one-year business engagement operation ahead of the next general election in what is likely to be one of multiple attempts to exploit the vacuum left by the crisis at the CBI. WPI Strategy, a public affairs group behind the imminent launch of “BizUK”, insisted that it was not trying
Many of the biggest names in British business quit the CBI on Friday after a second allegation of rape threatened the survival of the employers’ organisation. Groups ranging from insurer Aviva and car manufacturers Jaguar Land Rover and BMW to payments company Mastercard and retailer John Lewis said they were cancelling their memberships after the
Black market drones have been used in military attacks for years. Drones have been heavily used in the Ukraine war too, prompting speculation that China was involved. Beijing has denied widespread reports that the country exported drones to aid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The speculation highlights China’s growing dominance in commercial drone manufacturing. The government
Two decades ago, HSBC made a bold gamble to recapitalise an ailing Chinese insurance firm, paying $600mn for 10 per cent of Ping An. The risk paid off handsomely netting the bank $2.6bn in profit when the stake was sold in 2012. But a decade on, Ping An has become HSBC’s largest shareholder and is
Apple and Goldman Sachs are seeking to lure US depositors to a new savings account by offering to pay interest at more than 10 times the national average rate. The California tech giant and Wall Street bank on Monday launched a new savings account yielding 4.15 per cent a year, having first announced the product
Almost exactly a year ago, just before the IMF’s spring meeting, Janet Yellen, US Treasury secretary, launched a new buzzword: “friend-shoring”. The idea was that in a world of rising US-China tensions (and western hostility to Russia), American companies should move their “supply chains to a large number of trusted countries” — or friends. It