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Western intelligence shows Russia is amassing aircraft at the border with Ukraine, an indication that Moscow could throw its jets and helicopters into the war to support a stuttering land offensive. The fear of a looming air war in Ukraine has prompted allies to prioritise rapid shipments of air defence assets and artillery ammunition to

Liberty Global, the US group chaired by “cable cowboy” John Malone, has bought a nearly 5 per cent stake in Vodafone, as it bets that forthcoming deals and restructuring will revive the beleaguered UK telecoms group. Denver-based Liberty Global has acquired 1.3bn shares, representing 4.92 per cent of share capital, financed mostly through derivatives, and

A Deutsche Bank probe into the mis-selling of risky foreign exchange derivatives in Spain has found that staff acted disingenuously, exploited flaws in the bank’s controls and broke EU rules, according to people with knowledge of the report. One of the people said employees acted in “bad faith” over years, pushing small and medium sized

Gillian Keegan, UK education secretary, has signalled she will fight any Home Office attempts to cut migration into Britain by driving away overseas students, saying universities were a “hugely valuable” export success. Keegan, in an interview with the Financial Times, said she wanted to build on the UK’s booming export market in university education, and

Russia will cut oil production from next month in response to a price cap imposed by western nations, the country’s top energy official has said, in the first sign Moscow is seeking to weaponise oil supplies after slashing natural gas exports to Europe last year. The cut of 500,000 barrels a day, the equivalent of

Nelson Peltz has called time on his fight against Walt Disney less than a month after the activist investor said he would seek a seat on the company’s board of directors, ending what was expected to be one of the biggest corporate battles in recent years. “The proxy fight is over,” Peltz said in an

Britain said it was looking into sending combat aircraft to Ukraine after President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called for western fighter jets in an impassioned plea for “wings for freedom” in the UK parliament. As the Ukrainian president began a European trip that will also include Paris and Brussels, Downing Street said UK defence secretary Ben Wallace

Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan declared a state of emergency in areas ravaged by the region’s worst earthquake in decades, as his government and aid agencies mounted a desperate rescue effort to locate survivors. The three-month emergency rule, which will run up to just before Turkey’s hotly contested general election in May, gives Erdoğan’s government

A second powerful earthquake has struck Turkey just hours after the worst quake in 80 years wrought destruction across the country and neighbouring Syria, killing more than 2,000 people and wounding many more.  The second quake, which hit south-east Turkey on Monday afternoon local time, registered a magnitude of 7.5, according to the US Geological

Beijing has lashed out at the US decision to shoot down a Chinese balloon that flew across North America this week, accusing the Biden administration of “seriously violating international conventions”. The Chinese foreign ministry said it “repeatedly” told the US the balloon was for “civilian use” and had entered American airspace by accident due to

Hedge funds wrongfooted by a sharp surge in stocks this week rushed to exit losing bets on falling markets at the fastest pace in years. Equity markets have risen sharply so far this year, led by many of the speculative stocks that were clobbered hardest during 2022’s global sell-off. Many of the funds that profited

US jobs growth unexpectedly rebounded in January, as the economy continued to perform strongly despite the Federal Reserve’s efforts to damp down demand. Employers in the world’s largest economy added 517,000 jobs in the first month of the year, nearly double December’s figure, which was revised up to 260,000. Economists had expected 185,000 positions to

The Bank of England has increased interest rates by half a percentage point to a 15-year high of 4 per cent, but suggested that rates may have peaked. The BoE, which is now anticipating a milder recession this year than previously thought, said further rises would only be needed if there were new signs that

Rishi Sunak is facing a big test of his authority as he agonises over whether he can sell an outline deal on the Northern Ireland protocol to pro-UK unionist politicians in the region and Eurosceptic Tory MPs. After months of talks, negotiators have briefed the UK prime minister that a deal is taking shape to

Indian billionaire Gautam Adani has completed a $2.4bn equity sale despite a short-seller report alleging fraud and stock manipulation at his industrial empire. The fundraising at Adani Enterprises became a test of investor faith after short-seller Hindenburg Research last week released its report alleging financial misconduct at the conglomerate’s parent company. On Tuesday, investors subscribed

The EU is planning to hit back at the US’s $369bn Inflation Reduction Act with looser state aid rules on tax credits for green investment. Under a draft plan seen by the Financial Times, the European Commission will further loosen the rules to support investment into new production facilities in green sectors, including via the

UK prime minister Rishi Sunak has sacked Nadhim Zahawi as chair of the Conservative party after his ethics adviser concluded there had been “serious breaches” of the ministerial code. Sunak finally jettisoned Zahawi after weeks of stories about his tax affairs, which have been politically damaging for the ruling party during a historic cost of

The UK tax authority has admitted that it gave misleading information last summer when it said no government minister was being investigated, even though Nadhim Zahawi was the subject of a probe. HM Revenue & Customs has now apologised for wrongly stating last June that no ministers were under investigation — mistakes it blames on

Shares in the Adani Group’s flagship company fell 17 per cent on Friday in a sell-off fuelled by short seller allegations of fraud involving the business empire of one of the world’s richest men. Other companies tied to Gautam Adani’s conglomerate also dropped sharply as the Indian tycoon pushes ahead with a Rs200bn ($2.4bn) share

US economic growth slowed less than expected in the final quarter of 2022, even as the Federal Reserve’s aggressive campaign to raise borrowing costs began to weigh more heavily on business activity. The world’s largest economy expanded 2.9 per cent on an annualised basis between September and December, according to data published by the commerce