Bargain hunting shoppers boost sales outlooks for US dollar stores
Dollar General and Dollar Tree thrive as affordability crunch weighs on American households
Big Four maintain stranglehold on biggest UK audits
No mid-tier accounting firms won mandates from large listed firms, banks or insurers last year, FRC finds
The US may be running the wrong AI race
China’s favouring of small and cheap models such as DeepSeek could prove to be the better bet
Lloyds Bank pushes for AI and blockchain to transform UK homebuying
Charlie Nunn says system of tokenised deposits has potential to spark change as dramatic as invention of smartphone
Bayern Munich held talks with EQT over selling stake in football club to private equity firm
Negotiations between Germany’s top side and Swedish group broke down after the club’s finance chief left in the summer
Putin authorised operation that led to 2018 novichok death, inquiry finds
Russia’s GRU military intelligence service was responsible for poisoning Dawn Sturgess, UK report concludes
EU to review tariffs on Volkswagen’s EVs made in China
Move could offer German automaker respite from anti-subsidy measures
UK government orders review into rising diagnoses of mental health conditions
Health secretary says there is a need to look at sharp increase ‘through a strictly clinical lens’
MSCI launches index combining public and private equities
New benchmark comes after rapid growth of unlisted assets sector in recent years
Bond investors raise the alarm about Trump’s pick to lead the Fed
Also in today’s newsletter, a Donald Trump Jr-backed rare earths start-up scores a $600mn government deal
Reform UK gets record £9mn donation from Christopher Harborne
Nigel Farage’s party attracts far more funding than both Labour and the Conservatives
Bank of England to consult major private credit groups on stress test
Landmark exercise to test resilience of $16tn finance market outside banking
Brussels backs softer regime for gene-edited plants
Agreement over lighter-touch regulation marks first big loosening of rules since ‘Frankenfoods’ outcry 20 years ago
How is Trump reshaping globalisation and world trade? You asked, we answered
The FT’s Alan Beattie and Andy Bounds replied to reader questions
City watchdog rules out market abuse probe into Rachel Reeves
Financial Conduct Authority says regulation is not meant to ‘make judgments on political discourse’
Europe exhausts legal tricks on frozen Russian assets
Proposal marks a last-ditch attempt to keep Ukraine solvent using Moscow’s immobilised wealth
Why are there still so many radiologists?
AI diagnostic tools are being used by healthcare providers yet demand for skilled human specialists is growing
Labour is slow-marching working people to populism
Insurgent parties to left and right peddle nonsense economics but enjoy dramatically rising support
Etsy witches face a tough business spell
Like tarot card readings and psychics, digital magic is part of a booming metaphysical services industry
UK workers set to get unlimited compensation for unfair dismissal
Government plans to lift current limit of £118,000
Why energy traders are sceptical of the data centre build-out
Some are questioning if electricity demands are being overstated
It Was Just an Accident — Jafar Panahi’s revenge drama is the work of a master
Illegally made Iranian film about the kidnapping of a suspected torturer is filled with twists that double as ethical dilemmas
Palaver by Bryan Washington — a beautiful, hopeful story of pain and redemption
The author elegantly explores the interplay of past and the present as a mother and son reunite in Tokyo after a decade of estrangement
New York Times sues Pentagon over new press restrictions
Legal fightback comes as Trump administration has imposed increasingly draconian rules on media outlets