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France’s presidential election is turning out to be a tight and unpredictable contest. The far-right Marine Le Pen is gaining ground on President Emmanuel Macron, who last month seemed assured of re-election. Financial markets are waking up to the possibility of a stupendous upset in the election’s second round on April 24. The spread between

Hungary is prepared to meet Moscow’s demands for Russian gas to be paid for in roubles, Viktor Orban has said in a challenge to the EU’s rejection of Vladimir Putin’s attempts to shift the terms of energy contracts. The Hungarian prime minister, who won a fourth consecutive term in office in Sunday’s landslide election victory,

Good evening, Two Financial Times reports from opposite sides of the world highlight the severe stresses on global food production from the shock of coronavirus followed by the war in Ukraine. In China, strict Covid lockdowns are exacerbating shortages of fertiliser, labour and seeds just ahead of the crucial spring planting season. Particularly badly affected

The US has imposed its most severe level of sanctions on Sberbank, Russia’s largest financial institution, and Alfa-Bank, the country’s biggest private bank, escalating its economic punishment of Moscow in response to atrocities committed by Russian forces in Ukraine. The announcement on Wednesday of “full blocking sanctions”, which prevent the lenders from transacting with any

Oil executives were accused of “ripping off” consumers on Wednesday, as Democrats in Washington tried to pin blame on the country’s fuel producers for petrol prices that have helped stoke US inflation. The heads of US supermajors ExxonMobil and Chevron, the American divisions of their European rivals BP and Shell and leading shale drillers Pioneer

Ukraine’s authorities have urged civilians in the Donbas region and around Kharkiv to evacuate after Russian forces stepped up their offensive in eastern Ukraine and further evidence emerged of atrocities by Moscow’s troops elsewhere in the country. Iryna Vereshchuk, Ukraine’s deputy prime minister, said on Wednesday the military authorities called on residents living in the

Passengers know it is risky to take money from an airline to skip an overbooked flight. The next departure could be delayed or cancelled. The intervention of JetBlue in the merger of Frontier Airlines and Spirit Airlines confronts shareholders of the latter with the same dilemma. In February, Spirit agreed to merge with Frontier in

The head of Credit Suisse’s investment bank was under investigation over allegedly mistreating women when he was fired for his role in the collapse of family office Archegos Capital last year, according to people with knowledge of the matter. Brian Chin was one of several top executives to be ousted after Credit Suisse lost $5.5bn

Asset managers are on a shopping spree. After notching up $68bn worth of mergers and acquisitions last year — the biggest haul since 2007 on Refinitiv numbers — deals show no sign of abating. On Monday, Perpetual of Australia made a A$2.4bn ($1.8bn) bid for local rival Pendal. Last month, AllianceBernstein agreed to pay $750mn

The proportion of EU workers in the UK hospitality industry has dropped to its lowest level since 2019, leaving restaurants, hotels and pubs struggling to afford pay increases to attract domestic staff. EU employees now account for 28 per cent of the hospitality workforce, down from 42 per cent before the pandemic, while British workers

Ever turned away briefly from watching a football match only to a hear a fellow spectator loudly exclaim “ooooft”? In such an instance, you’ll probably guess that someone has been poleaxed on the field, likely from a challenge that used to be referred to as a “reducer”. That was before, you know, injuring someone stopped

It might feel like Friday after the torrent of news that has washed through this week but, sadly, it’s only Wednesday. Which means, of course, it’s time for the answers to our Friday quiz. Enjoy: 1. Vladimir Putin said this week that Europe’s energy companies must start paying for their Russian gas in roubles. Which

Brussels is proposing to levy punitive trade tariffs on countries that do not accept the return of citizens who have illegally entered Europe, as the bloc steps up efforts to toughen its migration policy. The move by the European Commission follows an increase in anti-immigrant feeling in many EU countries, which has led to rising

China’s strict Covid lockdowns are exacerbating serious shortages of fertiliser, labour and seeds, just as many of the country’s biggest agricultural provinces prepare for their crucial spring planting season. According to official data, as many as a third of farmers in northeastern Jilin, Liaoning and Heilongjiang provinces have insufficient agricultural inputs after authorities sealed off

Car dealer group Lookers said that motorists changing vehicles at the end of fixed-term finance deals will prevent the auto market falling off a “cliff edge”, despite the squeeze on household budgets. As the company posted record annual profits because of soaring used car prices, it forecast that prices would remain high this year because

The value of global trade fell 2.8 per cent between February and March as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine led to a sharp drop in container ship traffic from the two countries, according to the Kiel Institute for the World Economy. The data from the German research body are the first to indicate how much the

To Kill a Mockingbird Gielgud Theatre, London “All rise.” It’s the refrain that runs through Aaron Sorkin’s mighty stage adaptation of To Kill a Mockingbird. It starts as an instruction from an official to the courtroom, becomes an invitation to the audience at the interval and ends as a rallying cry, importuning all those present

Milestones are not always the key moment of change, but the point at which history says it can no longer be ignored. February 24 was the date Russia invaded Ukraine. It will also mark the point at which the world undeniably split into blocks. Whatever the outcome of Vladimir Putin’s war, geopolitics is now divided

The EU will on Wednesday discuss adding Herman Gref, the head of Russia’s Sberbank, and aluminium oligarch Oleg Deripaska to its sanctions list as it seeks to tighten the screw on Russian businesses following the invasion of Ukraine. Alexander Shulgin, the chief of Russian ecommerce platform Ozon, Boris Rotenberg, one of president Vladimir Putin’s closest

The shirt worn by football superstar Diego Maradona in the 1986 “Hand of God” match against England is to go up for auction with an estimated value of up to £6mn.  The late Argentina captain’s shirt, which has been on public view at the National Football Museum in Manchester for 18 years, is being sold