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The peaceful pro-democracy protests that swept through Belarus in August 2020 evoked memories of Solidarity, the mass movement that had arisen in neighbouring Poland 40 years earlier. The focus of discontent was identical: a repressive regime, aligned with Moscow, that mistreated citizens and brought shame on the nation. Even the patriotic colours on display in

Liz Truss has promised an immediate cut to National Insurance rates if she becomes prime minister in September, but faced claims from her Tory leadership rival Rishi Sunak that the change would “not touch the sides” for many poorer households battling a crisis in living costs. Truss, foreign secretary, told the Financial Times on Friday

The writer is chief economic adviser to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine Western sanctions on Russian fossil fuels are a phantom. The revenues flowing into the Kremlin’s coffers from foreign sales of oil, gas and coal are sky-high, having doubled in the first 100 days of the war. The west’s energy sanctions regime is not

Chinese authorities hastily locked down the southern coastal city of Sanya over the weekend, trapping tens of thousands of holidaymakers after a highly infectious Omicron strain of coronavirus was detected in the province known as “China’s Hawaii”. Covid-19 cases in China’s Hainan province rapidly rose over the week to a cumulative 828, forcing authorities to

At the property sector’s annual gathering on the French Riviera in March an unlikely group of delegates were centre stage: warehouse salesmen. In years past at the Cannes Mipim conference, purveyors of “sheds” — as they are known in the industry — have been shunted out to tents at the end of the promenade, away

The European drugs regulator is holding firm with plans to review Covid-19 vaccines designed to tackle the original coronavirus and the Omicron variant, its head said, in contrast with US authorities who plan to approve these jabs before the release of clinical data on their efficacy. It might mean Europe receives vaccines tailored to the

Life has not been easy for reinsurers in the past few years. Claims for natural catastrophes and pandemic-related losses have wiped out a large part of their profits. But the latest set of global problems — war in Ukraine, galloping inflation and the ever-increasing risks of climate change — have jolted them into action. In

When the centrist Democratic senator Kyrsten Sinema gave the green light this week to move forward with the much-slimmed-down version of her party’s long-awaited climate and tax bill, her colleagues breathed a sigh of relief. However, Sinema’s assent came with a notable proviso: scrapping the promise to end a notorious tax loophole allowing private equity

Ahead of Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan this week, there was concern from the White House to Tokyo that the US House Speaker’s trip would spark a crisis at a time when relations with China were already in a dangerous state. Beijing’s aggressive response has crystallised the high stakes for US allies and partners in

Japan needs bolder monetary and fiscal stimulus to seize “a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity” from global inflationary pressures to end its war on deflation, according to a Bank of Japan board member who recently left the central bank. The BoJ has come under market pressure in recent months to reassess its ultra-easy monetary policy as central banks

An Apple supplier based in Taiwan is battling an international investor over its multibillion-dollar cash pile in a case that signals burgeoning shareholder activism in the territory. Catcher Technology, which manufactures electronic casings for Apple devices made in China, is being challenged by Hong Kong-based investment firm Argyle Street Management to improve its governance and

Before China’s fighter jets roared and its ballistic missiles screamed into the seas off Taiwan last week, analysts had already begun laying out — from incursion to inaction — what investors could expect next. Consensus among those forecasters was in short supply, and if anything, there is even less of it now. Both the US

The writer, a former senior adviser to UK chancellors Philip Hammond and Sajid Javid, is a partner at Flint Global; he writes in a personal capacity Boris Johnson’s government has been fundamentally “un-Conservative”. That has been the impression given by the Tory leadership contest so far. Inevitably, the debate has been dominated by the modern

Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway dramatically slowed new investment in the second quarter after setting a blistering pace at the start of the year, as the US stock market sell-off pushed the insurance-to-railroad conglomerate to a $43.8bn loss. Berkshire said on Saturday that the drop in global financial markets had weighed heavily on its stock portfolio

Western capitals are increasingly alarmed about the deepening economic co-operation between Turkey’s president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Vladimir Putin, warning of the mounting risk that the Nato member state could be hit by punitive retaliation if it helps Russia avoid sanctions. Six western officials told the Financial Times that they were concerned about the pledge

America’s largest oil and gas producers are keeping a lid on supply, defying calls from the Biden administration to lift output even as soaring fuel prices driven by Russia’s war in Ukraine deliver bumper profits. Top shale oil and gas producers including ConocoPhillips, Pioneer Natural Resources and Devon Energy all unveiled a sharp increase in

The private equity businesses at some of the buyout industry’s most prominent firms are beginning to contract as a sharp slide in financial markets and a slowing of new investment from institutional investors lead to declining assets under management. Most publicly traded US buyout firms, including KKR, Carlyle Group and Apollo Global, reported declining assets

Welcome back. This weekend I’m looking at war fatigue in Europe and the US, and the impact of western sanctions on Russia. But first, thanks for voting in last week’s poll. Some 58 per cent of readers said yes, the European Central Bank would use its new bond-buying instrument to help Italy, and 22 per

Cold shower anyone? The hot water has been turned off in some German leisure centres. In Spain, energy savings measures are starting to bite. Offices, bars and shops are banned from adjusting the thermostat below 27C in summer or above 19C in winter. Temperature restrictions reflect the severity of Europe’s energy shortage. Soaring prices are

Your browser does not support playing this file but you can still download the MP3 file to play locally. The voting process in the contest for a new Tory leader and prime minister was delayed over security concerns, but the campaign continued with Liz Truss looking all but certain to win. We discuss her lines