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What role does art play in times of crisis? It’s a question Roman jeweller Fabio Salini has asked a lot in recent years, as he seeks to find new purpose after a three-decade career in precious gems and materials. The answer he has arrived at is to auction a large chunk of his archive – 55

Federal prosecutors have charged an Iranian national with plotting to assassinate John Bolton, Donald Trump’s former national security adviser, on US soil. The US Department of Justice said it believed 45-year-old Shahram Poursafi, a member of Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards who also goes by the name Mehdi Rezayi, had attempted to arrange a “murder for

Fox Corporation chief Lachlan Murdoch has hailed an “unprecedented wave” of political advertising sweeping America this year that looks on course to outstrip spending before the 2020 elections. As he unveiled Fox’s annual earnings, Murdoch said the financial muscle being deployed in closely fought Senate, House and gubernatorial races would make the November midterm election

SoftBank expects to post a gain of more than $34bn by turning over a chunk of its holdings in the Chinese ecommerce group Alibaba, marking a historic shift in the Japanese group’s relationship with its best-known investment. SoftBank had made a series of complex derivative deals that allowed it to raise cash while retaining the option

Game developer Roblox became the latest company in the video game industry to report a slowdown in growth, with a drop in a closely watched sales metric triggering a share price tumble in after-hours trading. The company, whose eponymous platform helps players design their own games, went public through a direct listing in March 2021,

Xi Jinping finally has something that eluded him for almost a decade: a trusted confidante at the top of China’s police ministry. Wang Xiaohong’s appointment as public security minister in June marked another breakthrough for Xi in his relentless consolidation of power since being appointed head of the Chinese Communist party and its Central Military

China has extended military drills around Taiwan, stoking fears of a drawn-out period of heightened tension that is piling pressure on the US to respond. Beijing’s largest-ever military exercises around Taiwan had been expected to wind down after navigation warnings for seven areas around the country expired early on Monday. But the People’s Liberation Army

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

There were useful sartorial tips in Teo van den Broeke’s article (FT Weekend, July 30) about managing after that heart-stopping moment when the baggage conveyor belt halts and your bags have not arrived. I am still waiting for KLM to find and return my luggage after a month. Having spent more hours than I dare

China’s missile launches into Taiwan’s coastal waters this week have underlined the risks to global supply chains from any sustained escalation of tensions between Beijing and Taipei. The military exercises in response to a visit by US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to Taiwan resembled a rehearsal for a blockade of the export-dependent island, over which

Ireland is contemplating levying a windfall energy tax in the 2023 budget next month given “significant profits” made by companies in the sector, prime minister Micheál Martin said. “The government will consider a range of issues and will give examination to the issue of a windfall tax,” he told reporters on Thursday, adding that companies

Warren East, the outgoing chief executive of Rolls-Royce, has insisted the company’s recovery remains on track, despite missing profit expectations and battling supply chain and inflation headwinds. Shares in the FTSE 100 engineer had tumbled close to 10 per cent to 82p by late afternoon on Thursday as the company missed forecasts for profitability in

SoftBank has raised as much as $22bn in cash from deals that would sharply reduce its stake in Alibaba over the coming years, as the Japanese investor responds to a market downturn that has ravaged its technology portfolio. The group, led by billionaire founder Masayoshi Son, has this year carried out the sale of about

Your browser does not support playing this file but you can still download the MP3 file to play locally. Since the 2008 financial crisis, it’s become more and more difficult for Americans to chart a path toward financial security. Things like buying a house and paying off student loans have become more challenging for young

Bain & Co, the Boston-based global management consultant, was on Tuesday hit with a three-year ban from tendering for British government contracts because of its “grave professional misconduct” in a major corruption scandal in South Africa. Jacob Rees-Mogg, Cabinet Office minister, told Bain that the affair had rendered the company’s integrity “questionable” and that he

China is ratcheting up military activity around Taiwan ahead of a potential visit by Nancy Pelosi, the Speaker of the US House of Representatives, who is expected to land in Taipei on Tuesday night. The Taiwanese government also said it had come under cyber attack. Several Chinese fighter jets flew close to the median line

Sometimes the effect of music is so powerful, it almost feels violent — melodies can hurl you into the past, submerging you in a flood of sense memory and details you thought long-forgotten. For me, my musical madeleine is Nobuo Uematsu’s sweeping soundtrack to the game Final Fantasy IX, which once beckoned my 10-year-old self

The writer is a partner at the Dutch law firm Resor As the world of decentralised finance continues to grow, there is much demand for a digital currency fit for use in blockchain-based applications with near-real-time, peer-to-peer global settlement that can be used as a medium of exchange. However, most cryptocurrencies are too volatile for

Good morning and today we start with Nancy Pelosi’s closely watched visit to Asia. China has escalated its threats in recent days over the House Speaker’s trip, which starts today in Singapore. Also on her itinerary are stop offs in Malaysia, South Korea and Japan. But Pelosi’s office has not confirmed whether the Democratic politician

“How many of you were here in 1982?” asked Jane Cornwell, compèring onstage at Womad’s 40th anniversary outing. A forest of hands waved. Without doubting anyone’s probity or memory, let it be noted that had they all been paying customers, that original festival might not have lost so much money. The ghosts of Shepton Mallet,