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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

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

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

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

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

Breast cancer has acquired a grim new status. It has overtaken lung cancer to become the world’s most common cancer. But the pharmaceutical industry is stepping up. Breast cancer is at the cutting edge of oncology research. Researchers have made big strides in understanding the complexities of breast cancer, where tumour types are diverse. That has

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

Top UK housebuilder Redrow has increased the amount of money it has set aside to fix fire safety issues to more than five times an original estimate, in response to tougher demands on developers laid out by housing secretary Michael Gove.  Housebuilders have been trying to move on from a long-running building safety crisis that

Sri Lanka’s rupee has plunged to a record low to become the world’s worst-performing currency, as President Gotabaya Rajapaksa struggles to contain a worsening economic and political crisis. The Sri Lankan rupee was hovering near SLRs300 per US dollar on Wednesday, down 32 per cent year to date and lagging even Russia’s rouble, after Rajapaksa

Volodymyr Zelensky has intensified his call for the international security system to be overhauled as new evidence emerged of alleged crimes by Russian forces in areas that were recently recaptured by Ukrainian troops. The Ukrainian president intensified his criticism of the global community in a late-night video address after lambasting the UN for failing to

Good morning and welcome to Europe Express. Two days after Viktor Orban’s re-election, Ursula von der Leyen delivered her harshest message yet regarding the rule of law in Hungary. Not only is the European Commission starting a process that could freeze billions of euros the country is set to receive from the EU budget, but

Good morning. We’re excited to bring you the third and final collaboration with Adam Tooze of Chartbook tomorrow, this time on Europe’s future. Today, Brainard and bitcoin. Email us: robert.armstrong@ft.com and ethan.wu@ft.com. Brainard’s comments and the yield curve Lael Brainard, who is lined up to be Fed vice-chair and has been dovish on monetary policy

Crypto firms are rushing to set up shop in Dubai after it started to offer virtual asset licences, making the Gulf state the latest jurisdiction to seek to become a haven for the global crypto industry. Exchange ByBit, which last week said it would relocate its global headquarters from Singapore to Dubai, joins major industry

Your browser does not support playing this file but you can still download the MP3 file to play locally. US and eurozone government debt sold off on Tuesday as traders weighed the prospect of stronger sanctions against Russia and comments from a top policymaker at the Federal Reserve signalling more aggressive action, President Joe Biden

Investors are buying more US farmland in search of a hedge against inflation as commodity shortfalls caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine drive world food prices to record highs. Land values in the Midwest grain belt have gained 25-30 per cent in the past year while auctions draw intense bidding for available ground. Demand for

France’s far-right presidential candidate Marine Le Pen did something out of character when Russia invaded Ukraine: she advocated welcoming refugees fleeing the war. “They are neighbours, they are Europeans, and we must shelter them from the war as long as it lasts,” she said. Her stance on Ukrainian refugees broke a taboo in the far-right

A feeling of déjà vu hangs over the French presidential election this year, with the same cast for the run-off as in 2017: incumbent Emmanuel Macron against far-right challenger Marine Le Pen. Yet there are subtle differences in this year’s rematch, including how the two leading candidates have altered their clothing and styles to convey

Deep inside a reinforced bunker in north-western Germany, a dozen Nato air force troops bustle around computers set up in front of a huge screen showing a map of eastern Europe’s airspace. About 30 green dots, representing Nato planes, cluster the skies on the alliance’s eastern flank bordering Russia, Belarus and Ukraine. The mix of

Volkswagen, the pioneer of the “people’s car” that epitomised the auto industry’s obsession with expansion, will axe dozens of combustion engine models by the end of the decade and sell fewer cars overall to concentrate on producing more profitable, premium vehicles. “The key target is not growth,” said Arno Antlitz, chief financial officer, in a

Regarding Larry Davis’ suggestion (“A neighbourhood name change that might catch on”, Letters, FT Weekend, March 26) that his San Francisco Russian Hill neighbourhood name should be changed to “Ukrainian Hill”, we’ve been here before. San Francisco’s Japanese Tea Garden, in Golden Gate Park, conceived in 1894 from a World’s Fair exhibit, was developed into