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In the spring of 2020, as the Covid-19 pandemic took hold, many pharmaceutical companies faced disruptions to their supply chains. Chemicals used to produce the key ingredients in drugs were often sourced from only a few suppliers in China — sometimes from just one. The pandemic has brought to light just how much the global

Within hours of the Australian government announcing a “giveaway” budget that Scott Morrison had hoped would propel him to a second term as prime minister, his own party began tearing into him. Concetta Fierravanti-Wells, a senator from Morrison’s Liberal party, unleashed a blistering 10-minute character assassination, calling her boss an “autocrat (and) a bully who

By George Upton For traditionalists Every year, the town of Gaiole in Chianti is transformed by L’Eroica, a festival dedicated to vintage cycling (main picture, above). But whether you ride a traditional steel-framed bike or cutting-edge carbon fibre racer, this medieval hamlet, on the market for €6.6mn, is ideally located to make the most of

The issue of prestige for frontline service workers (“Want to understand 21st-century power? Look at PizzaExpress”, Opinion, April 7) is critical for the UK’s service economy. Customer-facing staff account for 61 per cent of the nation’s workforce. They are the very bedrock of our economy, and yet, as your columnist Stephen Bush points out, very

Regarding your article “How the UK’s non-dom status works” (Report, April 9), I do not believe that the non-dom exemption “was intended to protect colonial investments and allowed UK residents to be taxed only on money brought into the country”. These people would have had a UK domicile, so the foreign exclusion would not have

Signs that Russia is nearing a significant new offensive in eastern Ukraine mounted on Monday as US defence officials reported that troops withdrawn from Kyiv and the surrounding areas were being resupplied and reinforced by the Kremlin for redeployment in the Donbas region. Although Ukrainian officials have reported escalating Russian bombing in the region already

It has been a long time since Britain had a foreign-policy success. Boris Johnson’s trip to Kyiv at the weekend should be seen as marking one, the culmination of an arms-to-Ukraine policy which proved instrumental in driving back the initial Russian advance. The prime minister is far from the first national leader to visit Ukraine

Elon Musk will not join the board of Twitter, after all. But the world’s most recognisable entrepreneur will still exert a heavy influence on the social network. His biggest soft power asset comes in the form of 81.3mn Twitter followers, lapping up his eclectic musings and off-colour wisecracks. His more direct financial lever is the

What is going on between Elon Musk and Twitter? If you’re wishing you could be a fly on the wall in chief executive Parag Agrawal’s office right now, you’re not alone. Musk’s sudden decision to no longer join Twitter’s board marks a significant U-turn just days after he became the social media company’s biggest shareholder

Hey Fintech Fam, This week I explored how payment companies are approaching opportunities in the metaverse. I also spoke with the co-founder of one of the artificial intelligence start-ups helping to automate loan underwriting. Plus, keep reading for a recap of the horse race to become the “world’s crypto capital.” Did the new 3,000-pound crypto

The writer, former head of the IMF’s European department, is chief economic adviser at Morgan Stanley After yet another nasty inflation surprise last month, and with European Central Bank president Christine Lagarde no longer ruling out interest rate hikes in 2022, financial markets have got the message that policy tightening is afoot. Long-term rates have

Good evening, In an otherwise positive report about the airport “coming back to life after two years”, Heathrow boss John Holland-Kaye warned that resources were “stretched” and that it was “unclear whether the surge in demand is sustainable”. Labour shortages have hit the aviation industry particularly badly, limiting its ability to bounce back from the

Proxy adviser ISS is recommending that investors vote against a proposed new pay package for Axa’s chief executive Thomas Buberl, arguing the insurer has not provided a good enough rationale for an offer that would include a 14 per cent salary hike. With Buberl’s mandate as chief executive up for renewal ahead of a new

Epic Games, the maker of Fortnite, has secured $2bn in new funding from Sony and the group behind the Lego franchise as leading global games companies race to build an avatar-filled “metaverse”. The North Carolina-headquartered group said on Monday it had secured $1bn each from Japanese console and game developer Sony and Kirkbi, the investment

Mexico’s president claimed victory on Monday in a polarising recall referendum with low turnout that was boycotted by much of the opposition. President Andrés Manuel López Obrador won almost 92 per cent of the vote, according to electoral body INE, with 99 per cent of votes counted. Voter turnout for the ballot, which asked whether

“This is not a children’s show; this is not an adults’ show,” insists Akram Khan, director of Jungle Book Reimagined, which premiered at The Curve in Leicester. “This is everybody’s show.” If only. Sadly, despite clever, multi-layered projection by YeastCulture, a Jocelyn Pook score and fluid, fleet-footed movement for 10 versatile dancers, Khan’s multinational co-production

Emmanuel Macron will face far-right challenger Marine Le Pen in the second round of the French election on April 24, with polling suggesting a much tighter final race than in 2017. Here is what the first round results tell us so far. Macron won the first round by a reasonable margin — but the second

The writer is distinguished professor emeritus at the University of Bonn, an emeritus fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge and the former Bertrand Russell professor of philosophy at Cambridge In March, an open letter hit the press with the headline, “Universities must reject fossil fuel cash for climate research, say academics”. As two of several hundred

One of world’s largest listings this year has come from an unusual source: Indonesia. Shares in GoTo, a ride-hailing and ecommerce business, rose as much as 23 per cent on their first day of trading on Monday. A lower-than-expected valuation signals that south-east Asian listings are running out of steam. GoTo got off to a

Hello, and welcome to Trade Secrets. What of last night’s first-round French presidential election results from a trade policy perspective? A good result for Macron, obviously, but a lot of votes for far left and far right candidates with various degrees of antipathy to various definitions of globalisation. We’ll probably end up with Macron as

Ericsson has indefinitely suspended all activities at its business in Russia, the Swedish telecoms equipment maker said on Monday, as it seeks to distance itself from a country accused of war crimes in Ukraine and defend itself against the possibility of contravening European sanctions. “Ericsson is engaging with customers and partners regarding the indefinite suspension