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Lower gas and electricity prices drove a sharp drop in UK inflation to 6.8 per cent in July from 7.9 per cent the previous month, the lowest rate of price increases since February last year.  The figure met economists’ expectations and will come as a modest relief after wage data on Tuesday was surprisingly strong, highlighting the work

As 2022 drew to a close, Binance co-founder and chief executive Changpeng Zhao appeared to have the world at his feet. Sam Bankman-Fried, co-founder of Binance’s biggest rival FTX, went to Zhao in November last year hoping the Binance chief would bail out his own exchange. Zhao declined, sealing FTX’s fate. On November 10, one

Inflated shipping costs are enabling Russian companies to earn far more from crude oil sales to India than previously recognised, according to a Financial Times analysis which suggests that the charges may have raised more than $1bn in a single quarter. Russia has, until recently, appeared to comply on this route with western measures designed

UBS is facing a further legal challenge to its controversial takeover of Credit Suisse, as hundreds of individual shareholders — including scores of former employees of the failed bank — are due to lodge a claim in Zurich’s commercial court on Monday. The Swiss Investor Protection Association (SASV), which represents retail investors, is planning to

Sam Bankman-Fried has been taken into custody after a federal judge found that the FTX founder probably attempted to tamper with witnesses on two occasions while awaiting trial on fraud charges stemming from the collapse of the cryptocurrency exchange. In a brief written order following a hearing in Manhattan federal court on Friday, Judge Lewis

From September, Russian high school students in the 11th grade — aged roughly 17 — will use a new textbook for studying modern history. Because the book covers events up to the present day, they will learn that “Ukraine is an ultranationalist state. Today, any dissent in Ukraine is severely persecuted, opposition is banned, everything

Italy said late on Tuesday it would limit the impact of its planned windfall tax on banks to ensure financial stability, in an apparent partial backtrack after the surprise levy plan caused bank shares to drop sharply. The finance ministry said in a statement that the tax on net interest income would be capped at

China’s trade slumped in July, with exports and imports falling more sharply than economists forecast, adding to concerns about growth prospects in the world’s second-biggest economy more than six months after Beijing eased pandemic restrictions. Exports declined by 14.5 per cent year on year in dollar terms, official data showed on Tuesday, the steepest fall

8/7/2023, 12:49:44 AM What to watch in Asia today William Langley in Hong Kong Pakistan: Popular opposition leader Imran Khan was taken into custody at the weekend following an Islamabad high court’s decision to sentence him to three years in jail on corruption charges. Meanwhile, Pakistani officials approved a plan to redraw the country’s electoral

Chinese authorities are putting pressure on prominent local economists to avoid discussing negative trends such as deflation, as concerns mount about Beijing’s ability to boost a flagging recovery in the world’s second-biggest economy. Multiple local brokerage analysts and researchers at leading universities as well as state-run think-tanks said they had been instructed by regulators, their

The US and China are opening new lines of communication to tackle contentious issues, in one of the first signs of progress towards stabilising relations since secretary of state Antony Blinken visited Beijing in June. According to three people familiar with the situation, Washington and Beijing will create two working groups to focus on Asia-Pacific

Apple proved resilient in its latest quarter as the number of paying subscribers for its array of digital services crossed 1bn users worldwide, helping to lift profits from a year ago even as total revenue declined. The world’s largest company by market value said on Thursday that total revenue fell 1 per cent to $81.8bn

Stocks continued to slide on Thursday following Wall Street’s biggest one-day drop since April, as investors prepared for the latest rise in interest rates from the Bank of England. The Stoxx Europe 600 was down 0.6 per cent in early trade, on course for a third successive session of declines. The index has lost nearly

US prosecutors have charged Donald Trump in connection with attempts to overturn the results of the 2020 election, the second federal indictment brought against the former president in as many months. Trump was charged with four criminal counts including conspiracy to defraud the US, to obstruct an official proceeding and to threaten individual rights, according

UK house prices have dropped by the largest amount in 14 years, according to fresh data from Nationwide. Prices for July fell 0.2 per cent on the previous month and 3.8 per cent on the same month last year, the largest fall since 2009, the Nationwide house price index showed. The average cost of a home in the UK is now

Western oil and gas majors are expected to face renewed scrutiny of their energy transition plans as the commodity crisis sparked by the war in Ukraine that supercharged profits for five consecutive quarters recedes. ExxonMobil, Chevron, Shell, TotalEnergies, Equinor and Eni each reported drops in second-quarter earnings this week of about 50 per cent compared

The writer is the director of Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center in Berlin “These amendments are written for a big war and general mobilisation. And the smell of this big war can already be scented,” Andrei Kartapolov, the head of the Duma’s defence committee, said this week as the Russian parliament rushed to adopt a new

French luxury group Hermès has defied an industry-wide slowdown in the US, posting 22 per cent growth in sales across all markets in the first half of the year. Overall revenues soared to €6.7bn for the first half, from €5.5bn in the same period last year, the Paris-based company said on Friday. Operating profit surged

Donald Trump has been accused of attempting to have surveillance video footage at his Mar-a-Lago estate deleted ahead of an FBI search, as federal prosecutors added more criminal counts to a case over the former US president’s handling of classified documents. The Department of Justice filed the expanded indictment on Thursday. Federal prosecutors also added

The Federal Reserve raised its benchmark interest rate by a quarter of a percentage point on Wednesday to the highest level in 22 years, as it wrestles with how much more to squeeze the US economy to bring inflation under control. The Federal Open Market Committee lifted the federal funds rate to a new target