Brexit and Trump’s tariffs push UK’s food and drink trade deficit to £21bn
In the first half of 2026, the sector’s export volumes fell 11.7% to hit their third-lowest level on record
FT Crossword: Number 18,489
US intervenes in Elon Musk’s legal challenge to EU fine against X
Donald Trump has railed against European fines as ‘overseas extortion’
Police charge anti-migrant protest leader over damage to dinghy in Channel
Rightwing activist who calls himself Danny Tommo was an organiser of a recent blockade at Dover and a rightwing rally in Portsmouth
Shale oil magnate says Exxon chief ‘threw me under the bus’ after $60bn takeover
Scott Sheffield says supermajor launched ‘smear campaign’ to stop him joining company’s board
FirstFT: Xi Jinping says US and China must ‘coexist in peace’ at White House summit
Also in today’s newsletter: Tencent launches payments app for foreign tourists and HSBC scraps another perk for Hong Kong bankers
OpenAI breach of Australian government linked to wider AI hacking campaign
Researchers detail three other attempts by AI agents to break into websites during ‘mundane data retrieval tasks’
Australia’s rival football giants kick off global growth push
‘Aussie rules’ targets India ahead of Saturday’s AFL grand final in Melbourne as rugby league eyes UK expansion
Why New Delhi is a battleground in the fight over Tata
The vast Indian conglomerate is at the heart of some of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s plans to make India a manufacturing juggernaut
GoDaddy receives takeover offer from maker of Norton antivirus software
Talks between web domain provider and Gen Digital at early stage but could allow acquirer to broaden its business beyond cyber security
US long-term borrowing costs touch highest level since 2004
Rising yields strain public finances after brutal sell-off in US Treasuries market
Bond bombshell
Borrowing costs move abruptly higher
SoftBank pays steep price for record bond sale to fund OpenAI bet
Masayoshi Son’s group pays yields of up to 9.75% to raise more than $11bn in the largest junk bond offering on record
Foreign relations as it happened: Xi Jinping says US and China must ‘coexist in peace’ in historic White House visit, Benjamin Netanyahu tells UN Israel and US launched Iran war to ‘save civilisation’
Chinese leader met US counterpart Donald Trump in Washington for wide-ranging talks between the superpowers against the backdrop of UN General Assembly week
Goldman reaped more than $200mn in fees from hedge fund Situational Awareness
Barely two-year-old AI-focused investment firm became biggest client of Wall Street bank’s prime brokerage unit
Xi says US and China must ‘coexist in peace’ in historic White House visit
The Chinese leader is meeting his US counterpart Donald Trump in Washington for wide-ranging talks between the superpowers
The AI agent revolution has moved a big step closer
Launch of Muse by Meta has provided a glimpse of how the technology could be turned into a mass-market product
Oracle feels the force
Majeure problem?
Burnham under pressure to lobby Trump on US diesel export ban
Reform’s Robert Jenrick contacts Trump administration as prices at UK pumps near record high
Russia’s $6.9bn sanctions evasion scheme
Western punitive measures have forced Moscow into costly workaround efforts
Press outlets banned by Trump allowed back to White House after court order
Journalists at CNN, MS Now and Politico say they were initially turned away
City of London wins approval for skyscraper plan
Conservationists worry that views of the Tower of London will suffer if more blocks are built in the financial district
Is the UK electorate fragmenting? Not so fast
The battle between Labour and the Conservatives for national dominance has given way to multiple local fights to be in the top two
US mortgage rates breach 7% as affordability pressures mount
Surging yields on government bonds and rising oil prices from the war in Iran drive inflation fears as national elections near