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When legendary designer Philippe Starck met Spanish investment banker Pedro Gómez de Baeza 30 years ago in Madrid they bonded through their quickfire, raucous sense of humour. The occasion was the opening of Starck’s transformation of a dilapidated old theatre into Teatriz, a restaurant with dramatic decor and an experimental menu. “Madrid had seen nothing

Welsh designer Bethan Gray did something she hadn’t done for some time during the enforced hiatus of 2020: she started to paint. Choosing Chinese calligraphy brushes, she began to create freeform lines in ultramarine ink on a canvas laid on the floor of her studio. It was a spontaneous act, but what emerged was progress

Anglo American’s annual shareholder meeting next week will mark the end of an era as chief executive Mark Cutifani steps down after almost a decade at the top of one of the world’s biggest mining groups. The affable but pugnacious Australian has turned the London-listed miner from an industry laggard to a leader that many

Jean Prouvé (1901-84) was not only an extraordinary engineer, architect and industrial designer but an extraordinary man. As a member of the French Resistance during the second world war, he operated under the codename Locksmith and, according to his daughter Catherine (the youngest of his five children), organised five escape routes from his apartment in Nancy,

The Biden administration will restart oil and gas leasing on federal lands as it comes under increasing pressure to bring down high petrol prices, backing away from a freeze that had riled industry executives. Around 144,000 acres of public lands will be put up for sale next week, the interior department said on Friday, marking

Twitter has launched a poison pill takeover defence to fend off a $43bn hostile bid from billionaire Tesla chief executive Elon Musk. In the first sign that the social media company plans to fight Musk’s bid, Twitter said on Friday that its board of directors had unanimously adopted a year-long shareholder rights plan to “enable

In his “Rich People’s Problems” column (FT Money, April 2), James Max laments the poor choice of electric vehicles available to someone of his standing. Fords, Peugeots and Vauxhalls are for those who “work in a shop”; Volvos are chosen by people with “no personality or self-esteem”; a BMW is for the likes of “an

Home secretary Priti Patel has overridden objections from civil servants to press ahead with contentious plans to send migrants who seek asylum in Britain on a one-way ticket to Rwanda. Patel took the rare step of issuing a so-called ministerial direction to enable her to overrule officials’ concerns that the plans would not offer value

For James Morley, the news that prime minister Boris Johnson and his chancellor Rishi Sunak had been fined for breaking coronavirus rules only confirmed his worst suspicions. “The PM is not beyond reproach — he is not above the Queen, he’s not above the law,” said the 34-year-old who runs a games shop in the

“Let them eat cake” could become an enduring metaphor for this government. With the prime minister and chancellor under fire for raising taxes while families struggle with energy and food bills, their police fines for being at an impromptu birthday party during lockdown have brought the ghost of Marie Antoinette to British politics. There are

It was a quintessentially New York nightmare. At the height of the Tuesday morning commute a mumbling madman riding a subway train in Brooklyn donned a gas mask, detonated two smoke grenades and then fired 33 shots from a semi-automatic pistol at fellow passengers. Ten were wounded. The city was traumatised. But Eric Adams, the

Russia’s ministry of defence threatened to increase the scale of missile strikes against the Ukrainian capital Kyiv, a day after the sinking of the Moskva, the flagship of its Black Sea fleet. Igor Konashenkov, the ministry’s spokesman, said on Friday that Russia would intensify its attacks on targets in Kyiv in response to any further

Two photos taken during the Ukraine crisis seem to sum up the relative positions of Russia and the western alliance. The first is of Vladimir Putin at his now famous long table — his physical distance from visiting leaders symbolising Russia’s isolation. The second image is of Joe Biden in the middle of a group

Boris Johnson faces the prospect of a crunch parliamentary vote on Tuesday over whether he misled the House of Commons in relation to the “partygate” scandal after the Metropolitan Police fined the prime minister for breaching Covid rules. The opposition Labour, Liberal Democrat and the Scottish National parties are in discussions over the best way

BUY: Tesco (TSCO) It’s all about price points at the UK’s largest grocer as inflation reduces real household budgets, writes Mark Robinson. The market gave the thumbs down to Tesco’s full-year figures. The initial markdown of the shares seems curious given a 35.8 per cent increase in adjusted operating profit for its core retail segment,

The writer is author of ‘Left Bank: Art, Passion and the Rebirth of Paris 1940—1950’ and ‘Notre-Dame: The Soul of France’ France is a country in flux. And for the third time in 20 years, it faces a stark choice between electing a leader from the political mainstream or one from the far-right. In 2002,

Selling Peloton, the maker of stationary bikes beloved of tech bros and suburban homemakers, will be uphill work. Top of the list of impediments is insiders’ stranglehold on voting rights. Like most of its quoted tech-minded peers, Peloton has a dual-class share structure that expires a decade after it listed — 2029 in this case.

One of the reasons I like writing Swamp Notes is that I almost always enjoy the resulting interaction with our subscribers (I’m sure you agree Rana). As readers go, you are unusually polite, thoughtful and engaging. Where you disagree, which does occasionally happen (I didn’t say you were perfect), most of you are constructive in

To the victor go the spoils. Pfizer and BioNTech will secure 58 per cent of this year’s $64bn Covid-19 vaccine market, says analytics group Airfinity. But what about the also-rans? Plucky contenders are still puffing towards the finish line. This week, France’s Valneva won approval in Britain for its Covid jab. Valneva’s vaccine is based

Another global energy crisis has produced a series of political pledges to use energy more wisely. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has brought calls to embargo the oil and gas exports that support the country’s economy, and laid bare the folly of maintaining fossil-fuelled energy systems that are no longer fit for purpose. This time, world