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There has been much talk in recent years about companies as increasingly powerful political — even geopolitical — actors. As executives have spoken up about voting rights in the US or forced labour in China, the notion of CPR — corporate political responsibility — has begun to elbow out CSR, the decades-old acronym for corporate

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

Dressed in a pale blue shirt and navy blue jacket, the 62-year-old sitting across the table from me at the Ristorante Cesarina in Bologna could be any British visitor enjoying the city’s medieval architecture and the March Italian sunshine. There are no obvious signs of either fame or fortune. But I am facing a revolutionary

The superbloom of southern California was the ultimate botanical hit for plant geeks and meadow fanatics. In spring 2019, after an unusually wet winter, the region’s mountains and deserts erupted with wildflower meadows of orange California poppies, violet Phacelia and vivid blue Chia sage – a surreal display of nature so vast and vivid it

Richard Desmond’s Northern & Shell group has become the third company to sue the UK’s gambling regulator over its decision to award the next National Lottery licence to Czech operator Allwyn, making it the most contested award in the competition’s history. Northern & Shell, which owns The Health Lottery, and The New Lottery Company, another

South Korea will ditch all remaining social-distancing measures next week while downgrading Covid-19 to a “Class 2” disease alongside conditions such as tuberculosis and cholera. The east Asian country’s decision to remove restrictions offers a stark contrast with neighbouring North Korea and China, both of which continue to wrestle with variations of their zero-Covid approach.

Perhaps sensing a buying opportunity, the chief executive of Victorian Plumbing has increased his stake in the company, though some may interpret the move as a means of shoring up investor confidence, which is probably at a low ebb given the company’s shares have fallen by 80 per cent since it floated on Aim last

Small protests have broken out in Shanghai as residents grow increasingly frustrated with Covid-19 lockdown restrictions, just as Beijing looks to widen national support for its commitment to eliminating the coronavirus outbreak. Shanghai residents in the Zhangjiang compound in the eastern Pudong district pleaded with police on Thursday to let them stay in their rented

The first outing for Jon Balke’s collective Siwan, a 2009 album of the same name, saw a wide range of texts set for the Moroccan singer Amina Alaoui and a baroque ensemble. Its soundscape, with Jon Hassell’s trumpet wobbling behind a scree of percussion on the prison love song “Itimad”, was mystical without being slavishly

During the long years when women composers were largely ignored the name of Ruth Gipps was never entirely absent. As an oboist, conductor and founder of two orchestras, she had a varied career that kept her in the public eye even if her music was only rarely getting performances. That neglect stemmed not only from

The seven movements of composer/vibraphonist Joel Ross’s The Parable of the Poet, his third album for Blue Note, use personal experiences as a springboard for collective endeavour. Solos emerge, but the dominant sonorities are the rich tones of four-brass layering overlapping melodies across a bed of rhythm. Titles like “Guilt”, “The Impetus (To Be and

Good morning. Who cares if Elon Musk buys Twitter, the whole thing is stupid and annoying, let’s all do our best to ignore it. So it’s the US economy, and more on Russian oil, below. Also, we’re taking Monday off. While we’re away, try other good FT Newsletters, like Moral Money (sign up here) and

My personal style signifiers are minimalist, comfortable clothing – black jackets, sometimes by Issey Miyake, and always T-shirts. My clothes are like my own designs: spare and simple. The last thing I bought and loved was a Danish chair for my furniture collection. The design is human and intimate. I have Mies van der Rohe and Hans

In aviator shades and a brightly coloured jacket, Natalia Sindeyeva is not a person to let life’s troubles stand in her way. The 50-year-old was treated successfully for breast cancer in 2020; today she puffs happily on miniature cigarettes from a heated tobacco device. A competitive dancer, she is in Istanbul to take part in

‘Zero to IPO: Over $1 Trillion of Actionable Advice From the World’s Most Successful Entrepreneurs’, by Frederic Kerrest In 2011, as co-founder and chief operating officer of a failing business and facing bankruptcy, Frederic Kerrest received some advice from one of his board members who had been through it all before. Acting on it saved

Bookings for UK holiday parks and cottages in far-flung locations have been hit by holidaymakers’ concerns over rising fuel prices even though operators have reported a last-minute surge in reservations for the Easter weekend. Promises of unseasonably warm weather and travel chaos at airports have prompted a rise in late bookings for UK destinations, according

Russia’s defence ministry has said the Moskva naval missile cruiser, its flagship vessel in the Black Sea, has sunk, dealing a significant blow to Moscow’s offensive in southern Ukraine. Ukrainian officials said on Thursday that the Russian vessel had been hit by one of their anti-ship missiles, causing an explosion on board. The Pentagon assessed

Elon Musk has made an offer to buy Twitter with a bid that values the company at $43.4bn, a move that could turn the Tesla chief executive into a social media mogul. Musk’s offer of $54.20 a share comes days after he took a 9 per cent stake in the company, becoming its largest shareholder