Author: Arabian Media staff
It is an essential truth of Formula 1 that mainstream car manufacturers, the most endemic of all brands in the sport, will come and go when it suits them or as market forces dictate.In the good times, the opportunities to promote their brands and technological development have led as many as seven different manufacturers to compete for the world championship. But when three withdraw at once, as happened with Honda, Toyota and BMW in the financial crisis of 2008-09, panic sets in.Since 2020, F1 has boomed, with more than 800mn fans worldwide. F1 data shows that 30 per cent of them…
Stay informed with free updatesSimply sign up to the German politics myFT Digest — delivered directly to your inbox.German chancellor Friedrich Merz is “actively” backing a proposed EU ban on the Nord Stream pipelines connecting Russia to Germany in a bid to stop any US and Russian efforts to reactivate the gas links.Merz’s government earlier this week said it endorsed the ban as part of the bloc’s upcoming round of sanctions against Russia for its war in Ukraine. According to three officials familiar with the matter, the chancellor sought to quell any domestic debates about the merits of a potential…
Unlock the Editor’s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.Former UK prime minister Lord David Cameron is in talks to join the law firm and lobbyist DLA Piper as a consultant, the latest of several private sector roles he has taken in the wake of his departure from the government last year.Cameron would advise the law firm and its leaders on geopolitical risks, according to two people with knowledge of the move, who cautioned that details of the role are not yet finalised. DLA Piper, ranked the world’s third-largest law firm…
Unlock the Editor’s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.RedBird Capital Partners has agreed to buy the Telegraph Media Group in a £500mn deal, signalling an end to one of the most protracted and tortuous sales of a British newspaper in recent history.RedBird said the deal would make it the sole controlling owner, leaving Abu Dhabi’s IMI with a minority stake after the British government changed the law to stop the newspaper from becoming owned by a foreign state-backed fund. The sale of the Telegraph was kicked off two years ago when…
Unlock the Editor’s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.Rio Tinto’s board asked chief executive Jakob Stausholm to step down because its directors wanted someone with more mining experience, in a move that came as a surprise to shareholders.Stausholm’s departure, announced on Thursday, was amicable but came sooner than expected, according to people familiar with the matter. The board was seeking someone with more operational experience, with the feeling that Stausholm’s skill set no longer matched the company’s needs, they added. The world’s second-largest mining company said its chief, who had…
Google announced the launch of its second “Google for Startups Accelerator: AI First” programme for the Middle East, North Africa, and Turkiye (MENA-T). The 12-week, equity-free programme is designed to empower the most promising ‘Seed to Series A’ startups that are harnessing the power of artificial intelligence, providing them with the essential infrastructure, tools, and expertise to scale and succeed. The programme will provide selected eligible startups with Google Cloud credits to accelerate the development and deployment of their AI solutions, the company said. Participants will benefit from expert technical mentorship from Google Cloud engineers and solution architects to optimise…
Unlock the Editor’s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.There has been little light relief for European manufacturers of solar panels over the past few years. A glut of cheap Chinese solar panels triggered a flurry of factory closures, bankruptcies and downsizing as the bloc’s domestic companies struggled to compete.But now, an increased focus on ethics and local procurement in the solar industry has sparked hopes that price may no longer be the defining factor when solar developers choose suppliers. UK ministers said in April that Britain’s state-owned energy company would…
Unlock the Editor’s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.A quest by the Brazilian billionaire brothers behind the world’s largest meatpacker JBS for a prestigious Wall Street stock listing is on a knife edge, following an opposition campaign by governance and environmental advocates. Minority shareholders in the $16.5bn group, controlled by Wesley and Joesley Batista, will today decide on a proposal to transfer its primary share trading venue from São Paulo to the New York Stock Exchange. JBS says the move should help boost its market value and unlock cheaper funding to…
Stay informed with free updatesSimply sign up to the Oil & Gas industry myFT Digest — delivered directly to your inbox.Reform UK is trying to woo oil and gas companies with a promise to slash taxes and regulation if Nigel Farage’s party sweeps to power — though it will demand equity stakes in North Sea drilling projects in return. Richard Tice, the deputy leader of the populist party, has approached a number of energy executives in recent weeks seeking support for Reform, promising a “day one” assault on net zero policies that includes reversing restrictions on new oil and gas…
Unlock the Editor’s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.British retail sales rose 1.2 per cent in April, significantly overshooting analysts’ expectations as warm weather encouraged consumers to spend more.Economists polled by Reuters had expected the volume of goods sold to rise 0.2 per cent in the month, after a revised increase of 0.1 per cent in March.Friday’s monthly data from the Office for National Statistics showed that sales in food stores grew strongly, which retailers attributed to the good weather, according to the ONS.The Met Office said that last month…