Author: Blake Anderson

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.The UK Ministry of Defence has successfully trialled a new type of electronic weapon to combat drones that has potential implications for modern battlefields, including in Ukraine. The “RapidDestroyer” is designed by a consortium led by French defence conglomerate Thales, and uses a high-power radio frequency to disable or fry electronics in drones at a distance.  Two swarms of eight drones were neutralised by the weapon in a recent trial, the MoD announced on Thursday, while “the project saw more than 100 drones being…

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.British advertisers have cut their budgets for the first time in four years as the prospect of a trade war hit confidence in the global economy among major consumer brands, according to an industry trade body. Advertising budgets shrunk in the first quarter of the year, the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising said on Thursday, as UK companies held back on spending due to tariff fears and concerns about weakening consumer confidence. Close to a quarter of companies included in the IPA’s…

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.The British and French governments are in talks about a migrant returns agreement that would involve one person being deported from the UK in exchange for France sending another individual the other way, amid hopes the arrangement could be expanded into a broader European initiative.British and French officials are in early discussions about a pilot scheme under which a small number of irregular migrants who come across the English Channel to the UK would be sent back to France.British officials said the…

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.The vast majority of UK consumers plan to “buy British” over concerns that imported products will surge in price after Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs, according to data that underlines the impact of the US president’s trade war. Some 71 per cent of people said they wanted to support UK businesses by buying more items that were “Made in Britain”, after Trump imposed a 10 per cent tax on British imports this month, Barclays said on Tuesday.About two-thirds of consumers were concerned that…

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.The NHS is partnering with UK life sciences company Scancell to do clinical trials of an ambitious new vaccine to treat skin cancer, as the government seeks to boost Britain’s position as a global leader in drug research.Patients with advanced melanoma — the fifth most common cancer in the UK — will be able to join a study of a DNA vaccine that scientists hope will improve the efficacy of drugs known as immunotherapy. About half of patients do not respond to immunotherapy,…

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.The Financial Conduct Authority has said that banks and buildings societies should do more to help customers in vulnerable circumstances, such as those affected by bereavement or registering a power of attorney. The financial regulator said that moves made by banks such as resolving cases quickly and breaking from normal procedure when needed were welcome, but that elsewhere, some staff had failed to recognise when customers were exhibiting noticeable distress or upset, potentially causing further harm.“In some cases, this meant some individuals…

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.Ministers have hailed a multi-billion-pound Universal theme park in Bedford as a “vote of confidence” in the UK as the government searches for good news to offset a gloom-ridden first few months of 2025.On Wednesday, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer will confirm that he has closed a deal to secure a new theme park in Bedfordshire that will bring an estimated £50bn boost for the economy after months of negotiations. The government will commit to a major investment in infrastructure around the site…

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.The national health service in England has spent billions rolling out electronic patient records and yet large numbers of frontline staff are unable to use them effectively, according to think-tank research. A small number of NHS organisations are struggling to use EPRs at all and “many more aren’t yet using these systems to their full potential”, the Health Foundation said in a report on Wednesday. Health secretary Wes Streeting has made transitioning the NHS from “analogue to digital” one of the three “big shifts”…

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.Dan Norris, a Labour MP and mayor of the West of England, has been arrested on suspicion of sexual offences and rape.The Labour party said it had suspended the MP for North East Somerset and Hanham on Saturday after it learned of his arrest. Avon and Somerset Police said that a man in his 60s was arrested on Friday and had since been released on conditional bail.The force said in a statement: “In December 2024, we received a referral from another police…

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.Sanctioned Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska has asked London’s High Court to compel the intelligence arm of Sir Lynton Crosby’s CT Group to reveal information about the source of an allegedly forged document.The application, filed on Tuesday, names as respondents: CT Solutions & Private Advisory, the unit’s founder Eugene Curley, and Leah James, the company’s former global head of intelligence.The case highlights how London’s courts have remained at least partially open to Russia’s wealthiest businessmen despite sanctions being imposed after Moscow’s full-scale invasion…