SpaceX’s Starship rocket reaches orbit for the first time

System is pivotal to Elon Musk’s ambitions to win more Nasa contracts and transport humans to the Moon and Mars

Evonik rejects €10.3bn BASF bid to consolidate chemicals industry

Size of premium may increase pressure on management and biggest shareholder

MFS owner blames Barclays for collapse amid fraud allegations

Paresh Raja denies claims he siphoned at least £1.3bn from mortgage firm in response to High Court lawsuit

Pass the popcorn: New York’s film-goers are on the warpath

In an unexpected plot twist, cinemas are back

Shares in UK housebuilders surge on new Help to Buy scheme

Prime Minister Andy Burnham unveils ‘Your First Home’ plan to help people on to housing ladder

The money vs message election

A distracted Trump appears to be leading the Republicans to a historic defeat in the midterms

Bond sell-off deepens as oil price rises

Brent crude jumps and 10-year Treasury yield surpasses 5.2% as hopes for US-Iran agreement fade

Blair-era money is ‘not there now’, Healey warns Labour

UK chancellor uses conference speech to prepare ruling party for possible Budget tax rises

Five men arrested over alleged RAF Fairford terror plot are all UK nationals

Suspects detained are in their twenties and residents of London

Chess: Uzbekistan and China win Olympiads, while England’s Sivanandan, 11, sets a new record

Puzzle: what is White’s fastest winning move?

The UK ‘aircraft carrier’ launching Chinese cars into the EU

Brussels is urging UK tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles, but it might take more than that

Simon Russell Beale makes a resplendent Liberace in I’ll Be Seeing You

The actor returns to the stage at Pitlochry Festival Theatre in Martin Sherman’s meta play about a writer trying to make sense of the entertainer’s life

Roll the Calls by Ari Emanuel — agent, provocateur

A Hollywood power broker’s memoir charts the rage, ambition and persistence that made him both a kingmaker and a celebrity caricature

Tru — an intimate evening with Truman Capote grows tedious

‘Modern Family’ star Jesse Tyler Ferguson excels as the acerbic writer but Jay Presson Allen’s dated play flounders at London’s Menier Chocolate Factory

Nvidia launches record $150bn share buyback

Chipmaker’s plan to repurchase stock comes as share price gains have slowed this year

Lord Mayor of London favourite pulls out over ‘criminal proceedings’ at former firm

Though not personally involved in the proceedings, Tim Hailes withdraws as nominee to spare the mayoralty and City’s reputation

Steve Reich at 90 — birthday celebrations begin for the trailblazing American composer

Programmes at the Southbank Centre looked back at the minimalist master’s work, with a guest appearance from Radiohead’s Jonny Greenwood

Why Europe’s centre will hold

The 1930s are not a good guide to the politics of the 21st century

What is the AI capex breakeven rate?

Heroic ROIC

How much? The realities of rising home renovation costs

A 44 per cent jump in overall prices since before the pandemic is painful. But it means shifts, not stops

The Pope and the EU’s holy founding father

Pope Leo defends European unity in hometown of Robert Schuman, who is on a path to Catholic sainthood

FirstFT: Oil price rise puts more pressure on government bonds

Also in today’s newsletter: Donald Trump hosts Anthropic chief Dario Amodei at White House dinner and inside the House of Bolsonaro

A-list lunches, Oxbridge dinners – and the £400 toothbrush. Don’t miss HTSI’s top reads

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Submit a question: What’s next for the global economy?

Economics leader writer Tej Parikh and European economics commentator Martin Sandbu will answer reader questions in a live Q&A on Thursday October 1 at 1pm