Alphaville’s tepid takes on GameStop vs eBay
We are highly confident that this could end up a car crash
Transcript: Toxic Legacy — Bonus episode with Samantha Power
Laura Hughes talks to Samantha Power, former USAID head
Trial of Blackpool’s block trade king begins in Hong Kong
Simon Sadler of Segantii Capital faces criminal charges over alleged insider trading of clothing retailer Esprit
GameStop makes unsolicited $56bn offer for eBay
Video game retailer offers $125 a share for resale web giant
Scotch truce should give US trade partners a dram of hope
The industry offers a glaring example of the self-defeating nature of tariffs
Iran warns US Navy against entering Strait of Hormuz
Oil surrenders some gains after Washington denies claim that Tehran had struck an American warship
EU blocks funds for key Chinese solar energy parts
Brussels cites security concerns in latest crackdown on sensitive China-made imports
Politics just got even more partisan in the US
The gutting of the Voting Rights Act by the Supreme Court will intensify the fight over redistricting
China is building soft power as Trump burns bridges
After years of struggling to match the global popularity of the US, Japan and South Korea, Beijing’s image is improving
EU to water down anti-deforestation rules by exempting leather imports
Move to soften impact on companies of flagship climate legislation is a setback for environmental groups
Blackstone and Goldman among backers for $1.5bn Anthropic JV
New consulting company to advise Wall Street groups on how to deploy its AI across their investment portfolios
FTAV’s further reading
Drew Dickson on tech hype; Goldman on private credit; Smithsonian on Twister; ‘This is Fine’ dog on Steam
The perilously high stakes for the next UN leader
International body must sharpen its focus to stay relevant in a fractured world
Olga Fröbe-Kapteyn — the artist who built an archive to decode dreams
A friend of Jung, the Dutch abstractionist and mystic amassed 6,000 mythological, ritual and symbolic images to interpret the ‘collective unconscious’
The Last Movement — a beautiful portrait of Mahler, a genius all at sea
Robert Seethaler’s gem of a novella mixes the dying composer’s reflections with real-life history and imaginative flourishes
African economies are more resilient than ever
The continent is better positioned to weather crises, yet perceptions remain stuck in the past
Is the US truly resilient to the energy market strife?
‘Somewhat counterintuitive’ indeed
Boost for Modi as BJP claims election win in key Indian state
Hindu nationalist party says it has toppled West Bengal’s leftwing chief minister after 15 years in power
Canada’s beef producers say Mercosur trade deal will devastate industry
Farmers fear a flood of cheap meat as Carney government looks for entry to South American bloc
The US decoupling from the global gloom has limits
Total economic and financial insulation is an impossibility
America’s small businesses left out of Trump tariff refunds
New procedures only reimburse importers, not those who indirectly sourced products through them
FirstFT: Iran warns US Navy against entering Strait of Hormuz
Also in today’s newsletter: Putin hunkers down for fear of assassination and GameStop makes $56bn bid for eBay
Singapore and New Zealand strike ‘world first’ supply-chain pact
Leaders call on their other partners to maintain global trade flows with similar agreements
Our pension funds are not quasi-government money
New legislation pushing the mandatory allocation of investments into private assets conflicts with the fiduciary duty of trustees