Four cool stays in Melbourne
An insider guide to the most fashionable hotels in Australia’s culture capital
FirstFT: Dimon warns UK against higher bank taxes
Also in today’s newsletter: private credit doldrums and AI super-rich
Broken FIMA
Why Bessent’s yen backstop is a wobbly leg to stand on
FTAV’s further reading
Japan’s 10-year bond yield hits three-decade high
Interest rate nears 3% as weak yen fuels inflation concerns
The best of TV and streaming this week
Glamorous thriller ‘The Shards’, revealing documentary ‘Mourinho’ and more. Reviews by Rebecca Nicholson
Transcript: Private credit’s woes continue
Victoria Craig talks to Eric Platt and Myles McCormick
Higgsfield valued at $5.4bn as Goldman and Intel back AI video start-up
Company founded by former Snap executive Alex Mashrabov targets marketing content for businesses
Private credit under strain as troubled loans swell
FT analysis shows signals of stress in the market are back to levels last seen in 2017
War and climate change drive surge in global shipping costs
Rates on routes including Panama Canal, Rhine, Red Sea and Black Sea jump, while Hormuz closure also hits seaborne trade
Burnham faces climate test over North Sea oil decision
Prime minister expected to approve development of controversial Rosebank and Jackdaw projects
The economics of Europe’s drought
Rivers are at all-time lows and water is scarce. Transport, energy and big tech are affected
Air conditioning becomes ‘must-have’ for overheated London office workers
Cooling rises up the list of sought-after features in constrained high-quality commercial real estate market
America and the politics of respect
Issues won’t matter in the midterms as much as whether voters feel valued
The wrong lessons are being drawn over worries on public equities
Policymakers should focus on tax and planning reform to encourage enterprise rather than financial deregulation
Would you pay £100 for the perfect passport photo?
A viral Polaroid project has New Yorkers shelling out for a single shot
Élisabeth by Éric Rohmer — the novel that foretold the films
Newly translated, the director’s 1946 story of flirting, swimming and bickering in the French countryside heralds the screen classics to come
Why Maga came for Europe
Trump’s new right sees the continent as both ancestral home and ideological battleground
The Ritz-Carlton, Melbourne: luxury with altitude
Australia’s tallest hotel pairs panoramic views with elevated comfort and polished dining in a part of the city where five-star stays were once hard to imagine
Voco Melbourne Central hotel: refill stations, rib-eye and rooftop views
A sustainability-minded city stay with smart heritage touches and a destination steakhouse looking over the Central Business District
At Melbourne’s Ovolo South Yarra hotel, the volume is turned up to 11
This music-mad bolthole in one of the city’s coolest corners riffs on rock and pop legends with retro-maximalist glee
Melbourne’s W hotel: street art, sushi and a sense of discovery
Design cues from local laneways, sharp Japanese cooking and an Alice in Wonderland-esque bar give this W outpost a playful edge
Author Helena Attlee: ‘We British live with dogs and cats and junk on every surface’
A rambling idyll in the Welsh borders is where the Italophile historian writes about citrus, Mediterranean sensuousness and life in the shadow of Mount Etna
Medieval chic: fashion in the Bayeux Tapestry
Much has been written about the return of this thousand-year-old embroidery to British shores. But what of its style credentials?