AI boom drives global stock markets to best first quarter in 5 years

Stay informed with free updates Simply sign up to the Equities myFT Digest — delivered directly to your inbox. Global stock markets have recorded their best first-quarter performance in five years, buoyed by hopes of a soft economic landing in the US and enthusiasm about artificial intelligence. An MSCI index …

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What next for Thames Water?

Thames Water is in trouble: cash-strapped, struggling to control sewage outflows and water leakage, and without the storage capacity to deal with shortfalls during hot weather. Concerns over the future of Britain’s biggest water provider reached a peak this week when investors refused to inject £3bn of much-needed equity, despite …

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OpenAI courts Hollywood over plans for video generation model Sora

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. OpenAI has launched a charm offensive in Hollywood, holding meetings with major studios including Paramount, Universal and Warner Bros Discovery to showcase its video generation technology Sora and allay fears …

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Why family-friendly policies don’t boost birth rates

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. Between 1980 and 2019, the world’s most developed countries roughly tripled their real-terms per capita spending on child benefits, subsided childcare, parental leave and other family-friendly policies. They also saw …

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Moscow attack survivor: four minutes are ‘a whole lifetime’

Dozens of people are packed into the corner of the lobby of a Moscow concert hall, squeezed against a wall and unable to escape as four gunmen fire automatic weapons into the group. Dmitry Saraev, a concert promoter and journalist, was among the people trapped in the corner that night …

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2024 Audi Q5 and SQ5 price and specs

For model year 2024, the Audi Q5 – the four-ring brand’s second best-selling model in Australia – is more expensive than before. Prices were increased across the range – including the sportier SQ5 models – by between $1430 and $5900 from January 1, 2024. “Due to ongoing disruptions to global …

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How Ford will celebrate the Mustang’s 60th anniversary

The first Ford Mustang was revealed on April 17, 1964 at the World’s Fair in New York, and the 60th anniversary of that date is coming up fast. Ford naturally plans to mark the milestone, teasing a special 60th anniversary appearance package for its seventh-generation S650-series Mustang. A pair of …

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Top UN court orders Israel to ensure more aid reaches Gaza

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. The UN’s International Court of Justice has ordered Israel to ensure that more food and humanitarian assistance reach Palestinians in Gaza, warning that famine is “setting in” there as the …

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Sam Bankman-Fried’s fate is sealed by his own words

By the age of 30, Sam Bankman-Fried had convinced a million people that he was a safe custodian of their hard-earned cash.  But stood in a Manhattan courtroom on Thursday, head of curly hair bowed, the one-time master of persuasion failed to win over the person who, in that moment, …

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