FT News Briefing

Tesla reported its fourth consecutive quarterly net profit on Wednesday, the fissure between the US and China continues to deepen with Washington ordering Beijing to shut its consulate in Houston over spying concerns, a group of US tech investors has launched an ambitious plan to buy TikTok from its Chinese parent company, ByteDance, and Wirecard’s former chief executive has been rearrested and accused of committing a long-running fraud.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

The British government has abandoned hopes of reaching a US-UK trade deal ahead of this autumn’s American presidential election, and Donald Trump told reporters the pandemic in the US will “get worse before it gets better”. Plus, the FT’s Latin America editor, Michael Stott, will explain why the region might be headed for another debt crisis.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

EU leaders are closing in on a deal for a landmark coronavirus recovery package, the largest laboratory company in the US, Quest Diagnostics, has warned it will be impossible to increase coronavirus testing capacity in the event of a second wave in the autumn, and European banks are facing as much as €800bn in loan losses over the next three years as a result of the coronavirus crisis. Plus, the FT’s James Politi will explain why the US economic recovery from coronavirus was so short-lived and whether it will gather pace again.   See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

EU leaders spent the weekend locked in marathon summit talks over Europe’s proposed €750bn response to the coronavirus pandemic, and Albert Fernández, Argentina’s president, has made an impassioned appeal for the world to accept that he cannot budge from his final offer to restructure $65bn of foreign debt. Plus, the US is considering an effective ban on TikTok, the popular social media platform. The FT’s Beijing Bureau chief, Yuan Yang, will explain.   See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

The US is considering putting TikTok on a blacklist that would effectively prevent Americans from using the popular video app, Netflix warns investors that its pandemic related growth spurt is waning, and the FBI and New York state launch investigations into Wednesday’s unprecedented hack of Twitter. Plus, the FT’s Dan Dombey explains how Spain is still struggling with its coronavirus recovery, and why so much of the country’s future hinges on the proposed EU recovery fund.   See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Twitter experienced an unprecedented hack on Wednesday when bitcoin scammers sent a series of tweets from hundreds of accounts, Opec and Russia move to start unwinding the record oil supply cuts agreed earlier this year, and the US has threatened to impose sanctions on any companies helping Russia to build the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline. Plus, the EU’s second-highest court rejected a European Commission order for Apple to pay back more than 14 billion euros in taxes to Ireland. The FT’s Javier Espinoza will have more on what this means for the EU as it tries to crack down on low-tax countries.   See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

President Donald Trump signed legislation on Tuesday that gives his administration more power to impose sanctions on Chinese officials, the Trump administration reversed its rule that international students would have to return home if they are attending universities with online-only classes, Moderna’s potential Covid-19 vaccine produced immune responses in patients in the early stage trial, and technology groups are refusing a data sharing proposal with Hong Kong regulators. Plus, the FT’s US banking editor, Laura Noonan, examines why three of America’s biggest banks set aside a combined $28bn for current and future loan losses.   See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Brussels is planning to pursue low-tax member states over their advantageous corporate tax regimes, California is rolling back its reopening effort due to a surge in Covid-19 cases, and US technology groups and a group of state attorneys-general are joining the battle against a Trump administration rule that requires foreign students to return home if universities move to online-only courses. Plus, the FT’s leisure industries reporter Alice Hancock will explain what is becoming of the businesses reliant on European summer tourism in light of the pandemic.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Boris Johnson is set to unveil plans this week to phase Huawei out of the UK’s 5G mobile phone networks, WeWork’s executive chairman tells the Financial Times that the company is on track to have positive cash flow in 2021, and the new head of the US Office of the Comptroller of the Currency warns banks about using coronavirus as cover to shut branches or to win permanent concessions from regulators. Plus, the FT’s US banking editor, Laura Noonan, tells us what to expect when Wall Street banks report quarterly earnings this week.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

US and European banks in Hong Kong are conducting emergency audits of their clients to identify officials and corporates that could face possible US sanctions over the new national security law, the FT reports that Wirecard executive Jan Marsalek touted secret documents about the use of a Russian chemical weapon in the UK as he bragged of ties to intelligence services to ingratiate himself with London traders, and coronavirus has spurred a global bicycle shortage. Plus, the FT’s consumer industries reporter Patricia Nilsson will explain how allegations of worker mistreatment brought on an investigation of online retailer Boohoo.    See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In an interview with the FT, European Central Bank president Christine Lagarde said that “women are the first victims” of events such as a pandemic and discussed the steps towards recovery. Plus, UK business leaders say that millions of jobs in some of the hardest hit sectors are still at risk despite chancellor Rishi Sunak’s £30bn jobs plan, and the US hits 3m confirmed coronavirus cases.   See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

The US has begun the process of leaving the World Health Organization, the FT reports that international investors bought bonds backed by the crime proceeds of Italy’s most powerful mafia group, and US investment in offshore wind power is predicted to rise to a level that nearly matches spending on offshore oil drilling this decade. Plus, the FT’s Claire Bushey will explain how coronavirus has triggered a conversation on the treatment and compensation of low-wage workers.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Facebook, Google and Twitter have all said they would temporarily block Hong Kong’s authorities from accessing user data despite threats from the government, the US claims its small business bailout programme has kept 51.1 million people in work during the pandemic, and foreign students at US universities and schools will no longer be eligible to stay in the country if their courses move fully online due to coronavirus. Plus, the FT’s Eric Platt will report on the dangers associated with day trading.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Covid-19 has been a global shock. But will it be a transformative one? In this special edition of the FT News Briefing, the FT’s chief economics commentator, Martin Wolf, explains why the global free market era might soon be coming to an end for western democracies, and why he thinks politics, society and the economy should now revolve around the idea of citizenship.  Read Martin Wolf’s essay at FT.com/BigRead.   See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority is set to ask Brussels for full control over the review of the proposed £31bn merger between Virgin Media and O2, US consumers are expected to spend $710bn online in 2020, and American Airlines says it could have over 20,000 front-line employees more than it needs this autumn to operate its reduced flying schedule. Plus, the unemployment rate for black Americans remained higher in June than for all other groups. Economist Valerie Wilson explains why black workers are being disproportionately affected by coronavirus and what policy measures might help.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.