Chinese-owned UK chipmaker still awaiting sale after government order March 9, 2026 More than a year after ministers ordered the sale of a Chinese-owned British semiconductor company on national security grounds, the deal has yet to materialise. Glasgow-based Future Technology Devices International (FTDI) remains majority owned by a Chinese state-backed consortium, despite the cabinet office directing investors to divest their stake in November 2024. The company was [...]
Fifa’s credibility is shot because it can’t decide what it wants to be March 6, 2026 Does Fifa want football to be pure sporting competition floating serenely above politics, or a global force for peace? Its current approach is dumbing down, writes Matt Readman. On 21 June 1998, Iran faced the United States at the Fifa World Cup in what was billed as the most politically charged football match in history. Fifa later declared it the match that “football [...]
How geopolitics is influencing investment March 6, 2026 The UK’s classification of AI as critical infrastructure is being paradoxically balanced by increasingly strict national security scrutiny on ownership, investment, and partnerships, introducing political risk into the innovation pipeline, says Claire Trachet Britain classified AI as critical national infrastructure last September, sitting it alongside defence, energy and telecommunications. At Davos this year, former UK [...]
English rugby is on brink of seismic change. It mustn’t fumble at the try line March 5, 2026 Ed Warner was part of the group that has recommended major changes to the way English rugby is governed. He explains why this is a generational opportunity. This is news overload time for English rugby. The men’s national team wilting twice in the Six Nations under weighty expectations, debate about the possible impact of head [...]
On this day: the nationalisation of the Bank of England March 1, 2026 The Bank of England Act 1946 came into effect 80 years ago today, formalising a compact and a degree of cooperation between the Bank and the Treasury which had been developing for years, writes Eliot Wilson The Bank of England is the second-oldest central bank in the world. Only the Sveriges Riksbank in Stockholm, which [...]
Olympics should lead way in AI and lighten impossible load on its judges February 26, 2026 If any sporting body has the means to fund investment in AI judging it’s the International Olympic Committee, writes Ed Warner. I’ve no idea whether Zoe Atkin’s “amplitude” deserved to bag silver rather than bronze in the freeski halfpipe on Sunday. All I know is she didn’t wipe out on all three of her three [...]
Courtrooms in the cloud: How Opus 2 quietly changed the game February 26, 2026 AI is making its mark on the legal profession, an industry renowned for its cautious approach to change. Yet, behind the scenes, innovative technologies have been quietly transforming courtrooms for years. If you ever sat behind the row of barristers and the lawyers that instructed them in a courtroom at the High Court, you may [...]
Show them the book: why politicians need to read more novels February 26, 2026 Leading historian Dominic Sandbrook has said declining reading habits of our politicians tells you everything you need to know about why they’re so inadequate. William Atkinson couldn’t agree more… Would Keir Starmer be a better Prime Minister if he went to bed with a good Trollope? That was the suggestion of Dominic Sandbrook – Britain’s [...]
Revolut investors eye $100bn price tag in push for new share sale February 25, 2026 Revolut is weighing a fresh secondary share sale in the second half of 2026 as investors at the fintech giant hope to secure the $100bn price tag ahead of its highly-anticipated public debut. The London-born digital bank is in early talks over a transaction that would give new investors the opportunity to buy into the [...]
Russia’s economy ‘in stagnation’ as war takes toll February 24, 2026 Russia’s economy has “moved into a period of stagnation” after initial war efforts boosted output in the country, amid growing hopes in the West that further sanctions have been successful in limiting its growth. Four years on from the start of President Vladimir Putin’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, economists have flagged the threats faced by [...]