SoftBank strikes $4bn AI data centre deal with DigitalBridge-Son, the Japanese conglomerate’s founder and chief executive, is going all in on his bet that AI will revolutionise business and society — as well as SoftBank’s growth prospects. www.ft.com/content/ad04... @tim.fo @financialtimes.com

Lululemon founder calls for board overhaul at struggling fitness brand-The Canadian yoga brand has endured a dismal 2025. US tariffs, intensifying competition from new entrants and… www.ft.com/content/e468... @mroliverbarnes.bsky.social @financialtimes.com

Japanese pen maker raises price of its bestseller for first time in 40 years-Consumers are encountering inflation across a growing range of products and services. Japan Post has raised its postage rates… www.ft.com/content/94c1... @davidkeo.bsky.social @financialtimes.com

Trump-linked crypto venture fires auditor after FT inquiries- Alt5 Sigma, a Las Vegas-based recycling business-turned-biotech-turned blockchain company, in August signed a deal to buy crypto tokens issued by the Trump… www.ft.com/content/342d... @stephenfoleyft.bsky.social @financialtimes.com

Why don’t companies target over 55s as consumers more?- The image of later life as a period when grannies sit knitting in rocking chairs is far removed from reality. This generation is reaching older age… www.ft.com/content/046c... @anjli.bsky.social @financialtimes.com

Iran’s currency ‘turns to ash’ as economy spirals-The economic spiral has contributed to a broader legitimacy crisis for Iran’s leaders, as growing segments of society demand sweeping political, economic and social reforms. www.ft.com/content/7295... Najmeh Bozorgmehr @financialtimes.com

Deadly derailment in Mexico revives allegations of rail project corruption-The opposition Institutional Revolutionary party (PRI) said the tragedy demanded “immediate answers”…PRI, which called for a full audit of such projects… www.ft.com/content/0a8e... @judewebber.bsky.social @financialtimes.com

Bauxite miner Axis launches $29bn claim against Guinea-the Guinean government has revoked a swath of licences this year across its gold, bauxite, diamond, graphite and iron sectors as the government of President Mamadi Doumbouya seeks… www.ft.com/content/3ef7... Camilla Hodgson @financialtimes.com

Move over, Tokyo — the world has a new biggest city—“This is a wake-up call for the government to seriously address the problems of Jakarta,” said Azis Muslim, public policy expert… www.ft.com/content/4ee5... A. Anantha Lakshmi @financialtimes.com

Europe’s growth prospects depend on German spending spree, economists say—Sceptics warn that billions of euros in new borrowing could end up funding welfare and other current spending rather than… www.ft.com/content/4db9... @olafstorbeck.ft.com @financialtimes.com

Ukraine and the battle for Trump’s mind—While Ukrainian and Russian troops are fighting to the death for every inch of land in the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine, their leaders… www.ft.com/content/8c23... Ben Hall @financialtimes.com

China launches military drills around Taiwan—Taiwan’s defence ministry added that the PLA’s designated areas for the drills overlapped with international air and shipping routes. www.ft.com/content/fd7c... Edward White @financialtimes.com

Volodymyr Zelenskyy calls for 50-year US security guarantee for Ukraine—Russia on Monday accused Ukraine of attacking one of President Vladimir Putin’s residences with drones, saying this “definitive move to a policy… www.ft.com/content/c490... @hauslohner.bsky.social @financialtimes.com

Accounting body scraps remote exams to combat cheating—Remote invigilation was introduced during the Covid-19 pandemic to allow students to continue qualifying into the profession during lockdowns. But… www.ft.com/content/52e7... Ellesheva Kissin @financialtimes.com

US stocks eclipsed by rest of world in 2025 as investors diversify—Wall Street’s AI boom has powered a rebound from the sell-off sparked by Trump’s “liberation day” tariffs blitz in April. But… www.ft.com/content/10a8... Emily Herbert @financialtimes.com

Is Ozempic shaping the workplace?—In an uncertain jobs market, maybe losing weight is rational. One study found that almost a third of workers (32 per cent) had seen discrimination against someone at work because of their weight. www.ft.com/content/40c9... @emmavj.bsky.social @financialtimes.com

Lex: Weight-loss drugs come for Fluffy and Fido— The incentives are aligned: anxious owners, rising chronic disease and a pharmacy sector hungry for new profit pools… www.ft.com/content/467f... @financialtimes.com Pan Yuk

The AI boom is not a bubble—Bubble, in the context of financial markets, is a word with a specific meaning. It signifies that the price of certain assets exceeds their intrinsic value — some rational estimate of future returns — and… www.ft.com/content/f229... @robinh.bsky.social @financialtimes.com

Why your AI companion is not your friend—So this holiday season, see people, but aim at nothing. Be kind to yourself, and be kind to others. And try to leave your phone at home. www.ft.com/content/f365... @martinsandbu.ft.com @financialtimes.com

The FT View: Santa’s good and bad economies list—sound policymaking is often low on immediate reward, warrants tough choices and rarely pleases everyone. The hope then for this Christmas… www.ft.com/content/a359... @financialtimes.com

‘Wellness’ culture is empty without service to others— I get the sense that many people do want to contribute to society but they are not sure how. Some worry that… www.ft.com/content/2e43... @jemima.bsky.social @financialtimes.com

How diamonds are powering a new quantum revolution —Another promising area is using nitrogen-vacancy diamonds to spot the viruses that cause diseases such as Covid-19 and HIV/Aids at an earlier stage than existing tests do. www.ft.com/content/0b30... @mikepeeljourno.bsky.social @financialtimes.com

What does the future workspace look like? It depends where you sit-It is estimated that one in seven people is neurodivergent but offices tend to be designed with neurotypicals in mind… www.ft.com/content/b7ae... Bethan Staton @financialtimes.com

Jamie Laing on building sweet brand Candy Kittens: ‘I don’t really like weekends’-The deal is a big moment for the business. It will put Graze, which has about 200 staff, under the stewardship of Candy Kittens, which, together… www.ft.com/content/44d1... @emmavj.bsky.social @financialtimes.com

Why dealing with past trauma is crucial for leadership-While external threats can focus attention, attract support from colleagues and initiate action, internal threats can feel overwhelming, confusing and irrational. Rather than… www.ft.com/content/b439... Naomi Shragai @financialtimes.com

Global hotel groups bet on customer loyalty to beat online and AI agents-AI “agents” — autonomous bots capable of arranging travel for users — could provide hotel groups a cheaper alternative… www.ft.com/content/b4ee... @stephistacey.ft.com @financialtimes.com

Investors bet on smaller private equity funds to break deal drought-Market dynamics started to shift as the buyout sector battled through its third difficult year since higher interest rates… www.ft.com/content/7a8e... @alexandraheal.bsky.social @financialtimes.com

Fine wine investors find little cheer in third year of falls-US President Donald Trump’s 15 per cent tariffs on EU imports have hit the industry hard, with the value of fine wine purchases… www.ft.com/content/e84d... @journofletcher.bsky.social @financialtimes.com

Tech groups shift $120bn of AI data centre debt off balance sheets-Data centre construction has become largely reliant on deep-pocketed private credit markets, a rapidly inflating $1.7tn industry that has… www.ft.com/content/0ae9... @tabbykinder.bsky.social @financialtimes.com

AI ‘world models’ promise to reshape $190bn video games industry-“Creating software and games in particular is changing a lot, and I expect it to change, maybe entirely, over the next few years,” said… www.ft.com/content/9b1b... @criddle.bsky.social @financialtimes.com

McCain Foods french fries dynasty split over heir’s buyout demand-An internal family conflict is roiling McCain Foods, the world’s largest producer of frozen french fries, as the daughter of its co-founder… www.ft.com/content/b4cb... Ilya Gridneff @financialtimes.com

North Sea suffers worst year since 1970s as drillers freeze investment—The UK government said it had set out a plan to build a “prosperous and sustainable future for the North Sea — with record investment… www.ft.com/content/abc3... Malcolm Moore @financialtimes.com

China uses green tech dominance to take early lead in clean fuels race—While clean fuel technologies are still evolving, experts say companies such as Envision show… www.ft.com/content/7728... Edward White @financialtimes.com

AI boom adds $500bn to net worth of US tech billionaires in 2025—Silicon Valley’s leaders have profited from the hundreds of billions of dollars spent globally on AI chips, data centres and products, even if… www.ft.com/content/9dcd... @rafeuddin.ft.com @financialtimes.com

Narendra Modi turns his focus to reforming India’s economy— While India’s economy is still growing strongly, with annual GDP growth of more than 8 per cent in the most recent quarter, Modi is trying… www.ft.com/content/9823... @jyots43.bsky.social @financialtimes.com

Italy and Spain shake off ‘periphery’ tag as borrowing premiums hit 16-year low–Fund managers have warmed to Italian and Spanish debt amid a broad upswing in southern Europe’s economic fortunes, arguing that it no longer… www.ft.com/content/5c4a... @amykazmin.bsky.social @financialtimes.com

A Medellín cartel kingpin’s mission to recast his legacy—He argued that better education is key to stopping the drug trade — and said his book could be a useful tool. www.ft.com/content/76b2... @max-d-reporter.bsky.social @financialtimes.com

EU foreign aid takes transactional turn with Africa minerals push—non-governmental organisations and some officials in development agencies fear that Lobito is emblematic of a modern gambit for influence and… www.ft.com/content/2de1... @alicemhancock.bsky.social @financialtimes.com

Benjamin Netanyahu to meet Donald Trump as differences over Gaza grow—The US visit will be the Israeli prime minister’s sixth summit with Trump in the past year — more than… www.ft.com/content/31c4... @nerizilber.bsky.social @financialtimes.com

Japanese births set to fall below lowest official forecasts in 2025—The experts warned that such a tally would be significantly lower than the government’s medium variant forecast for annual births, the core…  www.ft.com/content/a812... @urbandirt.bsky.social @financialtimes.com

Louvre under pressure after disastrous year—State auditor criticism over misguided spending has compounded calls to ditch the plans spearheaded by Macron and redirect funding towards basic maintenance. Late last month… www.ft.com/content/5f57... @iancjohnston.bsky.social @financialtimes.com

China’s cash-strapped local governments drive record sales of asset-backed securities—the rush to securitise assets — some of which appear to have highly uncertain underlying value — is itself fuelling questions… www.ft.com/content/2d9e... Joe Leahy @financialtimes.com

AI start-ups amass record $150bn funding cushion as bubble fears mount—“The biggest risk [for start-up founders] is you don’t raise enough money, the funding environment dries up, and your business could go to zero,” said… www.ft.com/content/7f98... @georgehammond.bsky.social @financialtimes.com

Jürgen Habermas: Germany’s political and cultural phenomenon-At the heart of both books is the story of a generation. Habermas was born in 1929, one of the “forty-fivers” who were too young to have been compromised by Nazism but… www.ft.com/content/9f89... @iprnickp.bsky.social @financialtimes.com

When F Scott Fitzgerald’s Christmas wish came true- Fitzgerald’s solution to being a washed-up writer in Hollywood, and the money troubles that came with it, was elegant and simple: from late 1939… www.ft.com/content/dfe8... @john-self.bsky.social @financialtimes.com

Robert McNamara: tearful architect of the Vietnam war- McNamara was emotionally ruined by Vietnam, and the consequences are starkly relayed. His wife’s illnesses were exacerbated by the stress, his son… www.ft.com/content/5b59... @angusreilly.bsky.social @financialtimes.com

China launches military drills around Taiwan ft.trib.al/Vb7aG6m

I went in search of spiritual renewal in Japan — and ended up being dangled off a cliff-“A mountain works as a mirror,” explained Houn Saile, a Shugendō practitioner and… www.ft.com/content/5a68... Oliver Smith @financialtimes.com

Spy chief Andrew Shearer: ‘I’ve never seen our agencies so stretched’-He is struck by the speed and complexity of change. “If you think about any given week, it always feels like… www.ft.com/content/6f45... Demetri Sevastopulo @financialtimes.com

Tariff turmoil, a gold rush and the sinking dollar — 2025 in charts www.ft.com/content/6e32... @raydouglas.bsky.social @rachel-rees.bsky.social Emily Herbert @kateduguid.bsky.social Leslie Hook @iankmsmith.ft.com @nikasgari.bsky.social @financialtimes.com