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FINANCIAL TIMES
Monday, 20 April 2026
 
 
 

Top Headlines from the UK Edition

 
 
 
US navy seizes Iranian ship after it breaches blockade
 
Oil price jumps as Washington and Tehran give conflicting accounts of whether new peace talks are set to begin
 
 
Property asking prices rise in April despite higher UK mortgage rates
 
Increase indicates resilience in housing market even as Iran war led to surge in energy costs
 
 
Starmer battles for Downing Street future amid Mandelson vetting scandal
 
Prime minister’s statement to MPs will come ahead of testimony from sacked Foreign Office head Olly Robbins
 
 
Is London ready for the Green Party?
 
Zack Polanski’s leftwing populists are aiming to eat into Labour’s heartlands
 
 
The US and Europe are still stronger together
 
Despite Trump and the war with Iran, Brussels’ interests remain deeply entwined with Washington’s
 
 
 

Top Headlines from the International Editions

 
 
 
China does have one powerful lever to boost consumption
 
A permanent cut in the payroll tax could benefit workers and the world
 
 
QXO to buy insulation company TopBuild in $17bn deal
 
Billionaire investor Brad Jacobs is seeking to create the dominant company in the US building products sector
 
 
Impact of Iran war will hurt US even after conflict ends, economists warn
 
Wave of inflation will persist as higher fuel prices feed through into businesses
 
 
Wealth advisers made more than $2bn from private capital fees
 
FT analysis of 16 funds shows extent of fees paid to banks and brokerages
 
 
Brussels pushes remote working to ease energy crisis
 
European Commission also recommends heat pumps and public transport subsidies
 
 
 

Markets

 
 
 
The stock market’s new approach to valuation
 
It is demonstrating an Earnings Before Iran, Tariffs and Dubious Announcements (ebitda) mentality
 
 
US investors boost defence exposure as global wars fuel spending boom
 
Trend reverses prior hesitance over arms investments because of slow growth and perceived conflict with ESG standards
 
 
BlackRock warns of hit to European stocks from energy crisis
 
World’s biggest asset manager had been more bullish on the region at start of year but says stocks are no longer cheap
 
 
France’s CB seeks to lead European fightback against Visa and Mastercard
 
Payments scheme pushes for ‘co-badging’ that allows French bank cards to run on both international and local networks
 
 
 

Companies

 
 
 
ECB frontrunner Hernández de Cos is most qualified candidate for top job, economists say
 
Former Spanish central bank chief ranks first in poll of monetary policy experts in ‘tight race’ for Lagarde succession
 
 
Foreign carmakers turn to Chinese technology to remain relevant
 
Western executives hope ‘in China for China’ strategy will halt sales decline in world’s largest car market
 
 
Walmart challenges Amazon on same-day delivery by using stores as warehouses
 
Retailer tests holding third-party merchandise in Supercenter back rooms to boost its online marketplace
 
 
Surge in HMRC probes over unpaid VAT by large companies
 
Increase comes as government agency steps up efforts to close ‘tax gap’
 
 
Veolia chief driven ‘nuts’ by UK water utilities’ failure to use AI to detect leaks
 
England’s water companies are lagging behind other more water-stressed nations, says Estelle Brachlianoff
 
 
 

Opinion

 
 
 
Lessons from the China shock 2.0
 
The response should be better industrial strategies, not knee-jerk protectionism
 
 
Of course Trump thinks he’s the Messiah — his disciples tell him so
 
The ‘devout’ Christians in the US president’s life are really just fawning sycophants
 
 
The NHS’s deal with Palantir could be good for its financial health
 
Medical data sits in different software systems — connecting the dots should save time, beds and money
 
 
The annoyance economy isn’t going anywhere
 
We must find our own amusements in dealing with spam, robocalls and chatbots
 
 
The weird world of work perks
 
Companies are reining in benefits, but workers are unlikely to miss some of them as much as you might think
 
 
 

Work & Careers

 
 
 
Met museum CEO: ‘We don’t operate in a vacuum. You have a responsibility.’
 
Max Hollein is overseeing $1.5bn of development projects at the New York art institution
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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