Hello from the FT newsroom where we can report some good news (for a change). Israel and Hamas appear to have agreed a ceasefire to halt the war in Gaza and free the remaining hostages, after 15 devastating months of war. Our reporter in Israel explained the terms of the deal here.
Who made the deal happen? US president-elect Donald Trump — with his threat of “all hell to pay” if Israeli hostages were not freed before his inauguration — was instrumental in securing the agreement. But our Middle East editor Andrew England asks an important question: what will it take for this ceasefire to endure?
The remains of Jabalia refugee camp in Gaza, which was home to an estimated 200,000 people © Ziv Koren/Polaris/eyevine
As the corporate world prepares for Donald Trump’s second term to begin next week, it’s embracing more conservative social and political values. “I feel liberated,” one top banker told the FT. Is corporate America going Maga?
Most British politicians — both Labour and Conservative — would say they have a goal in common: economic growth. They should stop pretending, writes columnist Janan Ganesh. (Free to read)
Russia’s tankers have been able to keep moving some natural gas through the Arctic, despite western sanctions. This week the FT revealed how EU shipyards help them along.
“The Syria I grew up in was a factory of fear.” Our correspondent in Damascus, Sarah Dadouch, powerfully illustrates how Assad’s fall has transformed her country; although grief still hangs thick, the fear is gone.
As new military regimes in Africa’s Sahel crack down on the mining industry, international companies in Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso are increasingly at the mercy of authorities’ “terrifying” tactics. (Free to read)
Scientists have warned us that the world must brace for a warmer climate in decades to come; the UK has already experienced 40C summer temperatures. But in a fascinating magazine piece, Henry Mance illustrated the plausible case that London actually gets far colder.
