Boris Johnson suffered two major defeats on Wednesday as MPs backed legislation to stop a no-deal Brexit and then blocked the prime minister’s attempt to call an election to regain the initiative on Brexit. Plus, workplace chat app Slack posted strong revenue growth and predicted bigger losses during its debut results since going public, Hong Kong’s chief executive Carrie Lam withdrew the controversial extradition bill that sparked three months of protests, Apple returned to the bond market for the first time since 2017 and YouTube and its parent company, Google, agreed to pay $170m to US regulators after being accused of violating children’s privacy. Also, the FT’s Madhumita Murgia explains how Google has been accused of secretly feeding personal data to advertisers. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

UK Conservative rebels inflict a Commons defeat on prime minister Boris Johnson’s Brexit policy, leaving Britain on the brink of a general election. Plus, Italy’s Five Star Movement votes heavily in favour of a coalition with a centre-left rival, Walmart introduces new restrictions on sales of ammunition a month after a mass shooting occurred at one of its stores, and the US manufacturing sector contracts for the first time since 2016 amid global trade tensions and fears of slowing domestic growth. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

UK prime minister Boris Johnson threatens to call an October 14 general election if rebel Tory MPs join forces with Labour today, Germany’s export-dependent economy is suffering from a Brexit shock as a potential recession looms and the long-running merger talks between Allen & Overy and O’Melveny & Myers collapse. Plus, the FT’s Hannah Kuchler goes into the history of Verily, the health organisation spun out of Google’s secretive research facility.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In a Labor Day special episode, as Philip Morris International enters into merger talks with Altria, we take a look at the evolution of the tobacco industry.  Plus, the World Bank estimates that in 2019, some 270m migrants globally will send a combined $689bn back home. We take a look at remittances and the way they are affecting economies. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

US companies are unlikely to heed Donald Trump’s call to ditch their investments in China, Argentina’s request for more time to pay $101bn of debts meets a cool reception from the country’s creditors, and UK prime minister Boris Johnson is sending his chief Brexit negotiator to meet with EU counterparts to hammer out a revised exit deal. Plus, the FT’s James Politi walks us through the legacy Christine Lagarde leaves at the IMF and what it might say about her future as the incoming president of the European Central Bank. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Italy appears to be heading towards a new government after the far-right is sidelined and two parties say they have reached a tentative coalition deal, Apple apologises for listening to the audio of recorded Siri conversations and Japan’s biggest internet auction site has banned trading in ivory. Plus, the FT’s Jim Pickard explains UK prime minister Boris Johnson’s move to suspend parliament and what happens next.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Opioid maker Purdue Pharma and members of the controlling Sackler family have offered to settle thousands of lawsuits against the company for $10bn-$12bn, Phillip Morris International is in talks to merge with Altria in a deal that would create the world’s largest tobacco group, UK opposition parties agree to pursue legislation to prevent a no-deal Brexit, the Federal Reserve is forced to re-assert that “political considerations play absolutely no role” in policymaking and Amazon and Microsoft go unchallenged in a $10bn Pentagon cloud computing contract. Plus, the FT’s global finance correspondent Robin Wigglesworth explains why investors are concerned that the world economy is succumbing to “Japanification”. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Drugmakers could decide to settle thousands of claims against them over the opioid crisis after a $572m court order against Johnson & Johnson, President Trump says China is seeking talks on a deal to end the ongoing trade war between the two countries and New York-based hedge fund manager, Autonomy Capital, saw its fund lose more than 16 per cent in the first two weeks of August as a result of Argentina’s financial market meltdown. Plus, the FT’s Brazil bureau chief Bryan Harris talks about a backlash against Brazilian business over the Amazon rainforest fires. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In a Summer Bank Holiday special episode, we look at Wall Street’s pressure on private prisons and why some of the top global cities are shrinking.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A harbinger of a recession, the yield on the two-year Treasury bill rose above that of the benchmark 10-year note again on Thursday as the world’s central bankers convened in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Plus, intensifying regulatory scrutiny of Facebook’s Libra digital currency has spooked some of the project’s early backers, and Brazil’s environment minister says the solution to illegal logging in the Amazon is to “monetise” it. Then, the FT’s Victor Mallet previews what might come out of this weekend’s G7 summit. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.