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Aix’s deft new Zauberflöte embraces ambiguity in a postwar setting

The festival opens with a fresh perspective on Mozart’s ‘Magic Flute’ that incorporates historical and fictional video footage

Top official recuses herself from NHS Palantir contract decision after business links

MPs had raised concerns over Samantha Jones’s previous consulting work

Artists allege ‘epic betrayal’ by collapsed fund that pooled works

APT’s model involved aggregating artworks over 20 years to then benefit participants when sold

Trump doubles down on support for Venezuela’s Delcy Rodríguez

Washington is tying itself closely to a government that faces public anger over its response to devastating earthquakes

Failings on defence leave Britain cruelly exposed

A desperate urge to save money has led the UK to ignore the dangerous new realities

Wealth managers use ‘deliberate obfuscation’ over fees, industry chief warns

Netwealth boss condemns failure as FCA urges use of ‘plain English’

Trump will oppose heavy US AI regulation, says outgoing tech adviser

Sriram Krishnan tells the FT the president is against a centralised regulator as AI backlash grows

UN warns of impending ‘catastrophe’ as paramilitaries close in on Sudanese city

Assault on El Obeid threatens repeat of bloodbath that followed Rapid Support Forces’ capture of El Fasher last year

Brent could fall to $60 a barrel by Christmas, forecasts Citi

Bearish forecast comes as Wall Street analysts predict oil market will return to surplus

‘It’s whack-a-mole’: how Europe’s smart border melted down

Automated system first mooted in 2008 was meant to keep out criminals — instead, it is delaying travellers

Brussels rebuffs UK request for ‘decision-making’ role in EU

Deal to reset post-Brexit relations with bloc has been further delayed

John Roberts, the US chief justice playing the long game

Under him the Supreme Court has defied Trump, while at the same time expanding the scope of presidential power

How crowds become stupider

Prediction markets suffer when we all think the same way

Monaco bomb suspect is a woman from Ukraine

Prosecutors issue international arrest warrant for woman believed to have fled to Germany

FT Weekend Magazine Crossword Number 800

FT Weekend Quiz: Bruce Springsteen, DNA and Al Capone

Our ‘Round on the Links’ quiz tests your ability to draw connections. Thinking caps on!

Power to the North: Burnham’s big idea

Devolution, defence and difficult decisions. Plus, Farage lies low

Laying off cigarettes boosts Big Tobacco’s financial vitals

Despite the decline in smoker numbers, investors are rethinking the industry’s prospects

Labour MPs jostling for jobs under Burnham discover fresh passion for devolution

Ministers talking up benefits of giving power to the regions as UK prime minister-in-waiting mulls top team

Europe’s dilemma over Chinese car plants

Proposed EU law threatens investment in the bloc, warns carmaker Xpeng

From Christian Kracht on cynicism to a Confucian comeback in China and the fight for San Francisco’s soul. Plus Andrea Bajani’s novel of family and how to escape it, how Elizabeth I got her pearls, a view from the treetops — and more