America at 250: What does the US see when it looks in the mirror?
As a nation of impossible ambition celebrates its founding, a special edition of FT Weekend Magazine asks writers, thinkers and leaders to reflect on the first 250 years
UK farmers embrace regenerative methods after heatwave shock
High temperatures are leading farmers to cut out chemicals and intensive ploughing to improve soil quality so it retains water
UBS makes progress in its quest for mediocrity in the US
Bank is aiming for an 18 per cent pre-tax profit margin in the US wealth business by 2028
Penelope Keith, actress, 1940-2026
Comic timing and crisp consonants made her portrayal of Margo in ‘The Good Life’ an enduring favourite
Good vibes are masking a reset in markets
Stock market returns should not distract investors from the new AI trade taking hold
It is investors vs gamers as Sony ditches discs
The move is being presented as zeitgeist rather than greedy rent extraction
Lack of data puts England’s ‘mansion tax’ valuations at risk
Research finds around two-fifths of homes valued at £1.5mn-plus have no Land Registry sales records
The quiet Londoner turning into a French football great
Michael Olise loves chess, chooses his own boots and is closing in on Pelé’s assist record
Burnham must learn from Starmer’s failures on UK growth
There are moments to prioritise other things, but after 18 years of historic economic slowdown this is not one of them
Taylor Swift and the allure of a big celebrity wedding
These magnificent displays of vulgarity and vainglory offer a glimpse into the most private of worlds
Zack Polanski opposed to Greens debating ‘Zionism is Racism’ motion
Senior party figures worry that tensions over Israel could overshadow annual party conference
Military drills for store managers: deaths mar Prabowo’s latest project
Village co-operative trainees subjected to 45-day boot camp raise concerns about militarisation of civilian affairs
Everyone loves apprenticeships. So why can’t Britain create more of them?
With a million young people out of work, we need to revive the once-powerful tradition of ‘learning on the job’
The heat of the matter
Why do we so often choose to deny or ignore problems that are right in front of us?
How to win at quitting
Serena Williams’s joyful comeback offered a striking contrast to the gloomy retirement of Ben Stokes
Four hotels with great gardens
Horticulture havens in Rome, New Zealand, Somerset and London
Ryan Calais Cameron: ‘If no one’s taking risks, how do artists develop?’
The writer of ‘For Black Boys’ and ‘Retrograde’ returns to his home turf in south London with a season championing new voices
Won’t somebody not think of the children?
Family-friendly events have made public culture more accessible — and oddly less mature
My fellow American: who should be remembered for the next 250 years?
Artists, thinkers and leaders from the US and beyond pick the person they think deserves to be honoured: from Abraham Lincoln to Dorothy Parker
A massacre in Arkansas remembered
The events of 1919 had largely been erased in the town of Elaine. Now a new generation are documenting the legacy of racial conflict for themselves
My America: On the strangeness of pledging allegiance to the flag
An irreconcilable sense of alienation and belonging has been one of America’s many gifts to me
My America: The problem of equality
We must understand our identity to be fundamentally rooted in a set of ideas, not the racial or ethnic identity of our ancestors
As the tech bubble deflates, turn to old-fashioned valuation rules
Did SpaceX mark the moment the air started coming out? OFVRs will help you ride out the ensuing volatility
A midsummer night’s inferno
On Norway’s wild west coast, the island city of Ålesund marks the solstice with one of the world’s biggest bonfires