NEW: Just weeks ago, the shadow fleet was on the run amid a crackdown on the illicit oil trade. But the Iran conflict has offered the ghost vessels a lifeline. We take a deep dive into their clandestine operations.
ig.ft.com/shadow-fleet/
Donald Trump has promised to revive Venezuela’s energy sector.
But crumbling infrastructure and the scale of the investment needed could pose major obstacles to his plans.
👉 ft.com/content/cef0...
NEW: Our investigation finds a tuna supply chain riddled with exploitation and abuse - where fishermen spend months or even years at sea.
Some describe threats, beatings and deception over pay.
Yet the fish they catch is still ending up on our plates.
ig.ft.com/supermarket-...
New visual story: Inside the relentless race for AI capacity
The quest for superintelligence is spurring a data centre boom — but critics question the cost, environmental impact and whether it is all needed
ig.ft.com/ai-data-cent...
w/ the brilliant @nassosstylianou.bsky.social @inari-ta.bsky.social @janatausch.bsky.social @samjoiner.bsky.social @samlearner.bsky.social Dan Clark &
@gakuito.bsky.social
Immigration authorities say they are enforcing US laws and deny poor conditions. The companies running detention sites say they provide a service, uphold standards and treat people with respect.
ig.ft.com/us-immigrati...
Ex-detainee Maurilio Ambrocio
Ex-detainee Maurilio Ambrocio's five children
Detainees, their lawyers and relatives have told the FT of overcrowding, poor food and medical and legal issues.
Charts showing x3 facilities over capacity
The Financial Times analysis has identified a number of facilities housing hundreds more people than they were designed to hold.
Chart showing the record rise in detention population to almost 60,000
A record 57,800 detainees are now being held — a 46 per cent increase since Trump came to power.
Charts showing ICE revenue rise and jump in share price
A large number of these facilities are run by for-profit companies — a multi-billion-dollar industry that has exploded over four decades. The prospect of Trump’s record-breaking deportation drive has seen the market value surge of the two biggest: Geo Group and CoreCivic.
Sat images of facilities
The Trump administration has launched the largest domestic deportation operation in US history — aiming to expel one million immigrants in a year. The president is doubling immigration detention capacity, expanding bedspace and establishing more facilities.
NEW: Even before Donald Trump began his mass deportation plans, the US had the world's largest immigration detention system - 85% run privately.
Record numbers are now being held and detainees, lawyers and relatives have spoken of poor conditions.
🔗 ig.ft.com/us-immigrati...
NEW: A US-backed aid scheme in Gaza forces hungry Palestinians to trek kilometres for food aid. Many never make it back
Powerful work from FT colleagues Heba Saleh, @alisonkilling.bsky.social, Aditi Bhandari, James Sandy, Gaku Ito and @digitalcampbell.ft.com
🔗 www.ft.com/content/6c74...
A new form of smuggling is funding Mexico’s cartels, with fuel from the US illegally imported in massive volumes. One in four vehicles in the country could be running on contraband fuel.
W/ @digitalcampbell.ft.com christine murray @peter.andringa.me @alisonkilling.bsky.social
👉 ft.com/mexico-fuel
New: The government wants a technological revolution in healthcare. But from paper notes to inconsistent data sharing and dozens of IT systems, digitising the NHS will not be easy.
W/ @laurahughesft.bsky.social @upyorkshire.ft.com @carolinenevitt.bsky.social @emmalewis.ft.com
👉 on.ft.com/4dqrVDG
An infographic showing three crucial components of an iPhone — the frame, the touchscreen and a pile of tiny screws. Arrows connect each of the components to their location in a teardown image showing the phone's multiple parts.
A deeper look at the supply chain for three parts in the latest iPhone models illustrates the complexities. Key parts for the touchscreen, for example, are made in South Korea and China, with just the cover glass made in the US.
Map showing locations of Apple’s suppliers. Most are in China, especially Jiangsu and Guangdong.
Shifting the sophisticated global supply chains that sustain Apple’s operations would be a challenge. They have been built up over decades and the bulk of iPhones (around 85 per cent) are still assembled in China, with the rest made in India.
NEW: Donald Trump wants the iPhone to be manufactured in America.
We take you inside the world's most popular smartphone to illustrate why that is highly impractical.
👉 Why Trump can't dislodge Apple from China: ig.ft.com/us-iphone/
New: Why Trump can’t dislodge Apple from China. The administration wants the iPhone to be manufactured in the US. A look inside the world’s most popular smartphone illustrates why analysts have dismissed Trump’s plan as unrealistic
ig.ft.com/us-iphone/
A chart showing percentage of goods imported from China in 2024, sized by value in billions of dollars. Categories include machinery, electronics, textiles, and more. Key highlights include 90% of microwaves, over 80% of smartphones, and 66% of laptops imported into the US coming from China.
New: More than 3/4 of the mobile phones, games consoles, food processors, electric fans and toys shipped to the US last year were made in China.
The products are among more than 50 items with an import value above $1bn subject to Trump’s 125% tariffs.
Free-to-read link: on.ft.com/3Ei8ujf
NEW: Trump hopes that his tariffs will erode China’s surplus and allow US factories to compete. But the Chinese trade juggernaut is built on deep competitive advantages built up over decades and will not be easily dislodged
Our visual deep dive into China's trade dominance ig.ft.com/china-trade-...
Lucky to have worked with the A-team of @richardmilne.ft.com @samlearner.bsky.social @inari-ta.bsky.social @samjoiner.bsky.social Dan Clark
@ian-bott.bsky.social and Bob Haslett.
Nato nations are rallying and monitoring movements in the Baltic Sea. But some fear other European seas will also become a target for sabotage attempts. A senior European official warns: “The Baltic Sea is just the beginning.”
ig.ft.com/baltic-sea/
Composite image showing the Eagel S vessel's anchor and drag mark stretching about 90km
Russia itself has denied involvement in each incident. But others argue all three could not have been accidents or down to bad seamanship.
Map showing the Baltic region and three red lines of vessels accused of dragging anchors
In three recent incidents of potential sabotage, vessels have been accused of dragging their anchors for long distances, with at least 11 incidents of cable damage since October 2023
The Baltic Sea is particularly vulnerable. It is a busy, shared waterway and more than 90% of its international waters are shallower than 150 metres - easily reachable by dragging anchors.
New: Inside Russia’s shadow war in the Baltics
As tensions rise with Moscow, suspected cable sabotage has exposed the vulnerability of Europe's subsea infrastructure. “I can believe that one case could be an accident. Two cases in a row? Hardly. Three and more? Never."
👉 ig.ft.com/baltic-sea/
New: Inside Russia’s shadow war in the Baltics.
“It is impossible to drag an anchor for 150km without knowing you’re doing it”. We analysed suspected sabotage incidents in the Baltic Sea as European nations prepare themselves for a longer-term confrontation with Moscow.
👉 ft.com/baltic-sea
