FT subscribers can click here to receive FT Free Trade every day by email.US president Donald Trump is on the cusp of completing a mini-trade deal with Shinzo Abe, the Japanese prime minister. Larry Kudlow, director of the National Economic Council at the White House, went as far as saying that an agreement could be signed when the two leaders meet next week at the UN General Assembly in New York.The deal will be limited because it will essentially swap some Japanese concessions on agriculture, in line with what Tokyo…

Philippe Pirotte, the dean of the Städelschule, the prestigious art school located in Frankfurt, Germany, has announced that he will resign from his position on March 31, 2020. According to Monopol, the Belgian art historian and curator will remain at the school in the role of professor of art history and curatorial studies and plans to take on research and curatorial projects. Appointed in 2014, Pirotte also directed the Portikus, an exhibition space for contemporary art connected to the institution.During his tenure, Pirotte has overseen the transition of ownership of…

Michael Collins, John Fritze and David Jackson USA TODAY Published 11:12 AM EDT Sep 20, 2019 WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump said Friday he would impose new sanctions on Iran’s national bank in retaliation for its alleged role in the crippling strikes on Saudi Arabian oil facilities last weekend. Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office during a meeting with Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison, Trump said the sanctions would go “right to the top.” Trump is due to host Morrison at a state dinner later Friday. Trump had promised earlier…

The Federal Reserve has injected tens of billions of dollars into the financial system for the fourth consecutive day, in an intervention that has steadied conditions in the US money market after a jolt of volatility. After an unusual jump in borrowing costs earlier this week, the central bank’s New York branch intervened in the short-term money markets for the first time in a decade. On Friday, it kept up the pace of that support, with banks making full use of the $75bn in overnight funds on offer.That helped the…

Filmmaker Lynne Siefert has been named the recipient of the 2019 Betty Bowen Award, which comes with an unrestricted $15,000 cash prize and a solo exhibition at the Seattle Art Museum (SAM). Presented by SAM and the Betty Bowen Committee, which is chaired by Gary Glant, the annual award recognizes Northwest artists for their “original, exceptional, and compelling work.”Known for creating experimental nonfiction films on both 16-mm and digital film, as well as poetic world-scapes that convey the artist’s interest in climate change and social justice, Siefert is the first…

Courtney Subramanian USA TODAY Published 5:02 PM EDT Sep 18, 2019 WASHINGTON – Robert O’Brien, the new White House national security adviser, played a pivotal role in the release of rapper A$AP Rocky from Swedish custody over the summer. Here’s what you need to know about President Donald Trump’s newest senior aide: A$AP Rocky negotiation In July, American rapper A$AP Rocky, 30, whose real name is Rakim Mayers, made international headlines after he was arrested for allegedly assaulting a 19-year-old man in a street brawl in Stockholm. Trump intervened, sending O’Brien, a special envoy for…

“People get smarter but they don’t get wiser. They don’t get more emotionally stable. All the conditions for extreme overvaluation or undervaluation absolutely exist.”So Warren Buffett told the Financial Times in an interview in April. And no sector of the US economy elicits more emotional tumult than banks — a sector that, as it happens, takes up a disproportionately large part of Mr Buffett’s portfolio. The strong feelings are understandable. The finance industry came close to crashing the world economy a decade ago. And two related factors are combining to…

Architecture and design scholar, curator, and educator Henry Urbach died on September 14, after a years-long struggle with late onset bipolar disorder, at the age of fifty-six. An advocate and cultivator of experimental architecture projects, Urbach opened a gallery in New York to provide a platform for architects such as LOT-EK, who transformed a cement mixer into a media cocoon and lounge for his solo exhibition at the arts space in 2000, and Freecell Architecture, which constructed MoistSCAPE, a three-dimensional steel matrix inset with panels of living moss in the…

Jeanine Santucci USA TODAY Published 5:13 PM EDT Sep 18, 2019 The National Rifle Association has issued a petition asking its supporters to say “Hell no” to former Texas representative Beto O’Rourke’s gun buyback plan. O’Rourke, who is running for president, made waves on both sides of the political aisle when he said at the last Democratic primary debate, “Hell, yes, we’re going to take your AR-15, your AK-47.” O’Rourke also released a T-shirt on his campaign site with the slogan. The NRA called the shirt “shameful.” Part of his gun violence…

Tampa, St Petersburg and the surrounding communities are below the radar of many international investors, but there are hopes the area’s quality of life and increasingly skilled workforce can help it compete with better established neighbours such as Orlando and Miami.The area is better at attracting investment from the US than from overseas. US-based companies contributed 306 of the 345 inbound greenfield investment projects tracked by fDi Markets, an FT data service, since 2009. Tampa soaks up the bulk of investment.Ohio-based insurer Progressive Corporation is among the more significant recent…