Behind the world’s fragrances sits a shadowy oligopoly

Damp carpet and old coffee. That is how a perfumier might have described the “top notes”—industry speak for the initial olfactory experience—at SIMPPAR, the annual fragrance-ingredient expo held this month in Paris. It is where vendors from Sicilian dynasties to Japanese chemical firms gather to showcase their ingredients. Some are natural. The centifolia rose, a…

Read More

Early intelligence suggests Iran’s uranium largely intact, European officials say

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. Preliminary intelligence assessments provided to European governments indicate that Iran’s highly enriched uranium stockpile remains largely intact following US strikes on its main nuclear sites, two officials said. The people said the intelligence suggested that…

Read More

Meta admits wrongly suspending Facebook Groups

Graham Fraser and Imran Rahman-Jones Technology reporters Getty Images Meta says it is “fixing” a problem which has led to Facebook Groups being wrongly suspended – but denied there is a wider problem with its platforms. In online forums, Group administrators say they have received automated messages stating, incorrectly, that they had violated policies so…

Read More