Russia suspected of intercepting Europe’s key satellites

Good morning and welcome back. In today’s newsletter:

Russian spacecraft intercepted Europe’s key satellites, officials believe
Lloyds plans corporate banking push in strategy overhaul
Santander agrees $12.2bn deal to buy US bank Webster Financial
French firm Amundi says it will cut exposure to US over coming year

We begin with an exclusive story on Russian spy spacecraft suspected of intercepting some of Europe’s most important satellites.

What to know: European security officials believe two Russian space vehicles have intercepted the communications of at least a dozen key satellites over the continent.

Why it matters: Officials believe that the likely interceptions, which have not previously been reported, risk not only compromising sensitive, unencrypted information transmitted by the satellites but could also allow Moscow to manipulate their trajectories or even crash them.

Russian space vehicles have shadowed European satellites more intensively over the past three years, at a time of tension between the Kremlin and the west following Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Read the article in full.

Here’s what else we’re keeping tabs on today:

Ukraine war: US-brokered peace talks between Russia and Ukraine resume in Abu Dhabi.
Economic data: The EU publishes inflation data. Services PMIs are due for the Eurozone, France, Germany, the UK and US.
Critical minerals: The US hosts its inaugural critical minerals ministerial meeting in Washington.
Results: Alphabet, Crédit Agricole, Eli Lilly, GSK, Handelsbanken, Infineon, Novo Nordisk, Santander, Uber and UBS report earnings. See The Week Ahead for a fuller list.

Five more top stories

1. Exclusive: Lloyds Banking Group is planning to increase lending to big corporate clients and expand services to financial institutions, signalling a shake-up for the UK retail bank that could see it expand internationally. Read details of the proposal.

Santander acquisition: The Spanish lender has struck a $12.2bn deal to buy US-based Webster Financial, which its chair said would give it scale to compete.
Wealth management: A dozen of Mediobanca’s top private bankers have left for Deutsche Bank in the wake of the Milanese lender’s takeover by Monte dei Paschi.

2. Europe’s largest asset manager Amundi is reducing its exposure to US dollar assets and turning to European and emerging markets, its chief executive has said. The French group, which has €2.4tn of assets under management, is the latest big investor to voice concern over US policymaking.

3. Exclusive: Nestlé’s chief executive Philipp Navratil is planning a strategic overhaul that will refocus the sprawling multinational around four product categories, as it faces pressure to boost growth after a period of turmoil. Read the full story.

4. UK police have launched a criminal investigation into Lord Peter Mandelson over possible misconduct in public office, as he quit the House of Lords after claims he passed confidential government information to the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

5. Exclusive: Tether’s chief executive Paolo Ardoino has downplayed the amount of money it will raise in a new funding round as the world’s largest stablecoin issuer faces investor pushback over its $500bn valuation target. Jill R Shah has more from San Salvador.

News in-depth

Armin Papperger gestures in front of a rendering of an ICEYE satellite and a Rheinmetall Boxer vehicle — © FT montage/Bloomberg/ICEYE/Getty Images

Capitalising on European governments’ increased military spending, Rheinmetall has pushed into an array of technologies and geographies as its chief seeks to turn the German company into a multi-domain group akin to big US defence contractors. But the scale of its expansion — from arms to space — has alarmed rivals.

We’re also reading . . .

Appeal case: French prosecutors yesterday asked an appeals court to uphold a five-year ban that would prevent far-right leader Marine Le Pen from running for president in 2027.
Grok deepfakes: French investigators raided X’s Paris offices, following a public outcry over how its chatbot spread sexualised images of women and children.
Kurdish peace plan: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s push to end a four-decade conflict hinges on a dapper, mercurial coalition ally.
Saif al-Islam Gaddafi: The son and heir apparent of former Libyan dictator Muammer Gaddafi has been killed in unclear circumstances.

Chart of the day

Since 2017, the prices of flats in the UK have underperformed those of houses. Last week a government bill outlined plans to limit ground rents to £250 a year. But is it enough to make flats desirable again?

Can Europe stand on its own two feet? Join FT journalists for a subscriber-only webinar on February 12 on the evolving transatlantic relationship. Register here and send us your questions.

Take a break from the news . . .

Joe Studwell’s How Africa Works catalogues the factors that help explain why most of the continent’s states have failed to match Asia’s breakthrough development. Drawing from case studies of success, he also assesses what it would take for other economies to catch up.