Early magnolias, stress-tested dahlias and a supreme moment in Munich’s botanical garden

Placement follows warning that virus had caused “material deceleration” in business

Mobile operator’s move could potentially delay sale already affected by coronavirus upheaval

Combining Virgin Media and O2 would reshape British telecoms market

Deal’s architects say it will improve connectivity, choice and value, but consumers have heard that before

With summer events cancelled, the focus is on how to recoup funding and audiences

The British composer interprets the Czech’s piano works with an unsentimental, sharply focused immediacy

Jazz, folk and classical influences merge as the pianist revisits traditional music collected by the Hungarian composer

Nintendo super smashes it, Peloton powers ahead, Sonos Arc

UK government in talks with China Railway Construction Corporation

Political sensitivities could be outweighed by workers’ construction expertise

Minister omits eastern leg to Yorkshire in statement on high-speed rail project

Naturalist and broadcaster says £106bn rail scheme will destroy 700 wildlife sites

Lockdowns and restrictions set to halt Italian coffee maker’s 17-year growth trajectory

Sales for drinking at home soar but alcohol companies say they do not offset bar closures

Patrick Jenkins and guests discuss what the latest stress tests tell us about the health of UK banks, racism in US banking after recent revelations about the treatment of black customers at JPMorgan Chase, and predictions for the year ahead. With special guest Laurie Mayers, associate managing director at Moody's.

Contributors: Patrick Jenkins, financial editor, David Crow, banking editor, Nicholas Megaw, retail banking correspondent, and Laura Noonan, US banking editor. Producer: Fiona Symon

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An activist who dug his own course in pursuit of reform

Agreement raises spending by $320bn but has limited offsetting budget cuts

The FT’s pick of the year’s best visual journalism, from extreme weather patterns to signs of a growing surveillance society

The FT's Alan Smith investigates gerrymandering, using tiddlywinks and a salamander

On the announcement of the BBC's 'Sounds of 2011' list, FT pop critics and panel judges Ludovic Hunter-Tilney and Richard Clayton look back at the year in pop, and forwards to 2011. What do polls like this say about the state of pop? And what do we want our pop music do to - soothe the soul or confront difficult issues? They talk to deputy arts editor Neville Hawcock about their artists and bands of the year: Rumer, Warpaint, Everything Everything, Ellie Goulding, Kings of Leon and Arcade Fire - their band of 2010. Produced by Griselda Murray Brown  

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Will Colin Firth take the Oscar for best performance? Will The Social Network win best film? Is awards season trend-spotting a dangerous game? And, what makes an Oscar-winning film? On the eve of the 83rd Academy Awards, Jan Dalley, FT arts editor, puts these questions and others to FT film critics Nigel Andrews and Leo Robson. Produced by Griselda Murray Brown  

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The Edinburgh Festival – the world’s largest arts festival – is really a collection of different festivals that take place across the Scottish capital every year throughout the month of August. There is the stately International Festival and the so-called “Fringe” festival – a more unruly, sprawling affair with a reputation for experimental theatre and bawdy stand-up. There’s also an acclaimed Book Festival, as well as an Art Festival and even a Festival of Spirituality and Peace. Jan Dalley, FT arts editor, turns her attention to the Edinburgh’s theatrical offerings. She is joined in the studio by Ian Shuttleworth, FT theatre critic, and Matt Trueman, theatre blogger and critic for Time Out. Produced by Griselda Murray Brown  

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Jan Dalley is joined by Louis de Bernières, author of Captain Corelli’s Mandolin, the playwright Mike Packer, and journalist Carl Wilkinson to discuss literary adaptations. At the Oscars this month, six of the nine movies up for Best Picture are based on books – and the film version of de Bernières’ novel Red Dog is released in the UK on February 24. Why are adaptations so popular? Are filmmakers and investors just playing it safe in uncertain times? And how does it feel to see your novel – or play – on the big screen? Produced by Griselda Murray Brown  

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By focusing on the personal rather than the political, Polish director Krzysztof Kieslowski created a quietly subversive masterpiece, Peter Aspden says  

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The London venue’s exhibition of Presley memorabilia is curious mix of the banal and the resplendent – and none the worse for that, says the FT’s arts writer  

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Middle-income countries plead for assistance as investors face pressure to negotiate

Coronavirus package aims to protect economy and fend off looming hunger crisis

A self-effacing intellectual who rose to the very centre of power

From Muscat to Madeira, the best — and best-value — tipples for the festive season

I am guilty of shying away from the off-piste section of a wine list. I hereby resolve to be more adventurous

A retrospective tasting of Jean-Marie Guffens’ exceptionally nervy creations suggests so

‘These long-lived wines need time in bottle to soften and become truly appealing; the best examples can continue to improve for decades’

Democratic candidate wrestles with new realities as he tries to close cash gap with Trump

Proposed deal would create strong UK competitor to challenge BT

British TV network unable to provide guidance for the rest of 2020 as outlook is ‘uncertain’

But why didn’t the chancellor go the whole hog and scrap the tax taper altogether?

Whose back feels like an anatomy textbook in Braille? Who sparred with Trump? Who’s too posh for her target base? Have lunch again with Federer, Schwarzenegger and Beckham . . . 

Group seeks to ‘protect capital structure’ as uncertainty swirls over Covid-19 impact

Mourinho in Norfolk, Tyson v Fury, and mandatory drug-taking at the Olympics

Recent books by Matthew Engel, Edward Luce and Anne-Marie Slaughter

Impact of pandemic has halted nearly 400,000 housing transactions

President acts as though Latin America’s second-largest economy is immune to pandemic

Approval ratings for the billionaire president have more than doubled

Justice minister’s departure raises risk of yet another impeachment in Latin America’s largest democracy

David Enrich’s salutary tale of Deutsche Bank’s overreaching ambitions

President Lenín Moreno says deal will save his country from Venezuela’s fate

Governors seize on criticisms of president over lack of coronavirus stimulus

The pound has soared more than 2 per cent in its biggest rise since 2017 after an exit poll has projected a strong victory for Boris Johnson’s Conservative party.