Pandemic has added to pressure on companies already facing tough financial conditions

Although it suffers from lack of independence, it should be fixed rather than scrapped

Boris Johnson’s government was focused on Budget and Brexit — until disease took a grip

Concern in Beijing that accounting scandal could damage other overseas listings

Kellogg and Kraft Heinz see chance to win back customers who had shifted to healthier brands

Food and farm industry desperate to shift mountain of produce as pandemic decimates demand

Tyson Foods chief warns of supply shortages that critics blame on concentrated production line

Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods spy retail opportunities as meat industry struggles with virus

Patrick Jenkins discusses the Financial Conduct Authority's latest insider trading case and what it tells us about how market abuses are being tackled, why HSBC is on the defensive in China, and why Credit Suisse is suing the UK tax authorities.With special guest Mark Steward, Director of Enforcement and Market Oversight for the Financial Conduct Authority.

Contributors: Patrick Jenkins, financial editor, Caroline Binham, financial regulation correspondent, David Crow, banking editor, and James Kynge, global China editor. Producer: Fiona Symon

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Patrick Jenkins and guests discuss what Citigroup's results tell us about the US bank earnings season, Standard Chartered chief Bill Winters' defiant response to investor criticism of his pay packet, and how banks are tackling the problem of money laundering, With special guest Brandon Daniels of Exiger 

Contributors: Patrick Jenkins, financial editor, Robert Armstrong, US banking editor, David Crow, banking editor, and Caroline Binham, financial regulation correspondent. Producer: Fiona Symon

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Patrick Jenkins and guests discuss Facebook's recent talks with the world's central bankers on its plans for a digital currency, whether the UK's challenger banks can maintain their astonishing rate of expansion, and a potential scandal at JPMorgan as three of its metals traders are charged with market manipulation. With special guest Tom Merry, managing director at Accenture Strategy.

All FT stories will be free to read on Wednesday September 18th when there will be a paywall freeze. Here are some recommendations to get you started:

ECB prepared to cut rates again, says its chief economist

Swedbank admits to money-laundering failings

https://www.ft.com/content/c65b32d8-d648-11e9-a0bd-ab8ec6435630

Contributors: Patrick Jenkins, financial editor, Mehreen Khan, Brussels correspondent, Nicholas Megaw, retail banking correspondent, and Henry Sanderson, commodities correspondent. Producer: Fiona Symon

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Patrick Jenkins and guests discuss RBS as Alison Rose, the first woman to lead one of the UK’s top banks, takes the helm, Iqbal Khan and the hiring spat between Credit Suisse and UBS, and the role of US investment banks in the failed WeWork IPO. With special guest John Cronin of Goodbody stockbrokers in Dublin.

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

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David Crow and guests discuss the scandal that has engulfed Credit Suisse, including the apparent suicide of a security consultant involved in a corporate espionage operation for the bank, US bank Wells Fargo's new chief executive, and the merits of the European Central Bank's interest rate policy. With special guest Jean Pierre Mustier, president of the European Banking Federation and chief executive of Italian bank UniCredit.

Contributors: David Crow, Banking editor, Sam Jones, correspondent in Zurich, Laura Noonan, US banking editor, and Patrick Jenkins, financial editor. Producer: Fiona Symon

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Patrick Jenkins and guests discuss the retrial of former Barclays bankers over the bank's arrangements with Qatar at the height of the financial crisis, the poor level of support among banks for a climate change initiative backed by Bank of England governor Mark Carney, and the Fed's decision to drop the introduction of tougher liquidity rules for foreign banks. With special guest, Erkin Nosinov, a director at BCS Consulting.

Contributors: Patrick Jenkins, financial editor, Caroline Binham, financial regulation correspondent, David Crow, banking editor, and Laura Noonan, US banking editor. Producer: Fiona Symon

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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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Patrick Jenkins and guests discuss why protesters in Hong Kong are targeting HSBC, whether Société Générale is in a position to merge with other banks and the challenges facing banking in 2020. With special guest John Garvey, Global Head of Financial Services at PWC.

Contributors: Patrick Jenkins, financial editor, David Crow, banking editor, George Hammond, finance reporter, Stephen Morris, European banking correspondent, Robert Armstrong, US finance editor and John Garvey, Global Head of Financial Services at PWC. Producer: Persis Love

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Move in response to UN call to focus on preventing Covid-19 outbreak in war-torn country

Community is politically marginalised but makes up one-fifth of doctors and a quarter of nurses

Shock unity deal with rival Benny Gantz delivers prime minister a record fifth term

Bailiffs’ move in Netherlands escalates dispute between businessman and Cairo

Too many big brands have been coasting for too long

Teens who don’t want to miss the rite of passage are dressing up for leavers’ balls on TikTok

In fashion, timing is everything. When coronavirus turned the world upside down, these new brands had to pivot quickly to survive

Elite university comes under fire for taking $9m in assistance while having a huge endowment

Soaring fees, worthless degrees and dicey investments have hurt the economy

Over decades the Republican party has reconfigured itself into the party of the white and the South

Rising number of low-paid staff are contracting Covid-19 or leaving posts as death toll mounts

Mortality statistics show 122,000 deaths in excess of normal levels across 14 countries analysed by the FT

Find any country in the customisable version of the Covid-19 trajectory charts

Donald Trump’s claims that the Wuhan Institute of Virology was source of outbreak belie scientific evidence

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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The British Film Institute has just launched a season of Woody Allen comedies, ranging from his knockabout beginnings to the recent Midnight in Paris, his biggest commercial success to date. Like Match Point (2005) and Vicky Christina Barcelona (2008), Midnight in Paris was hailed as a “return to form” by some – but has he really still got it? How does his recent output compare to the earlier films? And do those classics still resonate today? Raphael Abraham is joined in the studio by Geoff Andrew, Head of Film Program at the BFI, Peter Aspden, FT arts writer and Nigel Andrews, FT film critic. Produced by Griselda Murray Brown  

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In 1919 Walter Gropius founded the Bauhaus school in Weimar, Germany "to create the new structure of the future". Its teaching combined fine art with craft, and its adherents saw design as the key to a better way of life. Were its utopian aims misguided? What is its relevance today? On the opening of a major exhibition at the Barbican Centre in London, Neville Hawcock puts these questions to Lydia Yee, co-curator of the show; Edwin Heathcote, FT architecture critic; and Peter Aspden, FT arts writer. Produced by Griselda Murray Brown  

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Forget “London 2012”, this summer it’s all about the 1990s – with the Stone Roses reunion gigs, Suede headlining the Hop Farm festival, and Blur playing the Olympics closing ceremony gig. As 40-something fans relive the glory days of “Cool Britannia”, FT pop critic Ludovic Hunter-Tilney looks back at the renaissance of British rock 20 years ago, and asks – was it all it was it cracked up to be? And what is its legacy? He is joined in the studio by Richard Clayton and David Cheal. Featuring music from the Stone Roses, Oasis, Blur and Pulp. Produced by Griselda Murray Brown  

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It's 100 years since the birth of Woody Guthrie, bard of the Great Depression, storyteller of genius, and huge influence on Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen and the rest. Billy Bragg, whose upcoming tour plays tribute to Guthrie; Tom Paley, veteran folk musician; and Mojo journalist Colin Irwin discuss this remarkable man and his legacy with Richard Clayton, FT pop critic. With clips from Woody Guthrie's "This Land Is Your Land” and “Pretty Boy Floyd”, Billy Bragg’s “My Flying Saucer” (set to lyrics by Guthrie), and the title track from Tom Paley’s new album Roll On, Roll On. Produced by Griselda Murray Brown  

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As a stage version of the classic BBC sitcom comes to London, the FT’s arts writer reflects on the series’ pioneering mix of comedy and drama  

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Forget Sartre. The Royal Opera’s new ‘Don Giovanni’ suggests that, in a hyper-connected world, hell is the absence of other people  

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The Director of Cultural Partnerships at King's College London reflects on the growing appetite among artists and arts organisations for evidence about the impact and value of what they do  

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In the 1980s and 1990s cinema audiences were in thrall to powerful women in erotic thrillers such as Body Heat and Basic Instinct. But whatever became of the genre and is it ripe for a comeback?  

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Courtauld Institute student and arts writer Aindrea Emelife reflects on the current neglect of Surrealism in the art world – and considers what significance the movement might still hold for today’s young rebels  

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Greek culture taught the rest of us how to live ‑ and it’s not time to write off that particular debt yet, says Peter Aspden  

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David Cheal discovers how this hymn to friendship eventually came to divide its creators Simon and Garfunkel, but went on to inspire more than 200 cover versions. Credit: Columbia, RCA, Legacy, Atlantic Records.  

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Is the abundance of information in the age of Google and Facebook storing up problems for future generations? Richard Ovenden, who as Bodley's Librarian is responsible for the research libraries of the University of Oxford, talks about the opportunites and concerns of the digitisation of memory with John Thornhill, the FT's innovation editor.  

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What drew jazz musicians like Miles Davis and Chet Baker to a twinkly tune from Disney's 'Snow White'? And what became of the child star who first sang it? Lilian Pizzichini traces its history  

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Ian McCann charts the transformation of UB40’s number one hit, from Neil Diamond’s country ballad to iconic reggae ditty. Credits: Virgin Records, Universal Music International Ltda, Sanctuary, Capitol Records, Authentic Jamaican Music, K-Licious Music  

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Sue Norris explores how a B-side by a little known American singer, Gloria Jones became a cult hit on the 1970s English northern soul scene, before being turned into one of the most recognizable pop songs of all time by Soft Cell. Credits: Universal Music TV, Universal Music Enterprises, Parlophone UK, Interscope Records, The Island Def Jam Music Group, Tacca Musique  

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Set against a backdrop of protest and upheaval, the songs released in 1968 represent a turning point in music. FT pop writers David Cheal and Peter Aspden are joined by author Tot Taylor to debate the year's most important songs and artists, from Tyrannosaurus Rex, The Beatles and Pink Floyd to Joni Mitchell and Tim Buckley.

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Thousands affected as many flights cancelled and airports closed because of coronavirus pandemic

A history of coffee and its role in global capitalism is fact-filled and entertaining if occasionally over-caffeinated