Rami Makhlouf’s complaints against his cousin show strains in power structure

Mustafa al-Kadhimi’s appointment gives country its first functioning government in 6 months

An activist who dug his own course in pursuit of reform

Long studio sessions were once the norm, but design teams are adapting to a new, remote reality

Too many big brands have been coasting for too long

Helen Barrett discovered the perfect ‘austere but dramatic’ dress from The Vampire’s Wife. Then came the celebrities

The suits, the soft furnishings: a revealing glimpse of our MPs’ style choices

Books that give creative inspiration and comfort during isolation

‘The Impossible Collection’ offers a 9.5kg overview of the designer’s whole career

Street style is changing, with baggy shapes and Birkenstocks replacing tailored outfits

Funeral homes are full in working class section of Queens where immigrants pursue American dream

The US requires a co-ordinated response on Covid-19 testing and getting people back to work

Formation of regional coalitions offers a path to a staggered exit

Conservative activists vow to step up street demonstrations against business closings

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

US president assessing need for further moves to reduce immigration

Laura Noonan and Lauren Fedor respond to your queries on the state of SBA rescue funds

Our predicament is that wealth has become the only apparent source of safety

The US spends $3.6tn a year on health. Why does the pandemic threaten so many of its hospitals?

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

The less well-off will be the most exposed to Covid-19 infection

Longest expansion in modern American history is also the weakest

Rally in Greece’s sovereign bonds comes after election victory for centre-right party

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

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

From business closures to movement restrictions, some countries’ policies show first signs of easing

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

Putting up barriers to travel is proving much easier than taking them down

The death of inflation has been exaggerated and after the pandemic we may need it

Factories reopen but economy still faces challenges from weak services sector

How best to celebrate Chekhov's 150th anniversary? Sky Arts 2 have chosen to mark the occasion with "chekhov: comedy shorts" - four one-act plays transposed to the small screen, with a cast of well-known comedians including Johnny Vegas and Steve Coogan. But do they make good television? In this week's arts podcast, Neville Hawcock, the FT's deputy arts editor, talks to the paper's theatre critic, Sarah Hemming, and television columnist, John Lloyd, about the venture.  

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The launch of Sky Atlantic on February 1 – the result of Sky's exclusive five-year deal with HBO - raises questions about British and American television drama. Is the US - with cult series like The Sopranos, Mad Men and now Boardwalk Empire - enjoying a Golden Age of TV drama? What about Britain? Has its Golden Age been and gone? Jan Dalley, FT arts editor, is joined by Mark Duguid, senior curator of the British Film Institute National Archive, Huw Kennair-Jones, Sky1’s commissioning editor for drama, and John Lloyd, the FT’s television columnist. Produced by Griselda Murray Brown  

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It’s awards season in the music industry, with the Brits in London following hot on the heels of the Grammys in LA. The Brits have been revamped this year – but will they lose the unscripted edginess of previous years? How can they compete with the might of the Grammys? And is Tinie Tempah better than Mumford & Sons? FT pop critics Ludo Hunter-Tilney and Richard Clayton join deputy arts editor Neville Hawcock to discuss the hype and the hopefuls. 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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Established in 1895, the Venice Biennale has been called anachronistic - with its focus on separate national pavilions despite the international nature of today's art market. Is it an outdated model? If so, why are more countries than ever taking part this year? It is a series of exhibitions not an art fair - yet Venice has long been a centre of trade. Just how commercial is its Biennale? Jan Dalley puts these questions to Jackie Wullschlager and Peter Aspden, and picks some highlights ahead of the 54th Venice Biennale. Produced by Griselda Murray Brown  

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Established in 1895, the Venice Biennale has been called anachronistic - with its focus on separate national pavilions despite the international nature of today's art market. Is it an outdated model? If so, why are more countries than ever taking part this year? It is a series of exhibitions not an art fair - yet Venice has long been a centre of trade. Just how commercial is its Biennale? Jan Dalley puts these questions to Jackie Wullschlager and Peter Aspden, and picks some highlights ahead of the 54th Venice Biennale. Produced by Griselda Murray Brown  

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What's happening in the world of pop? FT critics Ludovic Hunter-Tilney and Richard Clayton join Neville Hawcock in the studio to look forward to this summer's pop festivals - and to ask whether pop itself has become too backward-looking, as Simon Reynolds argues in his new book Retromania. Are we really addicted to the past? And are YouTube and now the Apple iCloud part of this trend? Produced by Griselda Murray Brown  

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It premiered at Cannes to cheers and boos, and went on to win the Palm D’Or. Some called it a masterpiece; others dismissed it as overblown nonsense. But what’s so divisive about Terrence Malick’s ambitious new film? It’s a coming-of-age story set in 1950s Texas but it also has long sequences that explore the natural world and the origins of the universe. Does it work? And is its strong religious strain likely to turn off non-believers? Raphael Abraham is joined in the studio by Nick James, editor of Sight & Sound magazine, Peter Aspden, FT arts writer, and Leo Robson, film critic. 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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War Horse has just won five Tony Awards; last year the RSC put on an acclaimed production of Matilda; and now Punchdrunk are staging their first show for children, The Crash of the Elysium. Is children’s theatre on the up – or is it still the poor relation of “proper” theatre? Where is the new writing among the successful adaptations? And what are the best shows on in Britain this summer holiday? Jan Dalley puts these questions to Tony Graham, artistic director of London’s Unicorn Theatre, Sarah Hemming, FT theatre critic, and Neville Hawcock, deputy arts editor – as well as to four budding young critics. Produced by Griselda Murray Brown  

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The Arts Podcast remembers Amy Winehouse, the brilliant but troubled British singer who died tragically, at just 27, on July 23. Jan Dalley talks to FT pop critics Ludovic Hunter-Tilney and Richard Clayton about her musical roots and unique appeal; how her increasingly wild lifestyle influenced her songs; and her legacy – what was her impact and who are her successors? Produced by Griselda Murray Brown  

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From shouts of “he’s behind you” at a Christmas pantomime to truly “immersive” productions in which audience members shape the action, audience participation is rife. The radical Belgian theatre company Ontroerend Goed – known for shows that test theatrical as well as moral boundaries – are now staging their latest play, Audience, at London’s Soho Theatre. Sarah Hemming, FT theatre critic, talks to Matthieu Sys, an actor in Audience, Neville Hawcock, the FT’s deputy arts editor, and the critic Suzi Feay about the changing role of the audience. 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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The arts podcast reviews new albums by two of the most venerable singer-songwriters around: Leonard Cohen's "Old Ideas" and Paul McCartney's "Kisses on the Bottom". Have they still got it? Does their latest work speak to modern times? And just what are we to make of Macca's album title? Neville Hawcock is joined in the studio by Ludovic Hunter-Tilney, FT pop critic, Peter Aspden, FT arts writer, and Gautam Malkani, FT writer and novelist. 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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Nelson Mandela once said, “Somehow, Shakespeare always seems to have something to say to us.” This year, the bard is saying it in 37 languages. Globe to Globe, a six-week festival starting on April 21 at Shakespeare’s Globe in London, presents all 37 of Shakespeare's plays, each by a different international theatre company. But what is lost in translation? Can other countries really do Shakespeare better than Britain? And how do the plays relate to the world today? Jan Dalley is joined by Dominic Dromgoole, artistic director of the Globe; Professor Robert Grant, formerly of Glasgow University; and Peter Aspden, the FT’s arts writer. Roger Granville, producer of the Dari Persian "The Comedy of Errors" from Kabul, joins down the line. 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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From Dickens’ London to Wordsworth’s Lakes via the painter George Shaw’s suburban “edgelands”, the British landscape has long permeated writing and visual art. On the opening of the British Library’s exhibition Writing Britain: Wastelands to Wonderlands, Jan Dalley talks to the poet Owen Sheers; the exhibition’s curator Jamie Andrews; and FT art critic Jackie Wullschlager. The travel writer Robert Macfarlane is on the line. Plus, Faber's 1998 recording of Harold Pinter reading his poem “Joseph Brearley 1909-1977” © Faber & Faber Produced by Griselda Murray Brown  

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Hip hop may have started in the Bronx, but today’s rappers are millionaires with business empires that extend way beyond music. Ahead of Jay Z and Kanye West's European tour of their joint album Watch The Throne, Raphael Abraham talks to FT critics Ludovic Hunter-Tilney and Richard Clayton about the evolution and future of rap. With clips from The Sugarhill Gang, Jay Z and Kanye West, Evidence and DJ Shadow. Produced by Griselda Murray Brown  

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