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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Visa problems and nervousness on the part of potential sponsors have made life hard for London’s festival of contemporary Arab culture. But as the Arab Spring gives way to harsher realities, such forums are needed more than ever, says the FT’s arts writer  

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Author Mohsin Hamid reads his short story 'Alien invasion in the G.L.A.C.', commissioned by the Financial Times for the new year.  

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Mike Hobart traces the Rodgers and Hart tune's journey from Broadway musical number to ubiquitous torch song to mood-changing jazz masterpiece  

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

G20 agriculture ministers urge governments not to disrupt global supply chains

Second wave of swarms expected just as farmers battle fallout from coronavirus

Stable, extroverted, agreeable people tend to like their jobs, irrespective of their salaries

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

‘The only problem with these elegant Nebbiolos is that they can be difficult to find’

It was only when champagne producer Louis Roederer arrived in the early 1980s that this hippy hideout was put on the international wine map

Can Jessica Anthony’s parody nail the challenge of satirising US political life?

Exemption for digital titles comes after publishers request further financial aid to deal with pandemic

Facebook and Google show resilience through the crisis thanks to uptick in ‘direct response’ ads

Adult entertainment, double-glazing and dog breeding among industries targeted 

Chancellor brings forward measure in response to lockdown

Discovery raises prospect of industry’s return 20 years after Cornwall’s last pit closed

A celebrated journalist’s guide to crisp, accurate expression is full of sound advice

Iron ore giant in second disaster in 3 years after mud and waste surges through valley

Live coverage of the UK election campaign.

Stanhope co-founder and Worms family heir says Warren Buffett and 1848 inspired his new venture

Tweaking pre-pandemic indirect EU subsidies is not the way to rescue struggling businesses

Naspers, a publisher once condemned as a mouthpiece of the apartheid regime in South Africa, has quietly become one of the world’s biggest internet investors thanks to a stake in China’s Tencent. On 11 September it will list its global internet assets on the Amsterdam bourse, becoming Europe's biggest consumer internet company overnight. Arash Massoudi discusses how it got there with Joseph Cotterill in Johannesburg.

Contributors: Arash Massoudi, corporate finance and deals editor, and Joseph Cotterill, Southern Africa correspondent. Producer: Fiona Symon

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Will PSA’s Carlos Tavares prove to be a better merger partner for Fiat Chrysler than Renault and help create the world's fourth-largest carmaker? Katie Martin discusses the terms of the proposed mega merger and the characters behind the deal with Peter Campbell, motor industry correspondent, and David Keohane in Paris.

Contributors: Katie Martin, capital markets editor, Peter Campbell, motor industry correspondent, and David Keohane, Paris correspondent. Producers: Fiona Symon and Persis Love

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Wildlife conservation used to be largely financed by wealthy donors and governments. Now, efforts to attract institutional investors are showing significant potential, as a recent Rhino Bond launched by the Zoological Society of London, the FT’s seasonal appeal partner this year, showed. Oliver Withers, ZSL’s head of conservation finance and Aunnie Patton Power, expert in innovative investing and impact finance talk to John Aglionby about the changing landscape of conservation financing. Visit the FT’s seasonal appeal page to donate here

Contributors: John Aglionby, assistant UK news editor, Oliver Withers, ZSL’s head of conservation finance and Aunnie Patton Power, expert in innovative investing and impact finance. Producer: Fiona Symon. Editor: Breen Turner

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EY highlights significance of litigation finance company’s action against Argentine oil group

Varying efforts to stem rise in homicides across Latin America have failed

Regime claims 8 people died in plot connected to foiled coup attempt launched from Colombia

Funding bodies face a choice between established manufacturers and biotech upstarts

Partnership that would prioritise UK could produce 100m doses by year-end if treatment is effective

First country to get a vaccine could have an economic as well as a health advantage

Sum far exceeds $8bn fundraising target at upcoming EU-led donors’ conference

Nation’s pharma industry has matured but is still a lot better at incremental innovation than major breakthroughs

Countries should avoid turning to nationalism and share the burdens

SEC sets out proposal to provide investors with faster, broader trading figures

Watchdogs put 12-month extension on new margin requirements, citing coronavirus threat

Tweaked timepieces popular with public but some original makers cry foul

Oil group’s share price has lost its moorings

UK insurers bow to regulatory pressure but L&G has said it would push ahead with payout

Provider cites coronavirus market turmoil for uncertainty over valuations

‘Pastor to presidents’ said he received his calling on 18th green of local golf club

Heiress who made her own success as the ‘Queen of Jeans’

Countries ban exports in attempt to protect environment as consumption is set to soar

Discovery in Zenith factory attic helps watchmaker claim the first all-black wristwatch title

Companies are seeking to tap whatever sources of affordable funding are available

Developers of clean energy projects defy wider turmoil in the global energy markets

An esoteric choice they may be for private investors, but if you’re selective they can add value

Move to capitalise on dislocations across market stemming from coronavirus pandemic

Shares in security software maker dropped sharply after revelations of data harvesting

As world markets take a turn for the worse, investors use ETFs as they hope to profit from any bounceback