Bizarre lyrics, atonal melodies and a ‘koala synth’; Nic Fildes enters the world of algorithm-inspired Europop

Even at a time of economic hardship, crowd-funding schemes could be a money-spinner for the arts because of the way they play on human psychology, says the FT’s arts editor  

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As a new documentary profiles the soft rock megastars, the FT’s arts writer reflects on their dramatic fall from grace – and their enduring appeal  

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2019 has been a bumper year for bad investments - the unravelling of Neil Woodford's investment empire has left many nursing heavy losses, others have lost money in mini bonds or have money trapped in property funds. Presenter Claer Barrett talks to experts about what people should do if their investments haven't worked. Plus, as we enter the season of goodwill we tell listeners how to talk to their family about money.  

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Could Isas overtake pensions as the UK's tax-saving vehicle of choice? The tax benefits of pensions have been steadily eroded over the past decade but at the same time, Isas have been coming into their own. Most people approaching retirement today will rely on a combination of pensions and Isa income. In this week's show, FT Money Show presenter Claer Barrett takes a break from covering the coronavirus and what it means for your money, and interviews the FT's Money Mentor columnist about why investors like Isas so much and how these investments compare to pensions. 

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Rwanda’s president says continent needs at least $100bn in foreign support to weather shock

Why women must conquer their fear of networking and do it anyway

London-listed explorer hires Citi for fundraising and advice as rivals eye acquisitions

With an hour of season to go, three of the nine teams were all in with a chance of winning

Company says it will be ‘several years’ before revenues return to 2019 levels

Company must not bet the bank on expansion; estate agents have nowhere to go

LGIM to hold businesses to account for their stakeholder responsibilities during pandemic 

Tomi Kovanen argues that investors and pundits should temper their expectations for the industry in the short term, but increase them for the long term.

Ursula von der Leyen was confirmed this week as the new European Commission president. Katie Martin discusses the challenges she faces, not least the Brexit negotiations, with Ben Hall and Mehreen Khan

Contributors: Katie Martin, capital markets editor, Ben Hall, Europe editor and Mehreen Khan, EU correspondent. Producer: Fiona Symon

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David Pilling takes us on a tour of the African ghetto he visited with Bobi Wine, the rap singer turned politician, who has confirmed he will challenge Yoweri Museveni for the presidency of Uganda in 2021.

Contributors: Alec Russell, editor of FT Weekend, and David Pilling, Africa editor. Producer: Fiona Symon. Music clip: Kyarenga by Bobi Wine

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The president has turned his populist fire on big business, but is he attacking corporate greed or political opponents?

Watchdog also offers concession on post-Brexit share trading

Dutch bank was forced to close out positions at substantial loss

Shares in brokerage firm drop overnight after it discloses payments to clearing houses

Filing opens door to potential sale of half of Virgin Group’s holding in space venture

Rise of volatility and dispersion was supposed to bring a change of fortunes versus passive

Recently sanctioned London-listed company seeks to simplify ownership structure

Chinese producer moves to offload some of its majority holding in Australia’s Greenbushes project

US oil producer pledges to reduce output by more than a third in June

Prospective deal comes as Riyadh-listed STC seeks to expand regionally

South African ecommerce group insists it remains in acquisition mode

60 per cent decline in sales predicted in the next three months

What is it that makes an online performance really sing?

Judicial review sought over alleged breach of 2015 law, claiming cost benefits should go to scheme members

Former chancellor urges lenders to keep credit flowing and not just weather the storm

Financial services unit mandate a ‘first step’ in adjusting to decline in business

Housebuilder Barratt furloughs all but 15% of workforce and slashes executive pay

Jean Pierre Mustier’s nascent turnround derailed as bank slips to first-quarter loss

Tag Heuer’s digital chief sees connected watches as a point of entry to the mechanical models

Horseman Capital’s Russell Clark has sold his holdings in government bonds

The worldwide Covid-19 death toll rose by 6,365 on Tuesday, pushing the total through 200,000

Your guide to the investment and business revolution you can’t afford to ignore

Some big moves in the payments platform space: Ant Financial Group, the owner of China’s Alipay payment platform, has announced it’s taking a minority stake in Swedish payments platform Klarna . Klarna has a strong European presence and a flagship product that lets shoppers buy now and pay later in interest-free installments (typically 14 or […]

A startup that’s hoping to be a contender in the very large and fragmented market of human resources software has captured the eye of a big investor out of the US and become its first investment in Spain. Barcelona-based Factorial, which is building an all-in-one HR automation platform aimed at small and medium businesses that manages […]

Investors anticipate boost in energy demand as economies start to reopen

My employer has said that if we don’t cut salaries redundancies will be on the cards

Quarter after quarter, familiar stories have appeared. The smartphone market, once seemingly bulletproof, has suffered. The list of factors is long, and I’ve written about them ad nauseam here, but the CliffsNotes version is: costs are too high, innovation is too incremental and most people already own a device that will be plenty good for […]

Robert Shrimsley on why he’s braced for a return to the most dismal of decades

Airbnb takes on new debt as it adapts to a world without tourism, Apple announces a new entry-level iPhone and Google lowers Nest camera quality. Here’s your Daily Crunch for April 15, 2020. 1. Airbnb ups its debt by $1B amid the coronavirus travel crunch Airbnb has secured commitments of $1 billion for a syndicated […]

Quarter after quarter, familiar stories have appeared. The smartphone market, once seemingly bulletproof, has suffered. The list of factors is long, and I’ve written about them ad nauseam here, but the CliffsNotes version is: costs are too high, innovation is too incremental and most people already own a device that will be plenty good for […]

Investment in Reliance tech and telecoms division follows Facebook and Silver Lake agreements

With California on a precipice of a ballot initiative next year that could legalize marijuana recreationally, scores of cannabis startups are vying to capture what is the nation’s largest market in advance of such a big regulatory change. Meadow, a Y Combinator-backed startup, was one of the earlier ones with an ordering and delivery service […]

Every year, our Japanese-language sister site throws a big Disrupt-like event in Tokyo where there is, of course, a Battlefield between about 10 different startups. With north of 100 million Internet users, Japan has a considerable domestic market. While Western companies have had more success in Japan than in mainland China, the national startup scene still has tons […]

Quarter after quarter, familiar stories have appeared. The smartphone market, once seemingly bulletproof, has suffered. The list of factors is long, and I’ve written about them ad nauseam here, but the CliffsNotes version is: costs are too high, innovation is too incremental and most people already own a device that will be plenty good for […]

US private equity firm plans further share in group shaken by fallout from Luckin Coffee scandal