Ft News

Volkswagen has put $300m into Israeli taxi start-up Gett on the same day Toyota announced an undisclosed investment in US ride-hailing app Uber. Matthew Vincent asks the FT's motor industry correspondent Peter Campbell what's behind these moves.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Bayer, the German aspirin to week killer conglomerate has made a $62bn all cash offer for Monsanto, the US agribusiness. If agreed, the deal would create a huge global company providing farmers with everything from seeds to crop chemicals. Matthew Vincent asks FT Berlin correspondent Guy Chazan and Chicago correspondent Lindsay Whipp, to assess what chance the megadeal has of going through.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Motorists in France are facing long queues for petrol after unions opposed to the government's labour reforms tightened their blockade of the country's oil refineries. Joshua Chaffin asks the FT's Paris bureau chief Anne-Sylvaine Chassany why the unions are so angry.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

London's Tate Modern is the world's most popular museum of modern and contemporary art, with 5m visitors a year. Only 20 years ago it was the shell of a defunct power station on the banks of the Thames. Now it is expanding with a £260m extension that opens next month. Edwin Heathcote, the FT's architecture critic, previews the new building with one of the architects, Jacques Herzog, and Tate director Nicholas Serota.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Suspicion that a terrorist act may have brought down the Egyptian airliner that plunged into the Mediterranean last week delivers another blow to Egypt's already desperate tourism industry. Arrivals have collapsed, hotels shut down and many workers have lost their jobs. The FT's North Africa correspondent Heba Saleh reports.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

How did ads for Citigroup, IBM and Microsoft appear on the website of a designated terrorist? Robert Cookson, the FT's digital media correspondent, tells Ravi Mattu how an Indonesian jihadi website came to profit from ads paid for by big western brands.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Could the US presidential election affect Federal Reserve policy this year? Will the Fed shy away from further rate rises, for example, as it avoids taking risks during an increasingly heated period. The FT's Sam Fleming looks at how the central bank behaved in previous election years to see if there is a historical precedent.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Nicolás Maduro, Venezuela's unpopular president, has declared a state of emergency as his foes seek to remove him by collecting enough signatures for a recall referendum. Andres Schipani, the FT's correspondent in Caracas, reports.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Cyber risk is in the news following a series of attacks on Asian banks, and New York District Attorney Cyrus Vance is in London to talk about a transatlantic co-operation deal to tackle the risk. Patrick Jenkins asks Caroline Binham, the FT's financial regulation correspondent, and Martin Arnold, banking editor, what banks are doing to combat the threat. Music by Kevin MacLeod  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

The issue of sexual harassment in the corridors of power in France burst into the open at the weekend when 17 prominent women, all serving or former ministers, published a letter vowing to make public “all sexist remarks, inappropriate gestures and behaviour”. Joshua Chaffin asks Ann-Sylvaine Chassany, the FT's Paris bureau chief, how bad the problem is.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Norway's oil fund is taking legal action against Volkswagen over the German carmaker's emissions testing scandal. It is a further sign that the fund is flexing its muscles as an active investor, coming weeks after it said it would start cracking down on executive pay levels. Matthew Vincent discusses the growing influence of the world's largest sovereign wealth investor with Richard Milne, the FT's Nordic and Baltics correspondent.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Saudi Arabia's deputy crown prince Mohammed bin Salman has shaken up expectations about the world's biggest oil exporter with his ambitious plans to wean the kingdom off its dependence on hydrocarbons. Ben Hall talks to the FT's oil correspondent Anjli Raval and Gulf correspondent Simeon Kerr about the proposed reforms.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

The Facebook-owned messaging app has been blocked and unblocked several times in recent months in Latin America's biggest economy. The company was not pleased and nor were its customers. Ravi Mattu asks the FT's Samantha Pearson in São Paulo and Hannah Kuchler in San Francisco what's behind the disruption.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

The Philippines has elected a political outsider as president, a man with no experience of national level politics and who has said little about his plans for the economy. John Murray Brown asks the FT's Avantika Chilkoti, who covered the election campaign in Manila, what we know about the president elect.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Shares in Lending Club plunged on Monday when the company announced that chairman and chief executive Renaud Laplanche would step down amid allegations of a lapse in business practices. The FT's Ben McLannahan and Alistair Gray discuss the potential ripple effects for the industry. Music by Kevin MacLeod.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Long known as the sick man of Asia, the Philippines has been transformed over the past six years under President Benigno Aquino. Growth has accelerated and investment has poured in but, with elections on Monday, Filipinos are demanding change. The FT's Avantika Chilkoti reports.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Creative and freelance positions are the fastest growing sector of the white collar economy in the US and many of these workers choose to share a space with others, rather than work in isolation. Richard Greenwald has studied this phenomenon over the past decade and he shares his insights with the FT's Emma Jacobs.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

What kinds of things will robots do in future and what jobs will be left for the humans? The FT's Maija Palmer puts the question to three London-based roboticists For more articles, videos and podcasts on living with robots, go to the FT's special series at www.ft.com/robot-week  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

How will robots and advanced computer technology affect the role of managers in the workplace? Andrew Hill, the FT's management editor, puts the question to Julia Kirby, co-author of 'Only Humans Need Apply', a book on the rise of automation, and Hamid Mughal, director of global manufacturing for Rolls-Royce, the engineering group.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

The UK financial watchdog has found “systemic” failings in relation to financial crime at Deutsche Bank after a review of its UK unit last year. Patrick Jenkins, the FT's financial editor, discusses the findings and how shareholders have reacted with James Shotter, the FT's financial correspondent in Frankfurt. Music by Kevin MacLeod  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.