FT News

Lionel Barber, FT editor, interviews James Daunt, managing director of Waterstone's, the big UK book chain, about the destiny of bricks-and-mortar booksellers and the challenges for publishers, agents, and authors at a roundtable to mark the opening for entries of the 2012 FT Goldman Sachs Business Book of the Year Award.

In the UK, the world’s second-biggest market for M&A after the US, the Takeover Panel last year reformed the rules regulating dealmaking. What impact are the changes having eight months on? Anousha Sakoui, the FT’s mergers and acquisitions correspondent, looks at the issues with studio guests James Palmer, global head of law firm Herbert Smith’s corporate business and Jonathan Rowley, co-head of European M&A at investment bank UBS.

Eswar Prasad, senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, analyses the latest edition of the FT-Brookings TIGER index, which tracks the global economic recovery. To explore the index, go to www.ft.com/tiger.

In the first podcast in the FT’s Deals & Dealmakers series, mergers and acquisitions correspondent Anousha Sakoui talks to industry analysts about the outlook for the year. With studio guests Jonathan Stubbs, head of European equity strategy at Citigroup in London, and Jon Clark, who heads the UK oil and gas transactions team at Ernst & Young.

Robert Shrimsley, editor of FT.com, is joined by FT economic leader writer Martin Sandbu, personal finance editor Matthew Vincent and Chris Cook from the FT public policy team to discuss the political, economic and personal finance consequences of the UK budget announcement.

FT science editor Clive Cookson talks neutrinos with Pier Oddone, director of leading US particle physics centre Fermilab

FT health correspondent Andrew Jack talks to Dr. Babatunde Osotimehin, executive director of the United Nations Population Fund, about the arrival of the world’s seven billionth person

FT correspondent Robin Wigglesworth talks to writer Anders Heger who was outside the building where the explosions took place.

Amid a spate of corruptions scandals the Indian congress-led government seems to be struggling to keep control and speculation that Rahul Gandhi is waiting in the wings to replace the current prime minister Manmohan Singh, is mounting. Mr Gandhi recently came back into the spotlight after completing a 4-day walking tour through a string of villages in Uttar Pradesh. Asia page editor Serena Tarling talks to FT correspondent Rahul Jacobs in New Delhi, about how Gandhi was received.

Yingluck Shinawatra, younger sister of Thailand's exiled former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, is set to become the country's first female prime minister after her party's resounding election victory at the weekend. Serena Tarling asked the FT's Bangkok correspondent Tim Johnston about the challenges she faces and how much influence her brother is likely to have over the incoming government

Turkey's prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has just won his third election in a row, increasing his share of the vote and winning a strong mandate to launch a long-delayed overhaul of Turkey's constitution and tackle pressing issues of Middle East policy. Fiona Symon asked Delphine Strauss, FT correspondent in Ankara, what his early priorities would be.

FT correspondent Abeer Allam talks to Serena Tarling about the current situation in Yemen, a week after President Saleh's exit from the country to Saudi Arabia.

Italy's ruling coalition has been shaken by the results of local elections - one of the most disappointing results was in Silvio Berlusconi's home town of Milan. Fiona Symon talks to Rachel Sanderson in Milan, about what the results mean for the Italian prime minister.

Syria has lifted its 48-year old emergency law in a bid to persuade pro-democracy protesters to end their demonstrations. Fiona Symon asked Abigail Fielding-Smith in Beirut how the latest government tactic was likely to go down with the protesters.

Danielle Chiesi, the Bear Stearns trader, and Mr Rajaratnam, discuss market movements and possible deals