FT News

The prefrontal cortex of coaches, marketers, executives and a few charlatans is lighting up at the possibilities offered by neuroscience, says Andrew Hill.

South Africa’s main opposition party has elected its first black leader. Mmusi Maimane's good looks and skills as an orator have led some to liken him to Barack Obama. Fiona Symon asks Andrew Engand, FT correspondent in Johannesburg, whether he can challenge the power of the ruling ANC.

Fitbit is in rude financial health, but can it fend off competition from the likes of Google and Apple? Ravi Mattu discusses the company's prospects ahead of its IPO with Tim Bradshaw, FT San Francisco correspondent.

A shrinking labour force is driving huge economic change in China. James Kynge talks to Jamil Anderlini about the human cost of China's mass migration from rural areas to the cities and why it is now beginning to slow.

Harsh sentences handed out against opponents of the regime have focused attention on the severity of Egypt's security state. But many in business applaud what they see as a return to stability. Heba Saleh, FT Cairo correspondent, talks to tycoon Naguib Sawiris about his decision to resume investing in the country.

All great enterprises start like a troupe of inspired circus performers. But over time, most end up churning out the equivalent of processed food. Andrew Hill asks how inventive companies can avoid this fate.

Henry Mance asks why the oil price is smashing the people recycling our yoghurt pots, why American bank bosses are paid when they leave their jobs, and whether Ireland, once one of Europe's most Catholic countries, will vote in favour of a referendum on legalising gay marriage.

The collapse in oil prices is pushing plastic recyclers towards the brink of bankruptcy, with potentially disastrous consequences for the environment, Pilita Clark, FT environment correspondent, tells Andrew Parker.

Many Iranians believe a comprehensive nuclear deal will bring a lifting of sanctions and the return of foreign investors, in particular Americans, who have been absent from Iran for over thirty years. Najmeh Bozorgmehr, reports from Tehran on their hopes for a deal.

America’s biggest trade union federation is campaigning against “golden parachutes” in which bank executives pocket millions of dollars before taking jobs in government. Patrick Jenkins discusses the issue with Heather Slavkin Corzo, head of the federation’s investment office, and Caroline Binham.

The list of technology companies based in Ireland is long and growing. But some European states complain Ireland's enforcement of European data protection rules is lax. Ravi Mattu asks Duncan Robinson and Murad Ahmed whether a new supranational regulator would resolve such disputes.

The US shale industry has transformed the outlook for US energy security, created tens of thousands of high-paying jobs, and rattled the leaders of rival oil-producing countries from Riyadh to Caracas. But as oil prices have sunk, the fledgling industry is facing its first real test, Ed Crooks tells Matthew Vincent.

Why is the world finally ready to criticise Turkey over the Armenian genocide? Why can't Europe end its migrant crisis and how did supermarket giant Tesco lose £6.4bn last year? Henry Mance answers these and other questions in his 'Best of the Financial Times podcasts.

Turkey was shocked earlier this month when the Pope and the European parliament described the mass killing and deportation of Armenians from Turkey a hundred years ago as genocide. Daniel Dombey in Istanbul tells Fiona Symon why Turkey finds it so hard to confront this part of its history.

China’s president is in Pakistan to announce an ambitious programme of infrastructure investment and military deals. Fiona Symon talks to Farhan Bokhari, FT correspondent in Islamabad, about what this means for Pakistan and the region.