Ft Big Read

The inside story of the measures being taken by Fifa to survive amid US and Swiss corruption probes. The investigations continue as the body’s revenues are hit by scandal and new partners shy away. With many of those hoping to replace Sepp Blatter as president still in denial about the need for change, Malcolm Moore explains how football’s governing body is dealing with this existential threat.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

A thriving black market in firearms has made Belgium a centre for jihadi operations, with would-be terrorists able to exploit the country's fractured security services and geographical position as a transit country. Christian Oliver and Duncan Robinson report on how officials are scrambling to crack down on the illicit trade.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

The headline valuations of some private tech companies are being tested by their IPOs, raising fears of an imminent correction, reports Leslie Hook. Numbers such as Uber's $50bn, Airbnb's $24bn and Snapchat's $15bn became symbolic of the huge ambitions of this generation of start-ups. But they are not all they seem  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

The country is heading for its first polls under a civilian government in over 50 years but the military still has a tight grip. Michael Peel finds enthusiasm and cynicism over the transition to democracy  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Helen Warrell is the first journalist allowed into a UK jail for over a year due to a clampdown by the MoJ amid budget cuts and staff shortages. She talks about what she found at Rye Hill sex offenders prison where nearly one in five inmates is over 60 and 40 per cent are over 50. Listen to a podcast of the full report on ft.com  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

As a surge in historic sex abuse cases puts more elderly men behind bars, Helen Warrell reports from inside Rye Hill sex offenders prison on the strains this is putting on the penal system - both practically and ethically. Is it a penal institution or a care home? Hear more from Helen on ft.com  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

The ‘iron lady’ is opening an $11bn mine amid a rout in commodity prices and a slowdown in mining investment that are hurting the Australian economy. She is also fighting her children in the courts over control of Hancock Prospecting and the legacy her father left them, reports Jamie Smyth  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Tom Mitchell reports from Xinjiang, a remote and resource-rich region three times the size of France that is key to President Xi Jinping’s Silk Road project. But Beijing’s policies seem only to fan the flames of ethnic unrest in the region  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Employers are carving up white-collar jobs and scattering the pieces into a virtual mass of workers across the world. Will this create a global meritocracy or spark a race to the bottom, asks Sarah o'Connor  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Latin America's biggest economy is in recession, the political elite is engulfed in a huge corporate scandal and the president faces impeachment in a move that could bring the country to a standstill, reports Joe Leahy  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Cynthia O'Murchu, Martin Arnold and Gina Chon investigate transactions involving Iran that could put Standard Chartered at risk of further penalties. Nine years after the UK-listed bank paid nearly $1bn to US regulators and law enforcement agencies, the bank seems no closer to ending its legal problems.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

For its assault on Europe, the taxi start-up Uber followed the aggressive strategy that had worked so well in the US. But, as Murad Ahmed, Jeevan Vasagar and Tim Bradshaw report, it had misjudged the power of regulators and the plan backfired  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Pilita Clark reports that although $30bn has been committed or spent on carbon capture schemes to deal with CO2 emissions — the fossil fuel industry's preferred option — the sector has fallen short of expectations, while the International Energy Agency says $4tn would be needed for such projects to meet the world's 2 degree Celsius goal by 2050  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Although the deal agreed with the IMF and creditors fell short of the debt relief Ukrainians wanted, it averted default and gave the war-torn country hope for a fresh start, report Elaine Moore, Roman Olearchyk and Neil Buckley. But its worries are far from over  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Germany's population is ageing rapidly, making it harder for employers to find enough workers and threatening its position as Europe's largest economy. Angela Merkel's policies are not helping, Stefan Wagstyl reports  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Facing an economic slowdown with its old tools to stimulate growth losing their power, Beijing finally turned to a weapon it had avoided using for more than two decades. Jamil Anderlini investigates why China’s leaders resorted to devaluation of the renminbi, and the risk of a currency war  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Tom Mitchell, Robin Harding and Simon Munday find the differing interpretations of events shown in textbooks and patriotic memorials are central to a new battle between nationalisms in China, Japan and Korea amid rising tensions in the region  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

With the US Federal Reserve expected to raise interest rates for the first time in a decade, Robin Wigglesworth and Elaine Moore ask if the great bond party is about to end  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

As the drugs watchdog in the US declares painkiller abuse to be a national epidemic, pharma companies are seeking to develop tamper-resistant pills. David Crow finds this search has led to a surge in the recruitment of drug users to test the new opioids and talks to Brandon, one of the human guinea pigs  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Alzheimer's affects tens of millions of people around the world and the goal of an effective treatment has been so elusive that it is seen as a 'black hole' for drugs spending. But now Andrew Ward and David Crow find fresh hope of a breakthrough  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.