Rasputin by Antony Beevor — the corrupt prophet at the heart of a rotten Russian empire
The peasant who became a powerful adviser was a symptom, not the cause, of the Romanovs’ downfall, argues the ‘Stalingrad’ author
Spotify shares slump as investors fret about impact of price rises
Music streamer forecasts weaker subscriber growth and profits
Coffee, fuel and houses: why Trump has an inflation problem
The US president’s war in Iran has worsened America’s affordability crisis
Downing Street rules out temporary rent freeze
Chancellor Rachel Reeves stirred speculation by promising to ‘use every lever’ to help renters hit by Iran war fallout
America’s special relationship is ‘probably Israel’, says UK ambassador to US
In leaked remarks, Christian Turner also says it is ‘extraordinary’ that Epstein scandal has not affected sex offender’s US associates
Small shareholders keep up pressure on UK bank climate policies
Lower vote in support of NatWest chair at annual meeting
UAE to leave Opec in blow to oil cartel
Move underlines long-running frustrations with group over production quotas
Reddit may need to sell its soul for scale
Losing on aggregate, or backpage of the internet?
School politics class: ‘It’s a democratic issue’: assisted dying legislation runs out of time
Commons and Lords
Mandelson appointment ‘serious error of judgment’, Morgan McSweeney tells MPs
Keir Starmer’s former chief of staff gives evidence to Commons foreign affairs committee
Blame game continues as alleged shooter charged with attempted assassination
Also in today’s newsletter, a European leader delivers his sharpest verdict on the Middle East war yet
Russia’s loss is Ukraine’s gain in the Middle East
Moscow’s ties with Iran and its waning power in the region give Kyiv a chance to forge new partnerships in the Gulf
UK population growth downgraded as migration slows
ONS predicts number of residents will reach 71mn by 2034 due to lower fertility and immigration curbs
Oil price climbs above $110 for first time in three weeks
Brent crude rises after White House reiterates ‘red lines’ in negotiations with Tehran
Music groups BMG and Concord to merge in $14bn deal
Combined company will aim to take on record industry’s three major players
Irish bet on gas from kitchen scraps hits policy snag
Cork plant set to come online next year may end up benefiting UK’s climate goals
German births fall to lowest since postwar records began in 1946
Country faces demographic crunch as difference between deaths and births rises to highest level in its postwar history
An optimistic outlook for Warsh at the Fed
Much of the nominee’s testimony was just a different way of expressing current US monetary policy
BP warns against windfall taxes as Iran war helps profits hit 3-year high
New chief Meg O’Neill says fresh levies on outsized earnings would be a ‘highly flawed response’
Barclays takes £228mn hit from collapse of UK mortgage lender MFS
Bank to limit complex lending activities and reduce exposure to highly leveraged corporates
Get used to the long Iran war
Tehran has a strong incentive to keep the conflict going
Argentina’s energy economy booms amid Iran shock
High oil and gas export revenues could be an unexpected windfall for the South American nation
A South African artist’s act of mourning was banned from the Venice Biennale — now it’s back
Gabrielle Goliath’s ‘Elegy’, which pays tribute to a Palestinian poet killed by an Israeli strike, will be shown at the Chiesa di Sant’Antonin
Calder: Dreaming in Balance is an elating playground of floating forms
Engrossing show at Paris’s Fondation Louis Vuitton is perfectly at home in Frank Gehry’s striking building