Russell Brand jailed for 10 years and six months for rape and sexual assault
Former comedian is the latest celebrity found to have exploited his fame for sexual gratification
UniCredit set to seal Commerzbank takeover this month
Italian lender plans to launch restructuring of German target in first quarter of 2027
Germany issues ultimatum to secure Ukraine funding
Chancellor Friedrich Merz threatens to withhold agreement on EU’s next budget unless bloc can unanimously agree on additional financial support for Kyiv
The labour left is back in America
Candidates backed by unions helped the Democrats win in some of their former heartlands
Alleged Chinese spy linked to Nvidia chief pitched AI chips deals to investors
Alice Huang boasted of having access to Nvidia GPUs and her connection to Alibaba in bid to secure investment for major data centre project
US stocks set for gains after AI rout
Declines last week pushed many indices into bear market territory
Super-Beast: The Mysterious Life of Saki — a dealer in lethal one-liners
Oliver Soden’s snappy biography of HH Munro acknowledges that the Edwardian satirist remains an elusive subject — and is all the better for it
Chess: Magnus Carlsen returns to combat in Budapest and London
Puzzle: find Black’s instructive win
What next for the Democrats? | Martin Wolf on the US midterms
Does the scale of their victory mean they have the country’s backing, or just that Republicans were unpopular?
The Democrats’ partial return to tariff sanity
The new masters of Congress may be content with reversing Donald Trump’s duties on Canada
Nvidia shares tumble 7% as it probes alleged Chinese spy scandal
Board of chipmaker opens investigation after chief executive Jensen Huang admits to affair
Trump, Putin and the short war illusion
The American and Russian leaders have both launched failed wars. Will Xi Jinping learn the right lesson?
Merz nominates Germany’s first female president
Bavarian conservative Ilse Aigner expected to succeed Frank-Walter Steinmeier in March
Despite protests in Paris, Céline Dion will go on
A sold-out run by the queen of power ballads, extended into 2027, is a rare bit of good news for France amid nationwide strikes
Are you into weird, esoteric financial history memorabilia?
Then you’re in luck
Dolly Parton’s swan song and a Rosalía tribute enliven U2’s Carnaval de Luz
The Irish rockers incorporate a Latin flavour in a set of songs that starts forcefully, then falters, before being lifted by the late country star
And the FTAV chart quiz winner is . . .
Capulets and chartagues
Another round – of bagatelle
Backgammon, skittles and mahjong are bringing new life to the boozer
Alberta leader faces backlash after winning referendum to remain in Canada
Danielle Smith accused of ‘betrayal’ by rightwing separatists and of immigration fear-mongering by leftwing opposition
Ronald Lauder’s art legacy, Ghentrification and the world’s smartest toaster
Catch up on our most-clicked stories
FirstFT: Nvidia shares fall as it probes alleged Chinese spy scandal
Also in today’s newsletter: Trump concedes he was ‘too tough’ on immigration and costs rise for Chinese factory owners
Crédit Agricole pitches merger of Italian business with Banco BPM
French lender seeks to create Italy’s third-largest bank amid a flurry of dealmaking in the industry
Tech sell-off raises risks for SoftBank’s massive AI bet
Founder Masayoshi Son grapples with falling values of holdings ahead of earnings report
Police reform plans are poor fit for Burnham’s devolution agenda
Starmer-era proposal to combine constabularies into mega-forces has created bitter row among police chiefs and England’s mayors