Ministry of Justice figures show recalls rose 27% in year to June despite emergency measures to ease overcrowding

More people were recalled to jails in England and Wales in the first half of this year than were released, despite government efforts to reduce the prison population, according to figures released on Thursday.

Ministry of Justice (MoJ) data shows that 12,338 people were recalled to custody between the beginning of April and the end of June, while 12,278 people were released. It continues a trend set between January and March, when 13,193 people were returned to prison and 12,977 released.

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© Photograph: Tolga Akmen/EPA

© Photograph: Tolga Akmen/EPA

© Photograph: Tolga Akmen/EPA

Giving evidence at her husband’s rape trial, Laura Brand says couple previously split up over his promiscuity

Russell Brand’s wife has told a court that they previously split up over his promiscuity but that he was a “wonderful father” and an “amazingly attentive husband”.

Giving evidence at her husband’s rape trial, Laura Brand, 39, said they fell in love after meeting in 2006 but that the comedian found monogamy difficult.

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© Photograph: Hannah McKay/Reuters

© Photograph: Hannah McKay/Reuters

© Photograph: Hannah McKay/Reuters

Giving evidence at her husband’s rape trial, Laura Brand says couple previously split up over his promiscuity

Russell Brand’s wife has told a court that they previously split up over his promiscuity but that he was a “wonderful father” and an “amazingly attentive husband”.

Giving evidence at her husband’s rape trial, Laura Brand, 39, said they fell in love after meeting in 2006 but that the comedian found monogamy difficult.

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© Photograph: Hannah McKay/Reuters

© Photograph: Hannah McKay/Reuters

© Photograph: Hannah McKay/Reuters

Karl Bushby has walked 31,000 miles, crossing some of the world’s harshest landscapes. He plans to reach his mother’s house in England next week.

© Sam Bush for The New York Times

Exclusive: Case in Pimlico is latest instance of tensions between small countries seeking a space in capital and residents

It is not a classic neighbour-from-hell dispute, what with the protagonist inviting everyone over for evening drinks and canapés. But the sudden conversion of a five-bedroom family home in Pimlico, central London, into the embassy of Montenegro has triggered a neighbourhood row that has gone all the way to the desk of a high court judge.

The first stirrings of trouble came when one resident argued in a submission to the council this spring that the new embassy’s “flagpole and rather tacky-looking flag stick out like a sore thumb” among Cambridge Street’s Grade II-listed homes.

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© Photograph: Linda Nylind/The Guardian

© Photograph: Linda Nylind/The Guardian

© Photograph: Linda Nylind/The Guardian

Exclusive: Case in Pimlico is latest instance of tensions between residents and small countries seeking a space in the capital

It is not a classic neighbour-from-hell dispute, what with the protagonist inviting everyone over for evening drinks and canapés. But the sudden conversion of a five-bedroom family home in Pimlico, central London, into the embassy of Montenegro has triggered a neighbourhood row that has gone all the way to the desk of a high court judge.

The first stirrings of trouble came when one resident argued in a submission to the council this spring that the new embassy’s “flagpole and rather tacky-looking flag stick out like a sore thumb” among Cambridge Street’s Grade II-listed homes.

Continue reading...

© Photograph: Linda Nylind/The Guardian

© Photograph: Linda Nylind/The Guardian

© Photograph: Linda Nylind/The Guardian