The former comedian and his wife gave evidence in the case in which he denies all charges against him

Russell Brand’s trial at Southwark crown court began with widespread media coverage on 12 October. The former comedian and presenter faces three charges of rape, three of sexual assault and one of attempted indecent assault against six women, in allegations spanning 10 years from 1999. He denies all the charges. Here are five things we learned in the third week of his trial.

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© Photograph: Neil Hall/EPA

© Photograph: Neil Hall/EPA

© Photograph: Neil Hall/EPA

The former comedian and his wife gave evidence in the case in which he denies all charges against him

Russell Brand’s trial at Southwark crown court began with widespread media coverage on 12 October. The former comedian and presenter faces three charges of rape, three of sexual assault and one of attempted indecent assault against six women, in allegations spanning 10 years from 1999. He denies all the charges. Here are five things we learned in the third week of his trial.

Continue reading...

© Photograph: Neil Hall/EPA

© Photograph: Neil Hall/EPA

© Photograph: Neil Hall/EPA

Decades from now, friends may become first people known to have finished The Campaign for North Africa

“We have had a six-turn practice run. It took about 18 months,” said Andy Taeger, with what seemed like a chuckle as he contemplated playing the world’s most complicated board game.

“Based on that, we are looking at a 20- to 30-year run for the full game,” said his gaming partner James Purcell. “We’ve come to terms with it.”

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© Photograph: Mark Pinder/The Guardian

© Photograph: Mark Pinder/The Guardian

© Photograph: Mark Pinder/The Guardian

Two of four men on trial say they met couple via online ads and swinging website and had no idea wife had been drugged

Men accused of sexually assaulting a woman whose then husband drugged her for years and allowed her to be abused have described being invited to the couple’s home via online adverts and a swinging website.

One of those accused of assaulting Joanne Young, who has waived her legal right to anonymity, as she lay restrained and blindfolded said he was a young man “trying out things” and had no idea she was drugged.

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© Composite: PA

© Composite: PA

© Composite: PA

Two of four men on trial say they met couple via online ads and swinging website and had no idea wife had been drugged

Men accused of sexually assaulting a woman whose then husband drugged her for years and allowed her to be abused have described being invited to the couple’s home via online adverts and a swinging website.

One of those accused of assaulting Joanne Young, who has waived her legal right to anonymity, as she lay restrained and blindfolded said he was a young man “trying out things” and had no idea she was drugged.

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© Composite: PA

© Composite: PA

© Composite: PA

Simon Richardson knew headteacher Michael Mullins was under his 4×4 as he kept driving in Manchester, jury heard

A motorist who drove through give-way markings, collided with a cyclist and then dragged him, trapped under his car, for more than a mile has been found guilty of murder.

Simon Richardson, 35, crashed into headteacher Michael Mullins, 56, who was cycling home from work at Stretford grammar school, Greater Manchester, on the evening of 20 April. Mullins hit the bonnet and windscreen of Richardson’s Volvo XC90 and then went under the car, becoming entangled in the suspension.

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© Photograph: CPS/PA

© Photograph: CPS/PA

© Photograph: CPS/PA

Simon Richardson knew headteacher Michael Mullins was under his 4×4 as he kept driving in Manchester, jury heard

A motorist who drove through give-way markings, collided with a cyclist and then dragged him, trapped under his car, for more than a mile has been found guilty of murder.

Simon Richardson, 35, crashed into headteacher Michael Mullins, 56, who was cycling home from work at Stretford grammar school, Greater Manchester, on the evening of 20 April. Mullins hit the bonnet and windscreen of Richardson’s Volvo XC90 and then went under the car, becoming entangled in the suspension.

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© Photograph: CPS/PA

© Photograph: CPS/PA

© Photograph: CPS/PA

Force says it has received ‘information’ on pair’s stay at royal estate as reported guests of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor

Detectives in Scotland are investigating Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell’s stay at Balmoral castle as reported guests of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor amid allegations that women were trafficked to the royal estate.

Police Scotland said it had received “information” and inquiries were at a “very early stage” into the time the disgraced royal spent with the child sex offender at Balmoral.

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© Photograph: US Department of Justice

© Photograph: US Department of Justice

© Photograph: US Department of Justice

You’ll be safe from trick-or-treaters in a grand home at the end of a long driveway or a Grade II-listed farmhouse tucked away in a hamlet

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© Photograph: Morgan Aps

© Photograph: Morgan Aps

© Photograph: Morgan Aps

Conservative-run Hillingdon aims to save £100,000 but local people fear dog poo will ‘be dumped everywhere’

People in a west London borough fear it will become covered in dog poo after their cash-strapped council decided to remove 700 dog-waste bins to save money.

“People are worried there’s going to be dog shit everywhere,” said Daniel O’Neill, the chief road steward at Ruislip Residents’ Association.

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© Photograph: Daniel O'Neill

© Photograph: Daniel O'Neill

© Photograph: Daniel O'Neill

Conservative-run Hillingdon aims to save £100,000 but local people fear dog poo will ‘be dumped everywhere’

People in a west London borough fear it will become covered in dog poo after their cash-strapped council decided to remove 700 dog-waste bins to save money.

“People are worried there’s going to be dog shit everywhere,” said Daniel O’Neill, the chief road steward at Ruislip Residents’ Association.

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© Photograph: Daniel O'Neill

© Photograph: Daniel O'Neill

© Photograph: Daniel O'Neill

About 25,000 members of public chip in £17m towards 3,800-hectare Rothbury estate, described as ‘once-in-a-generation opportunity’

One of the most ambitious nature recovery projects ever undertaken in England can go ahead after campaigners announced they had raised £30m to buy an estate in Northumberland.

The Wildlife Trusts’ bid to buy the Rothbury estate, an area the size of Athens, had been championed by David Attenborough who on Friday thanked the public for their help.

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© Photograph: Mark Pinder

© Photograph: Mark Pinder

© Photograph: Mark Pinder

About 25,000 members of public chip in £17m towards 3,800-hectare Rothbury estate, described as ‘once-in-a-generation opportunity’

One of the most ambitious nature recovery projects ever undertaken in England can go ahead after campaigners announced they had raised £30m to buy an estate in Northumberland.

The Wildlife Trusts’ bid to buy the Rothbury estate, an area the size of Athens, had been championed by David Attenborough who on Friday thanked the public for their help.

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© Photograph: Mark Pinder

© Photograph: Mark Pinder

© Photograph: Mark Pinder

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

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

Jury at Winchester crown court sees video evidence by Joanne Young in trial of four men accused of sexual assault

A woman who was allegedly sexually assaulted by men invited by her ex-husband into their family home described how she would wake in the middle of the night restrained and blindfolded and feeling “hazy”.

Joanne Young said that on one occasion she managed to remove her blindfold and was shocked to glimpse a stranger in her bedroom whom her then husband, Philip Young, had allegedly arranged to have sex with her.

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© Composite: PA

© Composite: PA

© Composite: PA

Fishing town in disbelief the morning after its footballing minnows beat mighty Arsenal on penalties

On a wet and windy night on the north-west coast of England, a League Two side sensationally knocked the Premier League champions out of the Carabao Cup. But this is not just a fairytale story of giant-slaying; Fleetwood Town and Arsenal have an unlikely history that stretches back long before Tuesday night’s game.

Arsenal played at their iconic Highbury stadium until 2006, and Fleetwood’s ground has the same title, being named after Highbury Avenue, the adjoining street.

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© Photograph: Colin McPherson/The Guardian

© Photograph: Colin McPherson/The Guardian

© Photograph: Colin McPherson/The Guardian

Payments to 20m homes part of package to cut energy bills and ease cost of living crisis, paid for by bank windfall tax

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John Healey promised to steer Britain through “global economic storms” as he announced an energy giveaway of £100 to 80% of households in England, funded by a smaller than expected windfall tax on banks.

In his first budget, the chancellor said 20 million households in council tax bands A to D would receive a £100 payment – a measure he said would cost £2.6bn.

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© Photograph: House of Commons/UK Parliament/PA

© Photograph: House of Commons/UK Parliament/PA

© Photograph: House of Commons/UK Parliament/PA