Alleged victim told her parents and others about attack and was encouraged to go to police but she feared she would not be believed

A woman told her mother that Russell Brand had raped her and “didn’t stop even when she screamed out in pain”, a court has heard.

She also told a colleague she was “bleeding everywhere” and Brand shouted at her, saying: “Look what you’ve done to my fucking sheets.”

Exclusive: Sasan Ghandehari’s partnership with religious foundation raises questions about past dealings with republic criticised by Nigel Farage

Nigel Farage’s newest billionaire donor was in business with a powerful Iranian religious foundation under the authority of the country’s supreme leader, raising questions about his past dealings with the hardline republic.

Hossein Ghandehari, also called Sasan, was little known in the UK until he pledged to give millions to Reform UK this summer and donated £50,000 to Farage to cover the cost of two passes for the Davos World Economic Forum.

No 10 says Russian president ‘has killed thousands of people, both innocent Ukrainians and his own people’

Downing Street has rejected the description of Vladimir Putin as a “humanitarian” made by Donald Trump’s chief negotiator on the Ukraine war.

Steve Witkoff met the Russian president in St Petersburg on Wednesday as he sought to make a new push to end the invasion of Ukraine, with the US putting pressure on Kyiv to agree to a settlement.

The PM is heard having a long discussion about crisps in the trailer to the show, which is in aid of Stand Up To Cancer

From ranking his favourite crisps in the pub to complaining about people watching TikToks out loud on the train, Andy Burnham has made efforts to show he has the common touch.

Now he will become the first prime minister to appear on the TV show Gogglebox, in a special charity episode on Friday.

Other prizes at Freedom from Torture event include rare Mary Wollstonecraft book illustrated by William Blake

Margaret Atwood, Zadie Smith and Ian McEwan are among a number of literary stars auctioning off the chance for readers to name characters in their next novels to raise money for survivors of torture.

The auction is part of Freedom from Torture’s 10th anniversary literary festival, which brings together leading authors and survivors for a celebration of storytelling, featuring a poetry competition and live readings at the London Library on 11 November.

Warning by defence secretary comes as he opens a tank gun barrel factory in the West Midlands

• Business live – latest updates
  

The defence secretary, Wes Streeting, has said Britain should prepare for the threat of “state-sponsored terrorism” by hostile powers targeting everyday infrastructure as part of a national conversation about resilience in the face of emergencies.

He said on Thursday the public should consider how to respond to hybrid warfare risks, such as cyber-attacks that could knock out payment systems used by businesses or cause supply chains to collapse. He also said the public should consider natural risks, such as flooding or wildfires.

Charities say ‘tip of iceberg’ figures show government is not fulfilling pledge to halve violence against women and girls

Almost one in 10 adults in England and Wales have experienced domestic abuse in the last year, a survey from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) has found.

The Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW) found that 9.6% of people aged 16 and over had experienced domestic abuse in the last year – which equates to about 4.7 million people.

Age-related macular degeneration has also left actor, 91, unable to read or recognise faces any more

Judi Dench has said she can no longer perform on stage or in films because of her deteriorating eyesight, more than a decade after revealing she had been diagnosed with age-related macular degeneration.

“I can’t be on stage. I can’t do a play any more. I can’t do a film any more. I can’t read any more,” the 91-year-old actor told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme on Thursday.

Fears over lack of scrutiny for key sectors as health editor position also to go in cuts aimed at saving £5.5m

The BBC will no longer have a dedicated education editor as part of a cost-cutting drive in which 100 jobs are to go across BBC News under a plan that school leaders described as “deeply regrettable”.

BBC staff have been told that the roles of education editor and social affairs editor are to be combined into a single position as part of a round of changes that will save £5.5m. However, prominent unions and campaigners are saying the reform will dilute scrutiny of two specialisms that are too important to go without a dedicated BBC role.

Exclusive: British Chambers of Commerce president calls for overhaul of business rates and greater powers for local leaders

• How Middleton’s revival could inspire struggling towns

• What makes a good town? Here are five key ingredients

Andy Burnham has been urged by one of his most senior former advisers to tax internet sales more heavily than in-store purchases to help “level the playing field” for struggling high streets.

As the prime minister and his chancellor, John Healey, prepare for their first budget next week, Andy Haldane joined calls for action to stop more shops closing across the UK.

Turnaround initiated by Andy Burnham and led by Steve Coogan could provide blueprint for other neglected areas

• Save high street by taxing online sales at higher rate, Burnham urged

• What makes a good town? Here are five key ingredients

The former England footballer Paul Scholes and the actor Steve Coogan stare out from beside a fish and chip shop in Middleton, near Manchester. Looming over a mural of the pair – and the whole town – is an enormous former cotton mill that powered its economy a century ago.

The deafening looms and spindles of Warwick Mill fell silent decades ago, replaced in recent years by TikTok “urban explorers” who share videos of themselves crawling through its abandoned shell.

Supermarket urges government not to ‘further aggravate’ pressure on costs for businesses in next week’s budget

Sainsbury’s has warned of a “pretty challenging” market in the run-up to Christmas as households are “finding it tough” and food producers face rising costs.

Simon Roberts, the chief executive of the UK’s second biggest supermarket, called on the government not to “further aggravate” pressure on costs for business in this month’s budget. He said it was “important this government does not repeat what we have seen in previous budgets” in raising business rates and employers’ national insurance contributions. “That’s been really hard,” he said.

Each place, selected from longlist of nine, will be given £125,000 to develop bids before winner is announced in new year

Blackpool, Sheffield, Milton Keynes and Wrexham have been shortlisted to be the UK city of culture 2029, an award viewed as a way to boost local economies, foster civic pride and, above all, have some fun.

The four places were chosen from a longlist of nine and each will be given £125,000 to develop their bids before the winner is announced in the new year.

British authorities were unable to investigate case of Christopher Mooty, who went on to commit another offence

The US military failed to notify British police of an allegation that one of its airmen had been drink-driving in Suffolk, preventing the British authorities from being able to investigate the offence.

The failure broke a longstanding formal agreement with British police that enables the UK to investigate alleged illegality by US military personnel who are stationed in Britain.

Some 32 government services are offline while work is carried out to address potential cybersecurity issues, a minister has said

• Tell us: have you been affected by the PHP code flaw?

The Office for National Statistics has also published a report on the gender pay gap. It says:

The gender pay gap for full-time employees has continued to decline in the UK. It was 6.8% in April 2026, down from 7.2% in April 2025. This compares with 9.4% a decade ago and 16.4% 25 years ago.

Secondly, I asked Healey whether he sees the banks as making excessive profits, which would be the coherent justification for him to increase the surcharge on bank profits – as he is expected to do in the Budget next week.

He said: “You know the banks are the engine of investment in this country. The banks are doing well at the moment and that is good to see.

Nation’s favourite play makes London comeback amid renewed debate about future of humanities teaching

The History Boys is to return to the West End for the first time in two decades, with a warning from its director of an “almost terminal decline” in humanities teaching in state schools.

Nicholas Hytner, who directed Alan Bennett’s play at the National Theatre and its 2006 film adaptation, said the themes of education, history and the value of literature for its own sake felt especially relevant amid renewed debate about what schools should teach.

England and Wales judges to be able to keep inmates in cells for longer or stop visits if they refuse to face victims’ families in court

Offenders who refuse to face their victims’ families in court for sentencing could be stripped of privileges or kept in cells for weeks under government changes granting wider powers to judges in England and Wales.

The imposition of new prison sanctions, coming into effect next year, builds on existing laws that order offenders to attend sentencing or face a fine or be jailed for a further two years for contempt of court.

Equating to the loss of 5% of its 93,000 global staff, job cuts come as bank announces jump in quarterly profits

• Business live – latest updates

Barclays is cutting 5,000 jobs as part of wider cost-saving plans that its bosses say are being driven by advances in AI.

The job cuts will mean losing about 5% of the bank’s 93,000 global staff, with executives confirming they had already cut 1,000 workers since the start of the year.

Exclusive: Nvidia, Microsoft and Cisco taskforce urges ministers to offer areas greater benefits from tech infrastructure amid fears of US-style opposition

AI companies have told ministers they have 12 months to head off public opposition to datacentres in the UK or risk US-style protests that could threaten their construction.

Successive dry summers and rising energy bills are increasing public scrutiny of plans for the huge computer warehouses that are used to train and run AI models, says a submission to the Labour government from a group including the AI infrastructure companies Nvidia, Microsoft and Cisco.

Test yourself on topical news trivia, pop culture and general knowledge every Thursday. How will you fare?

The Thursday quiz is aware of standard international units of time, such as the Liz Truss (49 days) and the Scaramucci (11 days). Now a new unit of measurement has entered the chat: the Zacharia (five days). But whatever arbitrary length of time the world invents to measure chaos, political downfalls or social media meltdowns, the Thursday news quiz remains resolutely fixed. It is always seven days apart, unwavering, inescapable and ultimately reliable. Which means, once again, it is time for some questions on topical news, pop culture and general knowledge, with no prizes on offer except pride. Or shame. Allons-y!

The Thursday news quiz, No 270