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.

Michal Stasiak and Kinga Wydrzynska pleaded not guilty to 11 counts relating to death of 13-month-old Isabella Stasiak

A 13-month-old girl was subjected to physical and sexual abuse at the hands of her parents before she was fatally injured by her mother, a court has heard.

Michal Stasiak, 28, and Kinga Wydrzynska, 26, appeared at Warwick crown court on Tuesday, where they pleaded not guilty to 11 counts related to the death of Isabella Stasiak.

Comedian accused of sexual offences against six women said consensual encounters were ‘unfavourably reframed decades later’

Russell Brand told police he had led a “very promiscuous” life and consensual sexual encounters had been “unfavourably reframed decades later”, his trial has heard.

The 51-year-old comedian blamed the allegations on “defamatory and fictitious” media reports. He said in a statement that he had had sexual encounters in countless locations and scenarios and kissed hundreds of people in public while trying to be “friendly, consensual and warm”.

Harry Kane is the men’s Ballon d’Or winner for 2026, the first Englishman to win the trophy in 25 years. At a lavish ceremony at the Palladium Theatre in London, Kane unexpectedly won ahead of co-favourites Lamine Yamal of Barcelona and Kylian Mbappé of Real Madrid. In a contest that has been critiqued for promoting individualism and celebrity in sport, Lucy Hough speaks to the Guardian’s chief sports writer, Barney Ronay, about the symbolism of Kane’s win

Four men on trial charged with sexually assaulting Joanne Young while she was sedated, restrained and blindfolded

A woman’s world was “tilted on its axis” when she discovered that for years her former husband had been drugging her and inviting men into their family home to sexually assault her while she was restrained and blindfolded, a court has been told.

Philip Young, 50, advertised his then wife, Joanne Young, on dating and swinging websites, presenting it as a “kink” for both of them, Winchester crown court heard.

• Andy Burnham sends congratulations to England captain

• Bayern player is first Englishman to win award since 2001

Downing Street has hinted that Harry Kane deserves a knighthood, praising the footballer’s “extraordinary achievement” as the first English winner of the Ballon d’Or in 25 years.

The prime minister’s spokesperson said Andy Burnham sent praise and congratulation to the England captain, who was announced as the men’s winner of football’s most prestigious individual award at a ceremony on Monday night.

With Manchester City found guilty of more than 100 charges of rule-breaking, they could soon find themselves relegated from the Premier League or worse. The Guardian reporter and Manchester resident Helen Pidd speaks to football fans on matchday to find out how they feel about the charges, how the club's Abu Dhabi owners have changed the city, and who has really benefited from all their investment

The England captain spoke movingly on a night of deserving winners and unintentional hilarity in London

Well, there’s something new. Football: now available in new, genuinely heartwarming flavour.

There was a lovely moment at London’s Palladium theatre on Monday, with the clock creeping towards 11pm at the end of a startlingly shrill and bloated evening of never‑ending awards and never-ending award‑related excitement.

It’s boring to see aioli, burrata and fresh pasta on menus everywhere. Especially when we have salad cream, custard tarts and stuffed chine

No discerning dinner party host in England would dream of serving their guests a traditional English ham. You might find jamón ibérico, of which Spain is so proud, but never stuffed chine, a shoulder cut of salted pork marbled with parsley, once a delicacy in Lincolnshire. It sometimes seems as if the English middle classes are so concerned with other countries’ proud artisanal products that they miss the potential of our own.

We’re more likely to find cookery writers and experts in nutrition advocate for Japanese foods than traditional English fare. The Chinese diet, too, has its passionate advocates in England. We barely need to mention the English middle classes’ long love affair with France and Italy and Spain.

Lewis Bassett is a chef and the host of The Full English Podcast, and the author of The Full English

Many punters say inconvenience of bus rerouting is small price to pay for more space, but not everyone is happy

To the east of Oxford Circus, there is chaos. A steady stream of red London buses swing round the last junction before the newly pedestrianised Oxford Street begins. The streets are crammed with pedestrians, some squabbling over who poked whom with their umbrella first.

To the west, pedestrians walk freely through the temporary bollards on to a green welcome banner rolled along the tarmac, declaring Oxford Street traffic-free.

In 2021, the young soldier took her life after being sexually assaulted by a sergeant major, then sent thousands of messages by her line manager. She was just 19. Five years on, Leighann McCready is still searching for answers

When Leighann McCready phoned her 19-year-old daughter, Jaysley Beck, on 15 December 2021, she got no reply, but brushed away her worries. “Jays always, always answered her phone, but it was early, eight in the morning,” she says. Beck, an army soldier in the Royal Artillery, had been at a party the night before at her Wiltshire barracks. She was probably asleep.

It was a busy time, the Christmas countdown. Soon, Beck was expected to be back home in Cumbria, where her parents – McCready and Anthony Beck – own a village pub. McCready had already bought matching Christmas pyjamas for Beck and her older sister Emilli to wear on the day.

• Match in new Fifa competition abandoned

• England players refuse to resume match

England abandoned their Under-15 World Cup match against the Republic of Ireland on Monday after a player reported being subjected to a racist slur. Fifa confirmed it was investigating what happened in the final minute of the Group C fixture in Baku, Azerbaijan, when Ireland were leading 4-1.

Footage showed an England player approaching the bench after an altercation. He is believed to have alleged an opponent called him a “monkey” and raised a complaint with the coaching staff, prompting England’s head coach, Matt Thorpe, to approach the referee.

R&B singer sentenced to eight months’ imprisonment suspended for 12 months over incident in Mayfair in 2023

The R&B singer Chris Brown has been given a suspended sentence after striking a man twice in the head with a tequila bottle in a central London club.

Brown, 37, admitted affray earlier this year after attacking a former friend with a “heavy” tequila bottle on the dancefloor at the Tape private members’ club in Mayfair in February 2023.

More strong winds forecast after Austen and Boelo kill two people and bring travel disruption and flooding

• Tell us: have you been affected by Storm Boelo and Storm Austen

A major clean-up operation was under way on Monday after weekend storms caused havoc, with forecasters warning of more strong winds to come.

Two men were killed by falling trees after two named storms, Austen and Boelo, struck parts of the UK, and there was widespread travel disruption, flooding, power cuts and event cancellations.

Home Office figures show nearly two-thirds of drug tests carried out on arrested abuse suspects detected use of a drug that ‘boosts confidence but increases paranoia’

During lockdown, Charlotte and her ex-partner would spend evenings cooped up in their flat, listening to music, watching YouTube videos and chatting until the small hours. Those nights would be fuelled by alcohol and lines of cocaine.

“I wanted to be loved, and when he told me he loved me like nobody ever would and nobody ever will, I drank the Kool-Aid,” Charlotte says. “I wanted to believe that. And there’s a point when you’re with somebody and you’re drinking, you’re doing coke, where you think you have this bond, you think it’s just you two in the world.”

Teenagers and young adults are not the only people in need of new skills and a sense of purpose

The neglect of adults was, David Blunkett said in a recent interview, his biggest regret about education policy under New Labour. Spending on classroom-based adult learning in England has fallen steadily, from a high point of more than £5bn in 2003-04, to less than £2bn last year. We should not expect two decades of decline to be reversed quickly. But the upcoming report from Alan Milburn on young people who are not in education, employment or training is widely expected to result in a boost for colleges, as well as apprenticeship changes so that more are offered to new recruits rather than existing staff.

A timely report from MPs aims to ensure that older learners are included in these reforms. The all-party group for further education recognises the need to tackle the low level of labour market participation among young adults, which is particularly pronounced in smaller towns and cities. But the MPs take a longer view of the current system’s failings. Their report makes a persuasive case that an overall vision for adult education has been missing for a long time.

Man aged 60 and another in his 20s killed by falling trees in Scotland and London as Met Office reports gusts of up to 84mph

Two people were killed and more than 800,000 properties left without power after Storm Boelo and Storm Austen battered the UK over the weekend.

Two men, one aged 60 and the other in his 20s, were killed by falling trees on Sunday, police said. The 60-year-old died in south-west Scotland while the man in his 20s was killed in London.

Sewage samples and crime statistics paint a picture of established users taking more cocaine, more often

• Cocaine-linked crimes on the rise in Britain as consumption surges

• Pubs, festivals and workplaces: how cocaine has become an everyday habit

From pub toilets and private parties to football terraces and far-right marches, cocaine has become a familiar presence across modern Britain. Deaths linked to the drug have risen to record levels, while its supply supports a multibillion-pound criminal industry.

But who is using the drug, and how has the picture changed? The figures do not necessarily show millions of new users, but highlight an established market in which some people take more cocaine, more often – and face greater harm as they grow older.

Exclusive: Wastewater analysis in England suggests people took roughly 2.5bn lines of drug in one year

• Ageing users and record deaths – the data behind Britain’s £9.8bn-a-year cocaine habit

• Pubs, festivals and workplaces: how cocaine has become an everyday habit

British police are recording a growing number of crimes linked to cocaine, including assaults, domestic abuse and dangerous driving, as figures show consumption has surged across England.

A Guardian investigation has found police forces across Britain recorded a 10% rise in crime rates associated with the class A drug since 2019, while the Home Office estimates cocaine usage at sites across England has risen by 26% since 2021.

In 1956, the Blackpool great was recognised for his force of individual will, the very thing that makes the Bayern and England striker the standout candiate

Systems football began In 1963
(On the hallowed turf at Wembley)
With the impact of a cynical foul
By Gino Pivatelli.

At that moment in the European Cup final, when the hard-working Milan forward, brought in to combat Benfica’s Mário Coluna, caught the great playmaker, football of the individual came to an end. The foul not only checked a promising break, but broke a bone in Coluna’s foot. Without substitutes, he hobbled on, diminished, and Milan won 2-1 to lift the trophy and register the first victory for a team that prioritised the system over the individual. Modern football was born.