Russell Brand has been charged with rape, indecent assault and sexual assault between 1999 and 2005.

The charges relate to four separate women.

The comedian and actor has been interviewed multiple times by police since an investigation by the Sunday Times, the Times and Channel 4's Dispatches in September 2023 revealed multiple serious allegations against him.

The 49-year-old has previously denied the allegations, calling them "very, very hurtful".

The Metropolitan Police's detective superintendent Andy Furphy, who is leading the investigation, said: "The women who have made reports continue to receive support from specially trained officers.

"The Met's investigation remains open and detectives ask anyone who has been affected by this case, or anyone who has any information, to come forward and speak with police. A dedicated team of investigators is available via email at CIT@met.police.uk.

"Support is also available by contacting the independent charity, Rape Crisis at 24/7 Rape and Sexual Abuse Support Line."

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Sixty years ago, Tunnock's teacakes were banned from RAF flights after they exploded in a cockpit.

They left a sticky mess over the airmen, their instruments and the cockpit's canopy.

The chocolate-covered marshmallow treats had apparently been all the rage prior to this - being eaten by crewmen as they flew nuclear bombers on long training sorties at the height of the Cold War.

But the ban has now been lifted after the RAF Centre of Aerospace Medicine carried out tests in an altitude chamber and the teacakes did not explode.

It was the summer of 1965 when a captain and student pilot forgot they had placed unwrapped teacakes above their instrument panels.

When the captain pulled an emergency depressurising switch in a training mission the iconic Scottish treat erupted.

The new tests were carried out at the RAF Centre of Aerospace Medicine under strict conditions.

First they were put into an altitude chamber - normally used in the training of new fast jet pilots - and were lifted to 8,000ft, climbing at 4,000ft per minute,

They were then rapidly decompressed to 25,000ft in three seconds to see if they would blow up.

As air pressure in the chamber decreased, the air inside the teacakes expanded until the chocolate cracked and the mallow filling puffed out.

However, although the mallow escaped from their chocolate casing, they did not explode and cause a risk to in-flight safety.

It was also discovered that when they were frozen before being placed in the chamber, their hardened shells were more resilient to cracking at altitude.

Pilots have been allowed to take them back in the cockpit but have been offered some advice by Dr Oliver Bird, an instructor at the RAF Centre of Aerospace Medicine, who carried out the tests.

"The best advice is that the snacks are kept frozen and in their foil wrappings until pilots are ready to consume them," he said.

Tunnock's, based in Uddingston, near Glasgow, has been contacted for comment.

A woman at the centre of a free speech controversy involving the US government has been found guilty of breaching a "buffer zone" outside a Bournemouth abortion clinic.

Livia Tossici-Bolt was convicted at Poole Magistrates' Court of two charges of breaching the Public Spaces Protection Order on two days in March 2023.

The 64-year-old anti-abortion campaigner held a sign saying, "Here to talk, if you want".

Her case caught the attention of the US State Department and US vice president JD Vance.

Her case was highlighted by the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, & Labour (DRL) - a bureau within the US Department of State, which posted a statement on X saying: "We are monitoring her case. It is important that the UK respect and protect freedom of expression."

District Judge Orla Austin told the court of the defendant: "She lacks insight that her presence could have a detrimental effect on the women attending the clinic, their associates, staff and members of the public."

She added: "I accept her beliefs were truly held beliefs. Although it's accepted this defendant held pro-life views, it's important to note this case is not about the rights and wrongs about abortion but about whether the defendant was in breach of the PSPO (Public Spaces Protection Order)."

The buffer zones, prohibit protest, within a 150-metre radius around abortion services and those convicted of breaking the law could face an unlimited fine.

Ms Tossici-Bolt, a retired medical scientist living in Bournemouth, Dorset, said previously she was "grateful to the US State Department for taking note of my case".

She added: "Great Britain is supposed to be a free country, yet I've been dragged through court merely for offering consensual conversation. I'm thankful to ADF International for supporting my legal defence.

"Peaceful expression is a fundamental right - no-one should be criminalised for harmless offers to converse."

She went on to say that "It is tragic to see that the increase of censorship in this country has made the US feel it has to remind us of our shared values and basic civil liberties".

"I'm grateful to the US administration for prioritising the preservation and promotion of freedom of expression and for engaging in robust diplomacy to that end," she said.

She continued: "It deeply saddens me that the UK is seen as an international embarrassment when it comes to free speech.

"My case, involving only a mere invitation to speak, is but one example of the extreme and undeniable state of censorship in Great Britain today.

"It is important that the Government actually does respect freedom of expression, as it claims to."

Heidi Stewart, CEO of BPAS, said: "BPAS welcomes today's verdict which will protect women and the staff who provide abortion care.

"The clinic in Bournemouth has been subjected to many years of anti-abortion protests which resulted in more than 500 reports of harassment before this local safe access zone was brought into force.

"This case was never about global politics but about the simple ability of women to access legal healthcare free from harassment.

"It is up to the police and judicial system to determine whether individuals have broken the law.

"I, meanwhile, stand shoulder to shoulder with our staff who work so tirelessly to protect our patients from the impact of anti-abortion harassment outside the clinic gate."

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The UK exported nearly £60bn worth of goods to the US last year, making it one of the most important markets for thousands of British businesses.

After President Donald Trump announced a 10% tariff on nearly all UK products, we spoke to businesses from some of Britain's biggest exporters to find out what it could mean for them.

Food and drink: 'We've got fewer orders than normal'

The UK food and drink industry exports a couple of billion pounds worth of goods to the US every year, satisfying Americans's taste for specialist products like smoked salmon, Scotch whisky and artisan cheeses.

Adam Sopher, co-founder and chief executive at Joe & Seph's, the London-based luxury popcorn-maker, says the mere spectre of tariffs had already been affecting the business.

US retailers usually place their orders for Christmas early in the year, but it's had far fewer orders than normal as retailers wait to see what happens.

Joe & Seph's made £8m in sales last year of which 2%-3% came from the US. "So it is not huge," says Mr Sopher. "But the US is the biggest popcorn market in the world so we had planned that a lot of our growth would come from there."

As a consequence, he says, it's now planning to focus on growing its exports to the Middle East and Asia.

However, the 10% tariff was not as bad as he was expecting and US importers aready have to pay a 5.8% tariff on Joe & Seph's goods when they reach American ports.

"So essentially what's happened is we're going to go from 5.8% to 10% as opposed to zero to 10%," says Mr Sopher. It is also lower than the new US tariffs levied on other countries, such as the 20% tax on the European Union.

"Ironically it could be a good thing," he says. "These retailers who would have sourced from Europe might now say 'actually we'll buy more from the UK."

Chemicals: 'We're hoping there is an opportunity'

For something not visible to the naked eye, organic chemicals are a huge US export for the UK, totalling close to £3bn last year.

They are used across a massive range of industries from food to make-up to engines and into agriculture.

Rather than feeling fearful about the US tariff, Robinsons Brothers reckons it may help the West Bromwich-based organic chemicals firm wrestle back American customers from cheaper overseas rivals.

Chief executive Adrian Hanrahan says: "We supplied a lot more to the US but China and India knocked us out of that because of very low pricing."

Under Trump's new regime, China's imports face a 34% tariff while India's products will be taxed at 27%. Robinsons Brothers chemicals are already taxed at 6% when they reach the US

Mr Hanrahan says he is still trying to nail down whether the new 10% US tariff on UK goods means Robinsons Brothers' American customers will be paying an additional 4% or a total 16%.

"Either way, it is a lot less than China or India will see going into the US," he says. "So I am really hoping and seeing an opportunity for us here in one area."

He says that since January, the company has been receiving more enquiries from the US, including two customers Robinsons Brothers lost five years ago "at great expense".

At the moment, Robinsons Brothers derives between 1.5% and 2% of total sales - which reached £24m last year - from America.

This "doesn't seem a lot" says Mr Hanrahan but they are high margin products.

There are, of course, concerns that rival countries may have to dump products once destined for the US on other markets, such as the UK which, in turn, could drive down domestic prices.

Mr Hanrahan says: "I am hoping that the UK government is preparing for that and putting something in place to mitigate any form of product dumping in the UK and in the EU."

Aircraft: 'It's as clear as mud'

UK exports to the US linked to aircraft totalled £2.2bn in 2024, official figures show.

DPS Designs contributes a small - but important part - to that industry. The Forest of Dean-based firm makes metal moulds that are used to create plastic sections of airplane seats.

The US is DPS's biggest growth market. Around £150,000 worth of sales come directly from the US out of a total £3m.

The company's managing director of engineering, Sebastian Down, says the firm will negotiate with its customers "to see if we can share in the pain" of the new 10% tariffs - once he deciphers what they apply to.

"The amount of detail is paper-thin," he said.

DPS Designs has already had to grapple with the ambiguous language used by the White House around tariffs, after Trump announced 25% trade tariffs on steel and aluminium imports to the US. The company uses aluminium to make its moulds.

"There was no-one you could speak to so it relied on me going onto the US department of whatever website, trying to look at lots of detail that basically didn't exist," he says.

Ultimately, the aluminium tariff does not apply to his business. But the new 10% tariff criteria isn't clear either. Does it, for example, apply to parts that make up a product or only to the finished article itself?

"It is as clear as mud," says Mr Down.

Vehicles: 'We may have to raise prices'

The US market for British-made cars is of enormous consequence for the UK economy. Last year, the UK exported £9bn worth to America.

The sector was already reeling from Trump's previously announced 25% US tariff on cars and light vehicles.

Mike Hawes, chief executive of the Society of Motor Manufacturers & Traders, says: "These tariff costs cannot be absorbed by manufacturers, thus hitting US consumers who may face additional costs and a reduced choice of iconic British brands."

With Trump's announcement on Wednesday of 10% US taxes on nearly all UK imports, the net will now widen to include the likes of electric motorcycle-maker Maeving.

Seb Inglis-Jones, co-founder and co-chief executive of the Coventry company, says that sales from the US are "ever evolving". Last month, for example, 68% of sales came from America though typically, the US makes up about 40% of its £6m annual turnover.

Mr Inglis-Jones says that the US has helped counterbalance a less-than-optimistic economic outlook in Maeving's other key markets such as the UK, France and Germany.

"In the US, there's just more disposable income and so with a slightly more discretionary purchase like ours, a slightly more expensive British built electric motorcycle, Americans are just way more able to spend that money."

He says that Maeving recently raised prices in the US, not as a pre-emptive move before tariffs but because the cost of doing business in the States had increased.

Will the company now lift prices again?

"We haven't got that far," says Mr Inglis-Jones. "I think we care more about, as a young EV [electric vehicle] company, about the growth and making sure the price is right for the US customer.

"If we can't stomach it, we will have to put the prices up again."

The sweeping new tariffs announced by President Donald Trump have triggered ructions across financial markets, with global share prices seeing hefty falls.

It's the latest example of big shifts in stock markets making the news, whether they are booms or falls.

As companies grow, they issue shares. The largest companies in the UK have shares which are bought and sold on the London Stock Exchange.

Their collective performance is often quoted amid a blizzard of numbers that may feel confusing and irrelevant. Rarely does anyone mention the FTSE 100 during a coffee with friends.

But there are good reasons why this performance affects your life and finances.

'I don't invest' - actually, you probably do

Many people's initial reaction to "the markets" is that they are not directly affected, because they do not invest money.

Yet there are millions of people with a pension - either private or through work - who will see their savings (in what is known as a defined contribution pension) invested by pension schemes. The value of their savings pot is influenced by the performance of these investments.

Pension savers mostly let experts choose where to invest this money to help it grow. Widespread falls in share prices are likely to be bad news for pension savers.

Hundreds of billions of pounds are held in defined contribution pensions at the moment.

So big rises or falls can affect your pension, but the advice is to remember that pension savings, like any investments, are usually a long-term bet.

Experts say that investors have always had to ride economic shocks. Investments, by definition, require a long-term outlook and strategy. So, they are urging people not to panic in such circumstances or make knee-jerk decisions.

Does everyone have a pension like this?

No, some people have a pension which promises a specific value, depending on their salary. Others have no pension at all.

Millions of people have been automatically enrolled into a pension and may have not really noticed.

This scheme sees employers divert wages into a pension and contribute some money themselves. The government adds a little in tax relief.

In every case, the value of these pension savings is affected by investment performance. So "the markets" matter - maybe not as much as everyday wages, but for future pensions.

What about people retiring or retired?

Timing is more critical for those at retirement age, as this may be when a retiree uses their pension pot to buy a retirement income, or annuity. The bigger the pot, the more income they will get in retirement.

As you approach retirement age, pension pots tend to be moved to less risky investments, such as government bonds. When stock markets fall, these bonds can do better.

Anyone who has a pension pot invested and is taking an income from it will again see their investment go up and down with the stock markets.

That could mean getting less than you expected if you cash in too much after stock markets have fallen, making it important to plan how to make up any of this shortfall, experts say.

If I'm still in work, can my job be affected?

Jobs may be affected by companies' responses to tariffs, for example.

However, specifically with share prices, trouble over an extended period could have an effect on the amount of work available.

There is a huge element of the unknown here, and plenty of other factors are in play when businesses make decisions on investment and employment.

Do changes affect my mortgage?

There is no direct link between the stock market and your mortgage or rent.

Instead, all eyes will be on the Bank of England for its views on interest rates.

Cutting them would make some kinds of mortgages cheaper, although cash savers would probably get a lower return on cash savings.

Conversely, an increase would make borrowing more expensive, but bring better returns for savers.

Are stock market falls always bad?

In purely investment terms, lower share prices can offer an opportunity to buy, in the hope that over the long term, they recover and rise. Many people will do this initially through a stocks and shares Individual Savings Account (Isa).

Experts and regulators are at pains to point out that investments can go down as well as up, and urge people not to put everything into one investment, but to diversify.

Some people invest money in what are known as tracker funds. These go up and down in line with the performance of a certain index, such as the FTSE 100.

So if the index falls, so does the value of their investments and vice versa. One advantage of these funds is that they often cost relatively little to sign up to.

A mother who killed her newborn baby boy in 1998 while in the grip of severe post-natal depression has been given a suspended sentence after a judge decided the case "called for compassion".

Joanne Sharkey, from Liverpool, was only identified as the baby's mother in July 2023 after cold case detectives found a DNA match for her older son, Matthew Sharkey, who had been arrested on suspicion of an unrelated offence.

The baby, who was named as Baby Callum at the time, had been dumped in woodland in Warrington, Cheshire, wrapped inside two binbags on 11 March that year.

She had pleaded guilty to manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility at Liverpool Crown Court after medical experts concluded her mental health "substantially impaired" her ability to form a rational judgement when she killed Callum.

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More documents about the relationship between Prince Andrew and an alleged Chinese agent of influence are being released to BBC News on Friday.

The court papers about Yang Tengbo's alleged activities in the UK are becoming public after a legal battle including other media outlets for more transparency in the semi-secret case.

Mr Yang has been banned from the UK on national security grounds after the home secretary concluded that he may have been trying to exert influence on the Duke of York.

Mr Yang, who denies wrongdoing, was accused of using his position as an influential businessman in Prince Andrew's inner circle to clandestinely further the Chinese state's aims.

In December, the Special Immigration Appeals Commission said Mr Yang had formed an "unusual degree of trust" with the prince and had not disclosed his links to an arm of the Chinese Communist Party which is clandestinely involved in "political interference".

The term is used for suspected Chinese state agents who are not operating as traditional spies, but are using their position to secretly influence key figures in the British state, such as politicians, academics and business leaders.

The aim is to subtly and slowly bring them around to the Chinese Communist Party's aims in a long-term operation often referred to as "elite capture".

Mr Yang, a businessman who had lived in the UK since 2002, became a key figure in Prince Andrew's money-making Pitch@Palace scheme that linked entrepreneurs and investors, including at major events in China.

He became an increasingly trusted confidante amid the fall-out from the duke's interview with the BBC's Newsnight programme in November 2019, which detailed the Duke's friendship with sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

The reaction to the interview led to the prince withdrawing from public duties - and the end of the commercially successful Pitch@Palace events in the UK and China.

Documents show that one of the prince's closest aides, Dominic Hampshire had told told Mr Yang that he had personally managed to salvage the prince's reputation in China - and he was ultimately invited in late 2020 to act for the royal in a planned $3bn investment fund.

The "Eurasia Fund" scheme, to be headed by Prince Andrew, aimed to raise cash to invest in Chinese state projects in Africa and the Middle East.

The UK's security agencies appear to have been concerned about the scheme because it might lead to a member of the royal family advancing the Chinese Communist Party's aim of expanding its economic and diplomatic influence.

Documents disclosed so far show that Mr Hampshire told Mr Yang that the Newsnight interview had been "hugely ill-advised and unsuccessful" but, in its wake, the Chinese entrepreneur sat "at the very top of a tree that many, many people would like to be on".

He had assisted in getting "relevant people unnoticed" in and out of Windsor for private meetings with the prince - and he was invited to his private 60th birthday dinner at his mansion.

Another document, concerning preparations for a call between the prince and Mr Yang, reads "he is in a desperate situation and will grab onto anything."

The documents to be disclosed on Friday include Dominic Hampshire's account to the court of his role in events, his relationship with Mr Yang and what happened when a currently unnamed UK government agency began speaking to the aide.

Other papers are expected to cover details of the mysterious and aborted "Eurasia Fund" and Mr Yang's work as a China consultant for major British businesses.

Mr Yang is seeking to appeal his exclusion from the UK on national security grounds.

The UK is expected to have its hottest day of the year so far on Friday as temperatures could reach 23C (73F) in some areas.

The warmest weather is expected to be in the west of London out towards Oxfordshire and the south Midlands, and could be hotter than Marbella and Ibiza in Spain.

Cardiff in Wales could see the mercury rise to 21C, while Scotland and Northern Ireland are set to be cooler - around 10C in Edinburgh and 15C in Belfast.

Temperatures are forecast to fall this weekend as cooler air moves down from the north. England's south coast will be warmest on Saturday with an expected high of 21C, while Sunday will peak nearer 17C.

The highest temperature recorded so far this year was 21.3C in Northolt, west London, and Chertsey, Surrey, on 20 March - but that figure is expected to be beaten on Friday.

Last month was the sunniest March in England since records began in 1910, according to the Met Office. It was also very dry, with the UK's rainfall total just 43% of the usual amount.

Average temperatures for this time of year are about 12C (53F) in England and 10C (50F) in Scotland, but parts of southern England hit highs of 20.7C on Thursday and 20.1C in the Scottish Highlands.

Speaking on Thursday, Met Office forecaster Dan Stroud said much of the UK "is looking at another fine and dry spring day", adding that while there will be "a lot of warm sunshine on offer", there will be some "cool temperatures near the east coast".

It is expected to be slightly cooler at the weekend, with winds expected to remain strong.

The public is being urged to avoid lighting fires outdoors over concerns they could spread bringing a risk of wildfires due to the warm, dry conditions.

Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) said on Wednesday that there was a "very high to extreme risk" of fires spreading.

The fire service has tackled blazes this week near Bonhill in West Dunbartonshire and in the Kilpatrick Hills near Milngavie, East Dunbartonshire.

Elsewhere, more than 126 acres (51 hectares) were left charred after a fire at Upton Heath in Poole shortly before midnight on Wednesday, and a second fire broke out at nearby Canford Heath on Thursday morning.

Dorset & Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service said the fires were both "down to human intervention".

In England there were 185.8 hours of sunshine in March, the Met Office says, the country recorded its sixth driest March and Wales its fourth driest since records began in 1836.

After a pair of low-key, introspective albums, Ed Sheeran has returned to his roots with a shimmering new pop single, Azizam.

The track sees the star incorporate Middle Eastern influences, inspired by producer Illya Salmanzadeh's Persian heritage.

The title means "my dear" or "my darling" in Farsi, and the track incorporates instruments like the ghatam, a clay pot commonly used as percussion in Southern India, and the santur, a hammered dulcimer of Iranian origin.

"Now the song's finished, and it's out, I'm discovering more and more every single day that Persians are really, really proud of their culture, and it's great to celebrate it," Sheeran told BBC Radio 1.

Azizam is released in a crowded week for new music, with comeback songs by Miley Cyrus, Wet Leg and Elton John all vying for streams.

Sheeran's track doesn't stray too far from his usual pop template, but the Persian influences will undoubtedly bolster his figures in the Middle East - the world's fastest-growing music market.

It's a trick the star has pulled before.

A voracious music fan with an instinct for new commercial opportunities, he's collaborated with Afrobeats stars like Burna Boy and Fireboy DML, learned Spanish for a record with Colombian singer J Balvin, tipped his hat to Irish folk music on Galway Girl, and even sang in Punjabi during a recent concert in Mumbai.

Talking about the creation of Azizam, the star said he'd had "a hell of a lot of fun" immersing himself in Persian music.

"I loved how a lot of rhythms, scales, melodies and instruments were different but similar to the Irish trad music I had grown up with."

The inspiration came Salmanzadeh, an Iranian-born Swedish songwriter, who has previously scored major hits with Ariana Grande, Taylor Swift and Beyoncé.

"One day he was just like, 'I would love to make something within the culture that I come from' and that's how it was sparked," Sheeran told Radio 1's Greg James.

"It's [become] the first single of an album that is super playful and celebratory."

Sheeran debuted the song three weeks ago on the streets of New Orleans during a surprise performance in the city's French quarter, accompanied by the Soul Rebels brass band.

The recorded version also includes background vocals from the Citizens of the World Choir, which is made up of refugees.

Early reviews have largely been positive, with a few caveats.

Awarding it three stars, The Guardian said the Persian elements felt incidental to what was an overwhelmingly "Anglo-Saxon" pop song.

"Azizam does its job with the kind of ruthless efficiency you might expect from Sheeran in unabashed pop mode," wrote pop critic Alexis Petridis.

"It has a hook that fully digs into your brain the first time you hear it, and proves impossible to dislodge thereafter.

The song is "banal, featherweight musical Esperanto", added the Telegraph's Neil McCormick.

"Lighter than candy floss and twice as sticky... It will be number one on every Spotify playlist by tomorrow, inescapable all spring and summer, and the next time you ask me, I'll probably declare it a bubblegum classic."

Fans were more sympathetic. On Radio 2, one listener texted Sheeran to offer their praise.

"I'm from an Iranian family, and there are so many Persian music influences in the song, which is amazing to hear," they said.

The song is the first track from Sheeran's eighth studio album, which is due for release later this year.

Speaking on the US chat show The Tonight Show, the 34-year-old confirmed the record would be titled Play, kicking off a new series of records that will be called Pause, Rewind, Fast-Forward and Stop.

He also suggested that he was planning a posthumous release, containing songs written throughout the course of his life. Speaking to host Jimmy Fallon, he joked that album would be called Eject.

His new material comes at a crucial crossroads in his career. One of the biggest-selling acts of the 2010s, the star's last two albums underperformed.

Subtract, released in May 2023, presented a more understated, introspective side to the star's bubbly pop persona - with production from The National's Aaron Dessner.

Although it received some of the best reviews of his career, it was his first album not to go platinum in the UK.

A companion album, Autumn Variations, released later the same year, fared even worse.

Despite debuting at number one, it left the Top 40 after two weeks, and has yet to be certified gold - meaning it has sold fewer than 100,000 copies.

However, the star remains one of the world's most-streamed acts. On Spotify, 12 of his songs have topped 1 billion plays.

The most popular, Shape Of You, is the second-most streamed song of all time, with 4.3 billion streams.