Europe

Russell Brand has been convicted of rape and three sexual assaults. The Guardian reported that the verdicts came on Thursday at Southwark crown court in London, after a four-week trial. AFP also reported the convictions. The four offences targeted four women over five years of Brand's showbusiness career. Brand, 51, had pleaded not guilty to seven charges involving six women. They covered three counts of rape, three of sexual assault and one of attempted indecent assault, spanning 10 years from 1999. The jury of four women and eight men deliberated for eight hours and 30 minutes. It cleared him of two rape counts and the attempted indecent assault charge. According to the Guardian, the jury found that Brand raped a young fan at his London townhouse in early 2009. He had picked her out of the crowd after a gig at the Hammersmith Apollo. He was also convicted of sexually assaulting an MTV worker at a party in Soho in 2004. Another conviction involved a woman working at radio station Choice FM in 2004 or 2005. The fourth involved a Channel 4 worker during a filming project in 2009. The judge, Mr Justice Bennathan, told Brand that a rape…

The Bank of England raised interest rates on Thursday for the first time since August 2023. The base rate rose by a quarter point, from 3.75% to 4%. The Bank said the move aims to curb inflation driven mainly by the Iran war's impact on oil prices, the BBC reported. According to the Guardian, the conflict has kept oil prices above $100 a barrel for months. Hopes of a deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz have faded. The Bank now expects UK inflation to peak at 4.9% in mid-2027, up from 3.2% in its July forecast. Inflation reached 3.5% in September. The BBC reported that inflation could hit 6.2% in 2027 in an "adverse scenario" in which the war escalates. The Bank does not expect inflation to return to its 2% target until 2028. Eight of the nine members of the monetary policy committee voted for the quarter-point rise. The ninth, Catherine Mann, wanted a half-point increase to 4.25%. The minutes reveal splits over what comes next. Alan Taylor called the move a "one-for-now" insurance hike. Megan Greene said more hikes might follow, depending on wages, prices…

Democrats won a sweeping victory in the US midterm elections. According to Semafor, the result could weaken President Donald Trump's leverage over allies who have previously gone along with his demands. A European diplomat told Semafor that "everybody is now obliged to look toward the post-Trump era." Max Bergmann of the Center for Strategic and International Studies said Europeans did "a lot of bending the knee" in the first two years of Trump's presidency. He predicted that this deference could fade. Allies, he said, feel they no longer need to accept such treatment. Trade deals could also be at risk, said Richard Fontaine,…

Ukraine's national police released bodycam video on Wednesday. They say it shows the moments between two powerful Russian bomb strikes on the southern village of Kamyshuvakha. The camera belonged to one of the police officers killed in the attack. According to the BBC, the strikes killed at least 40 people at an aid centre and a shelter. Ukraine said nine glide bombs, some weighing 3,000kg, hit the village in the Zaporizhzhia region on Monday. People had gathered near a local school to collect humanitarian aid. The video shows heavy destruction after the first strike, as shocked residents stare at the rubble. A military official's voice then comes over a two-way radio. The official warns police that more glide bombs are heading towards the village. "Quickly [go] to the shelter!" one officer tells residents. They walk into a shelter at least two floors underground. Soon after, a blast is heard and flames appear as the shelter is hit. BBC Verify confirmed the video was filmed in the same place as footage from Ukraine's state emergencies service, DSNS, showing the aftermath. DSNS also posted a video of a huge crater left by the attack. President Volodymyr Zelensky said…