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With his all-American good looks, Robert Redford, who died on Tuesday aged 89 was the eternal “Sundance Kid”, a US screen legend both in front of and behind the camera.The tousled-haired heartthrob made his breakthrough alongside Paul Newman as the affable outlaw in the Western “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid” in 1969.After 20 years as one of Hollywood’s hottest actors, he moved behind the camera becoming an Oscar-winning director and co-founded the Sundance Film Festival, which became a springboard for a new generation of independent filmmakers like Quentin Tarantino.”Few careers have had such an impact on the history of cinema,” said French producer Alain Terzian before awarding him the French equivalent of an Oscar in 2019.- Outlaw -But the athletic young Redford’s beginnings were far from a smooth ascent to the top. The son of an accountant from Santa Monica, California, his mother died in 1955, a year after he finished high school.He won a scholarship to the University of Colorado thanks to his baseball skills, but lost it a year later because of his heavy drinking.Redford spent the next months travelling around Europe before enrolling in the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in 1959.After various television roles, his first big screen break was in the romantic comedy “Barefoot In The Park” (1967) opposite Jane Fonda.Two years later his career went stellar with “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid” about two outlaw buddies who flee to Bolivia to escape US authorities.The film became an instant classic, launching Redford and burnishing the career of the older Newman, who became a lifelong friend.The pair also teamed up as 1930s con artists in “The Sting” (1973), which won Redford his only nomination for an Oscar for best actor.- Behind the camera -Now a household name, he starred in a succession of major films such as “The Great Gatsby” (1974), “Three Days of the Condor” (1975) and the critically acclaimed “All the President’s Men” (1976), playing Bob Woodward, one of the Washington Post journalists who broke the Watergate scandal.In another career high, he won an Oscar for his directorial debut with “Ordinary People” in 1980.The baseball classic “The Natural” followed in 1984 before Redford had another generation of women swooning in the epic romance “Out of Africa” (1985), in which he starred alongside Meryl Streep.He went on to star with a young Brad Pitt in “A River Runs Through It” (1992) and the Oscar-nominated “Quiz Show” (1994).”At one time I thought when I was making films… that might have an effect on the country or the future,” he told AFP in 2007. “I don’t think so anymore.””If you look at ‘All The President’s Men’ and what it was saying about the relationship between the media and government and the corporate powers, and then look where we are now, it’s worse than it was,” he added.”Robert Redford’s work… always represents the man himself: the intellectual, the artist, the cowboy,” said singer Barbra Streisand as she presented the avowed liberal and environmentalist with a Lifetime Achievement Oscar in 2002.The actress, who played his lover in “The Way We Were” (1973), said: “He’s always interesting, he’s always interested. He’s very smart, very private, he’s self-assured, but shy.”- Indie guru -Redford always saw his part in launching the independent Sundance Film Festival in 1985 as one of his greatest achievements.Created to help aspiring filmmakers disaffected with Hollywood’s commercialism and lack of diversity, it has fostered leading independent directors such as Jim Jarmusch, Tarantino and Steven Soderbergh.In 2013 Redford said that by pursuing the indie path, he had ensured his own survival in the movie business.”Had I given in to living in the (Hollywood) system, I don’t know that I would be here right now.” – #Metoo -Aged 76, he was back on screen for one of his meatiest starring roles in years, a solo performance as a lost-at-sea yachtsman in “All Is Lost” (2013).He also had a role in Marvel Studios’ superhero blockbuster “Captain America: The Winter Soldier” (2014) and a cameo in its record-shattering “Avengers: Endgame” (2019).In 2018 Redford said that the greatest change in Hollywood over his 60-year career had been the #MeToo movement, a “tipping point” he said would change the industry’s attitudes towards women and sexual misconduct.  Redford had four children with his first wife, Lola Van Wagenen, one of whom died as an infant. He married German artist and longtime girlfriend Sibylle Szaggars in 2009.

The trial of Luigi Mangione, accused of gunning down an insurance industry executive, will start on December 1, the state court judge in the case said on Tuesday.Mangione appeared in court wearing a beige jumpsuit and shackles, flanked by armed police and court officers, stopping to smile and nod at a young woman in the front row as he was led out, AFP saw.His appearance in a Manhattan courthouse is a reminder of the string of political violence that has rocked the United States in recent times, including the December 4 slaying of insurance executive Brian Thompson.That has been followed by a number of other incidents, including the murder of a Minnesota state lawmaker and her husband, the firebombing of the Pennsylvania governor’s home and, most recently, the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.”I think we agree that hearings in this case will start December 1,” judge Gregory Carro said.Fervent supporters of Mangione gathered both inside and outside court to show their backing for the 27-year-old whose alleged crimes have sharply divided Americans.Thompson’s murder brought to the surface deep public frustration with the lucrative US commercial health care system, with many social media users painting Mangione as a hero.He is charged in both state and federal court in the December 4 shooting of UnitedHealthcare chief executive Thompson.- Insufficient evidence for ‘terrorism’ -If convicted in the state case, Mangione could face life imprisonment with no parole. In the federal case, he could technically face the death penalty.At Tuesday’s hearing, the judge said that the grand jury in the case had been presented with insufficient evidence to support the first-degree murder charges, and murder as an act of “terrorism” charge. The remaining counts still stand — including second-degree murder.”The evidence put forward to the jury was legally insufficient” the judge said.”As to the other counts evidence was sufficient — including murder in the second degree.”One of the protesters, who were mostly young women, held up an Italian flag emblazoned with the words “healthcare is a human right.”Mangione’s attorney Karen Friedman Agnifilo has sought clarity on how simultaneous federal and state charges would work, calling the situation “highly unusual.”Dozens of Mangione’s supporters chased his legal team along the street after they left court following the packed hearing.Mangione was arrested in Altoona, Pennsylvania, on December 9 following a tip from staff at a McDonald’s restaurant, after a days-long manhunt. He had traveled to New York by bus from Atlanta about 10 days before the crime, the Department of Justice said. After checking into a Manhattan hostel with false identification, he allegedly performed reconnaissance near the victim’s hotel and the conference venue where the shooting took place.Early on December 4, Mangione allegedly tracked Thompson, walked up behind him and fired several gunshots from a pistol with a silencer, the DOJ said. Afterward, he is said to have fled on a bicycle.

Wall Street stocks hit fresh record highs on Tuesday as the US Federal Reserve prepared to meet, while the dollar slid.The Fed’s two-day gathering is widely expected to conclude on Wednesday with the central bank agreeing to trim borrowing costs, with policymakers trying to shore up the world’s biggest economy.The dollar dropped against main rivals on Tuesday as lower interest rates make the greenback less attractive to investors, while safe haven gold hit yet another record high.”The Fed’s focus appears to have shelved inflation concerns for now, instead concentrating on a stalling (US) jobs market, which should lead to a 0.25-percent cut,” noted Richard Hunter, head of markets at Interactive Investor.Data released on Tuesday showed retail sales in the United States rose more than analysts expected in August, even as the effects of President Donald Trump’s tariffs ripple through the US economy.Overall sales jumped by 0.6 percent on a month-on-month basis in August, beating expectations of a 0.2-percent gain, showing US consumers are not holding back despite the softening jobs market.Separate data showed US non-fuel import prices rose by 0.4 percent in August, following no gain in July.”Today’s data won’t change the market’s expectation that the Fed will vote tomorrow to cut the target range for the fed funds rate by 25 basis points to 4.00-4.25 percent, but it will presumably temper calls for a 50-basis-point cut,” said Briefing.com analyst Patrick O’Hare.Wall Street’s S&P 500 and Nasdaq indices pushed to fresh record highs as trading got underway on Tuesday.Trump announced on Tuesday that the United States and China had reached a deal over TikTok, which Washington says must pass into US-controlled ownership.Trump said he would confirm the deal when he speaks with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping on Friday.The Fed meeting takes place with Trump appointee Stephen Miran as a new member of the bank’s rate-setting committee after the Senate narrowly voted to confirm his appointment late on Monday.Meanwhile, a US federal appeals court ruled that Fed Governor Lisa Cook can remain in her position while challenging her ouster from the bank — after Trump sought to fire her.Miran’s appointment comes as the president demands that the Fed cuts borrowing costs and accuses the central bank’s chief, Jerome Powell, of being unfit for the job.Expectations that US rates will be reduced over the next few months and possibly into 2026 continued to weigh on the dollar and pushed up gold to an all-time peak close to $3,700 an ounce.The British pound firmed versus the dollar.Analysts increasingly expect the Bank of England to maintain its key interest rate on Thursday and for the remainder of 2025.Official data on Tuesday showed UK unemployment remaining at a four-year high of 4.7 percent amid stubbornly high British inflation.European stock markets fell on Tuesday following a steady showing by Asia’s main indices.Shares in Germany’s Thyssenkrupp rose around eight percent in Frankfurt after India’s Jindal Steel International made an offer for the company’s steel division.- Key figures at around 1330 GMT -New York – Dow: UP less than 0.1 percent at 45,898.56 pointsNew York – S&P 500: UP 0.1 percent at 6,624.42New York – Nasdaq Composite: 0.2 percent at 22,397.50London – FTSE 100: DOWN 0.6 percent at 9,220.07 Paris – CAC 40: DOWN 0.4 percent at 7,865.57Frankfurt – DAX: DOWN 0.9 percent at 23,531.60Tokyo – Nikkei 225: UP 0.3 percent at 44,902.27 (close)Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: FLAT at 26,438.51 (close)Shanghai – Composite: FLAT at 3,861.87 (close)Euro/dollar: UP at $1.1823 from $1.1768 on MondayPound/dollar: UP at $1.3657 from $1.3609Dollar/yen: DOWN at 146.87 yen from 147.38 yenEuro/pound: UP at 86.59 pence from 86.47 penceBrent North Sea Crude: UP 1.0 percent at $68.10 per barrelWest Texas Intermediate: UP 1.3 percent at $64.10 per barrelburs-rl/

The suspect in the murder of prominent US conservative political activist Charlie Kirk is to be charged in a Utah court on Tuesday, authorities said.Kirk, a close ally of President Donald Trump, was shot dead last week during a speaking event on a Utah university campus. He was the founder of the influential conservative youth political group Turning Point USA.Authorities said 22-year-old Tyler Robinson used a rifle to shoot Kirk with a single bullet to the neck from a rooftop. Robinson was arrested after a 33-hour manhunt.Kirk, a father of two, used his audiences on TikTok, Instagram and YouTube to build support for conservative talking points, including strong criticism of the transgender rights movement.A polarizing figure, he often posted carefully edited clips of his interactions during debates at his many college events.FBI Director Kash Patel has been heavily criticized for his actions in the immediate aftermath of the shooting, including having quickly announced the arrest of a separate suspect, only to confirm they had been released two hours later.On Tuesday, Patel will face questioning from a Senate panel, likely to include probing of the handling of the Kirk shooting, among other issues.Patel has come under fire from both the right and the left since being named by Trump to head the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the nation’s premier law enforcement agency.On Monday, the White House said it would be pursuing an alleged left-wing “domestic terror movement” in the wake of Kirk’s killing, prompting alarm that such a campaign could be used to silence political dissent.

The UK was rolling out the red carpet on Tuesday for US President Donald Trump due to arrive on an historic second state visit, with security tight as protestors gear up to make their voices heard.As wars still rage in Ukraine and the Middle East, and major economies grapple with US tariffs, Britain is hoping to woo the mercurial Trump, treating him to a huge show of pomp and pageantry.But controversies over sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and free-speech culture wars could make for some awkward moments when Trump sits down with Britain’s embattled Prime Minister Keir Starmer.Trump was due to arrive Tuesday evening and then head to the historic Windsor Castle on Wednesday, for a full day of lavish events. The 79-year-old Republican has long been fascinated with the royal family and will be honoured with a carriage procession with King Charles III as well as a grand state banquet at Windsor.The setting means he will be far away from crowds and protesters, with his schedule due to avoid London where a large anti-Trump demonstration has been called on Wednesday.Labour leader Starmer is not a natural bedfellow for right-wing firebrand Trump, but has worked to win him over since his return to the White House in January.The visit is “a huge moment for both” men, said Evie Aspinall, director of the British Foreign Policy Group think-tank.”For Trump, the state visit is an opportunity to revel in the pomp and ceremony he loves,” she told AFP.”For Starmer, the visit is a chance to distract from domestic discontent and shift the limelight onto international issues where he has had greater success.”- US investments -Security is being ramped up. Thames Valley Police said it has deployed its marine unit around Windsor as “part of a wide range of security measures in place, many of which will be visible to the public and others which will not”.Downing Street has said Trump’s visit would see the “unbreakable friendship” between the countries “reach new heights”.The two nations are set to sign a raft of agreements worth £10 billion ($13.6 billion), including one to speed up new nuclear projects as well as what British officials called “a world-leading tech partnership”.Ahead of the trip, Google said it would invest £5 billion in the UK in the next two years while US finance firms including PayPal and Citi Group announced they would spend £1.25 billion.Trump, whose mother was Scottish, will become the first US president to get a second state visit, after his previous one in 2019 when he met Queen Elizabeth II.After Windor’s pomp, politics will dominate on Thursday when Starmer hosts Trump at his country retreat Chequers, seeking to capitalise on Britain being one of the first countries to secure a US trade deal.- Epstein scandal -Ukraine will also be a key topic. Starmer is one of a host of European leaders who have pushed Trump to keep backing Kyiv despite signs of him leaning toward Russian President Vladimir Putin.Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Tuesday that Trump will likely meet with Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky next week and still hopes to broker a peace deal between Kyiv and Moscow.First Lady Melania Trump, who is making a rare public appearance, has a separate itinerary on Thursday.She is due to take part in an event with Queen Camilla, who is recovering from a bout of acute sinusitis which forced her to pull out attending the Duchess of Kent’s funeral on Tuesday.Despite the pomp, tensions will be lurking in the background.The White House said Trump would discuss “how important it is for the prime minister to protect free speech in the UK” — a topic raised by Trump’s former ally Elon Musk in a speech to a far-right rally in Britain over the weekend.Starmer’s spokesman on Monday called Musk’s language “dangerous and inflammatory”.Starmer desperately needs the visit to go well following a miserable few days in which some of his own Labour party members have openly questioned whether he can remain as leader.He has been dogged by questions over his judgement for appointing the now-sacked Peter Mandelson as ambassador to Washington despite his known friendship with Epstein.But Rubio, on a visit to Israel, said Mandelson’s sacking “won’t change the nature of the visit”.”It’s a big honour and they’re an important ally and partner,” Rubio said.Trump is facing awkward scrutiny himself over his own links to the convicted sex offender.Activists on Monday unveiled a huge portrait of Trump and Epstein on a large patch of grass outside Windsor Castle.

US President Donald Trump filed a $15 billion defamation lawsuit against the New York Times on Monday, accusing the outlet of a “decades-long pattern” of smears driven by feelings of “actual malice.”Trump, 79, has intensified his long-established hostility toward the media since his return to the White House, repeatedly badmouthing journalists critical of his administration, restricting access and bringing lawsuits.The Times reported last week that Trump had threatened legal action against it in relation to its articles on a lewd birthday note allegedly given to sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. The Republican president has denied authoring the note.”The New York Times has been allowed to freely lie, smear, and defame me for far too long, and that stops, NOW!” he wrote on his Truth Social platform.The lawsuit also named four New York Times reporters and the publisher Penguin Random House as defendants, according to an 85-page complaint filed in the US District Court for Florida’s Middle District.The document cited three articles that came out between September and October last year, and a book by reporters Russ Buettner and Susanne Craig also published around that time.”The Book and Articles are part of a decades-long pattern by the New York Times of intentional and malicious defamation against President Trump,” read the complaint, which was dated Monday.”The Times has become a leading, and unapologetic, purveyor of falsehoods against President Trump on the legacy media landscape.”The New York Times did not immediately return AFP’s request for comment.Trump’s lawsuit alleged that the Times deviated from its typical journalistic patterns and industry best practices when covering him, such as writing articles “in the most antagonistic and negative way” and not giving him sufficient time to respond before publishing.”Put bluntly, Defendants baselessly hate President Trump in a deranged way,” the complaint read.The court was asked to grant compensatory damages of not less than $15 billion and additional punitive damages “in an amount to be determined upon trial.”In July, Trump sued media magnate Rupert Murdoch and The Wall Street Journal for at least $10 billion after it reported on the existence of a book and a letter he allegedly sent to Epstein.Paramount settled Trump’s lawsuit over election coverage on CBS News’ flagship show “60 Minutes” for $16 million the same month. He had alleged that the program deceptively edited an interview with his 2024 election rival, Kamala Harris, in her favor.

FBI Director Kash Patel faces a Senate panel on Tuesday amid criticism of his handling of the investigation into the murder of conservative activist Charlie Kirk and the case of sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee are also expected to grill Patel over an ongoing purge of FBI ranks of agents seen as disloyal to President Donald Trump.Patel has come under fire from both the right and the left since being named by Trump to head the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the nation’s premier law enforcement agency.He angered many Trump supporters with a memo in July that effectively closed the investigation into the activities of Epstein, who died in a New York jail cell in 2019 while awaiting trial for sex trafficking of underage girls.In the memo, the FBI and Justice Department said that the well-connected financier had committed suicide, did not blackmail any prominent figures, and did not keep a “client list.”Trump’s supporters have been obsessed with the Epstein case for years and held as an article of faith that “deep state” elites have been protecting Epstein associates in the Democratic Party and Hollywood.Trump’s one-time close relationship with Epstein has also proved to be potent fodder for his political opponents, with the president and his allies seeking to downplay the whole saga as a Democratic “hoax.”Patel has also been heavily criticized for his actions in the immediate aftermath of last week’s assassination of Kirk during a speaking event at a Utah university.Patel announced the arrest of a suspect a few hours after the shooting, only to turn around two hours later and say that individual had been released and the manhunt was continuing.The actual suspected assailant, Tyler Robinson, was arrested 33 hours after the shooting.Robinson is to be formally charged in Provo, Utah, on Tuesday with the murder of Kirk, the founder of the influential conservative youth political group Turning Point USA.- Right man? -Among those critical of Patel in the wake of the bungled announcement is conservative activist Christopher Rufo, who wrote on X whether “it is time for Republicans to assess whether Kash Patel is the right man to run the FBI.”According to Fox News, Patel’s relationship with Attorney General Pam Bondi is particularly strained, although he continues to enjoy the confidence of the White House for the time being.Since taking office in January, Trump has taken a number of punitive measures against his perceived enemies, purging government officials deemed to be disloyal, targeting FBI agents and law firms involved in past cases against him, and pulling federal funding from universities.Among those summarily dismissed from government service have been scores of FBI agents, including three former senior bureau officials who filed a lawsuit against Patel last week over their firing.The former agents said they were victims of a “campaign of retribution” over a perceived “failure to demonstrate sufficient political loyalty.””Patel not only acted unlawfully but deliberately chose to prioritize politicizing the FBI over protecting the American people,” they said.Following his appearance before the Senate panel on Tuesday, Patel will testify before the House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday.

The United States said Monday it has decertified Colombia as an ally in the fight against drugs, a decision that could cost Bogota hundreds of millions of dollars in US military support.After decades of close alliance in the so-called war on drugs, US President Donald Trump denounced his Colombian counterpart Gustavo Petro for not only failing to curb cocaine production, but overseeing its surge to “all-time records”, according to a signed determination the White House sent to Congress on Monday.”Under President Petro’s leadership, coca cultivation and cocaine production have reached record highs while Colombia’s government failed to meet even its own vastly reduced coca eradication goals, undermining years of mutually beneficial cooperation between our two countries against narco-terrorists,” Trump wrote.The Trump administration has repeatedly pressured Petro, the first leftist elected to lead Colombia, and voiced hope for a shift after elections next year.”Colombia has been a great partner historically. Unfortunately, they have a president now that, in addition to being erratic, has not been a very good partner when it comes to taking on the drug cartels,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio, a sworn enemy of leftist leaders in Latin America, said on a visit to Israel.”I think we have willing partners, if it was up to the military, the police. We’ve been working with them for decades,” Rubio told reporters, voicing hope that Colombia could be recertified in the future. Washington has conducted assessments annually since 1986 on the anti-narcotics efforts of some 20 drug-producing and distributing countries. In the case of Colombia, the world’s largest cocaine producer, US assistance for anti-narcotics efforts reached some $380 million a year, a figure which is now in jeopardy.In a meeting with his cabinet, Petro confirmed the change, saying “the United States is decertifying us after dozens of deaths of police officers and soldiers” in the fight against drug cartels and leftist guerrillas funded by drug trafficking.Since coming to power in 2022, Petro has championed a paradigm shift in the US-led war on drugs, which he considers a failure, to focus on the social problems that fuel drug trafficking.Since 2022, cultivation of coca, the main ingredient in cocaine, has increased by about 70 percent, according to Colombian government and United Nations estimates.To regain the designation, Trump called on Colombia’s government to take “more aggressive action to eradicate coca and reduce cocaine production and trafficking”.He also urged it to “hold those producing, trafficking and benefiting from the production of cocaine responsible, including through improved cooperation with the United States to bring the leaders of Colombian criminal organizations to justice”.- ‘Failure’ by leadership -The decertification comes amid a major drive by Trump against drug cartels, in which US forces have blown up two alleged Venezuelan drug boats, killing 14 people.Trump’s statement praised Colombian authorities, laying blame squarely with Petro.”The failure of Colombia to meet its drug control obligations over the past year rests solely with its political leadership,” Trump wrote, also touching on Venezuela and Bolivia’s efforts to curb cocaine trafficking.The downgrade is a major blow for Colombia, coming as the military and police reel from a string of deadly attacks by the guerrillas.Washington’s disavowal of Petro had been expected since January, when he became embroiled in a blazing row with Trump over migrant deportations.In Colombia, the military and police are reeling from a string of deadly attacks by guerrilla groups. On August 21, 12 police officers were killed when breakaway members of the defunct FARC rebel group shot down a police helicopter during a coca eradication operation in the country’s northwest.On the same day, a truck bomb was detonated on a busy street near a military aviation school in the city of Cali, killing six people.

US President Donald Trump said Monday that he is bringing a $15 billion “defamation and libel lawsuit” against the New York Times.”The New York Times has been allowed to freely lie, smear, and defame me for far too long, and that stops, NOW!” he wrote on his Truth Social platform, adding the lawsuit was being brought in Florida.AFP has contacted the New York Times for comment.Trump decried the newspaper as a “virtual ‘mouthpiece’ for the Radical Left Democrat Party” and accused it of lying about his “family, business, the America First Movement, MAGA, and our Nation as a whole.”He provided no evidence for his claims.The news outlet reported last week that Trump had threatened legal action against it in relation to articles on a lewd birthday note given to sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.The Republican president has denied authoring the note.Trump has intensified his attacks on traditional media since his return to the White House, repeatedly badmouthing journalists critical of his administration, restricting access and bringing lawsuits.He sued media magnate Rupert Murdoch and The Wall Street Journal for at least $10 billion in July after it published an article about his friendship with Epstein.Paramount settled Trump’s lawsuit over election coverage on CBS News’ flagship show “60 Minutes” for $16 million the same month. He had alleged that the program deceptively edited an interview with his 2024 election rival, Kamala Harris, in her favor.

Donald Trump lands in Britain on Tuesday for an historic second state visit that will see the UK government spare no effort in trying to flatter the mercurial American president.As wars still rage in Ukraine and the Middle East, and major economies grapple with US tariffs, Britain hopes the pageantry of its monarchy can help keep Trump on side.But controversies over sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and free-speech culture wars could make for some awkward moments when Trump sits down with Britain’s embattled Prime Minister Keir Starmer.Trump has long been fascinated with the royal family and will be treated to a carriage procession with King Charles III and a grand state banquet at Windsor Castle.He will also be kept far away from crowds and protesters, keeping outside London, where a large demonstration has been called against the 79-year-old Republican.Labour leader Starmer is not a natural bedfellow for right-wing firebrand Trump, but has worked to win him over since his return to the White House in January.”This is really special, this has never happened before, this is unprecedented,” Starmer said as he hand-delivered a letter from the king to Trump in the Oval Office in February inviting him for the state visit.Accepting the invitation, Trump told Starmer that Charles — who is currently undergoing treatment for cancer — was a “great, great gentleman”.Downing Street has said Trump’s visit, with engagements taking place throughout Wednesday and Thursday, would see the “unbreakable friendship” between the countries “reach new heights”.- US investments -The two are set to sign agreements worth £10 billion ($13.6 billion), including one to speed up new nuclear projects as well as what British officials called “a world-leading tech partnership”.Ahead of the trip, Google said it would invest £5 billion in the UK in the next two years while US finance firms including PayPal and Citi Group announced they would spend £1.25 billion.Trump, whose mother was Scottish, will become the first US president to get a second state visit, after his previous one in 2019 when he met Queen Elizabeth II.The US leader will once again mix with royalty on Wednesday in a series of events capped by a state banquet in the evening.Politics takes over on Thursday when Starmer hosts Trump at his country retreat Chequers, seeking to capitalise on Britain being one of the first countries to secure a US trade deal and avoid the worst of Trump’s tariffs.- Epstein scandal -Ukraine will also be a key topic. Starmer is one of a host of European leaders who have pushed Trump to keep backing Kyiv despite signs of him leaning toward Russian President Vladimir Putin.First Lady Melania Trump, who is making a rare public appearance, has a separate itinerary on Thursday when she will take part in an event Queen Camilla.Despite the pomp, tensions will be lurking in the background.The White House said Trump would raise “how important it is for the prime minister to protect free speech in the UK” — a topic raised by Trump’s former ally Elon Musk in a speech to a far-right rally in Britain over the weekend.Starmer’s spokesman on Monday called Musk’s language “dangerous and inflammatory”.Starmer desperately needs the visit to pass successfully following a miserable few days that have featured murmurings about his future.He has been dogged by questions over his judgement for appointing the now-sacked Peter Mandelson as ambassador to Washington despite his known friendship with Epstein.Trump is facing awkward scrutiny himself over his own links to the convicted sex offender, whose friendship with Charles’s younger brother Andrew also embarrassed the royal family.