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Trump ‘happy’ about Harry and Meghan UK return: ‘I was not a fan’

President praises late queen and King Charles but says duke and duchess treated royal family ‘with great disrespect’

Donald Trump has weighed in on the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s move back to Britain, declaring: “I’m happy about it.”

“I was not a fan,” the US president told reporters during a question-and-answer session after a press conference with travel executives on Wednesday. “I had a very good relationship with the queen, really good. I got to know her very well. A really good relationship with King Charles – I knew him as Prince Charles and King Charles. I’ve known him for a long time.”

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© Photograph: Jonathan Brady/Pool PA/AP

© Photograph: Jonathan Brady/Pool PA/AP

© Photograph: Jonathan Brady/Pool PA/AP

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Deported Milo Yiannopoulos says he is ‘ashamed’ of support for Trump

British far-right pundit breaks silence on ICE arrest and deportation and says he was ‘really, really terrified’

Milo Yiannopoulos, the British far-right commentator who was arrested last week by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers in Louisiana and deported to the United Kingdom, has broken his silence about the experience, saying that “for the first time I know what it feels like to be really, really terrified”.

Yiannopoulos on Tuesday appeared on Piers Morgan Uncensored, a YouTube show presented by Piers Morgan, the British broadcaster and media personality. Yiannopoulos, 41, described the experience in the US as “humiliating and disorientating”, “physically degrading” and “frightening”.

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© Photograph: Geoff Caddick/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Geoff Caddick/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Geoff Caddick/AFP/Getty Images

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London Stock Exchange to lose three more firms after takeover offers

Latest purchases take value of deals to leave capital’s stock market this year past $100bn

Three more London-listed companies are set to be taken over as the value of deals removing firms from the capital’s under-pressure stock market passes $100bn (£74bn) so far this year.

On Tuesday, Bodycote, the FTSE 250 industrials group that has been listed on the London Stock Exchange since 1972, agreed a £1.84bn takeover by the US private equity group Veritas.

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© Photograph: Jack Taylor/Reuters

© Photograph: Jack Taylor/Reuters

© Photograph: Jack Taylor/Reuters

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The Nepal floods seem a world away – but make no mistake, climate breakdown will affect us all | Nesrine Malik

Richer countries might have more resources to deal with catastrophe, but this problem grips the entire planet, however much leaders may want to deny it

Climate breakdown is happening on one Earth, but two different worlds. In one, its impacts increasingly encroach on everyday life; longer periods of discomfort and shorter periods of sharp pain. Endless, hotter summers, and within them sudden wildfires, evacuations, homes burned to cinders in a matter of hours. In another, catastrophe. This summer has been a snapshot of that split-screen. The hottest day on record in parts of Europe, and a wave of water, mud and ice in Nepal that so far has claimed more than 750 lives. Thousands of people are still missing.

The difference is also one of resources. The climate crisis has an economic cost, but some places can absorb it better than others. Responses to this summer of wildfires in Europe included a rapid scrambling by the French government to provide everything from tax breaks for businesses affected by the fires to relocation costs and aid to rebuild homes. The UK government had deployed almost £100m before the summer to strengthen wildfire resilience.

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© Photograph: Prabin Ranabhat/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Prabin Ranabhat/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Prabin Ranabhat/AFP/Getty Images

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‘GB News wouldn’t touch him’: Milo Yiannopoulos will struggle to fit in with UK right wing

‘Alt-right’ agitator and former Trump backer deported from US is said also to be too extreme for Reform

As he arrives back in the UK after being deported from the US by the Trump administration, the far-right provocateur Milo Yiannopoulos may be wondering what lies ahead for him in his native country.

The “alt-right” agitator, 41, made his name in the US by promoting Donald Trump and associating with his allies before the 2016 election.

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© Photograph: Julio Cortez/AP

© Photograph: Julio Cortez/AP

© Photograph: Julio Cortez/AP

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Arms and the £5m man: Farage megadonor Christopher Harborne’s military empire

Reform UK denies donor and crypto-billionaire’s global interests in arms and military could present a conflict of interest over its defence spending policy

As he struggles with questions about the millions he has received from the billionaire Christopher Harborne, Nigel Farage has made no secret of his enthusiastic support for the industry that made part of his benefactor’s fortune – cryptocurrency. The Reform UK leader even urged the governor of the Bank of England to drop a crypto policy that may be costly for Harborne.

But another element of Harborne’s business interests could prove still more consequential if it shapes Farage’s positions. There appears to be no precedent for a major UK donor who is so entwined with the military.

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© Composite: Guardian Design/Shutterstock/ South Korean Defence Ministry/AFP/Getty Images/LNP

© Composite: Guardian Design/Shutterstock/ South Korean Defence Ministry/AFP/Getty Images/LNP

© Composite: Guardian Design/Shutterstock/ South Korean Defence Ministry/AFP/Getty Images/LNP

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Far-right media provocateur Milo Yiannopoulos deported by ICE from US to UK

Ex-Breitbart editor has vocally supported immediate deportations for anyone who can’t prove US residency

Far-right British media provocateur Milo Yiannopoulos has been deported from the US after being detained on Thursday by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in New Orleans in connection with what the agency said was expired authorization to be in the country and a deportation order.

Yiannopoulos’s deportation to the UK occurred on Friday, said a statement on Saturday from a spokesperson for the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which oversees ICE.

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© Photograph: Drew Angerer/Getty Images

© Photograph: Drew Angerer/Getty Images

© Photograph: Drew Angerer/Getty Images

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The week around the world in 20 pictures

The Nepal-Tibet flood disaster, Russian strikes in Kyiv, Israeli settlers in the West Bank and tributes to Dolly Parton – the past seven days as captured by the world’s leading photojournalists

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© Photograph: Navesh Chitrakar/Reuters

© Photograph: Navesh Chitrakar/Reuters

© Photograph: Navesh Chitrakar/Reuters

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Ex-Barclays boss denies having sex with woman dressed as Snow White after Epstein emails

Jes Staley made comments to US lawmakers investigating his links to the convicted sex offender

The former Barclays boss Jes Staley has denied having sex with a woman dressed as Snow White, after being questioned about an infamous email exchange about Disney princesses with Jeffrey Epstein.

The comments were detailed in newly released transcripts from a closed-door interview last month with US lawmakers as part of their investigation into Epstein, who died in prison in August 2019 while awaiting trial on child sex-trafficking charges.

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© Photograph: Tayfun Salcı/ZUMA Press Wire/REX/Shutterstock

© Photograph: Tayfun Salcı/ZUMA Press Wire/REX/Shutterstock

© Photograph: Tayfun Salcı/ZUMA Press Wire/REX/Shutterstock

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Unlike needy Keir, trash-talking Andy speaks a language Trump understands | John Crace

Burnham has nothing to hide as he prepares to meet president he once called poisonous. It may actually win him more respect

It makes a pleasant change. Not so long ago, Keir Starmer was falling over himself in his efforts to keep things sweet with Donald Trump. Offering the US president a second state visit within minutes of meeting him. Everyone knows you should never put out on the first date: it only makes the other person think you’re a pushover. Sure enough, The Donald banked the marching bands and the Windsor silver service, made polite conversation for three days and then went back to trash-talking him.

Yet still, Starmer just sat there and took it. As if one word of criticism would be too much. Wittering on about the “special relationship” as if Trump gave a moment’s thought to the UK before he did anything. The rest of us wouldn’t have put money on the US president even being able to locate Britain on a map. It was only latterly, when The Donald chose to bomb Iran, that the penny finally dropped for Keir. And even then he looked pained by the apparent betrayal, as he resisted the calls of Kemi Badenoch and Nigel Farage to join in the war.

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© Composite: Kin Cheung/Getty Images; Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images

© Composite: Kin Cheung/Getty Images; Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images

© Composite: Kin Cheung/Getty Images; Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images

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Tim Curry, the prolific performer who transformed for the screen – video

Tim Curry was a versatile performer on stage and screen who made his name as the flamboyant Dr Frank-N-Furter in The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Curry’s best-known roles often required a considerable physical transformation, to the extent that he was unrecognisable in some of them. As Frank-N-Furter, Rocky Horror’s eccentric scientist, he was daubed in garish makeup and dressed in stockings and suspenders. In Ridley Scott's fantasy Legend, he sported giant horns and scarlet skin as the Lord of Darkness, and, in 1990, Curry was transformed with full-face clown makeup to play Pennywise in the TV miniseries It, based on Stephen King's novel

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© Photograph: Allstar

© Photograph: Allstar

© Photograph: Allstar

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US issues sanctions against UK-based direct action group Palestine Action

US labels group ‘global terrorist’ as Palestine Action challenge against proscription in UK nears supreme court hearing

The US ⁠has ​issued sanctions against ⁠the UK-based direct action organisation Palestine ⁠Action, describing it as a “transnational terror group”.

The US Department of the Treasury labelled Palestine Action a specially designated global terrorist on Wednesday, which allows the US to freeze the assets of foreign individuals and entities.

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© Photograph: Ben Stansall/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Ben Stansall/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Ben Stansall/AFP/Getty Images

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Lego sales jump 21% to nearly £5bn, helped by World Cup and F1 ranges

Danish toymaker also scores success with KPop Demon Hunters, Star Wars and botanicals products

Lego sales have risen by more than a fifth as tie-ups with the football World Cup, Formula One and the hit film KPop Demon Hunters as well as its flower-based and Star Wars kits drive demand.

The toymaker said its revenues had increased by 21% to 41.9bn Danish kroner (£4.8bn) in the first six months of 2026, driven by strong growth in the Americas, Europe and the Asia-Pacific regions, offsetting stalled sales in China.

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© Photograph: Patrick T Fallon/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Patrick T Fallon/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Patrick T Fallon/AFP/Getty Images

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Gold price hits three-month high amid fears over Iran war and Trump economy

Bitcoin rises above $80,000 for the first time since May amid uncertainty over US fiscal plans

Gold prices hit their highest level in more than three months on Tuesday as continued conflict in the Middle East and ongoing political uncertainty fuelled the latest rally in the precious metal.

Gold is viewed as a safe haven by investors and its price tends to rise at times of uncertainty.

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© Photograph: Denis Balibouse/Reuters

© Photograph: Denis Balibouse/Reuters

© Photograph: Denis Balibouse/Reuters

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Fast-fashion giant Shein sets cut-price $27bn valuation for Hong Kong IPO

China-based retailer swung to $99m loss in first quarter and faces scrutiny over its environmental footprint

Shein, which built a fast-fashion empire on what seemed like impossibly low prices, has been forced to lower its own valuation in a cut-price stock market float, after falling into the red earlier this year.

The online retailer will list on the Hong Kong stock exchange on 1 September at a valuation of close to $27bn (£19.8bn), significantly down from a near-$100bn private market peak four years ago.

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© Photograph: Jorge Silva/Reuters

© Photograph: Jorge Silva/Reuters

© Photograph: Jorge Silva/Reuters

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The week around the world in 20 pictures

Wildfires in Europe, Russian strikes in Kyiv, the Meta trial and swimming in Gaza – the past seven days as captured by the world’s leading photojournalists

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© Photograph: Abdel Kareem Hana/AP

© Photograph: Abdel Kareem Hana/AP

© Photograph: Abdel Kareem Hana/AP

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We’ll never be royals: the California town where Prince Harry and Meghan lived says goodbye

As the couple plans their return to the UK, Montecito’s whirlwind stint on the global stage may be coming to an end

The bucolic coastal California town of Montecito was thrust into the limelight six years ago as the backdrop for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s second act following an acrimonious split from Buckingham Palace.

But as the couple plans their return to the United Kingdom, Montecito’s whirlwind stint on the global stage may be coming to an end.

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© Photograph: David McNew/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: David McNew/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: David McNew/AFP/Getty Images

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Why is the Trump administration causing turmoil in the bond markets? | Richard Partington

As yields are dragged higher in the UK, Europe and Japan, the impact for consumers and businesses will be far-reaching

Government borrowing costs around the world have surged to the highest levels in decades amid growing fears over US bond market turmoil.

Anxiety about Donald Trump’s handling of the US economy, and concern that the US president’s war with Iran is driving up inflation, are causing a sell-off in the US bond market.

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© Photograph: Yuki Iwamura/AP

© Photograph: Yuki Iwamura/AP

© Photograph: Yuki Iwamura/AP

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JD Sports cuts £50m from profit forecast as cost of living pressures hit trainer sales

Inflation fuelled by Iran conflict deterring shoppers, especially in the US, says high street chain

The sports fashion retailer JD has cut £50m from its profit forecast as cost of living pressures, fuelled by the US war on Iran, weighed on sales of trainers.

JD Sports, which sells brands including Nike and Adidas, said widespread inflation had hit shoppers’ wallets, particularly its core young shoppers, resulting in a drop in sales across important markets such as the US, where it struggled to shift trainers and other footwear.

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© Photograph: Christopher Thomond/The Guardian

© Photograph: Christopher Thomond/The Guardian

© Photograph: Christopher Thomond/The Guardian

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Leading economies’ borrowing costs hit highest since 2008 crisis

Concern over impact of Iran war pushes up government bond yields in US, UK, France, Germany and Japan

Government borrowing costs in several advanced economies hit their highest level since the 2008 financial crisis, or even earlier, on Monday as investors feared the Middle East crisis would keep inflation persistently high.

Concerns over rising prices and government spending pushed up the cost of debt issued by Paris, Berlin, Washington DC, Tokyo and London as investors fretted that rising prices would push up interest rates.

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© Photograph: Martin Meissner/AP

© Photograph: Martin Meissner/AP

© Photograph: Martin Meissner/AP

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University spinout to launch water quality app for UK and US waters

Molendotech will collate data from daily tests that detect E coli and other bacteria amid reports of swimmers falling ill

A UK university spinout behind a rapid bacterial water testing kit is planning to launch live water quality maps, as scores of beachgoers report falling ill after swimming.

Molendotech, a spinout from the University of Plymouth, sells a portable test that detects E coli and other bacteria in water and delivers results on the spot, without waiting for days to get laboratory results.

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© Photograph: Molendotech

© Photograph: Molendotech

© Photograph: Molendotech

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