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US President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden will meet the Queen at Windsor Castle later.

The couple will receive a guard of honour and tea during the visit, which comes after they last met during the G7 summit in Cornwall.

But this afternoon’s private time with the monarch can be seen as a significant diplomatic gift from the UK government, keen to shore up a relationship with the new president.

The Queen speaks to Joe and Jill Biden as they attend a reception at the Eden Project for G7 leaders, including Boris Johnson
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The Queen also met the Bidens during the G7 summit in Cornwall

The Queen will greet the Bidens inside the castle grounds, where a guard of honour formed of The Queen’s Company First Battalion Grenadier Guards will give a royal salute, and the US national anthem will be played.

Mr Biden will accompany the officer commanding the guard of honour, Major James Taylor, and Major General Christopher Ghika, to inspect the honour guard.

After the formal ceremonial arrival, the Bidens will join the monarch inside the castle for tea.

In 2018, the Queen accompanied then-president Donald Trump to inspect the guard of honour at Windsor.

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Pictures appeared to show Mr Trump walking in front of the Queen, seen by some as a diplomatic faux pas.

Democratic strategist Laura Fink told Sky News that Mr Biden will see the visit as huge honour, and she wouldn’t be surprised if they had a lot in common.

FILE - In this Friday, July 13, 2018 file photo, U.S. President Donald Trump and Britain's Queen Elizabeth inspects the Guard of Honour at Windsor Castle in Windsor, England. U.S. President Donald Trump will pay a state visit to Britain in June as a guest of Queen Elizabeth II, Buckingham Palace said Tuesday, April 23, 2019. The palace said Trump and his wife, Melania, had accepted an invitation from the queen for a visit that will take place June 3-5. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais, file)
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Donald Trump appeared to walk in front of the Queen during a 2018 visit. Pic: AP

She said: “It’s funny because with Donald Trump, he said it’s the best time she’s had in 25 years following the event and I thought that was characteristic of his bombast.

“I think it’s going to be 180-degree shift with Joe Biden.

“He is understated, he’s someone who connects with people on a deeply personal level.

“I think right now with the recent passing of Prince Philip and the experiences that President Biden has had with loss in his own life, he tends to lead with empathy and connection and of course good humour.

“So I think it’ll be a much more understated event with fewer stories of the presidential eclipse with President Trump walking ahead of the Queen, and more about the connection between two individuals that have led their countries for quite some time.”

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Queen jokes with G7 leaders during photocall

There have been 14 US presidents during the Queen’s 69-year reign – from Harry S Truman to Mr Biden.

Mr Biden will be the 13th American leader to meet the monarch, with Lyndon B Johnson the only one the Queen did not meet.

The Royal Family is seen as a hugely important diplomatic asset for the UK.

The emphasis on shared interests started on Friday with the Duchess of Cambridge hosting First Lady Jill Biden during a visit to a school in Cornwall, before joining the Queen and other members of the family at a reception for the G7 leaders.

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Queen cuts cake – with not a knife but a ceremonial sword

Lord Darroch, who was the UK’s ambassador in Washington during the Trump administration, said nothing compares to the Queen’s subtle influence.

He said: “There is just an extraordinary fascination which is very lucky for us, they (the Royal Family) are a huge national asset, and that helps greatly, I think.

“It’s part of soft power diplomacy. A big part.”

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Speaking about how the Queen will prepare for the meeting he said: “Yes, there will be a Foreign Office briefing provided for her and, yes, she will read it and she will get it all, she will pack it away and that will be part of the material for her conversation with him.

“But she’s just so experienced at doing this, I’m sure she can manage without the briefing, but she will take the briefing and she will absorb it.”

The Queen prepares to receive the salute during a ceremony at Windsor Castle to mark her official birthday
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The Queen was at Windsor on Saturday to mark her birthday

The visit from the president concludes a very busy weekend for the 95-year-old monarch.

On Friday, she travelled to Cornwall for the G7 leaders’ reception, before heading back to Windsor for her official birthday parade on Saturday.

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Court rules woman, 73, who took part in Charles Manson killings should be released on parole

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Court rules woman, 73, who took part in Charles Manson killings should be released on parole

A 73-year-old woman who took part in two killings on the orders of cult leader Charles Manson in 1969 should be released from prison on parole, a Californian appeals court has ruled.

Leslie Van Houten is serving a life sentence for helping Manson and other followers kill Leno LaBianca, a grocer in Los Angeles, and his wife Rosemary.

Van Houten was 19 at the time.

Mr LaBianca’s body was carved up during the killing and the couple’s blood was smeared on the walls.

The killings came the day after other Manson followers, not including Van Houten, killed pregnant actress Sharon Tate and four others in violence that shocked Los Angeles and the nation.

Charles Manson is escorted to his arraignment on conspiracy-murder charges in connection with the Sharon Tate murder case in 1969
Pic:AP
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Charles Manson is escorted to his arraignment on conspiracy-murder charges in connection with the Sharon Tate murder case in 1969. Pic: AP

Van Houten, then one of Manson’s youngest followers, has spent more than 50 years in prison.

The appeal court’s ruling reverses an earlier decision by California Governor Gavin Newsom, who rejected parole for Van Houten in 2020.

She has been recommended for parole five times since 2016. All of those recommendations were rejected by either Mr Newsom or former California governor Jerry Brown.

Mr Newsom has said that Van Houten still poses a danger to society. In rejecting her parole, he said she offered an inconsistent and inadequate explanation for her involvement with Manson at the time of the killings.

Leslie Van Houten in a Los Angeles lockup in 1971
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Leslie Van Houten in a Los Angeles lockup in 1971. Pic: AP
Leslie Van Houten, a Charles Manson follower, sits in court during her parole hearing at the California Institution for Women at Frontera in 1986
Pic:AP
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Leslie Van Houten sits in court during her parole hearing at the California Institution for Women at Frontera in 1986. Pic: AP

But the Second District Court of Appeal in Los Angeles has now ruled 2-1 to reverse Mr Newsom’s decision, writing there is “no evidence to support the Governor’s conclusions” about Van Houten’s fitness for parole.

It marks the first time a court has overruled a governor’s denial of parole to a Manson follower, according to the Los Angeles Times.

However, California Attorney General Rob Bonta could still ask the California Supreme Court to stop her release.

Neither his office nor Mr Newsom’s immediately responded to requests for comment on whether they would do so, according to local reports.

Nancy Tetreault, Van Houten’s lawyer, said she expects Mr Bonta to ask the state’s supreme court to review the court’s decision in a process that could take years.

Manson, who died in prison in 2017 at age 83, instructed his mostly young and female followers to murder seven people in August 1969 in what prosecutors said was part of a plan to spark a race war.

Although Manson, one of the 20th century’s most notorious criminals, did not personally kill any of the seven victims, he was found guilty of ordering their murders.

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Manson’s life and crimes

Charles Manson pictured in 2017
Pic:California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation/AP
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Charles Manson pictured in 2017. Pic: California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation/AP

The death sentences given to Manson and his followers were commuted to life in prison after capital punishment was ruled unconstitutional in 1972.

Van Houten’s 1971 original conviction and death sentence was initially overturned on appeal, but she was retried, convicted and sentenced to prison in 1978.

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Ron DeSantis calls Trump’s COVID lockdown criticisms ‘ridiculous’ at his first US presidential campaign event

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Ron DeSantis calls Trump's COVID lockdown criticisms 'ridiculous' at his first US presidential campaign event

Ron DeSantis has begun his bid to become the Republican candidate for US president by claiming he is America’s saviour and calling some of frontrunner Donald Trump’s criticisms “ridiculous”.

The Florida governor wants to be his party’s candidate to challenge Joe Biden in next year’s presidential election.

His key rival for the GOP nomination is former president Mr Trump, who has a big lead in opinion polls and an unbreakable grip on the party, according to some commentators.

At his first event as a candidate, Mr DeSantis, 44, told around 500 people at an evangelical Christian church in Iowa on Tuesday the US is “going in the wrong direction. We can see it and we can feel it.”

His clearest criticisms of the frontrunner came when speaking to reporters afterwards.

Promising to “fight back” against the former president, he rubbished Mr Trump’s suggestion that New York’s pandemic response was better than Florida’s, calling it “detached from reality.

“That criticism is ridiculous. But it is an indication that the former president would double down on his lockdowns.

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“When we disagreed [while Mr Trump was president], I never bashed him publicly because he was taking all this incoming from the media, the left, and even some Republicans.

“And the whole collusion was a total farce. And he was treated very, very poorly. And that bothered me, and it still bothers me to be honest.

20-year-old Jack Spoonmore of Adel, Iowa holds a Ron DeSantis campaign sign
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Supporters outside the DeSantis rally in Des Moines

“So, I never really would air those disagreements. Well, now he’s attacking me over some of these disagreements, but I think he’s doing it in a way that the voters are going to side with me.”

Read more:
Ron DeSantis as American president is exciting for some, but frightening for others
The controversial Florida governor taking on Mickey Mouse and Donald Trump

Republican Florida Governor Ron Desantis arrives with his wife Casey to kick off his campaign for the 2024 Republican U.S. presidential nomination
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Ron Desantis and his wife Casey at the Iowa event

The governor’s appearance came six days after a stumbling online announcement to launch his bid.

Mr DeSantis becomes the latest in a crowded Republican contest to decide whether the party will move on from Trump in 2024 as it aims to retake the White House from Democrat Joe Biden.

Those already in the GOP field include Trump, former United Nations ambassador Nikki Haley, South Carolina senator Tim Scott, entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy and former Arkansas governor Asa Hutchinson.

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Sometimes described as “Trump without the chaos”, Mr DeSantis has nicknamed Florida “the place where woke
goes to die” and taken on the Disney Corporation after it opposed a state law banning classroom lessons on sexual orientation and gender identity in early years.

Mr DeSantis’ campaign funds could increase by up to $80m (£64,724m) after a department in his own administration changed state rules, NBC said.

A state-level political committee Mr DeSantis led for the past five years, known as Friends of Ron DeSantis, is widely expected to transfer the sum to a federal super PAC called Never Back Down backing his bid for president.

The change overturns at least five years of state election rules, NBC said.

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Prince Harry: US court to hear challenge over Duke of Sussex’s visa following drug revelations

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Prince Harry: US court to hear challenge over Duke of Sussex's visa following drug revelations

A federal judge will hear an appeal from a conservative think tank to unseal Prince Harry’s US immigration records following revelations in his book that he took drugs.

Nile Gardner, of the Heritage Foundation, tweeted on Tuesday a hearing on his organisation’s suit will be heard on 6 June.

He wrote that the “Prince Harry immigration records case will be held in Washington, DC Federal Court in front of a US Federal Judge”.

He also announced the proceedings will be open to the press.

Past drug use can be grounds to deny a visa application for the US.

The Heritage Foundation is trying to discover if the revelations in the Duke of Sussex’s memoirs Spare were documented in his visa application.

In the book, it was revealed Harry had taken cocaine, smoked marijuana and tried magic mushrooms.

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It comes amid an ongoing High Court trial involving the duke, in which he is bringing a contested claim against Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN) over allegations of unlawful information gathering.

He is also awaiting rulings over whether similar cases against Daily Mail publisher Associated Newspapers Limited (ANL), and News Group Newspapers (NGN) – which publishes The Sun – can go ahead.

A judgment is also expected in the duke’s libel claim against ANL over an article on his case against the Home Office.

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