US president Joe Biden will arrive in Britain on Sunday (9) for a brief visit during which he will meet prime minister Rishi Sunak and discuss climate change issues with King Charles ahead of the upcoming NATO summit.
The White House said the trip was designed "to further strengthen the close relationship between our nations".
The president will travel to Downing Street on Monday (10) to hold a low-key meeting with Sunak, their fifth in as many months and just a month after the two agreed in Washington to an "Atlantic Declaration" and to work together on advanced technologies, clean energy and critical minerals.
Sunak's spokesperson said their discussions would likely include the upcoming NATO summit and Ukraine.
"As we face new and unprecedented challenges to our physical and economic security, our alliances are more important than ever," Sunak said in a statement released by his office.
"The UK is Europe's leading NATO ally, we are the United States' most important trade, defence and diplomatic partner, and we are at the forefront of providing Ukraine with the support they need to succeed on the battlefield," said Sunak, who studied at California's Stanford University and owns a penthouse flat in Santa Monica.
Sunak has gone some way in repairing ties with Biden after the relationship cooled under his predecessors Boris Johnson and Liz Truss due to their tough stance over a post-Brexit deal with the European Union and Johnson's closer ties to Donald Trump.
For Biden, the more high-profile part of the trip will be his meeting with King Charles at Windsor Castle to the west of London where the monarch's late mother Queen Elizabeth hosted Barack Obama in 2016 and Trump in 2018.
The president and the king are due to discuss climate issues, a subject on which Charles, 74, has campaigned and spoken out about for more than five decades.
When the two men met at the COP26 UN climate summit in Scotland two years ago, Biden praised Charles' leadership on the subject, telling him "We need you badly".
"You are very kind for saying that," Charles replied.
Following the meeting, Biden and Sunak leave Britain for Lithuania where NATO leaders will gather for a key summit. Biden is then expected to travel to Helsinki for a meeting with Nordic leaders.
(Reuters)
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During the hearing, Clifford denied all the charges except for the rape charge, which was added to the indictment at the session. (Photo: Hertfordshire Police /Handout via REUTERS)
Man pleads not guilty to murder of BBC presenter's family
A 26-year-old man has pleaded not guilty to charges of murdering the wife and two daughters of BBC sports commentator John Hunt in a crossbow and knife attack.
Kyle Clifford, who also faces charges of rape, appeared via video link at Cambridge Crown Court on Thursday.
Clifford, arrested in July after a manhunt, is charged with three counts of murder, one count each of rape and false imprisonment, and two counts of possessing offensive weapons – a 10-inch knife and a crossbow.
During the hearing, Clifford denied all the charges except for the rape charge, which was added to the indictment at the session.
He is expected to enter a plea for that charge at a later date.
The victims were Carol Hunt, 61, wife of horseracing commentator John Hunt, and their daughters Louise, 25, and Hannah, 28.
An earlier hearing revealed that Louise had been found tied up and that both she and her sister had been shot with a crossbow, while their mother had been stabbed with a knife.
The fatal attack occurred at the family’s home in Bushey, a commuter town near Watford, northwest of London.
(With inputs from AFP)