The Divided State of Europe

nivek

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Prince Harry accuses NYPD of cover-up in new unseen emails demanding arrests

Prince Harry pressured New York cops to speed up their investigation and make arrests after their 'high speed' chase with photographers through the streets of Manhattan. He even claimed there was a cover-up, letters and emails obtained by DailyMail.com show. 'The Duke feels intentionally misled and is suspicious of a cover-up,' one missive from his security company to the NYPD said.

'Suspicious' Prince Harry accuses NYPD of cover-up in unseen emails demanding arrests

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nivek

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Moment Saudi doctor, 50, is 'arrested with explosive device in car after killing at least two when he drove BMW into crowd in Christmas market terror attack in Germany

A Saudi doctor drove through a massive crowd at a German Christmas, killing at least 11 and injuring nearly 70 people, was arrested with an explosive device. The driver of the car, reported to be a dark BMW, was arrested following the crash which took place at 7:04pm today in the city of Magdeburg, according to unidentified government officials in the state of Saxony-Anhalt who spoke to the dpa news agency. Video footage of the moment appears to show armed police crowding around a dark car and forcing a bearded man to slowly exit.

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nivek

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Horror 'terror attack' at a German Christmas market comes just days after 10,000-strong march chanting 'Allahu Akbar' - now many feel generosity towards Syrian refugees must end

They are still confused and, understandably, a little angry in the centre of Essen, though the mood is very much calmer than it was a few days ago. Back then, many people were scared witless, grabbing their children and running for the exits. As I stand here, amid the oom-pah music, the fairy lights and the little stalls selling hot chocolate, hefty sausages, toys, candles and all the ephemera you would expect at a traditional German Christmas market, I can see why. For in mid-afternoon on Sunday December 8, this snug ambiance - what the Germans like to call 'gemutlichkeit' - was suddenly disrupted by chants of 'Allahu Akbar'. Out of nowhere came a large, boisterous crowd - mostly Arabic, almost entirely young men - who barged past the fairground rides and on down the narrow pathways between the market traders with their jewellery displays, gingerbread houses and puppet shows.

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nivek

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It'll be lonely this Christmas! The faces of the Brits on death row this festive season in hell-hole foreign jails contemplating execution by hanging, lethal injection and firing squad

Three British citizens will rot on death row in some of the world's worst jails this Christmas contemplating their upcoming executions by hanging, lethal injection and firing squad. The three women who may share the same grisly fate have been convicted of heinous offences including murder and drug smuggling and have all appealed their sentences with no success.

It'll be lonely this Christmas! The faces of the Brits on death row this festive season in

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nivek

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Keir Starmer 'had no plan' before taking office and his Labour government is already defined by 'drift and dysfunction', insiders claim

Labour insiders have accused Sir Keir Starmer of having 'no plan' after entering Downing Street and presiding over a government of 'drift and dysfunction'. A searing analysis of the Prime Minister's struggles during his first months in office has been published a left-leaning commentator, quoting cabinet members' frustrations about the new regime's performance so far. It follows a series of scandals and setbacks rocking Sir Keir's administration since he won a landslide general election victory over Rishi Sunak's Conservatives on July 4.

Jason Cowley has spent the past 16 years as editor of the left-wing New Statesman magazine, having previously written regularly for the Labour-supporting Observer newspaper. Now he has spoken out about what he says a cabinet member described to him as 'drift and dysfunction' since Labour came to power after the general election. He quoted party sources as making stinging comparisons between Sir Keir's approach to government and how former Labour PM Tony Blair, his chief of staff Jonathan Powell and Chancellor Gordon Brown got started after triumphing in 1997.

The new PM has been branded 'two-tier Keir' by critics, after hefty prison sentences handed down to people involved in this summer's nationwide riots in response to the fatal stabbings of three girls at a dance class in Southport, Merseyside. Yet in the new analysis, the stern response by the authorities to those outbreaks of disorder has been seen as a rare - yet brief - positive for the new government led by Sir Keir, a former director of public prosecutions. Cowley writes in today's Sunday Times that one Labour veteran told him: 'The riots saved Keir, a bit like Gordon and the financial crisis.


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nivek

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Top 10 revelations from Vanity Fair's savage takedown of Prince Harry and Meghan

A major new article by Vanity Fair magazine has looked over the five years that have elapsed since Harry and Meghan stepped down from their senior roles in the British Royal Family. Despite initially signing major deals with streaming giant Netflix and podcaster Spotify, with one or two exceptions, the couple are widely considered to have produced any work of note. Among their rare success stories are the pair's controversial Netflix docuseries Harry & Meghan, during which they shared information about the Royal Family.

Prince Harry, 40, famously released a memoir Spare, in which he described his brother Prince William, 42, as physically attacking him, and described his hair loss as 'alarming baldness'. Other projects have not had as much success: the couple only released one podcast via their Spotify deal - Meghan's Archetypes, which sought to dismantle the stereotypes put on women, and included her interviewing celebrity friends including Serena Williams. Spotify and the couple's Archewell Audio released a statement confirming they had mutually agreed to part ways in June 2023. Among the claims made in the article - for which the Sussexes declined to comment - was that some people who worked with Meghan ended up needing therapy.

Here, FEMAIL looks at the top 10 revelations from Vanity Fair's savage takedown of Prince Harry and Meghan:


1. 'Staff needed therapy after working with Meghan '

While allegations of bullying of staff by Meghan have been made - and strenuously denied by the Duchess, the issue once more popped up in the Vanity Fair piece. According to two unnamed sources, after working on Archetypes, one colleague took a leave of absence following a three-episode on the stint. This is before they left Gimlet altogether. It's claimed others described 'taking extended breaks from work to escape scrutiny, exiting their job, or undergoing long-term therapy after working with Meghan'.

The source told the writer she felt that if Meghan chose to 'acknowledge her own shortcomings or personal contributions to situations' instead of adopting a perpetual victim role, her perception might be 'better'. The couple were famously disparaged by podcaster Bill Simmons who worked with the Sussexes at Spotify. In June 2023, he famously referred to the couple as 'f******* grifters', adding: 'I have got to get drunk one night and tell the story of the Zoom I had with Harry to try and help him with a podcast idea. It’s one of my best stories.… F*** them. The grifters.'


2. 'They have become local villains'

As a Montecitan told the outlet, the former royal couple is known as the prince and 'the starlet' locally. And according to several more residents of the high-end celebrity enclave, the couple are considered 'local villains' by some. Among the negatives attributed to the pair are increased visits from out-of-towners, it being impossible to get a walk-in booking at Lucky's, a steakhouse the pair have frequently several times, and increased house prices.

3. 'Meghan did not come up with the idea for Archetypes'

Vanity Fair cites a source saying that the idea for the Sussexes' solo creation Archetypes did in fact come from another employee. However, the noted, the 'employee didn’t own any of the intellectual property'. Because of Archewell Audio taking so long to handle production, Spotify’s studio Gimlet was called in, meaning the production was costlier and required more resources from the podcasting giant than expected.

4. 'Meghan "re-parents" Harry'

A source familiar with the couple described their dynamic as Meghan having a 'caregiver and facilitator' role in which she is the one who 'makes things happen'. They noted that Harry has changed since entering the relationship, saying he would previously pop into the Palace's press office, where he may seem a little bored while asking questions, but also keen. However, they added, they cannot imagine the Harry of today being willing to engage with the media 'in search of purpose'. They concluded: 'I don’t want to be like, oh, it’s an Oedipus thing or whatever, but it kind of feels like she’s reparenting him in a way.'

5. 'Harry "didn't understand' repercussions of tell-all book

A source told Vanity Fair that they believed Prince Harry simply hadn't believed that selling a tell-all book about his famously private family would have the impact it did. This, they added, was particularly impactful as the tome was published during a the middle of the public relations crisis between the Royal Family and the Sussexes - one which had rumbled on for years. They added that they wondered if Harry understood the 'power of the written word, and the power of the narrative' while undertaking the project.

6. 'They are the most entitled, disingenuous people on the planet'

A further disgruntled Montecitan described the couple as 'the most entitled, disingenuous people on the planet'. They added that while the Sussexes claimed they left England to avoid media scrutiny, they appear to constantly court media attention in the States.

7. 'I don't believe she didn't know she'd have to curtsey for the Queen'

Fashion and cultural commentator Tom Fitzgerald, who also lives in the Sussexes' home time of Montecito, recalled a story where a server at a restaurant told him Meghan had called the eatery ahead of eating there, in order to ask about how private the seating arrangement was. Because of her reputation for research and planning, Fitzgerald told Vanity Fair that he didn't find it 'particularly believable' that she 'went into meeting the royal family completely cold, with no research whatsoever' - adding that his opinion is based on on information Meghan has shared about herself.

8. 'It's huckerism: they try and monetise everything'

Another project that came under fire in the article was Meghan's brand American Riviera Orchard. According to Vanity Fair, it is in fact Santa Barbara that is today known as the American Riviera - with all Montecitans interviewed for the piece saying they hadn't heard their area referred to in that way. One resident said: 'It’s such a kind of hucksterism,” one resident says. “It’s just finding every way she can to monetise something.'

9. 'They had no ideas'

Despite the major opportunities offered to the Sussexes upon their arrival in California, in the shape of Netflix and Spotify deals, they failed to yield consistent, successful content. According to a former employee of Spotify, they were unlike other celebrity podcasters, who will 'turn on the mic and talk'. Instead, the former employee said, the couple 'wanted a big theme that would explain the world, but they had no ideas'.

10. 'Harry was "challenging" to engage with"'

One former Spotify staffer described Prince Harry as 'challenging to engage with'. They added that while the couple were interviewing someone for a job, Prince Harry gave of an air of 'why should I do this?' The prompted the employee to wonder: 'Didn’t Spotify pay you a lot of money to do this?' A person who knows the couple added that it was their belief that Harry would be happy for Meghan to make all the money. Instead, they believe, Harry would prefer not to have to, and to instead concentrate on charity work.

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nivek

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Starmer may strut the world pretending Britain is still an important player, but he's no more powerful than the King of Legoland. And here are the problems he REALLY needs to confront in broken Britain

Rattling through the Ukrainian night in his T-shirt, aboard Kiev’s grandiose official train, Sir Keir Starmer ponders spending yet more money we do not have on a war in which we have no interest. What is this foolishness? Who and what does Sir Keir think he is? What sort of country does he think he leads? He speaks as if he imagines he is the late Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany, a mighty ruler commanding huge armies. Yet he is not really much more powerful than the King of Legoland. He has no money, and he has no strength.

Our state is so weak that shoplifters laugh at it as they hurry home with their loot. Burglars and vandals likewise scoff at it. Supposedly illegal marijuana is grown in flourishing criminal farms using stolen electricity. It is then consumed openly in the streets. Yet nothing is done. This matters. Almost daily we see another case in which a crazed killer has been smoking this ghastly, dangerous drug. You want to know why we have so much knife crime? This is almost certainly why. Sir Keir’s not interested. This has become a country in which we more or less apologise to illegal drug takers, for the damage they do to the rest of us. Here, have a free needle, and a special tax-funded place to stick it in your arm.

The state is so feeble at defending our shores that scores of illegal immigrants pour ashore almost daily on our undefended beaches. Much of our Navy is immobile or conked out. Our Army is tiny. Our fabled superpower nuclear deterrent, when tested, either veers crazily over the USA or plops, lifeless, into the sea. I suspect it will be a while before we risk any more such tests. I often wonder if we are only pretending it exists.

Yet we stomp about in Ukraine with gifts of money and missiles.

Why do we do this? If Britain has such stern principles against foreign countries being invaded, why did we illegally invade Iraq on false pretences in 2003 and bomb Serbia without UN approval in 1999? If we loathe tyrants so much, why do we perpetually suck up to Saudi Arabia, the reigning Olympic champion in repression, despotism, injustice etc? All our rhetoric about Russia is just that, hypocritical bombast, bellowed by a global mouse through an enormous megaphone.

The USA wants a confrontation with Russia. It has been seeking one since Washington adopted the aggressive and rather stupid Wolfowitz Doctrine in 1992. But why should we join in? Almost everyone intelligent in US foreign policy opposed this strategy. The greatest American diplomat of the 20th century, George Kennan, spoke fiercely against it. But it went ahead anyway, with the support of that vain, squalid nuisance, Bill Clinton.

The crucial thing to grasp is that Putin’s aggression, undoubtedly nasty, is not what you have been told it is. Putin does not dream of the day when his Army washes its boots at Calais, while preparing the first successful invasion of these islands since 1066. He couldn’t if he wanted to. He knows that his thuggish armed forces are corrupt, badly equipped, poorly led and badly trained. They still cannot even take the Ukrainian city of Kharkov, 20 miles from the Russian border. So a march on Warsaw, Berlin, Paris and Brussels is unlikely. What he wants is to prevent Ukraine becoming the host for American forces and missiles. This is not wholly unreasonable.

English foreign policy was based for centuries on keeping the French out of Scotland, a similar principle. You will have to ask yourself why the Americans want to push their power into Eastern Europe, as they have been doing for 35 years, because I can think of no good reason for it. Then again, I still do not know why they invaded Iraq in 2003. But I am convinced of one thing. Britain has no interest in this quarrel. On the contrary, it needs to wake up to this key fact: we are no longer a superpower.


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AD1184

Celestial
A modern fable has occurred in France:

The left-wing management of a Parisian theatre, Gaité Lyrique, staged a conference a few weeks ago on “reinventing the refugee welcome in France”. More than 200 migrants showed up to the event. However, when the event ended, the migrants did not leave, and their numbers swelled to more than 350. Now, the theatre is facing financial ruin, thanks to it no longer being able to conduct normal business.

 

nivek

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IMO, in another twenty years France will be, for all intents and purposes, an Islamic state, but unlike Turkey, France has a long history as a part of western (Christian) Europe which is troubling considering the also long history of friction between those two religions...

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nivek

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France to acquire a nuclear deterrent making it “untouchable”

The French ASN4G (Air-Sol Nucléaire de 4ème Génération) is a hypersonic air-to-ground nuclear cruise missile. It's capable of hypersonic speeds. Announced figures suggest a speed of between Mach 6 and Mach 7, i.e. up to 8,500km/h. It will therefore be at least two to four times faster than the current missile. It will also have a greater range, more than twice that of the current missile, i.e. over 1,000km/h.

The missile in question represents a significant advance in France's nuclear deterrent capability, guaranteeing a rapid and effective response in the event of a threat. A theory supported by the newly appointed commander of the Strategic Air Forces, General Stéphane Virem, who declared that it was a “nuclear missile capable of penetrating the densest and most developed enemy defenses”.


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nivek

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nivek

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Harry and Meghan are ridiculed by comedian at prestigious Netflix event in LA just weeks before launch of Duchess' new show

Hollywood's leading lights were paying close attention last night when streaming-giant Netflix held its prestigious season launch in Los Angeles.

Ben Affleck was there at the historic Egyptian Theatre to plug a new film, while Tina Fey entertained guests with details of her latest comedy.

Clips of colourful documentaries starring Victoria Beckham, Eddie Murphy and former president Barack Obama featured prominently.

Yet one of Netflix's best-known collaborators, the Duchess of Sussex, was barely mentioned at the event - even though her lifestyle show, 'With Love, Meghan', is due to be released in March.

Worse, in another sign that America is falling out of love with the royal couple, a leading comedian at the event made Harry and Meghan's film-making record the butt of a dismissive joke.

Describing his own live talk show, which debuts on March 12, just a few days after Meghan's series is due to launch – John Mulaney said: 'This will be the one place where you [might] see Arnold Schwarzenegger sitting next to Nikki Glaser sitting next to a family therapist with music by Mannequin Pussy…

'This is a really fun experiment. Not since Harry and Meghan has Netflix given more money to someone without a specific plan.'

The Hollywood audience responded with 'snickering' and a few 'whoas', according to a source in the auditorium last night.


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nivek

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Migrants and a once-liberal paradise where the PM now admits: 'We've lost control'... SUE REID reports as Sweden is engulfed by a crime wave of rape, gang bombings, assassination - and even a reported lynching...

(Excerpt)

On Wednesday night, an anti-Islam campaigner and atheist who had sparked violent protests in Muslim countries by burning the Koran outside Stockholm Central Mosque last year was shot dead in his flat near the capital.

Last month, the Swedish government announced it will in future only admit newcomers who promise to make an 'honest living' and uphold the country's values as it tightened citizenship rules.

Over the past century, Sweden has been Europe's number one sanctuary for 'war weary' or persecuted people – Claudia herself came here, like others, to escape the fascist regime of Chilean military dictator Augusto Pinochet four decades ago.

In 2015, as huge numbers of migrants headed to Europe during the Syrian civil war, Sweden welcomed 163,000 asylum seekers from the Middle East, a gesture that many today believe has provoked a national crisis.

The country that once boasted Europe's lowest crime rate is now facing rampant murder, gun warfare, a drugs crisis, illegal prostitution rackets, and a rape epidemic.

The rise in criminality is blamed by the centre-Right government on gangs disproportionately made up of first and second-generation migrants. A 2023 police report said there are 14,000 active gang members in Sweden, some of them children as young as nine or ten, with a further 48,000 people 'affiliated' to them.

Meanwhile, bomb explosions are an almost everyday occurrence. In 2024 there were 124 across the country. In the first 30 days of this year in the Stockholm area and Claudia's own county of Uppsala, there were 33 – three taking place during my short visit as rival gangs threatened or actually targeted businesses in extortion rackets.

Stockholm's per-capita murder rate today is roughly 30 times that of London and half the suspects are aged between 15 and 20 amid a huge demographic shift over the past two decades.

Between 2002 and 2023, the share of the Swedish population who are either foreign-born or have at least one foreign-born parent increased from 21 per cent to 35 per cent, according to a report by government agency Sweden Statistics.


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nivek

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Sweden shooting horror leaves 'several dead': Terrifying moment people flee gunfire

Footage has emerged of the terrifying moment Swedish students were sent scrambling for their lives as a gunman opened fire at a school in the city of Örebro this afternoon.

At least five people were shot at Risbergska School in Örebro's Västhaga district, with the shooter - a 35-year-old man, believed to have turned the gun on himself - though police are yet to confirm this.

Some Swedish outlets and national broadcaster SVT initially reported there were multiple fatalities, but others claimed all five gunshot victims were wounded but had not been killed.

Aftonbladet and Expressen reported that Örebro's University Hospital received five shooting victims, four of which underwent surgery. Two are said to have been stabilised, while one escaped with minor injuries.

'One of the injured persons is a person whom we suspect may be the assailant,' Orebro police chief Roberto Eid Forest told a press conference. He said police were not yet aware of a motive.

A team of armed cops conducted a raid on the suspect's house around 4:30pm local time and explosions were reported at the property.

Police refused to provide details of the raid to Swedish press, but TV4 claimed the shooter had no previous convictions and possessed a firearms license.


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nivek

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Horror at Sweden's 'worst mass shooting': PM and King express 'sadness and dismay' - as death toll 'hits ten' and footage shows heavily-armed shooter storming school campus

The Prime Minister and King of Sweden have expressed their 'sadness and dismay' following the country's 'worst mass shooting' which has left at least ten people dead.

The shocking attack took place at Risbergska School in Örebro's Västhaga district on Tuesday, with the shooter - a 35-year-old man, eventually turning the the gun on himself according to police.

Following the brutal shooting which killed around ten adults, reportedly including the attacker, no other information about the victims has been released.

Police said they were trying to discover a motive but believed the attacker acted alone, and that further attacks were not expected.

Sweden's Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said of the 'worst mass shooting in Swedish history': 'Today, we have witnessed brutal, deadly violence against completely innocent people.

He later added: 'My thoughts, the thoughts of all of Sweden, are now with first and foremost with those who are the direct victims of this heinous act.

'Your grief is our grief. We are with you.'

Carl Gustaf, the King of Sweden also shared a statement from the Royal House.


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nivek

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How gentle, liberal Sweden is now home to evil criminality - with two shootings in the last week alone that shocked the world - after becoming a multi-cultural nation divided by racial discord

(Excerpt)

Sweden, which once boasted Europe's lowest crime rate, is facing mass murders, gun warfare, drug trading, daily bombings, illegal prostitution rackets and a rape epidemic. Much of this criminality is blamed by the center-right government on gangs disproportionately made up of first-generation migrants. A 2023 police report said there are 14,000 active gang members in Sweden, some children of nine or ten, with a further 48,000 people 'affiliated' to them.

In 2024, there were 124 explosions (linked, it is thought, to gangland turf wars) across the country. In the first 30 days of this year, in Stockholm and other towns, there were 30, leaving buildings burning and collapsing as fire brigades struggled to cope. Stockholm's per-capita murder rate is roughly 30 times that of London. Half the suspects are aged between 15 and 20, amid a huge demographic shift that has upended this hitherto peaceful Christian nation.

Between 2002 and 2023, the share of the Swedish population that was either foreign-born or had at least one foreign-born parent increased from 21 per cent to 35 per cent, according to a recent official report by the government agency Sweden Statistics (SCB). And that percentage is expected to rise, as migrants have large families (aided by a generous refugee welfare package), while Swedish parents often only produce one or two.

There's no doubt that Sweden is fighting back. Deportations of migrant criminals are happening (although slowly). And, for all that, I have met Bosnian Muslim asylum seekers in Sweden who came before 2015 and assimilated into the country happily. Their children have become pillars of society: politicians, doctors, business-people. One I spoke to twice during the week Queen Elizabeth died told me: 'She was our Queen too.'

He added: 'But Sweden was naive in 2015 to let so many in. Few questions were asked about who they were or what their demands of Sweden would be.'


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nivek

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Donald Trump WON'T deport Prince Harry from the US as he says: 'I'll leave him alone. He's got enough problems with his wife. She's terrible'

US President Donald Trump says he has no plans to deport Prince Harry from the US amid a legal battle over his immigration status - taking a swipe at his wife Meghan Markle in the process.

'I don't want to do that,' Trump said on Friday. 'I'll leave him alone. He's got enough problems with his wife. She's terrible.'

Harry's immigration status is the subject of a lawsuit in Washington DC. Conservative think tank the Heritage Foundation has alleged that he may have concealed illegal drug use that should have denied him a US visa.

In his memoir, Spare, he detailed how he took cocaine several times as a teenager and experimented with cannabis and mushrooms.

Heritage cited his own admissions in its filing against the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) as it sought to have Harry's visa records released.

It has suggested that Trump's predecessor, Democrat Joe Biden, had given Harry preferential treatment when he relocated to California after 'Megxit' - when he and Meghan bowed out of royal duties altogether.


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nivek

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Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are slammed for using golf buggy to ride passed disabled veterans at Invictus Games

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle slammed for using golf buggy to ride past disabled veterans

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have been slammed for riding in a golf buggy passed disabled veterans at Invictus Games on Sunday. Meghan Markle, 43, joined her husband Prince Harry , 40, for the seventh edition of the games, which he founded in 2014 for wounded, injured and sick servicemen and women, which will see more than 500 competitors from 23 countries come together to compete. However a short video of the couple in a golf cart, which was shared to Meghan's Instagram, caused a stir online with people calling the royal pair 'desperate' for driving past veterans, some who were wheelchair bound.

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