The remains of Tropical Storm Mario could bring flooding to the Los Angeles area. Dry storms with lightning could ignite wildfires in Northern California.
Microsoft says its new $30bn (£22bn) investment in the UK's AI sector – its largest outside of the US - should significantly boost Britain's economy in the next few years.
Its package forms a major part of a $31billion agreement made between the UK government and various other US tech giants, including Nvidia and Google, to invest in British-based infrastructure to support AI technology, largely in the form of data centres.
Microsoft will also now be involved in the creation of a powerful new supercomputer in Loughton, Essex.
Speaking exclusively to the BBC Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella told the BBC of the tech's potential impact on economic growth."
"It may happen faster, so our hope is not ten years but maybe five".
"Whenever anyone gets excited about AI, I want to see it ultimately in the economic growth and the GDP growth."
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said the US-UK deal marked "a generational step change in our relationship with the US".
He added that the agreement was "creating highly skilled jobs, putting more money in people's pockets and ensuring this partnership benefits every corner of the United Kingdom."
The UK economy has remained stubbornly sluggish in recent months.
Nadella compared the economic benefits of the meteoric rise of AI with the impact of the personal computer when it became common in the workplace, about ten years after it first started scaling in the 1990s.
But there are also growing mutterings that AI is a very lucrative bubble that is about to burst. Nadella conceded that "all tech things are about booms and busts and bubbles" and warned that AI should not be over-hyped or under-hyped but also said the newborn tech would still bring about new products, new systems and new infrastructure.
He acknowledged that its energy consumption remains "very high" but argued that its potential benefits, especially in the fields of healthcare, public services, and business productivity, were worthwhile. He added that investing in data centres was "effectively" also investing in modernising the power grid but did not say that money would be shared directly with the UK's power supplier, the National Grid.
The campaign group Foxglove has warned that the UK could end up "footing the bill for the colossal amounts of power the giants need".
The supercomputer, to be built in Loughton, Essex, was already announced by the government in January, but Microsoft has now come on board to the project.
Big tech comes to town
Mr Nadella, revealed the investment as Donald Trump has arrived in the UK on a three-day state visit
The UK and US have signed a "Tech Prosperity Deal" as part of the visit, with an aim of strengthening ties on AI, quantum computing and nuclear power.
Google has promised £5bn for AI research and infrastructure over the next two years.
UK Chancellor Rachel Reeves opened a £735m data centre as part of the investment on Tuesday in Hertfordshire.
There are some concerns that accepting so much money from US investors will mean the UK relies too much on foreign technology.
One of the ways it stated it would do this was to "export American AI to allies and partners."
The UK government has signed number of deals with US technology companies, including an agreement to use OpenAI services in the public sector and a £400m contract to use Google Cloud services in the Ministry of Defence.
Satya Nadella said he thought the agreement defined "the next phase of globalisation" and argued that having access to foreign tech services leveraged digital sovereignty rather than threatened it.
On the growing issue of AI taking over jobs, Nadella said Microsoft also had to "change with the changes in technology", having laid off thousands of staff this year despite record sales and profits. He described it as "the hard process of renewal".
AI growth zone in north-east England
The government also said there was "potential for more than 5,000 jobs and billions in private investment" in north-east England, which has been designated as a new "AI growth zone".
It has now announced another data centre project dubbed Stargate UK from OpenAI, chipmaker Nvidia, semiconductor company Arm and AI infrastructure firm Nscale.
That will be based at Cobalt Park in Northumberland.
OpenAI boss Sam Altman said Stargate UK would "help accelerate scientific breakthroughs, improve productivity, and drive economic growth."
However the UK version is a fraction of the firm's US-based Stargate project, which OpenAI launched in January with a commitment to invest $500 billion over the next four years building new AI infrastructure for itself.
So far, reaction to the agreement has been broadly positive, but its clear that there are many challenges ahead for the UK if it is to fulfil its intended potential.
The Tony Blair Institute described the news as a "breakthrough moment" but added that Britain had some work to do: "reforming planning rules, accelerating the delivery of clean energy projects, and building the necessary digital infrastructure for powering the country's tech-enabled growth agenda," said Dr Keegan McBride, the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change's emerging tech and geopolitics expert.
Matthew Sinclair, UK director of the Computer & Communications Industry Association, hailed the agreement as "a powerful demonstration of the scale of the AI opportunity for the UK economy."
But the Conservative Party highlighted that other big international companies such as the pharmaceutical giant Merck have recently cancelled or delayed their UK expansion plans.
Satya Nadella spoke to the BBC News in between board meetings, shortly before jumping on a flight to join Donald Trump as he arrives in the UK on a three-day state visit. Nadella will be among other tech leaders, including OpenAI's Sam Altman and Nvidia's Jensen Huang, attending the Royal state banquet on Wednesday.
He said he would use Microsoft's AI tool Copilot to help him decide what to wear.
"I was very surprised that there was a very different dress protocol, which I'm really not sure that I'm ready for," he said.
Mohanad Abdullaahi Goobe died of his injuries after the attack on Monday
The parents of a 15-year-old boy who was stabbed to death have said they will "not allow his name to be known as yet another statistic in the rise of knife crime".
Mohanad Abdullaahi Goobe died of his injuries after he was stabbed on Moston Street, Manchester, on Monday afternoon.
In a tribute his family said: "Mohanad was the baby of the family, he was quick to laugh, easy to love, with a ready smile".
Another 15-year-old has been arrested on suspicion of murder and remains in custody after the stabbing, Greater Manchester Police said.
Police were called to Monton Street in the Moss Side area after reports of a disturbance involving a large group of people
In a statement, Mohanad's family said: "His life has been cut tragically short, it is difficult to comprehend that seeing your son head off for school in the morning would be the last time that we would see that handsome face."
They said the 15-year-old had "an uncanny ability to make you laugh, making it sometimes difficult to be serious with him".
He also had an older sister and brother, they said.
"Mohanad had many friends, he was loyal and often played the class clown, simply to see them laugh," the family added.
"Mohanad deserves to be remembered for the young man who was loved by his family, and loved big in return, not as the boy whose life was taken with no thought or reason."
Police are continuing to investigate the stabbing and have urged anyone with information about the attack to come forward.
The garden - one of London's biggest - makes landing helicopters like this easy work
In central London, on land the size of seven football pitches, sits a mansion called Winfield House - the official residence of the US ambassador to the UK.
It may be a stately home but through the years it's been known to throw one hell of a party, especially on 4 July, America's Independence Day. This year's celebration saw Nile Rodgers & Chic headline the building's lawn for thousands of people.
Fashion's elite, sports stars and wartime leaders have all been entertained here. Even in 1825 when the original site was built, according to Winfield's official website, its primary use was for entertainment.
President Donald Trump is spending the first night of his state visit at the 35-room mansion. The Trumps also stayed there in 2019, as did the Bidens and Obamas previously.
"It's not just the home of the ambassador, but it's also a centre of diplomatic hospitality," says Stephen Crisp, formerly the property's head gardener, who worked there for 37 years until his retirement last year.
One thing Winfield isn't, is a tourist attraction. Located inside Regent's Park, it's exclusive and takes planning to get inside. Friends of Regent's Park previously arranged tours of the grounds - but so far this year the ambassador has not granted permission.
From the road outside, the house cannot be seen. It's shrouded in woodland and is very private for central London.
"It's really, really difficult to get in there. I regard it as a feather in my cap that I actually managed to get in," says Viv Ward, Friends of Regent's Park's event manager. He calls the house "magnificent" and is audibly in awe of the grounds.
Tours of Winfield only allow you to see the ground floor, which is basically a "very posh" area for receptions, and the gardens. The first floor is home to the personal apartments of the ambassador.
As a home and the venue of most American receptions, schedules are tight. "It wasn't a case of we would like to come on this date and this time. It was just, you will be allowed to come here on this day," Mr Ward says.
The property boasts the second-largest private garden in central London, says Mr Crisp. It's home to a lawn, paved walkways, sculptures - and there's also space for helicopters to land.
CHRIS JACKSON/AFP via Getty Images
King Charles appeared on behalf of the former queen, his mother, when Trump hosted at Winfield previously
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American presidents and first ladies have often hosted a grand dinner here
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In 2019, a European menu was served alongside American wine
Socialite and heir to the Woolworths fortune, Barbara Hutton, sold Winfield to the US government for a mere dollar in 1946 in an offer described by the then-president Harry S Truman as "most generous and patriotic".
Hutton had bought the house 10 years earlier after it was partly destroyed in a fire. The Crown Estate Commission gave her permission to tear it down and rebuild in the iconic red brick Georgian style that remains today.
She named it after her grandfather, Frank Winfield Woolworth, the founder of the Woolworth shopping chain.
With World War Two about to erupt and her second marriage not going particularly well, Hutton returned to America with her son in 1939. It would later be revealed this is when she met her next husband - actor Cary Grant - who is said to have stayed at the mansion with her.
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Barbara Hutton bought the house when she was in her twenties
During the war, Winfield was commandeered by the Royal Air Force balloon barrage unit with officers reportedly playing football in the gardens.
Hutton returned to London to see what was left of it at the end of the war - and after the Germans' bombs. She called her lawyer and requested it be handed over to the US government for repairs - and it's been used as the official residence of ambassadors ever since.
History is in the walls of Winfield. The original building was called St Dunstan's, and according to Friends of Regent's Park, was used for blind veterans of World War One. A charity of the same name still exists today.
Speaking about US presidents, Mr Crisp says: "At some point they all come, at least once." He explains he met Trump and his wife Melania during their previous state visit in 2019, which was "a little bit surreal". They dined at the property with Queen Camilla and King Charles III before he ascended to the throne.
An iconic image of Mikhail Gorbachev - the last Soviet leader - and US President George W Bush may be one of the most famous moments from the house. The pair held a joint news conference there at the G7 summit in 1991.
Politicians have long used it for key moments, including international summits, grand state dinners and bringing together wartime leaders.
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The Obamas hosted Queen Elizabeth II in recent years
MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images
The Trumps have hosted formal dinners here during previous state visits
Security detail for presidential visits is secure information - often never released. But Mr Ward shares a glimpse into the daily routine at the house.
"The security is unbelievable, I mean for example I used to have to send the embassy a list of attendees," he adds, saying photo ID had to be shown to the armed presence on the gates of Winfield.
And if you want to leave early? An armed officer has to escort you off the premises.
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In 1959, President Eisenhower hosted wartime leaders for a reunion party
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A moment in history. Gorbachev and George W Bush speak to reporters in 1991 from there
Winfield House has hosted many varied events, says Mr Crisp.
There have been performances by Take That, Duran Duran, the Foo Fighters, Ed Sheeran and Bastille, he says, sometimes in the garden and sometimes in the house.
It's also been home to sporting events with the Duke of Sussex attending an Invictus Games reception there. Michelle Obama got stuck in with a sports day event, even doing the tug of the war alongside some famous spectators.
Geoff Pugh - WPA Pool/Getty Images
The prince, now a US resident, is one of many royals welcomed to the house
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A competitive First Lady is seen being cheered on by David Beckham
Fashion royalty has also hit the corridors of Winfield. Former Vogue boss Alexandra Shulman co-hosted a London Fashion Week opening party with the ambassador at the time. A Spice Girl was spotted too.
Some of the events would involve "thousands" of guests, Mr Crisp says, with the 4 July parties typically gathering 3,000 or 4,000.
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Victoria Beckham keeps her eye on designer Matthew Williamson during a drinks reception
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Designer Tom Ford pictured with Cara Delevigne and Clara Paget
It's a bit of an escape.
"You would never know you're in the centre of the London," Mr Ward says.
But what's the most disappointing part of the house? (Disappointing feels like a stretch.) Mr Ward says its driveway is "rather modest" compared to the rest of Winfield.
"It's big enough for big limousines but you couldn't get a brigade of guards walking up and things. It's not like the Mall."
Robert Redford, who has died at the age of 89, appeared in more than 50 Hollywood films, won an Oscar as a director, and became a champion of independent film-makers, founding the annual Sundance Film Festival to showcase their work.
Success meant he could pick and choose his projects, with many chiming with his politically liberal views. And he campaigned on environmental issues and for the rights of Native Americans.
His all-American good looks couldn't be ignored: Redford was once described as "a chunk of Mount Rushmore levered into stonewashed denims".
Another critic said he had "a fluid physical grace and an inner radiance that sometimes makes it seem as if he's lit from within".
But overall, Redford thought his beauty was more of a hindrance than a help to his career - and said karma had brought tragedy in his family life to punish him for his physical good fortune.
One film producer unwisely dismissed Redford as "just another Hollywood blond"
Charles Robert Redford Jr was born in Santa Monica, California, on 18 August 1936 - the son of a milkman who later became an accountant with Standard Oil.
At school, he became part of a street gang and was arrested for "borrowing an automobile that had stolen jewellery in its trunk".
He won a scholarship to the University of Colorado thanks to his prowess at baseball, but was thrown out after 18 months for drunkenness. At the same time, his mother died - aged just 40.
Stricken with grief, he drifted for a while, finding work in the Californian oilfields - before travelling to Paris and Florence, where he studied art.
His sojourn in Europe encouraged him to take a fresh approach to the United States: "I began to look at my country from another point of view," he later said.
Returning home, he enrolled at the American Academy of Dramatic Art with ambitions to become a theatrical designer - but quickly switched to acting.
Like many actors in late 1950s New York, he picked up a number of small roles on stage and television, including parts in popular series such as The Untouchables, Perry Mason and Dr Kildare.
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The 1965 film Inside Daisy Clover, opposite Natalie Wood, was a breakthrough for Redford
His big-screen debut came in 1960 with a minor role in Tall Story, where he found himself working alongside Jane Fonda.
It was not an auspicious start to his film career. The film flopped - with Time magazine opining that "nothing can save this picture".
However, it did mark the beginning of a lifetime's friendship with Fonda, who later admitted to falling in love with him each time they worked together.
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With Jane Fonda in Barefoot in the Park. Fonda said he had an aura about him
"There was always a mystery because he didn't reveal anything. He's got an aura about him," she said.
His first major stage success was as pompous lawyer Paul Bratter in Neil Simon's romantic comedy Barefoot in the Park. It was a role he would reprise in the 1967 film version, opposite Fonda.
In 1965, he picked up a Golden Globe award for most promising newcomer for his role in the film Inside Daisy Clover with Natalie Wood.
But he was turned down for the part of Benjamin Braddock in The Graduate because director Mike Nichols felt he was too good-looking - which made Redford wary of being stereotyped by his appearance.
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Paul Newman and Robert Redford formed one of Hollywood's great screen partnerships
Global fame came in 1969 with Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.
The 33-year-old's portrayal of the laidback Kid, in contrast to Paul Newman's fast-talking Butch, proved to be one of Hollywood's great partnerships.
Ironically, Redford nearly missed out on the part after one studio executive said: "He's just another Hollywood blond. Throw a stick out of a window in Malibu, you'll hit six like him."
The studio did everything it could to avoid hiring Redford, until Newman - a huge established star - stepped in and insisted.
The two actors found they shared a love of theatre, and remained firm friends until Newman's death in 2008.
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Dustin Hoffman and Robert Redford in All the President's Men, the story of the Washington Post's reporting on the Watergate scandal
"We'd play tricks on each other," Redford said of his relationship with Newman. "The more sophisticated the joke the better."
In 1973, their natural on-screen chemistry saw them team up again in The Sting.
Redford was Oscar-nominated for his role as Johnny Hooker, a small-time grifter who joins forces with Newman's character to swindle a vicious crime boss.
The film, with its distinctive ragtime soundtrack, eventually won seven Academy Awards including best picture - although Redford was beaten to the best actor award by Jack Lemmon.
It was the only time Redford was ever nominated in the best actor category at the Oscars, although he would later win as a director - and received an honorary Oscar in 2002.
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With Barbra Streisand in the comedy-drama, The Way We Were
Redford's acting roles were prolific throughout the 70s, although there were mixed reviews for his turn as the enigmatic Gatsby in The Great Gatsby, and he was overshadowed by Barbra Streisand in The Way We Were.
But in 1974, Redford bought the film rights to All the President's Men, an account of the Watergate scandal by Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein - the two Washington Post reporters who uncovered it.
"The Washington Post were very nervous about us - that this was Hollywood and it could hurt them," he recalled.
Released in 1976, with Redford playing Woodward alongside Dustin Hoffman as Bernstein, the film was a critical success, winning four Oscars - including best adapted screenplay and best supporting actor for Jason Robards.
Four years on, and Redford made his directorial debut with 1980's Ordinary People, a study of the collapse of a middle-class family after the death of one of their sons. It won him his first and only Oscar.
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Redford as the mysterious Great Gatsby in the 1974 film adaptation of F Scott Fitzgerald's novel
With recognition came wealth.
Redford used much of his earnings to buy a ski resort in Utah, his wife Lola's home state, which he renamed Sundance after one of his most famous roles.
Around the same time, he founded the Sundance Institute to provide creative and financial support to independent film-makers. He went on to become chairman of the Utah/US Film Festival, later renamed the Sundance Film Festival.
Over time, the festival became a key event in the film calendar, showcasing the work of many directors who went on to become household names, including Quentin Tarantino and Steven Soderbergh.
In acting terms, there were hits and misses over the last two decades of the 20th Century. Prison drama Brubaker was a commercial and critical success, and there was a positive reception for popular dramas The Horse Whisperer and Indecent Proposal.
Out of Africa won a fistful of awards, but Havana was badly received and lost money at the box office.
Simultaneously, Redford continued to direct, including A River Runs Through It - which gave a career boost to a fledgling Brad Pitt - and The Legend of Bagger Vance, the last film to feature Jack Lemmon.
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Robert Redford and his second wife, Sibylle Szaggars, in 2015
There was a muted reception for Lions for Lambs, which saw him reunited with Out of Africa's Meryl Streep. There was high praise, however, for his role in the groundbreaking All is Lost - about an elderly yachtsman alone on his damaged boat in the Indian Ocean.
"There's no dialogue, none at all. And I'm the only actor on screen in the whole movie," Redford said. Many critics described his performance as the best of his career.
He also starred as S.H.I.E.L.D agent Alexander Pierce in Captain America: The Winter Soldier, a film far removed from his usual fare.
"I like the idea of stepping into new territory," he told the LA Times, in 2013. "This is the kind of film I would love to have seen as a kid."
Away from the studio, Redford became a prominent advocate for the environment. "Ours is a sick planet because of our behaviour on it," he said in a 2014 interview.
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Robert Redford founded the Sundance Festival, which supported the careers of independent film makers
Redford married Lola Van Wagenen in 1958, and the couple had four children.
Their youngest, Scott, died of sudden infant death syndrome aged two months.
In interviews, Redford said he believed that karma had punished him for possessing sexual magnetism and leading the hedonistic life of an actor.
"It felt like retribution," he says. "I always had this thing that death was on my shoulder, 24/7. My dogs, as a kid. My mum. My firstborn."
The couple divorced in 1985, and Redford had lengthy romances with Brazilian actress Sonia Braga and costume assistant Kathy O'Rear. He married Sibylle Szaggars - a German-born artist - in 2009.
In 2020, his son, David, died in his fifties from complications of bile duct cancer. He had been ill since birth and had had two liver transplants.
In 2019, Redford announced his retirement from acting soon after his cameo in Avengers: Endgame. But he found it hard to leave the limelight.
Approaching the age of 90, he reversed his decision a few years later - to appear in several episodes of Dark Winds, the story of two Navajo police officers who try to solve a double murder.
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Robert Redford photographed at the age of 84
Redford often shunned the Hollywood limelight, preferring to plough his own furrow.
Despite never winning an acting Oscar, the Academy paid tribute to his body of work with a lifetime achievement award in 2002.
Ultimately, Redford preferred characters that were a little offbeat - in keeping with his passion for independent cinema.
But he always insisted that his good looks hindered, rather than helped, him as an actor.
"The notion that you're not so much of an actor, you're just somebody that looks well. That was always hard for me," he said.
"I always took pride in whatever role I was playing; I would be that character."
The case was the first challenge relating to the treaty, which aims to reduce small-boat crossings of the English Channel by migrants, to reach London’s High Court.
Migrants trying to cross to Britain from northern France on a small boat last month. More than 30,000 people have made such crossings so far this year.
The threat, which was made on social media, caused fears of an active shooter on the campus last week, leading to one person being shot and another injured.
The threat against the campus in Annapolis, Md., was made during a time of heightened concern after the murder of a conservative activist on a Utah college campus.
As Israel mounts a major Gaza offensive, President Trump has neither urged restraint nor endorsed the action, which Israel’s leader has taken as an implicit green light to proceed.
Mr. Woodward said Mr. Redford, who portrayed him in the classic 1976 film “All the President’s Men,” was a “genuine, a noble and principled force for good.”
Casey Means, left, and the journalist Megyn Kelly at a confirmation hearing for Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for Health and Human Services secretary in January.
The legislation is part of a package that House Republicans are pushing to impose more federal control over the District in line with President Trump’s demands.
Homeland Security Investigation agents and Metropolitan Police Department officers arrested a man for allegedly smoking marijuana in public last month.
No migrant return flights will take place on Tuesday under the new pilot scheme agreed between the UK and France, the BBC has learned.
The first returns of migrants who reached the UK on small boats via the English Channel from France were expected to begin from as early as Tuesday.
Downing Street has insisted that the removals will begin "imminently" - although initial plans for a flight to Paris today were put back.
On Tuesday, a 25-year-old Eritrean man who arrived on a small boat in August launched a last-minute legal claim at the High Court to stop his removal on a 9am flight to France on Wednesday.
The 'one in, one out' scheme was set up as part of a deal announced by Prime Minister Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron in July this year. Dozens of migrants have been detained since.
On Tuesday, No 10 said the government was "confident in the legal basis for this pilot" and is "prepared to respond to any legal scrutiny that occurs".
Over the last fortnight, some migrants being held in immigration removal centres, having crossed the Channel in dinghies, were told they could be returned to France as early as Tuesday.
Some individuals received letters that said they would be put on a scheduled Air France flight departing from Heathrow Airport for Paris at 9am this morning.
However, a number of sources told the BBC that some of the potential passengers had been told their departure would be deferred as further representations about their cases were made.
It is not unusual for immigration removals to be delayed if officials are warned by lawyers that the individual has not had a full or fair opportunity to present their case.
On Tuesday, the first legal challenge against the 'one in one out' agreement was launched in the High Court in London, where lawyers argued against the removal of their unnamed Eritrean client.
Sonali Naik KC said a decision was pending under the national referral mechanism decision - which identifies and assesses victims of slavery and human trafficking.
Under the new treaty, France agreed to take back adults or accompanied children who make a journey to the UK by small boat, once any asylum claim is withdrawn or declared inadmissible.
For each person sent back to France, the UK will accept someone with a case for protection as a refugee, who has not tried to cross the English Channel and can pass security and eligibility criteria.
The BBC understands that migrants living in the Calais region who have applied to the scheme have been rejected - but asylum seekers in the Paris region have been accepted.
Other factors that may have played a part in the delay include whether France is ready to receive returnees, and on the UK side, the state of security checks of any potential genuine refugees.
The Home Office began detaining some small boat migrants on 6 August on the basis that they were ineligible for asylum because they had spent time in a safe third country.
Under the scheme, officials in London refer each potential return case to French officials. The French authorities then have two weeks to respond - before beginning the process of proposing who should come to the UK in their place.
The scheme is one of a number of measures unveiled by the government which aim to tackle small boat crossings.
However, the Conservatives have argued it will not see enough migrants deported to act as a significant deterrent.
Ministers have not put a figure on how many people will be returned to France under the pilot.
More than 30,000 people have crossed the Channel in small boats so far this year.
It is the earliest point in a calendar year this figure has been passed since data on crossings was first reported in 2018.
House Republicans extended a maneuver they engineered earlier in the year that effectively strips Congress of the power to disapprove of President Trump’s tariffs.
Tuesday’s maneuver was the latest instance in which House Republicans, many of whom have spent much of their career opposing tariffs as a matter of principle, have given up their power over trade.
Calin Georgescu came a surprise first in the first round of Romania's presidential election last November
Romanian far-right former presidential candidate Calin Georgescu has been charged with attempting to stage a coup after the first round of the presidential election was annulled last December.
Horatiu Potra, a former French legionnaire and militia chief in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and 20 other people were also charged.
The case rests on a planned raid on the Romanian capital Bucharest on 8 December, which police foiled.
Romanian prosecutors describe a plot targeting Romania's constitutional order, involving Georgescu, Potra, their group, and alleged foreign intelligence links.
Potra and others have been charged with instigating the coup, while Georgescu is accused of conspiring with Potra.
Prosecutors say Georgescu met Potra and other members of his group at a horse farm in December, soon after Georgescu's victory was annulled.
Georgescu initially denied that the meeting took place, but later admitted it after photographs were published in Romanian media. However he denies discussing plans to stage an insurrection.
In late February police raided several locations in Romania, uncovering a cache of weapons, gold and cash, with which it is alleged Potra's group were planning to stage a violent power grab.
Prosecutors say Potra is currently not in the country and may seek asylum in Russia.
Georgescu, 63, came a surprise first in the first round of Romania's presidential election last November.
Romanian intelligence services suggested his presence and popularity on social media had been boosted by a mass influence operation – conducted from abroad – to interfere with the result of the vote.
At a press conference, prosecutor general Florenta described the annulled 2024 election as "the result of a hybrid war orchestrated by Russia."
He alleged that cyberattacks on airports and public institutions coincided with an online disinformation campaign waged through troll farms, bots, and AI-generated content.
According to investigators, more than 2,000 Facebook pages were used to amplify pro-Georgescu messaging, while TikTok networks of over 20,000 automated accounts boosted his campaign in the days before the vote.
Georgescu has not yet commented on the charges, although this month he accused the Romanian authorities of ruling through "deceit, intrigue and division".
President Dan said the report by prosecutors was "proof" that Russia had exercised "systematic disinformation" in Romania and had tried to influence the 2024 election.
A date for Georgescu's trial has not yet been given, but it could begin in early 2026.
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