natwest has reported a sharp rise in first half profits to 5.6 billion. the results follow a week of high profile resignations including the bank s chief executive over the closure of nigel fa rage s bank account. our business correspondent hannah miller has the latest. those pre tax profits of more than 3.5 billion, nearly 5.6 billion in the first six months of this year, up from £2.6 billion for the same period last year. the press conference this morning, though, was totally overshadowed by the row over the closure of the former ukip leader nigel farage s account. natwest owns coutts, the bank that closed mr farage s account without giving him an explanation. it later emerged that his political views had perhaps been considered. when the decision was taken. and the fallout from that has really been enormous, the boss of natwest dame allison rose had to resign over her comments on the issue and yesterday afternoon the chief executive of coutts also resigned. this morning
superseding formal federal charges made injune to which trump has pleaded not guilty. mr trump and two of his employees at his florida estate mar a lago have been charged with obstructing the investigation into the former president s retention of top secret documents. court documents claim employees were asked to delete camera footage recordings of the basement, where classified documents had been stored after they d been served a subpoena to produce the footage. mr trump s campaign has responded to the new charges, calling it a, quote, desperate and flailing attempt by the government to harrass him. on thursday trump s lawyers also reportedly met with federal prosecutors in the investigation into efforts to overturn the 2020 election. a potential indictment in that case is still looming. our north america correspondent sean dilley reports from washington. the latest charges relate entirely to the existing court case in florida alleging that the former president had ret