CPAC live: Conservatives gather for Trump-centric conference outside Washington DC

Related: Donald Trump confirms some names on VP shortlist

The latest instalment of the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) has begun, kicking off another four-day jamboree of grandstanding speeches, culture war grievances, and MAGA electioneering.

The event will once more be headlined by Donald Trump, who will make its keynote address on Saturday before heading off to South Carolina for the state primary.

Nikki Haley will not be there but did deliver a defiant message to Republicans this week as she pledged to fight on in the battle for the GOP presidential nomination.

Meanwhile, Fox News commentator Jessica Tarlov has called the House impeachment inquiry into Joe Biden “embarrassing” after repeated witnesses appeared to weaken Republican claims that the president is corrupt.

Speaking after an appearance on Capitol Hill by the commander-in-chief’s brother, James Biden, who accused the GOP of “flat-out lying” about his family, Ms Tarlov said: “This is the path that they’ve chosen to take, and honestly I’m surprised that they have this high of a threshold for humiliation.

“Every witness they have called has decimated their argument.”

House Republicans have long insisted that the entire Biden family is corrupt but have struggled to provide any proof.

Short-lived UK prime minister Liz Truss has delivered an apocalyptic warning that “the West is doomed” unless right-wing politicians like her are put in power to save it.

Echoing the rhetoric of Donald Trump, she told Fox News TV the “deep state” is responsible for her downfall as PM in late 2022 when her policies sparked an economic crash.

Andy Gregory reports.

Former PM appears to all but endorse Donald Trump as she claims West needs ‘a conservative in the White