Morning Briefing Thursday 30th October

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0:35This is your Times Morning Bulletin on Thursday 30th October. Donald Trump and Xi Jinping have shaken hands as they gather for trade talks in South Korea. Before describing his Chinese counterpart as a tough negotiator, the US president says he expects a lot of problems to be solved. It's a great honor to be with a friend of mine, really for a long time now if you think about it. The very, very distinguished and respected president of China. and we will be having some discussions. I think we've already agreed to a lot of things and we'll agree to some more right now. The relationship between the two countries has been strained in recent years amid heightening trade tensions.

1:15Gavin Bade is trade and economic policy reporter at the Wall Street Journal and explains what might come from this meeting. After President Trump originally slapped tariffs on China early in his term, Beijing retaliated. There was some tit-for-tat retaliation. We actually got to 145 % tariffs on China. That was a virtual trade blockade of all shipments from China coming to the U.S. We'll see them step back from that a little bit. We'll see an agreement to pause export controls coming from each economy. And I think that, you know, we'll just see how long that deal can hold. Past deals have not really held for that long.

1:51Meanwhile, ahead of the meeting, Donald Trump said he's instructed the Department of Defense to immediately start testing nuclear weapons. Writing on Truth Social, he said because of other countries' testing programmes, he wants the Department of Water to start testing on an equal basis. Elsewhere, the Chancellor has apologised for letting out her family home in South London without the correct local council licence. Rachel Reeves has admitted making what she calls an inadvertent error and sincerely apologised in a letter to the Prime Minister. Zakir Starmer says a further investigation isn't necessary after speaking to his independent ethics advisor.

2:27Luke Sullivan is Sakir Starmer's former political director whilst in opposition and says this needs putting in perspective. It's embarrassing in terms of the way these things go, but my understanding is as soon as it was brought to her attention earlier today, she got in touch with the estate agent, they made the application with the council and she's rightly referred herself to the ethics advisor who can have a look at this. But I think ultimately it's in the ballpark of embarrassing, but I don't think it's a big thing. An Afghan migrant will appear before magistrates later charged with murder after a triple stabbing in West London.

3:02Safi Dawood is charged with murdering Wayne Broadhurst as well as two counts of attempted murder following the incident in Uxbridge on Monday. The 22-year-old has also been charged with one count of possessing an offensive weapon. The King says he's profoundly saddened to see the catastrophic damage caused to Jamaica by Hurricane Melissa. In a statement, His Majesty, whose head of state there expressed sincere admiration for emergency services and volunteers who've responded, four people have been confirmed dead. It's believed around 8 ,000 Britons are stranded on the Caribbean island. A European study has found offering regular prostate screening reduced deaths by 13%.

3:40The study, which is one of the largest ever conducted, involved 162 ,000 men and evaluated the long-term benefits of offering men simple blood tests every four years. It's prompted calls for a national programme in the UK. You can follow The Times News Briefing on Spotify and listen live to Times Radio online. That's your Times Morning Bulletin on Thursday 30th October.

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