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Good morning. Hurricane Melissa, the strongest storm to hit Jamaica since records began in 1851, made landfall at about midday local time on Tuesday. With winds reaching 185mph and torrential rains, it knocked out power lines, cut off the internet, and demolished buildings; the death toll and extent of the damage are still unknown. The

Summary of the talks In case you’re just joining us, here’s a rundown on what happened at the high-stakes talks between Donald Trump and Xi Jinping in South Korea. Trump said afterwards that Washington’s dispute with Beijing over the supply of rare earths has been settled, China would resume buying US soybeans and Washington would

Donald Trump has instructed the Pentagon to immediately start matching other nuclear powers in their testing of nuclear weapons, specifically citing Russia and China. In a post to Truth Social, Trump said “because of other countries’ testing programs, I have instructed the Department of War to start testing our Nuclear Weapons on an equal basis.

Donald Trump has described crucial trade talks with the Chinese president in South Korea as “amazing”, saying their dispute over the supply of rare earths had been settled and that he would visit China in April. Xi Jinping has not commented on Thursday’s discussions but noted that the economic and trade teams from both countries

After waiting a long time to meet Donald Trump, Anthony Albanese has now done so twice in 10 days, as his US counterpart talks up cooperation on rare earths and other issues. Albanese followed last week’s trip to Washington by sitting next to the US president on Wednesday evening at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec)

Vietnamese people who arrive in the UK by irregular means will be fast-tracked for deportation under a new agreement, Downing Street has said. After a surge in clandestine arrivals from the south-east Asian country last year via small boats and in the back of lorries, the deal is supposed to cut red tape and make

Queensland parliament has passed laws to create the state’s first public register of some child sexual abusers, with the new legislation named in memory of child murder victim Daniel Morcombe. The move adds momentum to a campaign by Daniel’s parents, Bruce and Denise Morcombe, for a national register. The couple founded the child safety education

State and territory disability ministers have threatened to boycott an upcoming NDIS meeting with the Albanese government after being given just two minutes to contribute to discussions. In a joint letter from all jurisdictions sent on Thursday to the health and disability minister, Mark Butler, and the NDIS minister, Jenny McAllister, ministers warned they were

In chaotic Senate scenes, Labor has set a 125-year record by keeping question time running for more than three hours, after the government lost control of the chamber and threatened to strip Coalition members from parliamentary committees in a fight over transparency. Senator David Pocock led a push to dramatically extend question time and force

Key events Show key events only Please turn on JavaScript to use this feature What we learned: Thursday, 30 October Penry Buckley We will be leaving it there, thanks for…