US president makes threat in Truth Social post in wake of Russian nuclear-powered weapons tests, and shortly before meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping

• Trump meets Xi in South Korea – latest updates

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 Wednesday post to Truth Social, Trump said that “because of other countries’ testing programs, I have instructed the Department of War to start testing our Nuclear Weapons on an equal basis. That process will begin immediately.”

Russian president proclaims test of Poseidon which would launch from submarine and carry nuclear engine and warhead. What we know on day 1,345

Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth gives approval for troops to remain in US capital past November end, CNN reports

National guard troops sent to the nation’s capital will reportedly remain there through at least February.

The order was set to lapse at the end of November but was extended by Pete Hegseth, who leads the US Department of Defense. As of Wednesday, there are nearly 2,400 national guard troops in Washington DC, according to CNN. The network also notes that their presence costs about $1m daily.

The Australia head coach insists the time is now for the emerging side to rise above expectations and ‘go very far’ at a men’s World Cup

When Tony Popovic was finally able to assemble his first Socceroos squad, the new coach laid out a series of expectations. Most were clear and to the point – ideal given the upheaval surrounding his sudden arrival, following Graham Arnold’s resignation, and with less than three weeks to prepare for crucial 2026 World Cup qualifiers against China and Japan.

Popovic insisted that any player who aspired to pull on a Socceroos shirt would need to adopt an “elite” mentality to earn, or continue to earn, that honour. But there was another message. Less a demand and more an evocation – and one that has been brought sharper into focus with every step taken on the road towards the World Cup in North America.

There’s an assumption sex in the throes of new lust is hot, but in long-term relationships it’s three humps in missionary. Does married sex need a rebrand?

In my youth, when my friends and I first started dating people, nothing was off-limits when it came to talking about our sex lives. But now, after being married for 17 years, the closest I’ve come to discussing my sex life is with my obstetrician. Not hot.

Sex talk isn’t off-limits when we’re with friends who are single, dating or in new relationships. So why is mentioning anything about sex in long-term relationships kind of cringe?

Summit on sidelines of Apec is the first between the leaders of US and China since 2019, and comes after tensions have been strained by Trump’s trade war

In the days leading up to the Trump-Xi meeting, American officials signalled that the US president did not intend to make good on a recent threat to impose an additional 100% import tax on Chinese goods.

Also that China had shown signs it is willing to relax its export controls on rare earths as well as revive buying soybeans from the US.

The relationship with China is very good.

Because of the tremendous destructive power, I HATED to do it, but had no choice! Russia is second, and China is a distant third, but will be even within 5 years.

Because of other countries testing programs, I have instructed the Department of War to start testing our Nuclear Weapons on an equal basis. That process will begin immediately.

Richard Solomon, mayor of Black River, describes terror of 16ft storm surges and hours of fierce winds when storm hit, as focus now moves to aid and rescue efforts

• Hurricane Melissa hits Cuba after turning Jamaica into ‘disaster area’

The mayor of Black River – a town that Jamaica’s prime minister called “ground zero” for Hurricane Melissa – has described the monstrous storm surges and devastation the storm has wrought on its residents.

Speaking to the Guardian, Richard Solomon recounted the traumatic experience of riding out the Category 5 “storm of the century” at an emergency operating centre.

Former PM says he has not seen party ‘soaring in the polls as a result of saying what rubbish net zero is’

Boris Johnson has warned the Conservatives they will not win the next election by “bashing the green agenda”.

The former prime minister said he had not seen the Conservatives “soaring in the polls as a result of saying what rubbish net zero is”.

Suzanne Rees, 80, was found dead on Lizard Island a day after her cruise ship the Coral Adventurer left without her

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The family of an 80-year-old who was left behind by her cruise ship and died on a remote Queensland island has alleged there was a “failure of care and common sense”.

Suzanne Rees was on the second day of a luxury 60-day circumnavigation of Australia when she disembarked the Coral Adventurer at Lizard Island on the Great Barrier Reef on Saturday morning. She and other passengers had intended to hike the island’s Cook’s Look mountain.

Almeida theatre, London
Jack Holden has elegantly adapted Alan Hollinghurst’s Booker winner about class envy, gay culture and political scandal in 80s Britain

How to adapt a novel as big and shimmering as Alan Hollinghurst’s 2004 Booker prize winner? It’s a book that captures not just the hypocrisies of one elite, Thatcher-loving family but the hypocrisies of a whole era, with power and politics bristling beside the hedonistic explosion of 1980s gay culture.

Maybe it needs an entire series (as in the case of Andrew Davies’s TV adaptation), but Jack Holden, whose 2021 play Cruise traversed similar ground, makes a robust go of it here. He arrives at the dark heart of the book while filleting and mixing the order of things so that the timeline of the central three sections is shorter and slicker, but also less intensely lived.

New study found screening can reduce deaths by 13% but that overdiagnosis and subsequent overtreatment remain concerns

Prostate cancer screening can reduce deaths by 13%, a study suggests.

Cancer screening experts are assessing whether the UK should introduce a screening programme for prostate cancer, with a decision expected before the end of the year.

Half-measures would have little or no meaningful impact on child poverty rates, Resolution Foundation analysis finds

Failure to abolish the two-child benefit limit would wreck the government’s child poverty ambitions and risk creating levels of hardship not seen under a Labour government for more than half a century, an analysis warns.

The Resolution Foundation said political courage was required for ministers to show they are serious about reversing trends that, if not addressed, would push the rate of child poverty to a historic high by the end of the decade.

• Landry bars AD Woodward from LSU coach search

• Governor rips $95m Brian Kelly deal, $54m buyout

• Calls for accountability and ‘no more blank checks’

Louisiana governor Jeff Landry has said he will not allow LSU athletics director Scott Woodward to choose the university’s next football coach, saying he would “let President Trump pick it before I let him do it” after what he called a series of reckless contracts that have cost taxpayers tens of millions of dollars.

The governor’s remarks came days after LSU fired head coach Brian Kelly, who was lured from Notre Dame less than four years ago on a 10-year, $95m deal that has now imploded. Kelly’s dismissal followed a 49-25 home loss to Texas A&M that dropped the Tigers to 5-3 and capped a collapse from early-season title hopes to frustration.

• Hearts stay top after battling 2-2 draw at St Mirren

• Danny Röhl’s Rangers win 1-0 against Hibernian

Martin O’Neill celebrated his Celtic homecoming with a thumping 4-0 win over Falkirk at Parkhead. The 73-year-old former manager was installed along with the former Celtic player Shaun Maloney as the interim management team after the stunning resignation of Brendan Rodgers on Monday night.

Celtic fans continued their protest against Dermot Desmond, the club’s major shareholder, and the board outside the stadium before the game due, in part, to a perceived poor summer transfer window. Desmond sat in the directors’ box and watched his fellow Irishman Johnny Kenny fire Celtic into the lead after half an hour and then head in a second 10 minutes later, before goals from Benjamin Nygren and Sebastian Tounekti in the second half increased the fun factor.

Tech company brings in record quarterly revenue but major tax bill dampens earnings per share

Meta reported mixed financial results for the third quarter of 2025. The company brought in record quarterly revenue but reported a major tax bill that dampened earnings per share, the company announced on Wednesday. The financial results come as Meta ends a multibillion-dollar hiring spree focused on artificial intelligence talent.

The tech giant earned $51.24bn in quarterly revenue, beating Wall Street expectations and the company’s own projections for third-quarter sales. However, it reported earnings per share (EPS) of $1.05, far below Wall Street expectations of $6.70 in EPS. The major drop was due to a one-time non-cash income tax charge of $15.93bn. The EPS would have been $7.25 without this one-time charge, the company said.

• Former captain says defensive questions will be asked

• Freeman switching from more familiar role out wide

The former Australia captain George Gregan says they will target Tommy Freeman’s defending at outside-centre for England on Saturday.

Steve Borthwick’s side kick off their autumn campaign at Twickenham against opponents who consigned them to a dramatic late defeat last year, and the head coach has made some notable selectorial calls.

Ferntree Gully cricket club confirms death of 17-year-old Ben Austin after incident in cricket nets on Tuesday

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A Melbourne teenager has died after reportedly being struck in the neck with a ball during cricket practice earlier this week.

Emergency services were called to Wally Tew Reserve in Ferntree Gully, in Melbourne’s east, on Tuesday at about 4.45pm, where 17-year-old Ben Austin was practising before a cricket game.

• Jockey heads into retirement for second time

• US stint to end in Breeders’ Cup Mile on Saturday

Frankie Dettori has announced he will end his two-year stint in the US after the main card of the 2025 Breeders’ Cup in Del Mar, California on Saturday, before “concluding my career with a few rides in South America, something I’ve always wanted to do”.

The 54-year-old jockey first announced his retirement in December 2022, saying he would take his final rides at the 2023 Breeders’ Cup, but subsequently decided to move to the lucrative US circuit instead. He has enjoyed two successful seasons, initially on the west coast and more recently from a base in Florida, and will now bow out in a prestigious meeting at the end of a career that started as a teenager in Italy.

US department of justice says Peter Williams, 39, stole material over three-year period working for US defence contractor

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An Australian man pleaded guilty in US court on Wednesday to stealing trade secrets from his employer and selling them to a Russian cyber-tools broker.

The US Department of Justice said on Wednesday that Peter Williams, 39, an Australian living in Washington DC, pleaded guilty to two counts of theft of the trade secrets. The agency said Williams stole the material over a three-year period while working for a US defence contractor, including information on national security-focused software.

The Carabao Cup was on display in main reception here, dictating that Tottenham’s players trooped past it en route to the away dressing room before kick-off. If the sight of that trophy inspired Thomas Frank’s team, Newcastle’s desire to retain it proved infinitely stronger. As Eddie Howe put it: “This was a performance in line with our identity and our expectations. We were strong.”

Howe’s side could have been forgiven for prioritising the Champions League and the Premier League but, instead, they played with the zeal of a side still buoyed by their Wembley triumph in March.

Crystal Palace haunted Liverpool yet again but that might be the least of Arne Slot’s worries should his decision to field a weakened team in the Carabao Cup fail to pay dividends in the coming days. Aston Villa and Real Madrid are on the Anfield horizon and so is trouble should this slump deepen.

The FA Cup and Community Shield winners eased into the Carabao Cup quarter-finals courtesy of a first-half double from Ismaïla Sarr, Liverpool’s tormentor‑in-chief. The Senegal international made it seven goals in nine appearances against Liverpool – for Palace and Watford – as Oliver Glasner’s team registered their third triumph against Slot’s side in 80 days.

The immediate future looks very bright for Arsenal and so does the more distant. On the night that Max Dowman became the club’s youngest player to start a match, at the age of just 15 years and 302 days, it was two other graduates of the Hale End academy who scored the decisive goals to send Mikel Arteta’s side into the last eight.

Ethan Nwaneri, who has one record that Arsenal’s latest protege can never beat, as the youngest player in Premier League history, found the net again on a rare start to settle an inexperienced Arsenal side’s nerves before Bukayo Saka rounded off the victory over Brighton after coming on to replace Dowman.

Result would pave the way for the Netherlands’ first out gay prime minister and end far-right populist Geert Wilders’ time in power

The liberal-progressive D66 party was forecast to become the largest in the Dutch parliament, after a snap general election in which Geert Wilders’ far-right Freedom party was predicted to lose a third of its seats.

With half of all votes counted early on Thursday, the centrist D66 party was projected to win 27 seats in the 150-seat assembly, beating the Freedom party on 25.

President’s effort to win $230m in damages from Mar-a-Lago and Russia investigations criticized as ‘frivolous’

Donald Trump’s effort to get his justice department to pay him hundreds of millions of dollars is based on specious legal claims that would likely be rejected if he were any other American, according to a legal expert and a former Department of Justice official who handled damages claims against the government.

Trump has asked the justice department to pay him $230m in damages, the New York Times reported last week. The amount is the total of two separate claims in which Trump argues he is entitled to compensation because of investigations into the links between Russia and his 2016 campaign as well as the 2022 search for classified documents at Mar-a-Lago and subsequent criminal prosecution.