World
Trump welcomes Chinese President Xi as US-China summit gets underway
WATCH: ▶️ Trump’s decision to meet Xi at Joint Base Andrews airport marked the first time since 1962 that a US president has personally welcomed a foreign leader at the base.
US President Donald Trump welcomed Chinese President Xi Jinping to Washington with a high-profile military ceremony, as the two leaders begin a three-day summit focused on trade, technology and other major areas of tension between the two countries.
Xi arrived at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland on Wednesday evening, where Trump and First Lady Melania Trump personally greeted him and his wife, Peng Liyuan.
The Chinese leader was welcomed with a red carpet, a military honor guard, marching band and a flyover by two US B-1 bombers. Trump’s decision to meet Xi at the airport marked the first time since 1962 that a US president has personally welcomed a foreign leader at the base.
Xi’s visit to Washington is his first since 2015 and comes as the two countries seek to maintain a fragile trade truce.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Wednesday that Washington and Beijing had agreed to extend their current trade truce until January. The arrangement had been due to expire on 10 November.
The agreement has involved the US lowering tariffs on some Chinese goods in exchange for China easing restrictions on exports of rare earth minerals.
Bessent said discussions with Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng also covered the possibility of reaching a broader trade agreement.
In a statement carried by China’s state news agency Xinhua, Xi said the US and China should be “partners rather than rivals”, adding that cooperation between the two countries could benefit the world.
The summit is expected to address a wide range of issues, including trade and tariffs, rare earth minerals, agricultural exports, artificial intelligence, Taiwan and the ongoing conflict involving Iran.
Trump is expected to seek increased Chinese purchases of US agricultural products, greater access to Chinese rare earth minerals and lower Chinese tariffs on American goods.
Taiwan is also expected to feature in the talks, with Beijing opposing US arms sales to the self-governing island.
Xi is travelling with senior Chinese officials including Cai Qi, a member of the Communist Party’s Politburo Standing Committee, Vice Premier He Lifeng and Foreign Minister Wang Yi.
The Chinese president is expected to attend a state dinner at the White House on Thursday, with leaders from the US artificial intelligence industry among the guests.
The two countries are competing for greater influence in AI, while also debating the regulation and potential risks associated with the technology.
Xi’s visit will conclude on Friday.
World
Trump says he is talking to Russia and China about denuclearization
Trump’s comments come months after the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty expired earlier this year.
US President Donald Trump said on Thursday Washington is holding talks with Moscow and Beijing aimed at denuclearizing the countries with the biggest stockpiles of nuclear weapons.
Russia has the most stored nuclear warheads followed by the United States and China, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. The US outpaces Russia on its number of deployed warheads.
During an interview with Newsmax, Trump said he expects China to “catch up” with the US within the next five years.
“The whole thing is a shame, because I’d love to denuclearize if possible, but we’re actually talking to Russia about that, and we’re talking to China about that denuclearization,” Trump told the outlet.
Newsmax reported that Trump had spoken with Chinese President Xi Jinping about denuclearization.
Trump’s comments come months after the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty expired earlier this year.
The New START treaty signed in 2010 allowed one single extension, which was agreed by former President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin for five years. Any new extension would require an executive decision to voluntarily extend the limits of the treaty.
World
Ukraine’s Zelenskiy says it is ‘painful’ when Trump chooses a different side
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in an interview on Wednesday that it was “painful” when Donald Trump took another side in Ukraine’s ongoing war with Russia, after the US President said Zelenskiy should be replaced.
Zelenskiy told Piers Morgan Uncensored: “It’s painful when President Trump chooses one side, not our side.”
He also said that he was OK with Trump being in the middle of Ukraine and Russia, but added: “If you are in the middle, you have to stay in the middle.”
Asked if he felt betrayed by Trump, who at the weekend called for Ukraine to get a new president having agreed to lift sanctions on Russian diesel exports, Zelenskiy replied: “Really, yes … but it’s a little bit more complicated than just my emotions or my feelings.”
“It’s a pity we are losing (a) strong partner,” he added.
Zelenskiy also said: “We are not selling our country … it’s not about business for us, it’s just our life and this is our country.”
World
Yemen hospitals overwhelmed by surge in war casualties, Red Cross warns
Hospitals across Yemen are struggling to cope with a sharp rise in war casualties as intensified fighting along multiple front lines strains its already fragile health system, the Red Cross said on Wednesday.
Front-line hospitals in areas including Marib, Taiz and Yemen’s Red Sea coast were seeing unprecedented numbers of weapon-wounded patients, with some facilities admitting more than 700 casualties in a single week, according to the humanitarian agency, Reuters reported.
More than 200,000 people have been displaced from their homes since fighting in the country began in recent weeks, sparked by renewed fighting between the Iran-backed Houthi group and Saudi-backed government forces in Yemen, according to the United Nations’ International Organization for Migration.
“Trauma care staff are under enormous pressure,” ICRC health coordinator Feras Abusamra said in a statement. Only a small proportion of Yemen’s functioning health facilities are capable of providing comprehensive trauma care, he said, while hospitals face large numbers of wounded people amid shortages of surgical supplies, anesthesia, oxygen and medicines.
Yemen’s health services, battered by more than a decade of conflict, economic crisis, displacement and disease outbreaks, may have limited capacity to absorb a new surge in mass casualties if fighting intensifies further, the ICRC warned.
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