SOUTH KOREA — US President Donald Trump ordered the US military on Thursday to immediately resume testing nuclear weapons after a gap of 33 years, minutes before beginning a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Mr. Trump made the surprise announcement on Truth Social while he was aboard his Marine One helicopter flying to meet Mr.  Xi for a trade negotiating session in Busan, South Korea. He said he was instructing the Pentagon to test the US nuclear arsenal on an “equal basis” with other nuclear powers.

“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,” Mr. Trump posted.

“Russia is second, and China is a distant third, but will be even within 5 years.”

A senior Russian lawmaker said Mr. Trump’s decision would herald a new era of unpredictability and open confrontation, state news agency RIA reported.

China’s Foreign Ministry called for the US to abide by its commitment to a moratorium on nuclear testing and uphold the global strategic balance and stability.

It was not immediately clear whether Mr. Trump was referring to nuclear-explosive testing, which would be carried out by the National Nuclear Security Administration, or flight testing of nuclear-capable missiles.

No nuclear power, other than North Korea, has carried out explosive testing in more than 25 years.

NUCLEAR TESTING SITES TO BE DETERMINED LATER
Later, on his way back to Washington, Mr. Trump said testing was needed to ensure the US keeps up with its rival nuclear powers.

“With others doing testing, I think it’s appropriate that we do also,” Mr. Trump said on board Air Force One, adding that nuclear test sites would be determined later.

Asked whether the world was entering a more risky phase around nuclear weapons, Mr. Trump dismissed the threat, saying US stocks were “well locked up” before adding he would welcome denuclearization.

“I’d like to see a denuclearization because we have so many and Russia’s second and China’s third and China will catch up within four or five years,” he said.

“We are actually talking to Russia about that and China would be added to that if we do something.”

CHINA MORE THAN DOUBLED NUCLEAR ARSENAL IN LAST 5 YEARS
Mr. Trump’s decision to restart nuclear weapons testing follows a rapid expansion by China of its nuclear stockpile in recent years, and comes just after Russia announced what it called a successful test of a nuclear-powered and nuclear-capable cruise missile as well as a nuclear-powered torpedo.

Mr. Trump addressed the Russian moves on his way to Asia earlier this week, telling reporters that Russian President Vladimir Putin should be working to end the war in Ukraine “instead of testing missiles.”

Beijing has more than doubled the size of its arsenal to an estimated 600 nuclear weapons in 2025 from 300 weapons in 2020, according to the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington-based think tank.

It said US military officials estimate that China will have more than 1,000 nuclear weapons by 2030. A Victory Day parade in September revealed five nuclear capabilities that can all reach the continental United States, CSIS said.

The Washington-based Arms Control Association says the United States has a stockpile of 5,225 nuclear warheads and Russia has 5,580.

Mr. Putin said on Wednesday Russia had successfully tested a Poseidon nuclear-powered super torpedo that military analysts say is capable of devastating coastal regions by triggering vast radioactive ocean swells.

As Mr. Trump has toughened both his rhetoric and his stance on Russia, Mr. Putin has publicly flexed his nuclear muscles with the test of a new Burevestnik cruise missile on October 21 and nuclear launch drills on October 22.

NEGATIVE REACTIONS TO TRUMP’S POST
The reaction to Mr. Trump’s announcement on testing was swift. Representative Dina Titus, a Democrat from Nevada, said on X: “I’ll be introducing legislation to put a stop to this.”

Daryl Kimball, director of the Arms Control Association, said it would take the United States at least 36 months to resume contained nuclear tests underground at the former test site in Nevada.

“Trump is misinformed and out of touch. The US has no technical, military, or political reason to resume nuclear explosive testing for the first time since 1992,” Mr. Kimball said on X.

Mr. Trump’s announcement could “trigger a chain reaction of nuclear testing by US adversaries, and blow apart the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.”

Apart from providing technical data, a US test would be seen in Russia and China as a deliberate assertion of Washington’s strategic power. Mr. Putin has repeatedly said that Russia will test if the United States does.

In August, Mr. Trump said he had discussed nuclear arms control with Mr. Putin and wanted China to get involved. Beijing responded by saying it was “unreasonable and unrealistic” to ask the country to join in nuclear disarmament negotiations with the two countries, since its arsenal was much smaller.

Mr. Trump had first laid out his intention to pursue nuclear arms control efforts in February, saying he wanted to begin discussions with both Mr. Putin and Mr. Xi about imposing limits on their arsenals.

Most major nuclear powers except North Korea stopped explosive nuclear testing in the 1990s. North Korea conducted its last nuclear test in 2017. Russia’s last confirmed test was in 1990, followed by the last US test in 1992, and by China’s in 1996.

The United States opened the nuclear era in July 1945 with the test of a 20-kiloton atomic bomb at Alamogordo, New Mexico, and then dropped atomic bombs on the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945 to force Japan to surrender in World War Two. — Reuters

A third suspect has been arrested in connection with the Louvre robbery in Paris, French TV station BFM reported on Thursday.

The arrest happened in the Paris region late on Wednesday, BFM said, adding that the man is suspected of being present at the crime scene when the heist took place.

Four hooded thieves stole precious jewels from the Louvre’s Apollo gallery, home to the French Crown Jewels, during opening hours on the morning of October 19, exposing security lapses at the world’s most-visited museum.

Two men arrested last weekend on suspicion of breaking into the museum through an upstairs window and stealing the precious pieces have “partially admitted” their involvement in the heist, the Paris prosecutor said on Wednesday.

The jewels remain missing.— Reuters

PORT-AU-PRINCE/KINGSTON/HAVANA — Hurricane Melissa barreled through the northern Caribbean on Wednesday after thrashing Cuba’s second-biggest city, isolating hundreds of rural communities, unleashing devastation in Jamaica and drenching Haiti, where at least 25 were killed.

Melissa struck Jamaica on Tuesday as the strongest-ever hurricane to directly hit its shores, with sustained winds of 298 kilometers per hour (kph), well above the minimum strength for a Category 5, the strongest classification for hurricanes.

As of 8 p.m. (0000 GMT), Melissa was a Category 1 hurricane bringing wind, rain and storm surges as it moved north-east through the Bahamas archipelago, whose government earlier flew out nearly 1,500 people in what it called one of its largest evacuation operations.

Residents in the Bahamas and nearby Turks and Caicos hunkered down, while some 1,440 kilometers (km) north-east Bermudans prepared for hurricane conditions forecast from Thursday.

US forecaster AccuWeather said Melissa was the Caribbean’s third-most intense recorded hurricane, as well as its slowest-moving, which made it particularly destructive.

The storm did not directly hit Haiti, the Caribbean’s most populous nation, but lashed it with days of rain. Authorities reported at least 25 deaths, largely due to floods in Petit-Goave, a coastal town 64 km west of the capital where a river burst its banks.

At least 10 children were killed and 12 people remain missing there, Haiti’s disaster management agency said, adding that nationwide more than 1,000 homes have been flooded and nearly 12,000 people moved into emergency shelters.

An extended gang conflict has impoverished Haiti and displaced over 1.3 million. People living in makeshift camps said the flooding made it impossible to sit or sleep, and that the government and aid groups were slow to bring supplies.

Fortune Vital, a displaced man in Les Cayes, said he was separated from his family which already lacked sufficient food. “If the hurricane comes on top of all the problems we already have, we’ll simply die,” he said.

‘LIKE MISSILES BLOWING THROUGH THE GLASS’
In Jamaica, AccuWeather estimated Melissa could cost $22 billion in damages and economic loss and that rebuilding could take a decade or more.

The capital Kingston was spared the worst damage and its main airport was set to reopen Thursday, but as of Wednesday morning authorities said about 77% of Jamaica was without electricity.

Melissa made landfall in southwestern Jamaica on Tuesday, devastating areas already battered by last year’s Hurricane Beryl. Local authorities said flood waters had washed up four bodies in the agricultural hub of St. Elizabeth.

Prime Minister Andrew Holness visited Black River Hospital, the only public hospital in St. Elizabeth, where aerial footage showed the wrecks of buildings, roofs blown off, power cables knocked down and fields strewn with rubble.

Workers there told the prime minister they spent the night fearing for their own families while working by flashlight to care for patients.

“It was the most terrifying experience in all my life,” a hospital worker said. “It is beyond imagining. At one point it was as if missiles were blowing through the glass.”

Jamaica’s government gave an “all clear” to begin recovery efforts, but said it would keep emergency shelters open through the week as people kept coming in from devastated homes.

Local government minister Desmond McKenzie said over 25,000 people had been admitted. “No one must be turned back from the shelters,” he said.

MASS EVACUATIONS IN CUBA
Melissa was a still major Category 3 when it hit Cuba overnight with winds of 193 kph, landing in rural, mountainous Guama, some 40 km west of Santiago de Cuba, the island’s second-most populous city.

At least 241 communities remained isolated and without communications on Wednesday following the storm’s passage across Santiago province, according to preliminary media reports, affecting as many as 140,000 residents.

Across eastern Cuba, authorities evacuated around 735,000 people as the storm approached.

No deaths were reported on Wednesday but President Miguel Diaz-Canel said the island had suffered extensive damage and warned of vigilance as rains continue to lash the region.

“A major hurricane landfall in the dark is incredibly dangerous,” AccuWeather lead hurricane expert Alex DaSilva said.

“The storm lost wind intensity as it interacted with the mountains of southeast Cuba, but the forced upward motion of the air over the mountainous terrain is squeezing out tremendous amounts of rainfall.”

Cuban officials also warned of severe impact on crops ahead of the Northern Hemisphere’s winter growing season.

Cuba was already suffering from food, fuel, electricity and medicine shortages that have complicated life, prompting record-breaking emigration since 2021.

On Wednesday, the UN General Assembly again voted overwhelmingly for the US to end its Cold War-era economic embargo on the communist-run country.

LOSS AND DAMAGE
Scientists say hurricanes are intensifying faster with greater frequency as a result of warming ocean waters caused by greenhouse gas emissions. Many Caribbean leaders have called on wealthy, heavy-polluting nations to provide reparations in the form of aid or debt relief.

The Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre, a branch of regional bloc CARICOM, issued a statement in solidarity of those affected by Hurricane Melissa and called for stronger efforts to curb climate change.

It said Melissa’s rapid intensification, fueled by record-breaking Caribbean sea temperatures, underscored need for the U.’s “loss and damage” fund to be scaled up.

The fund was established in 2023 as a mechanism for developing nations to quickly and reliably access financing to recover from more frequent extreme weather events. However, donations from wealthy, polluting nations have fallen short of targets and the US withdrew from its board in March.

The devastation caused by Melissa drew an outpouring of support from across the world, with some countries pledging support in the form of cash, food aid and rescue teams.

In Montego Bay, a popular Jamaican tourist destination, a resident told Reuters the water reached her waist and rescuers had to break into her home to save her and her child.

“All the trees that my dad planted, all of them are gone,” she said.— Reuters

US President Donald Trump and China’s leader Xi Jinping were set to hold talks in South Korea on Thursday morning, seeking a return to a fragile trade war truce between the world’s two largest economies.

The meeting, the first between the leaders since Mr. Trump returned to office in January, is due to begin at 11 a.m. local time (0200 GMT) in the southern port city of Busan, capping off the US president’s whirlwind trip around Asia.

Mr. Trump has repeatedly expressed optimism about reaching agreement with Xi during the summit, taking place on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit, buoyed by a breakthrough in trade talks with South Korea on Wednesday.

But with both countries increasingly willing to play hardball over areas of economic and geopolitical competition – which analysts see as a new Cold War – many questions remain about how long any trade detente may last.

The trade war reignited this month after Beijing proposed dramatically expanding curbs on exports of rare-earth minerals vital for high-tech applications, a sector China dominates.

Mr. Trump vowed to retaliate with additional 100% tariffs on Chinese exports, and with other steps including potential curbs on exports to China made with US software – moves that could have upended the global economy.

“THE G2 WILL BE CONVENING SHORTLY,” Mr. Trump posted on Truth Social shortly before landing in Busan to meet Xi.

In a separate post, he said the US would step-up testing of nuclear weapons immediately, noting China’s growing arsenal.

US EXPECTS BEIJING TO DELAY RARE EARTH CONTROLS
After a weekend scramble between top trade negotiators, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said he expected Beijing to delay the rare earth controls for a year and revive purchases of US soybeans critical to American farmers, as part of a “substantial framework” to be agreed by the leaders.

Ahead of the summit, China bought its first cargoes of US soybeans in several months, Reuters reported exclusively on Wednesday.

The White House has signaled it hopes the summit will be the first of several between Mr. Trump and Xi in the coming year, including possible leader visits to each country, indicating a protracted negotiation process.

But Mr. Trump wants some quick progress, in talks being closely watched by businesses worldwide.

Mr. Trump said on Wednesday he expects to reduce US tariffs on Chinese goods in exchange for Beijing’s commitment to curb the flow of precursor chemicals to make fentanyl, a deadly synthetic opioid that is the leading cause of American overdose deaths.

Mr. Trump has also said he might sign a final deal with Xi on TikTok, the social media app that faces a US ban unless its Chinese owners divest its U.S. operations.

Beijing is willing to work together for “positive results”, foreign ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said on Wednesday.

PRIOR DEALS ON TARIFFS AND RARE EARTHS DUE TO EXPIRE
Previous deals, which brought down retaliatory tariffs sharply to about 55% on the US side and 10% on the Chinese side and restarted the flow of rare earth magnets from China, are due to expire on November 10.

Bessent said China had agreed to help curb the flow of fentanyl precursors, but did not say whether the US had made any concessions in return.

Beijing has sought the lifting of 20% tariffs over fentanyl, an easing of export controls on sensitive US technology, and a rollback of new US port fees on Chinese vessels aimed at combating China’s global dominance in shipbuilding, ocean freight, and logistics.

Mr. Trump’s meeting with Xi comes at the end of a five-day trip to Asia in which he signed pacts with Japan and Southeast Asian nations on rare earths, seeking to blunt China’s stranglehold on minerals used in everything from cars to fighter jets.

TENSIONS OVER TAIWAN
Regional strategic tensions, particularly over Beijing-claimed Taiwan, a US partner and high-tech powerhouse, are an ominous backdrop to the summit.

On Sunday, Chinese state media said Chinese H-6K bombers recently flew near Taiwan to practice “confrontation drills.”

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Taiwan should not be concerned about the US-China talks, despite some experts expressing fears that Mr. Trump might offer concessions over the island. Washington is required under US law to provide Taiwan with the means to defend itself.— Reuters