security adviserjake sullivan. blinken told the un security council on tuesday he would work with the chinese foreign minister to prevent the middle east conflict from spreading. but talks with china are also expected to focus on trying to solve disagreements other issues, including trade. only this week, tech giant nvidia said the us government has told it to stop shipping some of its advanced artificial intelligence chips to china immediately. the restrictions weren't supposed to come into force for a few weeks. it's the latest move in the ongoing technology dispute between washington and beijing. joining me now is anna ashton, us—china director at eurasia group. good morning to you. this meeting that sounds positive, but give us the latest on this trade war as were all coloured, especially when it comes to technology. i especially when it comes to technology-— technology. i mean, it is positive _ technology. i mean, it is positive in _ technology. i mean, it is positive in the _ technology. i mean, it is positive in the sense - technology. i mean, it is| positive in the sense that technology. i mean, it is- positive in the sense that this is the first reciprocal visit from a chinese leader in months after many visits by senior us officials to china to try to encourage the infusion of greater stability to the relationship. clearly both governments are signalling that's what they want. but the trade agenda, i think first about it is important to recognise that trade isn't part of the architecture that the two sides have established, working groups so even though there was an economic working group meeting this week, first one, there is no role for us tr and that makes it difficult to imagine exactly what positive trade agenda could be on the table. then second, obviously, there is this continuing deepening tech competition regardless of the fact both sides want greater stability. this is still competition, or even an adversarial relationship depending on who you talk to. and the us has ruled out additional export controls on shipments of technology to china, especially things like semiconductors and ai. china has responded with export controls on raw materials, critical minerals like graphite. so that's likely to continue to escalate. i would be surprised if they made progress on it. i would be surprised if they made progress on it— progress on it. i was about to ask, progress on it. i was about to ask. china — progress on it. i was about to ask, china will _ progress on it. i was about to ask, china will no _ progress on it. i was about to ask, china will no doubt - progress on it. i was about to ask, china will no doubt push i ask, china will no doubt push for some kind of concessions, how likely, will there be any wiggle room on that at all? i don't think there will be any fuss about reality is that the us side has been pretty clear with the chinese side in previous meetings over the course of the last several months about the fact that adjustments to the restrictions rolled out last year were coming, they could have been worse than they were, so in some respects china was probably a little bit relieved at what was announced. but at the same time, i do expect this will continue to be a topline high profile, the chinese government pushes for the us both in these meetings and probably at a pack next month. thank you for your time this morning. anna ashton. the us economy grew faster than expected in the third quarter of the year, helped by a tightjobs market and consumer spending. the economy expanded at an annual rate of 4.9% in thejuly to september period, according to the government's first estimate. it marked the biggest rise since the last three months of 2021. live now to russ mould, investment director, a] bell. it sounds like consumers are driving this, is that the case? that's a pretty fair summary. consumer spending is around two thirds of the us economy, so are the consumer goes, the economy will certainly follow, yet very strong, helped by a good wage growth, more than 4%, also decline in the savings rate so we will need to keep an eye on that because it may not be sustainable and also some fairly heavy credit card use. the other part of the economy, private investment by companies, government spending, they were very strong. the one site detractor was trade where you still have a trade deficit where america is buying more thanit where america is buying more than it sells. it where america is buying more than it sells.— than it sells. it does felt like the _ than it sells. it does felt like the labour- than it sells. it does felt like the labour market l than it sells. it does felt| like the labour market is starting to tighten up a bid and unemployment creeping up, it begs the question, where people getting the money from? i think some of it may be down to credit card spending which is up more than 10% year—on—year, can be a sign that some consumers are finding things a bit more stressful as they're having to rely on credit, even to pay some of their bills perhaps. that decline in the savings rate, you wouldn't expect it to last forever, it is already below its long—term average, so you wonder how sustainable that is. but while the labour market stage —— mcstay is quite —— tight dot ball iran. —— is quite tight... that is downright —— might do to the biden administration's major spending programmes, and they seem to be bringing tremendous short—term benefit and they are designed to bring long—term benefit also in terms of technology and renewable energy but the american government deficit continues to go higher very quickly and with interest rates going higher, those two cannot go on forever, something will have to give, that the rates go down or spending slows down. ., , , rates go down or spending slows down. . , , , ., down. that is the big question, rates, down. that is the big question, rates. all _ down. that is the big question, rates, all this _ down. that is the big question, rates, all this data, _ down. that is the big question, rates, all this data, this - down. that is the big question, rates, all this data, this is - down. that is the big question, rates, all this data, this is a - rates, all this data, this is a pretty big nugget, gdp, feed into that decision—making process, how likely do you think it is that we have reached the top of the curve? looking at the cme fed watch tool, there is now a 0% chance of a rate cut. at the moment, there seems to be more chance of an increase or decrease but overall the financial markets still think the fed rate has peaked at 515% but the first rate cut will be seen till summer 2024 at the earliest. thank you very much. there will be going straight into my google search. amazon has reported a 13%jump in revenue for the quarter ending september. hammered by inflation and high interest rates in 2022, the company had spent much of last year in cost—cutting mode, laying off staff. but the strong quarterly report shows amazon's core e—commerce business is recovering, growing 7% compared to the same period a year ago. 0ur north america business correspondent michelle fleury sent this report. it was a strong performance by amazon. the e—commerce giant said revenue climbed 13% in the quarter, despite challenges posed by inflation and rising interest rates. sales in north america were up 11% from a year ago, and globally the picture was even stronger — sales rose i6%. now, amazon's advertising business is a growing part of its portfolio. freevee is its ad—supported streaming video service and it's going to be bringing ads to its core prime video service early next year. the company also highlighted its work in the generative ai space, a hot topic among all tech companies this earnings season. as for sales at its all—important cloud business, well, amazon web services climbed to $23.1 billion, but investors remain concerned that the pace of growth in that unit is slowing — after results this week from microsoft and google, it seems tech giants are sending mixed signals about the cloud market. live now to miya knights, co—author of "amazon" and publisher of retail technology magazine. good morning to you. and good news, a touch ahead of expectations, amazon, it seems after a brutal 2022, it's back? yes, it certainly seems so. i think we have to look at this quarter's results within the context of the fact they also have a prime day which is their major annual discount day which definitely helped drive retail sales. �* ' sales. and the different departments, _ sales. and the different departments, very - sales. and the different - departments, very interesting, talk us through what is performing particularly well. well, historically we looked at amazon's cloud business driving most of the profit. last year it was about 60% of its profit. i think that's what we are seeing in terms of concern over investor, from investors about the slowing market share. amazon reported revenue growth of about i2% versus 20% plus four windows azure cloud business and by the same for google cloud. so it's competitors are a growing market share to its market share as slowing and the other big revenue generatorfor them outside of the cloud business is now advertising on its retail marketplace platform, which also shows some major growth and contributes huge amounts of margins to amazon. abli margins were about 40% for the ads business. the abli margins were about 4096 for the ads business.— the ads business. the past year has been about _ the ads business. the past year has been about streamlining i the ads business. the past year has been about streamlining or| has been about streamlining or come holster cutting, laying off staff, sadly. what do you think the priorities will be for amazon now? they will not just flip back to growth mode. also the impact on the wider marketplace, really? such a touch—tone company for the wider market. touch-tone company for the wider market.— touch-tone company for the wider market. yes, absolutely. -- touchstone. _ wider market. yes, absolutely. -- touchstone. the _ wider market. yes, absolutely. -- touchstone. the retail - —— touchstone. the retail industry will certainly be very heartened by the fact that amazon pass �*s retail sales are returning to stronger growth and there will be pleased to see that the cost cutting exercises have had an effect. not only did they cut staff but they had to rationalise warehouse space, they doubled down on same day and monday delivery promises as well to improve and upgrade to the offer, so as a result i really think that amazon are in a really good position, much better than it was last year, she said. to recoverfrom potentially overextending during the pandemic. now their business is slightly better sized going forward. thank you very much _ sized going forward. thank you very much for— sized going forward. thank you very much for your _ sized going forward. thank you very much for your time - sized going forward. thank you very much for your time this i very much for your time this morning. let's get some of the day's other news now. us chip—maker intel reported results that beat wall street expectations for the july to september quarter. despite its overall revenue declining about 8% the same period a year ago, shares rose about 6% in late trading. the company also said it is on track to catch up with chip—making rival tsmc in an increasingly competitive industry. american car—maker ford also reported its earnings. but unlike intel, it missed analysts expectations and saw shares falling about 3% in after—hours trading. the us auto sector is also in a state of flux — with ongoing workers strikes that have lasted six weeks, demanding fair pay and better benefits. the company said the strikes will likely reflect in the results for the next quarter. to new york, where sam bankman—fried — known better by his initials sbf — has taken the stand to testify in his own defence. the former chief of the collapsed crypto exchange ftx faces several charges, including defrauding his customers by as much as $10 billion — charges that he has denied. 0ur corespondent erin delmore has the latest on the latest from the courtroom. it was a stunning beginning to sam bankman—fried's testimony. this is the most eagerly awaited moment in this trial. we expected he would take the stand in front of a jury today. that was surprise number one. judge lewis kaplan dismissed the jury. he told them simply, "there's something that "we need to work out here. "we'll see you tomorrow morning at 9.30." and then he told the rest of us in the courtroom that there were topic areas that the defence wanted to introduce, that the prosecution objected to. and he admitted it's an unconventional way to move forward, but he said his solution was to hear it for his ears only. so they did put sam bankman—fried on the stand today. he answered questions from his own defence lawyers and through cross—examination with prosecutors, but the jury wasn't in the room. and a lot of what happened today focused on what company policies or what advice from lawyers made mr bankman—fried think that his company's actions were legal. they did get into alameda research's use of ftx customer funds and also the loans that alameda research doled out to mr bankman—fried and to other members of high ranking ftx employees. tomorrow, thejury is due back in and judge kaplan told them that they may actually spend the first half of next week talking about the case, coming up with their own verdict. that would be an accelerated timeline. we had originally projected that this could go up possibly until thanksgiving, the third week of november here in the united states. but they are moving along quickly. and in fact, the defence even went through a couple of witnesses this morning before we had that unconventional break and finally heard from mr bankman—fried. around the world and across the uk. this is bbc news. bbc news, bringing you different stories from across the uk. halloween is nearly here, so it's time to pick those pumpkins — and visitors to this farm can see pink ones for the first time. farmer fiona wilshaw came up with the idea after learning her father had terminal cancer. 0ur dad was... he lived and breathed all of his time here. so we're really missing him and we have been missing him for a while because he's not been able to be on the farm for the past couple of months. how much money are you hoping to raise? because you've already raised a huge amount. we set a target of £3,000 and we've surpassed that. so let's go to £6,000. each year we sort of stacked it up with the pumpkins. and this has been our biggest and best year yet. fiona is following in her dad's footsteps and is running the farm. at just 24 years old, it's a big responsibility, but one she's embracing. i've definitely been thrown in at the deep end. i think growing up on the farm, spending the evenings and weekends here, you pick up a lot from everybody that you're working with. for more stories from across the uk, head to the bbc news website. you're live with bbc news. just a few hours ago, chinese state media reported that former president li keqiang has passed away. a harvard—trained economist, he was appointed to the role in march of 2013. his economic policy was aimed at steering the chinese economy towards self—sustainability. but his economic leadership weakened over time, and he was sidelined by president xijinping, who sought to consolidate power and loyalists in his party. let's go to our asia business reporterjoao da silva, who is following the story. well, when i think of li keqiang, one of the images comes to mind is of him last year when china's strict zero covid policies were in place, appearing unmasked and published —— in public. at that time nobody dared question those restrictions and he was appealing for officials to be mindful of the impact those policies were having on the economy. that image to me sort of captures the reason why he is often described as a pragmatist. that happened at the tail end of his tenure as premier. when he first came into office ten years ago, he was given the reins of the chinese economy, there was a lot of hope that is more liberal minded economist, he would move china further down a more market oriented path. well, we know now that those ideas really failed to take root over the past four years, more and more power has been concentrated in the hands of president xijinping, and we know that president xi really favoured a more statist approach to the economy. so the legacy of li keqiang is perhaps not about what china's economy is right now but really about what it could have been. china's economy today is of course facing some serious challenges including a significant slowdown and a huge poverty crisis. so the question is whether we can really separate li keqiang's legacy from those problems right now. thank you very much indeed. the global industry for menopause products is worth billions, and includes products like lipsticks and vests which change temperature to combat the symptoms of hot flushes. but a leading doctor has told the bbc�*s aaron heslehurst that "the money that is being spent on this is just awful." speaking to the talking business weekly programme on the bbc news channel, dr louise newson says that women experiencing menopause symptoms are "desperate to feel better" and there's little evidence that many of the supplements will make any difference at all. i really worry about it. so, i mean, i don't work with any of these companies at all and i don't do any paid work with pharma, just for complete transparency. i read somewhere the other day that it's $120 billion a year spent on menopause related products. but, you know, if i was a sassy business person thinking, well, if 1.2 billion women worldwide are menopausal, how are we going to get them to buy some supplements or face cream or shampoo? and actually, when i was struggling and was unable to receive treatment from the nhs, i would have spent a lot of money on anything to help me, because it would have been cheaper than a divorce if it meant that i could keep myjob and my income. you know, people are very desperate to feel better. the advertising on some of these products is great. they also try and push people away from hrt. and it really worries me because there's no evidence, certainly, that a lot of the supplements will really make a difference. they're not going to improve future health as well. and the money that's being spent on this is just awful, actually. and you can see the full interview with dr newson as well as interviews about how companies can help women experiencing menopause symptoms thrive on talking business weekly with aaron heslehurst here on bbc news. it's exactly a year since elon musk�*s purchase of the social media platform once known as twitter. in the year since the controvsersial takeover, a lot has changed. for one, it's now called x. verified users now also need to pay for a blue tick on the platform. it's lost nearly half of its advertising revenue according to several analytics firms. james clayton reports from san fransisco. a year ago, elon musk famously, infamously walked into twitter holding a sink. "let that sink in," he quipped, before firing huge swathes of its staff. 30 seconds left. 35 seconds. everybody here, we're all about to get fired. it was emblematic of his erratic leadership. he slept in the office, changed twitter�*s name to x, talked about fighting mark zuckerbergm who launched a rival to twitter called threads over the summer. i got a taste of that unpredictability when i messaged him to ask him for an interview six months ago. a few hours later, he was telling me he'd appointed his dog to run twitter. i'm not the ceo of twitter. my dog is the ceo of twitter. but although some have left the platform, it has been remarkably resilient. a year on, x, formerly known as twitter, still exists. threads, mark zuckerberg's rival, has not been the twitter—killer that some have touted it to be. but it still has major problems. despite what elon musk says, independent analysts say that twitter�*s user numbers are falling. x has put out different numbers saying that things are going great and there must be something going on that we're not seeing. but basically, everything is down on a year over year basis. advertisers have also shunned the platform and the eu has criticised it for high levels of disinformation. he hired former advertising exec linda yaccarino over the summer to try to bring them back. many of you in this room know me and you know i pride myself on my work ethic. but buddy, i met my match. but some investors say advertisers won't come back until the platform is better moderated. i think that twitter is dying. i think it's just dying right now. and i don't think twitter users like me want it to die, because it's become such a valuable resource for me. but... but it's time. so i don't care what elon says. it doesn't matter what he says. there's a reality and there's a fantasy. the fantasy that ross garber is referring to is mr musk�*s big dreams for x. this is what he told me he wants x to become. twitter is an accelerant to x. what does that what does that mean? what does it mean? well, i guess you'll have to stay tuned to find out. oh, come on. we now know a little bit more. he wants x to do streaming games, video calls, banking, you name it. the everything app. but ultimately, x still gets the vast majority of its revenue through advertising. if it's going to survive in the short term, at least it needs to bring them back. james clayton, bbc news, san francisco. it's national mentoring day. while traditional mentoring in the workplace has been top down — senior leaders guiding lower—level staff — "reverse mentoring" is a form of coaching where younger workers teach upwards. junior staff members guide their more senior colleagues on everything from consumer desires and tiktok, to changing attitudes around social issues. live now to patrice gordon, executive coach, personal development advocate and author of the book, reverse mentoring: removing barriers and building belonging in the workplace. you are very busy! look, this sounds like every employee's dream, bossing the boss around but there are serious thinking behind this.— but there are serious thinking behind this. absolutely. i was with virgin — behind this. absolutely. i was with virgin atlantic _ behind this. absolutely. i was with virgin atlantic about - behind this. absolutely. i was with virgin atlantic about five | with virgin atlantic about five years ago and if it was such a transformative tool, really getting to sit in front of a senior executive, was mentoring the ceo and it was so great to have the barriers removed and to have my opinions and viewpoints heard. so it is really empowering and as a result of that i've done a huge amount of research around quite amount of research around quite a few programmes, investigating how we can use this tool to really transform relationships at work, specifically when it comes to an age perspective, a gender perspective and also an ethnicity perspective. i gender perspective and also an ethnicity perspective.- ethnicity perspective. i guess in this modern _ ethnicity perspective. i guess in this modern world, - ethnicity perspective. i guess| in this modern world, bosses, slightly different generation, things have moved on, there is a lot they can learn from younger employees? absolutely. there are some _ younger employees? absolutely. there are some really _ younger employees? absolutely. there are some really good - there are some really good examples within the tech space and with the consumer and luxury space. estee lauder have been doing reverse mentoring for about eight years so for brizzi is keen on making sure that he gets on top of the trends by using the younger members within the workforce to make sure that he's not missing out on anything. so i do think reverse mentoring is one of the keys to innovation especially when you have quite diverse workforce. when you have quite diverse workforce-— when you have quite diverse workforce. and i suppose this re . uires workforce. and i suppose this requires buying _ workforce. and i suppose this requires buying from - workforce. and i suppose this requires buying from all - workforce. and i suppose this| requires buying from all sides. managers. it takes a bit of a leap sitting down with junior staff, being told how to manage!— staff, being told how to manaae! , , ., , ~ manage! definitely does. at the work i do manage! definitely does. at the work i do is _ manage! definitely does. at the work i do is get _ manage! definitely does. at the work i do is get in _ manage! definitely does. at the work i do is get in that - work i do is get in that mindset shift right. we talk about the growth mindset all the time when it comes to sales or operations. but from our personal values perspective, it is a real challenge. for some senior leaders it is a challenge to step back in admit they don't have all the answers, and they don't have to, especially working in environments where working with at the man, he talked about amazon, he talked about x, there are so much change happening in the world and ultimately i think it is remiss of us to put all that burden on leaders, to expect them to know everything that's happening there is so use your eyes and ears of the business and use them in the most constructive ways, is what i say.— them in the most constructive ways, is what i say. thank you so much _ ways, is what i say. thank you so much indeed, _ ways, is what i say. thank you so much indeed, fascinating . so much indeed, fascinating stuff. patrice gordon, executive coach. if any bbc bosses are watching, i will be popping up a bosses are watching, i will be popping up a coffee as soon as we come off air! stay with us on bbc news, we will bring you the very latest on the developing situation in gaza. stay with us. hello there. we have more unsettled weather on the way for the last few days of october, with more rain falling on very saturated ground in areas which still have flooding. and we're likely to see further issues at times. so unsettled, rain at times, but especially wet for eastern scotland. it's all down to low pressure anchored to the west of ireland. it's a huge area of low pressure with showers and bands of rain spiralling around it, and even some little low pressure systems running around it, such as this one, which could impact parts of england and wales on saturday night to bring a spell of very wet and windy weather. now, watch out for some very dense fog patches across the east midlands into eastern england, certainly for lincolnshire, certainly through the morning rush, but they should tend to lift into low cloud. we start off with some sunshine, and then we'll see showers develop across southern and western areas where it'll be quite breezy in the southwest. some of these showers could be on the heavy side. and it stays wet for eastern scotland with some persistent rain there, maybe a little bit of brightness across the highlands and islands, but it stays windy here, too. now, as we head through friday night, the rain keeps on coming across the east of scotland. furthersouth, plenty of showers rattling their way into southern and western areas. but, again, parts of the midlands could stay dry with some low cloud and some mist and fog where the winds will be a little bit lighter. temperatures ranging around 7—11 celsius. into saturday morning, then, similar story — we hold on to windy conditions across the north and east of scotland with some persistent rain here. elsewhere, we start off with some sunshine, and then we'll see showers going into the afternoon, some of which will be heavy and thundery. and then, later in the day, an area of more persistent rain starts to push up from the south. temperatures, again, 10—15 celsius. now, this area of wind and rain will spread northwards across the country on saturday night. sunday looks particularly wet across the north of the uk. but you'll notice even into monday, the last day of october, we hold low pressure close by to bring further showers at times. so, sunday, then, looks particularly wet across northern england, scotland, particularly eastern scotland, start to tap into some colder airfrom scandinavia. so some wintriness likely over the high ground. northern ireland, england and wales, another day of sunshine and showers, most of them towards the south and the west. better chance of staying dry towards the east. top temperatures, 14—15 celsius, but much colder across the north. and then you'll notice from the outlook here, as we head into the first week of november, things stay unsettled as low pressure continues to bring showers or longer spells of rain with some strong winds, too. good morning. welcome to breakfast with naga munchetty and charlie stayt. 0ur headlines today: eu leaders call for pauses in fighting between israel and hamas, as the un warns humanitarian aid is barely trickling in to gaza. the manhunt for the armed suspect, accused of murdering 18 people in a mass shooting in maine in the united states, has entered its second day. nhs waiting lists in england could hit eight million by next summer — even if doctors' strikes stop, according to a health charity. good morning. the rise of the retail park — more stores are being opened than are being closed in our out—of—town shopping centres. i'll be finding out why.