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In your briefing today:

• Chancellor Rachel Reeves “inadvertantly” broke rules by renting her home out without permits.

• Trump has hailed talks with China’s Xi as a huge success, signalling a thawing in relations between the US and China.

• The toll of Hurricane Melissa is becoming clear in Jamaica, and the images are shocking.

📣 Chancellor Rachel Reeves has admitted to “inadvertently” breaking rules by renting out her home without a licence since she entered Downing Street last year.

After being approached by the Daily Mail, which broke the story, she was forced to write to the Prime Minister admitting an error, and referred herself to the parliamentary standards watchdog. (The Mail has the exclusive).

A spokesperson said the chancellor had used a letting agency to rent out her London home after Labour’s election win last year. She should have been aware of the obligation to buy a licence from the local authority, but had not been advised that she needed one. (Guardian) (BBC)

The news comes as an unwelcome distraction ahead of Reeves’ budget, to be delivered late next month.

• Reeves is said to be considering a 2p rise in income tax (🎁Telegraph - gift link)

📣 Donald Trump hailed the US relationship with China as “very good” after talks with Chinese leader Xi Jinping that were seen as an opportunity to improve relations between the two countries, which are locked in a trade tariff war.

Trump had left the meeting with Xi after an hour and 40 minutes, and boarded Air Force One without speaking to reporters - which was interpreted as a signal things hadn’t gone well. But once on board his plane, Trump was more forthcoming: he hailed the meeting as “amazing”, rated it 12 out of 10, and said Xi would be visiting the US.

He said deals had been reached on Chinese rare earths - vital for high tech manufacturing - and US soybeans, while tariffs on Chinese goods entering the US would be reduced. (Independent - live coverage) (BBC live coverage)

• Trump took to social media to threaten nuclear weapons testing “on an equal basis” with other countries. (🎁New York Times - gift link)

📣 The Dutch elections are on a knife-edge: through the night, it looked like there could be a surprise result: exit polls suggested Geert Wilders’ far right party would lose ground in the election he brought about.

Rob Jetten, the “fervently” pro-European 38-year-old leader of the centre-left D66 party, was on course to become the country’s youngest-ever Prime Minister.

But the latest projections, sent out just minutes before The Early Line hit your inbox, show things running very close indeed - perhaps neck and neck between Jetten and Wilders, with new projections of 26 seats each in the 150-member parliament.

The election is being seen as a bellwether amid the rise of the far-right across Europe. Wilders is the instantly-recognisable face of the Freedom Party, known for its anti-Islam stance and - more recently - a proposal to deny all asylum requests, including sending all male Ukrainian refugees home. (Sky News) (BBC)

• Dutch election favourite Rob Jetten is the EU’s dream (Politico)

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AROUND SCOTLAND

📣 Senior management at the troubled Historic Environment Scotland quango chose not to act on external experts’ calls for an internal review to address a “culture of fear” among staff. FOI requests show that not only was the recommendation not acted on, but the advice was deleted from internal reports. (The Scotsman has the exclusive)

📣 Police Scotland could perform a u-turn on threats to charge a woman’s rights campaigner with vandalism after a trans activist had claimed she had broken his umbrella. The threat of criminal action had sparked an outcry. (Mail)

📣 The Netherlands might be enjoying overnight drama in its elections, but Scotland won’t next year - whatever the vote is. The Electoral Management Board for Scotland has decided votes will be counted the day after polls close. (BBC)

📣 A woman and her dog have died after being struck by a car while crossing a road in Port Glasgow. (Daily Record)

AROUND THE UK & WORLD

📣 US chip giant Nvidia became the first publicly traded company to hit a $5 trillion valuation, buoyed by the AI boom and a spate of big deals. The huge valuation redefines what “big” tech means, says Dave Lee - and makes the company a $5 trillion single point of failure in the global economy. (Bloomberg £)

📣 The family of an 80-year-old woman who was left behind and died on a remote Pacific island by her cruise ship say there was “a failure of care and common sense” by the ship’s staff. (Guardian)

📣 Consent is to be added to French rape law after the Gisele Pelicot case, bringing it in line with many other European countries. (Guardian)

SPORT

⚽️ It was a big night in Scottish football last night with Martin O’Neill starting his temporary period back in charge at Celtic with a 4-0 drubbing of Falkirk. Rangers also found themselves in some form of recovery, beating Hibs 1-0 in Edinburgh. Hearts faltered, only managing a 2-2 draw with St Mirren in Paisley.

• Martin O’Neill supplied Celtic with the “boot up the backside” they needed (Daily Record)

• It might have been Still Game in the dugouts, but O’Neill showed he’s “still got it” after steering Celtic to victory (Sun)

• Rangers boss Danny Rohl took the acclaim of fans after his side’s win (Daily Record)

• Hearts’ Derek McInnes praised his players for battling to a 2-2 draw, despite seeing their lead at the top of the table cut to six points. (Scotsman)

🏉 Edinburgh flanker Liam McConnell thought his Scotland ship had sailed for the Autumn test series… until he got a late WhatsApp call from an unknown number. He’s very happy at a well-deserved call-up. (Scotsman)

⚽️ Brilliant Crystal Palace beat Liverpool 3-0 in the Carabao Cup as Arne Slot chose to rest several key players, and fill his bench with academy prospects. It’s a move that leaves the reds wondering where the next win will come from. (BBC)

IDEAS
Hurricane Melissa devastates Jamaica: the toll of a huge storm begins to emerge

🗣️ The damage after a hurricane always emerges slowly, and the reason for the delay is simple: the damage they cause strips away lives and livelihoods, of course, but also modernity: electricity, telecommunications, the ability to reach the outside world.

That’s what has happened in Jamaica, where the great devastation caused by Hurricane Melissa has only started to become clear.

• The Jamaica Observer is on the ground and reporting the devastation on the island. The quotes in their coverage paint a picture:
  “One resident, Garry Dawson, was among several community members seen trying to repair their roofs before nightfall after powerful winds blew them off. His furniture and other household items were destroyed, leaving him counting the cost of the devastation.
  ‘Terrible, terrible, terriblest thing we ever see. Nothing like this before, and I don’t think anything like this will be coming after. Man, Gilbert a baby, man,’ he told the Jamaica Observer, referencing the historic Category 3 Hurricane Gilbert that struck Jamaica in 1988.

• The Mail’s reporting paints an picture of almost unimaginable disruption, death and destruction. 25,000 tourists are stranded, thousands are without electricity and entire towns are under water. At least eight people - including an infant - have died, and that toll may well rise. Dead animals litter the streets.

• The UN coordinator for the country calls it “tremendous, unprecedented devastation” across the entire country of Jamaica, in this video from AP. The visuals accompanying his statement show that devastation vividly: homes flattened, an overhead before and after shot showing how one coastal town has been effectively flattened by the storm.

• A gallery of images posted overnight by the agency shows the extent of devastation, and human impact, on the island.

• The Guardian’s Natricia Duncan reports from Kingston, with vivid quotes from the mayor of Black River, a town hit especially hard by the hurricane. “The entire town of Black River is devastated,” Richard Soloman told Duncan. “And that devastation is so catastrophic that the prime minister classified this area as ground zero.
  “We got up to 16ft (4.8 metres) of water at the [emergency operating] centre. That was a bit scary for us,” said Soloman, whose own home lost its roof - like much of the town.

• The devastation is not restricted to Jamaica, although it may be worst hit. Across the Caribbean - in Haiti and Cuba too - people are digging out of the damage the storm has caused, with heavy machinery and chainsaws echoing through much of southeast Jamaica.

👍 That’s your Early Line for the day

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