Xi Jinping sharply criticized Japan’s military buildup during his summit with Trump in Beijing.

Xi reportedly became unusually heated while accusing Japanese PM Sanae Takaichi of “remilitarisation” and condemning Tokyo’s rising defence spending.

Trump responded that Japan needed stronger defenses because of threats from North Korea.

Source: FT

Trump officials say Venezuelan elections are “not even on Trump’s mind” right now.

Source: WSJ

Venezuelan inmates climbed onto a prison roof in Barinas to protest shootings and abuse by guards, setting mattresses on fire and demanding the prison director’s removal.

Mike Huckabee said his appointment as U.S. ambassador to Israel felt like “an Isaiah moment” and compared it to the Biblical phrase “for such a time as this” from the Book of Esther.

U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee says people in Lebanon should be thanking Israel for “cell phones” and “cherry tomatoes.”

U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee:

I’m meeting some of the future billionaires of Israel. Some of these young people, maybe they're 15, 16, 17 now, but give them just probably a very short period of time, and in their 20s, we'll all be wanting to borrow money from some of them.

So, I want to go ahead and get their names and phone numbers now.

Mike Huckabee says Israel “looked like the finishedup nation” when he first visited in 1973, describing it as “almost third world,” with few roads, few cars because “people couldn't afford them,” and an economy that “was struggling.”

U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee:

Right now across the world, there are people who blame Israel for pretty much everything. If something goes wrong, must be those Jews.

I can say that I'm not a Jew, but I don't blame the Jews for what's wrong in the world.

I certainly don't blame Israel. I blame the people who have believed a lie. A lie that is destroying entire nations...

Reporter: What did you make of the question you got yesterday on racist comments about India?

Rubio: I don't know who he was talking about, but I assumed he was talking about people posting stuff online. I asked him specifically, "Can you tell me what you're talking about and who you're talking about?" He didn't have a specific example.

Reporter: There was something reposted by Trump where he referred to India as a "hellhole."

Rubio: Well, I gave him a chance to tell me that. That's not what he said. Trump loves India...

I gave that reporter a chance to tell me who he was referring to and he didn't. So I assumed he was talking about random voices online.

People say stupid stuff all the time on social media in every country in the world, unfortunately.

Marco Rubio on Iran:

We have what I think is a pretty solid thing on the table in terms of their ability to open up the straits, get the straits open, enter into a very real, significant, time-limited negotiation on the nuclear matters. And hopefully we can pull it off. It has a lot of support in the Gulf, has a lot of support globally.

Every country that we've walked through understands it's not just very reasonable, but it's the right thing for the world to get done.

As the president said, he's not in a hurry. He's not going to make a bad deal. I mean, the president's not going to make a bad agreement. So, let's see what happens.

We're going to give diplomacy every chance to succeed before we explore the alternatives.

Marco Rubio:

The problem is not Lebanon and Israel. The problem is Hezbollah.

Just last night, Hezbollah put out a statement calling for the overthrow of the Lebanese government.

And it just reminds you of who you're dealing with here, by the way, an Iranian proxy, 100% Iranian proxy.

Reporter: Would it be understood that Israel wouldn't strike Lebanon as part of—

Rubio: Israel always has a right to protect itself. Every country in the world does.

And so if Hezbollah is going to launch missiles at them, Israel has every right to respond to that or to prevent that from happening.

That's always been understood. It's being understood during the ceasefire now in Lebanon and it'll be understood beyond that.

Marco Rubio:

India is always pointing to the fact that there are armed terrorist groups operating from Pakistani territory that target India.

They're always concerned about that.

Belarusian opposition leader Tikhanovskaya arrived in Ukraine for her first official visit, invited by Zelensky.

IDF announces the killing of a soldier in Lebanon: Sgt. Nehoray Leizer, 19.

Russia's Medvedev:

Pashinyan is actively steering Armenia down the path of “Bandera-style Ukraine.”

Pashinyan has put Armenia’s relations with Russia, the CSTO, and the EAEU under direct threat, and his actions will have consequences.

Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf was re-elected as Iran’s parliament speaker for the 7th straight year.

China’s Foreign Ministry:

There is but one China in the world.

Taiwan is an inalienable part of Chinese territory.

We urge the German side to uphold the one-China principle, stop sending wrong signals to Taiwan independence separatist forces.

Iran's Foreign Ministry:

The fact that we have reached a conclusion on a large portion of the topics under discussion is correct.

However, to say that this means the signing of an agreement is imminent. No one can make such a claim.

Policymaking and decision-making in the United States are suffering from a kind of institutionalized vacillation.

The repeated changes in positions — within a matter of hours you are faced with different, often contradictory and conflicting viewpoints.

This disrupts the process of any negotiation.

WATCH: Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Harvard Professor Stephen Walt clashed directly on the Iran war debate.

Walt argued the US started the war by attacking Iran first and listed historical grievances including the 1953 CIA coup and US support for Saddam Hussein during the Iran-Iraq war.

Pompeo rejected the claim that the US started the war.

On October 7, Mearsheimer said there is "no evidence in the public record" that Iran knew about the Hamas attack in advance.

Walt also said he would not call Iran a monster, comparing it to other countries including the US that "do many bad things."

Realist scholars John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt defeated former officials Mike Pompeo and Victoria Nuland by audience vote, 56% to 44%.

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis:

We see shortages in specific sectors and branches of our economy — shortages that are difficult to cover with domestic labor alone.

It is quite likely that, in certain sectors, through targeted and organized migration policies, we will need — and be able — to bring workers from abroad.

If we choose, for example, to bring agricultural workers from Egypt or construction workers from India, we will do so through organized bilateral agreements.