Your morning briefing. All the news you need to start your day.

On today's podcast:

(1) Xi Jinping warned Donald Trump of a potential conflict over Taiwan if the issue is mismanaged, saying it could push the China-US relationship into a highly dangerous situation.

(2) Angela Rayner, the UK’s former deputy prime minister, has been cleared of deliberate wrongdoing in an investigation into her tax affairs, potentially paving the way for a leadership bid against Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

(3) European Union leaders must show courage in strengthening the bloc’s foundations, according to European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde. “Europe now finds itself in a world that is far less forgiving of the gaps in its institutional architecture,” she said Wednesday in Aachen, Germany. “Institutions that were built for an earlier age are being tested by demands they were not fully designed to meet.”

(4) The US Senate narrowly confirmed Kevin Warsh as chair of the Federal Reserve, setting up the most controversial leadership transition at the US central bank in decades and a test of its political independence.

(5) More UK estate agents have reported falling house prices in April as the war in Iran and elevated borrowing costs hit buyer confidence, according to a closely watched survey.

(6) Back in the 2000s, the market for pension risk transfers was an eat-what-you-kill industry, and pickings were slim. Nearly two decades on, PRTs are a much easier sell and there are £1.3 trillion of assets to fight for. 

Podcast Conversation: Stressed? Overscheduled? There’s More Time in the Day Than You Think