Thursday newspaper round-up: RICS, MoD, Toshiba, News Corp

The UK property market is at its weakest for six years, with prices flat or falling across half the country according to Britain’s official surveyors body, with reports that sales are “in limbo” until a Brexit deal emerges. The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (Rics) said its monthly survey of members found “the weakest reading since September 2012” in October, with prices falling in London, the south-east, south-west and East Anglia. – Guardian

A former French prime minister and a previous British head of Nato say that France and the UK have to overcome the risks of Brexit and urgently deepen their military alliance to hedge against the unpredictability of Donald Trump’s White House. In a report from a taskforce led by Bernard Cazeneuve, France’s prime minister from 2016 to 2017, and George Robertson, a former Labour defence secretary and secretary general of Nato, it is claimed the two countries’ relationship has never been more fragile. – Guardian

The Ministry of Defence is opening up its infrastructure projects to try to get more small suppliers involved in its £3bn-a-year spending programme and reduce its vulnerability to a Carillion-style collapse. For the first time military chiefs are setting out the next five years of major contracts, including the construction and refurbishment of buildings and bases, as well as facilities agreements such as catering and cleaning. – Telegraph

Japanese conglomerate Toshiba is said to be preparing to liquidate its Manchester-based nuclear arm NuGen, after failing to sell the unit, which is responsible for the execution of the £15bn Moorside Nuclear Power Station. The decision has emerged after the Japanese conglomerate failed to clinch a deal with Korea Electric Power Corporation (Kepco) over the summer. – Telegraph

Strong sales of titles including The Russia Hoax by Gregg Jarrett and Girl, Wash Your Face by Rachel Hollis helped News Corp’s book publishing division to record improved quarterly revenue. The division, which includes HarperCollins, reported revenue of $418 million for the three months to September, News Corp’s first quarter, up from $401 million in the period a year ago. – The Times

President Trump immediately set his sights on re-election in 2020 yesterday after claiming to have “defied history” by making gains in US midterm elections even as his party lost control of one chamber of Congress. He asked Mike Pence, the vice-president, to be his running-mate again — and Mr Pence agreed — during a bombastic and at times bad-tempered press conference performance from a president pumped up by several “incredible” Senate victories. – The Times