Maharashtra Gen Z Adivasis ask for more

US President Donald Trump on Thursday hinted at sanctioning Chinese banks over their commercial links with Iran, just weeks before Chinese leader Xi Jinping is expected to visit Washington for a bilateral summit. “Who said I’m not?” Trump said in response to a reporter’s question about why the US had not sanctioned Chinese banks for their dealings with Iranian entities. “Well, I don’t have to announce everything, do I?” Trump’s remarks come days after Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced...

In arguably his most important foreign trip, Elbridge Colby, US undersecretary for defence policy, visited key Southeast Asian capitals this month. In a speech in Manila, the Pentagon policy chief extolled America’s “flexible realism”, which he said serves “the practical, concrete interests of regular Americans” and echoes Southeast Asian nations’ commitment to “pragmatism, an openness to dialogue, respect for counterparts, proud nationalism, and a focus on economic prosperity”. Amid the United...

Okinawa’s governor election next month is set to be a major test of whether Japan’s ruling party can win over voters from a prefecture that has long opposed its security agenda and the heavy US military presence on its islands. A victory by Genta Koja, the Liberal Democratic Party-backed candidate, would likely help smooth ties between Okinawa and Tokyo and weaken resistance against the planned relocation of the US Marine Corps’ Futenma base within the prefecture, according to analysts. Such an...