The US military is prepared to strike Iran as early as this weekend as President Trump weighs his final decision. Air and naval forces are positioned amid rising tensions and fragile diplomacy.
Washington has given Kyiv and Moscow until June to reach a peace deal, even as Russia escalates attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure and nuclear facilities.
Shanghai | U.S. President Donald Trump has publicly cautioned the United Kingdom against deepening business engagement with China, calling such ties “very dangerous,” as Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer continued his high-profile visit aimed at resetting UK–China economic relations. Trump’s remarks came during a media interaction in the United States, where he reacted to new trade and investment understandings reached between London and Beijing. Despite describing Chinese President Xi Jinping as a “friend” whom he knows “very well,” Trump signaled unease over Western allies expanding economic links with China, extending similar warnings toward Canada. His comments landed just as Starmer arrived in Shanghai on the third leg of a visit framed by Downing Street as pragmatic economic diplomacy conducted “with eyes wide open.” London’s Economic Re-Engagement with Beijing Starmer’s meetings with President Xi Jinping in Beijing resulted in a series of agreements focused on trade facilitation, investment, and sector-specific cooperation. Among the most significant outcomes: The two sides also agreed to enhance intelligence cooperation targeting organized crime and human smuggling networks, an issue with direct relevance to UK domestic migration concerns. Starmer described his meetings with Xi as “very good” and said the UK had made “real progress,” arguing that Britain has “a huge amount to offer” in a relationship grounded in managed engagement rather than isolation. Washington’s Strategic Anxiety Trump’s warning reflects broader U.S. strategic discomfort with allied economies deepening commercial exposure to China amid ongoing geopolitical rivalry. While Washington has encouraged “de-risking” from China in critical sectors, European governments — including the UK — have resisted full economic decoupling. Notably, British officials pointed out that Washington had been informed in advance about the objectives of Starmer’s trip. UK Business Minister Sir Chris Bryant dismissed Trump’s comments, saying it would be “bonkers” for Britain to ignore China’s global economic weight. The tension highlights a familiar transatlantic dilemma: balancing security alignment with the U.S. against economic engagement with the world’s second-largest economy. Trade Reality vs. Security Concerns China ranks among the UK’s top trading partners, while the United States remains Britain’s single largest national trade counterpart. British business groups welcomed the visit, arguing that engagement reflects commercial reality rather than geopolitical realignment. However, critics in London warn that economic gains must not obscure security and values concerns. Opposition figures accused the government of risking national security for economic concessions, citing: Security officials maintain that intelligence agencies are involved in risk assessments linked to China-related decisions. A Broader Geopolitical Signal For Beijing, the visit signals that Western engagement with China continues despite U.S.–China strategic rivalry. For London, it represents an attempt to revive growth through trade while managing strategic risks. For Washington, it underscores the limits of allied economic alignment with U.S. China policy. Starmer’s stop in Shanghai, followed by onward travel to Japan, places the UK squarely in the complex balancing act shaping 21st-century diplomacy: economic interdependence with China, security partnership with the United States, and mounting pressure from both sides. The episode illustrates a core reality of current geopolitics — Western unity on China remains strongest on security, but far more fragmented on economics.
Parvovirus B19 cases are rising fast as CDC issues health alerts. Learn symptoms, risks, and global spread of slapped cheek disease in this IJ-Reportika report.
For decades, the Nobel Peace Prize has celebrated champions of peace—but an investigation into winners from 1996 to 2025 reveals a pattern of controversy, political alignment, and actions sometimes contrary to peace, raising questions about the true purpose of this prestigious award.
Leading Ukrainian analyst Ruslan Bortnik detailed interview on war, corruption, true sovereignty, and why Ukraine must stay independent from both Russia and the West.
Survey of 10,000 respondents across seven regions examining causes, outcomes and lasting effects of Gen Z–led protests — and the central role of social media.
Rare earth metals power EVs, wind turbines & defense tech. Discover what they are, where they’re mined, China’s dominance, and the escalating geopolitical struggle.
The Investigative Journalism Reportika report, “The Chinese Global Brain Turning Back to Home,” examines China’s strategic repatriation of STEM talent to drive innovation in AI, semiconductors, and more. Highlighting initiatives like the Thousand Talents Plan and “Made in China 2025,” it details the return of experts from the U.S., Europe, and beyond, their contributions to China’s tech ecosystem, and the geopolitical tensions, including espionage concerns, reshaping global innovation.
Protective measures taken with hope of rebuilding news operations in future WASHINGTON – With the government shutdown and delay in receiving funding for the new fiscal year, effective Oct. 31, Radio Free Asia (RFA) will halt all production of news content for the time being. The move is part of a plan for the Congressionally-funded private corporation to implement cost-saving measures that can help sustain the organization should appropriated funding streams resume. President and CEO Bay Fang issued the following statement: “Because of the fiscal reality and uncertainty about our budgetary future, RFA has been forced to suspend all remaining news content production – for the first time in its 29 years of existence. In an effort to conserve limited resources on hand and preserve the possibility of restarting operations should consistent funding become available, RFA is taking further steps to responsibly shrink its already reduced footprint. “This means initiating a process of closing down overseas bureaus and formally laying off furloughed staff and paying their severance – many of whom have been on unpaid leave since March, when the U.S. Agency for Global Media unlawfully terminated RFA’s Congressionally appropriated grant. “However drastic these measures may seem, they position RFA, a private corporation, for a future in which it would be possible to scale up and resume providing accurate, uncensored news for people living in some of the world’s most closed places.” During its tenure, RFA’s groundbreaking reporting on the Uyghur genocide in Xinjiang, the CCP’s cover-up of COVID-19 fatalities, the unfolding crisis in Myanmar since the 2021coup, Chinese hydropower projects in the Tibetan regions, and the journeys of North Korean defectors has built a public record of transparency in some of the world’s most repressive places, holding autocrats and elites accountable to their people and internationally. Other measures to conserve resources on hand include ending leases of overseas offices and bureaus in Dharamsala, Taipei, Seoul, Istanbul, Bangkok, and Yangon. In the last five years, RFA created new editorial units focused on China’s malign influence in the Indo-Pacific region and globally, investigating PRC secret police stations in the United States and Europe, election interference by the Chinese Communist Party in Taiwan and other Asian countries, and PRC influence operations in Pacific island countries. RFA’s incisive brand of journalism has made it and its journalists a constant target, with its reporters facing pressure and threats since its inaugural report in Mandarin was heard in China on Sept. 29, 1996. Authorities in China, Vietnam, Myanmar, and Cambodia have detained family members, sources, reporters, and contributors. Listeners in North Korea have been severely punished and reportedly executed for accessing RFA’s reports. Nevertheless, RFA’s journalistic operations have until now withstood government intimidation and attacks. In the months since the USAGM illegally terminated its Congressionally appropriated grant to RFA, and despite layoffs and furloughs that diminished editorial staff by more than 90%, the private grantee has continued to fulfill its Congressional mandate to provide accurate, timely news to people living in some of the most closed media environments in Asia thanks to a preliminary injunction issued by the United States Federal District Court for the District of Columbia, which USAGM has appealed. RFA has also continued to win awards for its reporting, including two national Edward R. Murrow awards in August and a Gracie Award in March. While many services, including RFA Uyghur and Tibetan, have already gone dark, others have continued to produce limited output, including RFA Burmese, Khmer, Korean, Mandarin Chinese, and Vietnamese. But these will cease on Oct. 31. We are : Investigative Journalism Reportika Investigative Reports Daily Reports Interviews Surveys Reportika
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