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Donald Trump wants to redraw the political map of the world. His vision seems to be that smaller countries – such as perhaps Greenland, Ukraine and Taiwan – should fall under the sway of their local big power as the US, Russia and China expand their regional zones of influence.

There is a vicious logic to this new world order if one excludes the principles of democracy, independence, co-existence, borders and basic rights for all nations, regardless of size. It simply asserts that might is right. Mr Trump believes the US is the mightiest country and he is set on Making America Great Again at home and abroad.

Sucking up to the presidency

This is a grim prospect for a middle-sized post-imperial power like the United Kingdom. The leaders of Labour, the Conservatives, and Reform UK have chosen not to go public with any private misgivings they may have about the Trump administration’s intentions. They have all concluded that sucking up is the best way to handle the new presidency.

Many have wondered whether Donald Trump, a great admirer of King Charles, realises that Charles is currently also Canada's head of state, writes Sky's Rhiannon Mills. Pic: Jaimi Joy/Pool photo via AP
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King Charles. Pic: AP

This explains the astonishing reports that the King might invite the United States to become an associate member of the Commonwealth when Mr Trump visits him in Scotland later this year to plan his second state visit to this country.

Mr Trump has already welcomed the news about joining up with the Commonwealth. “I love King Charles. Sounds good to me!” he posted on his Truth Social platform.

There has been no official invitation to the president. “Associate” membership of the organisation does not exist. New members require the agreement of all 56 existing member countries. It is not up to the King, who is nominal head of the Commonwealth, or even the British government. And it is not called “the British” Commonwealth anymore.

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Still, stranger things have happened – will happen again now Mr Trump is back in the White House.

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The first approach may merely be an invitation to become an associate of the Royal Commonwealth Society (RCS), which describes itself as “a network of individuals and organisations committed to improving the lives and prospects of Commonwealth citizens across the world”.

The RCS has already offered that to Mr Trump in 2017 shortly after his first election. Nigel Farage delivered the letter in person. Like most clubs the RCS is hungry to expand and has also put out feelers to Ireland and Nordic countries.

Neither Mr Trump nor the British government would leave it at this trivial level. He is a great disrupter always on the lookout for the upside in any deal and with a record of turning some ideas which seemed laughable into reality.

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Why is Trump getting a second state visit?

Starmer government has overlooked everything

The prime minister laid it on thick in the Oval Office with the “unprecedented”, “historic” second state visit invitation. Most US presidents, including those who have been conspicuous friends of this country, never get one.

The Starmer government has decided not to criticise the Trump administration. They have overlooked everything from claiming Canada as the 51st state to top officials breaching security on a Signal phone group in which they expressed “hate” for “PATHETIC” European “freeloaders”. In direct contrast to their Americanophilia, ministers are reluctant to discuss closer ties with Europeans.

It would be entirely consistent with this government’s sycophancy to try to engineer a further inducement to the US in the form of closer involvement in the Commonwealth, a last vestige of UK soft power.

Sir Keir Starmer the Trump charmer.
Pic: PA
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Sir Keir Starmer and Donald Trump. Pic: PA

Trump as the King’s successor?

Mr Trump would see any deal as a takeover in which he was the equal to the King, and his probable successor as head of the Commonwealth. He would be likely to try to remake the organisation with a so-called “White Commonwealth” dominating the other members.

That would go down well with his ethno-nationalist supporters back home. It is already the vision of one British champion of US participation.

“Commonwealth union – not least a CANZUK union between Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the UK – really should be a cross-party no-brainer for the British. What exactly does the UK have to lose?” asks the political commentator Jonathan Saxty in The Daily Express.

This nation’s integrity would be at stake. Only a truly “perfidious Albion” would let Mr Trump into the Commonwealth in the hope of buying his favour.

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What happened when Starmer met Trump?

The King would not be happy

The King, who has done his best to indicate support for his realm of Canada against Mr Trump’s threats, would not be happy. The legs would still be knocked out from under Canada’s resistance. All Commonwealth members would face the option of going it alone outside the alliance or bowing to Mr Trump. The US would meanwhile try to exploit old British ties to counter China’s growing influence in Africa and Asia.

There are already some in the UK ready to throw in their lot with the US. But not all of the coalition which elected Mr Trump agrees with his imperialistic expansionism.

America First isolationists tore into him after his “sounds good” comment, on his own Truth Social network. One wrote: “HELL NO !!! We left UK & kicked their asses once, NEVER going back. Personally I don’t associate with TYRANTS. All of their ‘commonwealth’ can F off, eh !!! SCUMBAGS !!!”

Another posted: “No! King Charles has been amongst the top players of WEF, for years. He’s a globalist. Americans do not want to join their Commonwealth. The U.K. allowed itself to fall to muslim invaders & Charles has ‘secret offer’ for you? Hard no from ALL of your supporters!”

Alex Jones of the conspiracy website Infowars warned: “If you really try to make America join the British Commonwealth, 1776 will commence again!” adding, “I love Trump overall… but sometimes he does just the most terrible things.”

No sign Trump’s fanbase is deserting him

Terrible or not, there is no sign this fanbase is deserting the president. As their Signal chat showed his closest aides embrace his simplistic, extractive, what’s the “economic upside” for us approach to foreign relations.

The British government should think very carefully about what they are prepared to offer up voluntarily to a rapacious American bully in this global geopolitical struggle.

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China launches large-scale military drills around Taiwan and calls its president a ‘parasite’

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China launches large-scale military drills around Taiwan and calls its president a 'parasite'

China’s military has said it’s begun joint army, navy and rocket force exercises around Taiwan.

It said the exercises were intended to “serve as a stern warning and powerful deterrent against Taiwanese independence”, and called the self-governed island’s president a “parasite”.

China considers Taiwan to be its own territory and has threatened to use force to gain control.

A poster accompanying the drills titled 'Closing In'. Pic: Eastern Theater Command
Image:
A poster accompanying the drills titled ‘Closing In’. Pic: Eastern Theater Command

Its military released a poster entitled “Closing In”, showing Chinese ships and fighter jets circling the island and the words “sinister moves of Taiwan separatists courting disaster upon themselves”.

It comes after the Taiwanese president, President Lai Ching-Te, called China a “foreign hostile force” last month.

He announced measures including a proposal to re-instate a military court system in response to a perceived growth in Chinese infiltration of Taiwanese society and “grey-zone” tactics.

Announcing the joint exercises, China’s eastern theatre command depicted the president as a cartoon bug held by a pair of chopsticks above a burning Taiwan.

“Parasite poisoning Taiwan island. Parasite hollowing Island out. Parasite courting ultimate destruction,” the animation said.

Footage also showed the capital Taipei being aimed at from above and military vehicles patrolling the streets.

An image of Taiwan from above. Pic: Eastern Theatre Command/Reuters
Image:
An image of Taiwan from above. Pic: Eastern Theatre Command/Reuters

The eastern theatre command said on its official WeChat social media account: “The focus is on exercises such as combat readiness patrols at sea and in the air, seizing comprehensive control, striking maritime and land targets and imposing blockade controls on key areas and routes.”

Taiwan’s defence ministry said China’s Shandong aircraft carrier group had entered its response area and it had tracked 19 Chinese navy vessels in the waters surrounding the island in a 24-hour period.

It said the group had dispatched military aircraft and ships and activated land-based missile systems in response.

There is no doubt Beijing is seizing an opportunity here.

The recent hardening of both rhetoric and policy from Taiwan’s president provides an opening for China, not just to practise blockade scenarios and sow feelings of insecurity among Taiwanese, but crucially also to test the resolve of the island’s longstanding backer, the US.

It has been a nervous few months in Taipei as they’ve watched President Trump row back support for Ukraine.

An initial reluctance from the new administration to provide clear condemnation or pushback will have ultimately emboldened Beijing.

However, there have been a few hints in recent days that Washington may ultimately be coming back in behind Taiwan; the hardening of language in a few key statements, a visit by Alaska’s governor and the quiet release of $870m of previously frozen military aid, to name just a few.

Exactly where Trump stands on the Taiwan question is still unclear, he remains a volatile and transactional actor.

It is not impossible, for instance, that Taiwan’s future could be used as a bargaining chip within some future wide-reaching deal with China.

Today’s drills will serve as a test for all involved. Is US resolve indeed hardening, to what extent, and how publicly?

Either way, an intense period of cross-strait relations feels inevitable.

“The Chinese Communist Party has continued to increase its military activities around Taiwan and in the Indo-Pacific
region… and has become the biggest ‘troublemaker’ in the international community,” the statement added.

The drills come two weeks after a large exercise in mid-March, when Beijing sent a large number of drones and ships towards the island.

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Devastation in Myanmar: how the earthquake has left some areas almost completely destroyed

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Devastation in Myanmar: how the earthquake has left some areas almost completely destroyed

Even with thousands dead and entire neighbourhoods levelled, the ruling military junta in Myanmar maintains its long-term ban on international journalists entering the country.

It cited a lack of guaranteed safety that could be provided to foreign media to report on the aftermath of the catastrophic earthquake that rocked the southeast Asian nation on Friday.

That may also be because it is still pursuing its campaign against rebel forces amid the destruction.

So open-source information from satellite imagery and social media is a vital tool. The picture is incomplete, but gives some sense of the true scale of damage from the quake.

A building tilts precariously in Mandalay, Myanmar. Pic: Reuters
Image:
A building tilts precariously in Mandalay, Myanmar. Pic: Reuters

Mandalay, Myanmar’s second city and just 20km from the epicentre, was hit especially hard. The largest monastery in the city had boasted a clock tower, now completely flattened.

Sky’s Data & Forensics Unit has analysed the destruction based on a combination of videos like these and satellite imagery.

 

That is not a comprehensive picture of the destruction. For many areas, we don’t yet have satellite imagery available – for example the city of Sagaing. But we have verified videos posted to social media which give some idea of the situation there: buildings toppled, flattened pagodas and even a collapsed bridge.

More on Myanmar

A collapsed bridge is pictured after a strong earthquake, near its epicenter, in Sagaing, Myanmar, March 31, 2025. REUTERS/Stringer
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A collapsed bridge near the epicenter in Sagaing. Pic: Reuters

The country’s military rulers issued a rare call for help after the disaster. Their allies – Russia, India and China – were some of the first to heed the call.

On Saturday, a Russian plane registered to the Ministry for Emergency Situations (EMERCOM) arrived in Mawlamyine, southern Myanmar, from Moscow.

EMERCOM said it had also flown 120 rescuers and supplies to Yangon, in the south of the country.

 

In Mandalay, Russian and Chinese emergency workers have collaborated in efforts to rescue civilians trapped under rubble, according to a post on the official Telegram channel for EMERCOM.

China said it sent more than 135 rescue personnel and pledged about $13.8m (£10.7m) in emergency aid. Chinese President Xi Jinping extended his condolences to the military junta leader Min Aung Hlaing.

Other countries have pledged money too including the US, the EU and the UK.

But many are worried if aid will be distributed fairly.

“Throughout history, the military uses denial of aid access as a counter-insurgency tactic,” said Morgan Michaels, research fellow at the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS). “So there is warranted concern that in this current crisis, the military could block aid to affected areas.”

Some 265 groups in Myanmar have signed a statement calling for aid to be directed to civil society, the National Unity Government, and ethnic resistance organisations, rather than the junta.

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Family trapped after earthquake

Khin Ohmar, spokesperson for the signatories to the statement, is concerned about aid not reaching areas like Sagaing, which was at the epicentre of the earthquake.

She told Sky News: “International rescue aid is not reaching people that need to be saved, and the junta keep bombing areas, including Sagaing, where people were most severely impacted.”

With an ongoing civil war and poor infrastructure, Myanmar was already one of the most challenging places in the world for aid organisations to operate.

Some of the heaviest fighting has concentrated in the areas hit hardest by the earthquake, including Sagaing and Mandalay.

 

Rebel groups in Myanmar that oppose the junta have called for a two-week pause in fighting to help with aid deliveries and rescue efforts, saying they would only take defensive action.

But these calls have not stopped the violence.

“There were about 11 or so airstrikes [on Sunday],” Mr Michaels told Sky News. “One of these airstrikes happened in Nancho, which is in Shahn State.

“We already know that is the site of a major ongoing battle. So that looks more or less like a continuation of fighting with either side using the tools that they’ve been using all along.”


The Data and Forensics team is a multi-skilled unit dedicated to providing transparent journalism from Sky News. We gather, analyse and visualise data to tell data-driven stories. We combine traditional reporting skills with advanced analysis of satellite images, social media and other open-source information. Through multimedia storytelling we aim to better explain the world while also showing how our journalism is done.

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Marine Le Pen speaks for first time after being barred from French presidential election

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Marine Le Pen speaks for first time after being barred from French presidential election

French far-right leader Marine Le Pen has said that barring her from running for public office for five years is a “political decision” aimed at preventing her from running in the next presidential election.

The National Rally leader, who left court before the verdict was read out, was found guilty in an embezzlement case.

She was also given a four-year jail sentence, with two years suspended and two which will be served with an electronic tag. She is not expected to serve any jail time.

Le Pen, who also received a €100,000 (£83,635) fine, will make an appeal against her conviction, her lawyer Rodolphe Bosselut later said.

The 56-year-old is a three-time presidential contender who has previously said the next election in 2027 would be her final run for top office.

The ban, which comes into force immediately, ends those hopes unless she successfully appeals before the campaign.

Speaking to French TV channel TF1 in her first reaction to the verdict, Le Pen said millions of French people “are outraged”.

Calling the verdict a violation of the rule of law, she said she would appeal it and asked that court proceedings take place before the 2027 campaign.

Marine Le Pen spoke to French broadcaster TF1 after her embezzlement conviction. Pic: Reuters
Image:
Marine Le Pen spoke to French broadcaster TF1 after her embezzlement conviction. Pic: Reuters

“If that’s not a political decision, I don’t know what is,” Le Pen said.

The ruling marked a “fateful day for our democracy”, she added, as she vowed to keep pursuing what she called the now “admittedly narrow” path to the presidency.

“There are millions of French people who believe in me, millions of French people who trust me,” she said, adding: “For 30 years I’ve been fighting for you, and for 30 years I’ve been fighting against injustice, so I’m going to continue fighting.”

Read more from Sky News:
King returns to official duties after hospital stay
Stock markets tumble as Trump tariffs loom

Marine Le Pen  arrives at court.
Pic: Reuters
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Le Pen at the court in Paris. Pic: Reuters

Le Pen and 24 other National Rally officials were accused of diverting more than €3m (£2.51m) of European Parliament funds to pay France-based staff working for her party between 2004 and 2016.

The judge also handed down guilty verdicts to eight other current or former members of Le Pen’s party who, like her, previously served as MEPs in the European Parliament.

Another 12 people, who served as parliamentary aides for Le Pen and her party, were also handed guilty verdicts.

French far-right leader Marine Le Pen, member of parliament from the Rassemblement National (National Rally - RN) party, leaves the courthouse on the day of the verdict of her trial alongside 24 other defendants (party officials and employees, former lawmakers and parliamentary assistants) and the RN party itself, over accusations of misappropriation of European Union funds, in Paris, France, March 31, 2025. REUTERS/Abdul Saboor
Image:
Le Pen leaves the court before being driven away. Pic: Reuters

The ruling at a court in Paris described the embezzlement as “a democratic bypass” that deceived the parliament and voters.

Judge Benedicte de Perthuis ruled: “It was established that all these people were actually working for the party, that their (EU) lawmaker had not given them any tasks.

“The investigations also showed that these were not administrative errors… but embezzlement within the framework of a system put in place to reduce the party’s costs.”

Le Pen left the court before the completion of the verdict and sentencing and did not address the media outside before being driven away in a car.

She had denied accusations she was at the head of “a system” meant to siphon off EU funds to benefit her party.

Hearings revealed how some EU money was used to pay for Le Pen’s bodyguard – who was once her father’s bodyguard – as well as for her personal assistant.

The defendants denied any wrongdoing and claimed the money was used legitimately.

The nine-week trial took place at the end of last year.

Le Pen has been seen as one of the leading contenders to succeed President Emmanuel Macron at the end of his second and final term.

She was the runner-up to Mr Macron in the 2017 and 2022 presidential elections.

Reacting to the verdict, National Rally president Jordan Bardella said: “Today it is not only Marine Le Pen who was unjustly condemned: It was French democracy that was killed.”

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia does “not want to interfere in France’s internal affairs” but added: “More and more European capitals are going down the path of trampling over democratic norms.”

Le Pen also serves in France’s National Assembly – but there is no impact on the role by the court’s ineligibility ruling.

However, if parliament was dissolved for elections, she would not be able to stand.

Le Pen’s political decline could be long and painful

Marine Le Pen’s political career lies in tatters.

After decades of plotting her ascent to the very pinnacle of French politics, she has now been pushed down the mountain, and her fall could be long and painful.

Le Pen, who had been the narrow favourite to win the 2027 French presidential election, will now be banned from running as part of a criminal conviction.

She, along with politicians and assistants from her RN party, has been found guilty of embezzlement – of taking millions of euros that were supposed to support work in the European Parliament and, instead, funnelling it to the party’s work elsewhere.

Le Pen will almost certainly appeal, but her ban has already come into effect.

She left the court shortly before her punishment was announced, heading towards her party’s headquarters for a meeting with its president, Jordan Bardella – the man most likely to take her place.

“Today, it is not just Marine Le Pen who is being condemned unjustifiably,” said Mr Bardella. “It is French democracy that is being executed.”

Her downfall will be welcomed by some in France as a sign that politicians are not above the law.

Others, though, have already bemoaned the fact that a court has been given the power to disbar one of the nation’s most popular political leaders.

It hasn’t taken long for the court’s decision to be politicised.

The Kremlin talked about European countries “trampling democratic norms”. Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orban put out a short statement of support saying “Je Suis Marine”.

Assuming that Le Pen does not win her appeal, the favourite to win the 2027 election may now be Edouard Philippe, the former prime minister.

Bardella may benefit from being Le Pen’s anointed successor but he is, at 29, extremely youthful – a full decade younger than anyone who has ever won the presidency.

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