New Delhi, Sept. 1 -- Democratic India is moving to restore relations with autocratic China, even as a neither-here-nor-there America muddies its reputation for the rule of law under a radical leader.

On Friday, an appeals court in the US ruled most of President Donald Trump's emergency tariffs illegal, though they'll stay in place long enough for its top court to review that decision.

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Till January 2025, the US had pitched itself as a force for democracy against autocracy. Today, that binary risks being crushed under a White House jackboot. Unless its Supreme Court intervenes to enforce checks on presidential authority, the US could lose influence over wo...