Donald Trump’s imperial tendencies see the US president wield tariffs and sanctions in the expectation that America will receive tributes. Yet his latest move – punishing India with 50% tariffs for Russian oil purchases once encouraged by the US – has produced not submission but spectacle. It has sent India’s Narendra Modi to China for the first time in seven years as Xi Jinping hosted more than 20 leaders for the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit in Tianjin. And it is in Tianjin, not Washington, where it looks as if the hinge of history is moving.

The SCO is easy to dismiss: the bloc is a bundle of contradictions. India and Pakistan remain adversaries. China and India still stare across a garrisoned Himalayan frontier, though relations have thawed since last October’s border breakthrough. Russia and China vie for influence in Central Asia. Unlike Nato, the SCO has no binding defence commitments. For much of its life, it has looked like a paper tiger, sending out communiques that were all roar and no bite.

But in geopolitics, appearances are important. To see Mr Modi, Mr Xi and Vladimir Putin smiling and joking is to watch Washington’s influence fade. Mr Trump’s tariff broadside against India makes Tianjin significant. Here was the prime minister of India – supposedly the US’s Asian counterweight to China – affirming that New Delhi and Beijing are “partners, not rivals”.

India’s calculation is straightforward. It has red lines: agriculture will not be opened up to US demands; oil purchases cannot be determined by Washington; the ceasefire with Pakistan was conceded by Islamabad, not brokered by Mr Trump. Backing down would look like weakness. Far better, from Mr Modi’s perspective, to demonstrate that the US cannot take India’s partnership for granted, and to seek friends elsewhere.

For China, the rewards are immediate. Mr Trump has given Mr Xi a stage on which to pose as the host of an important multipolar gathering. Cai Qi, Mr Xi’s chief of staff and a member of China’s top ruling body – the first to hold both roles since Mao’s era – was dispatched to meet Mr Modi, an unmistakable gesture of intimacy from China’s rulers. Beijing sees the SCO as emphasising the US’s absence and letting others seize the stage.

The implications stretch well beyond South Asia. For Moscow, every handshake in Tianjin underlines that sanctions have not made it a pariah. For Turkey, attendance preserves its ambiguity as a Nato member. For Iran, the SCO condemned the US-Israeli attacks it suffered this summer. The more this theatre normalises China and Russia as leaders of a non-western bloc, the harder it becomes for Washington to muster global consensus – notably over Ukraine – in future crises.

Nor was Tianjin just about Eurasia. A spat with the Philippines over Taiwan on the eve of the summit reminded delegates of China’s reddest lines. The SCO claims it is inclusive. But Beijing runs the show. Mr Trump sought a kowtow from Delhi. Instead, he has handed Beijing the platform for its long game – building a system beyond the reach of the US. Whether that would allow more room for other states to manoeuvre is moot. The SCO may never fight China’s wars, but it ensures Beijing will never stand alone. That is the high price the west may end up paying for Mr Trump’s narcissistic delusions.

Residents struggling with the cost of living will be able to access free gifts and affordable produce at a community event in Withernsea.

East Riding of Yorkshire Council said its Help for Households drop-in event would also offer advice on saving money and staying warm.

The event is being held at the town’s leisure centre on Wednesday 25 September, from 10:00 BST to 15:00.

Councillor Nigel Wilkinson, the authority’s cabinet member for finance and governance, said: “We’re aware that many people across the East Riding are struggling with the ongoing cost of living crisis and are making active efforts to support those in need.”

The council said people could get advice on schemes available to help with heating costs ahead of autumn and winter, while eligible households can also get help with loft and cavity wall insulation.

The authority also said there would be affordable produce available to buy, a heated gilet giveaway and free SIM cards and mobile data.

There will also be advice on benefits available to residents on how to reduce bills.

Wilkinson added: “The council has already helped local residents to claim more than £3.8m in benefits in the past year.

”We highly encourage interested residents in Withernsea to attend the drop-in event and find out more about the support for which they may be eligible.”

Residents unable to attend can learn more about the support schemes available by contacting the council.

Revolut employees are in line for a payout bonanza after the UK fintech firm launched a share sale that has pushed its valuation up by two-thirds to $75bn (£55bn).

The secondary sale, which prices each share at $1,381.06, will secure the finance app’s position as one of the world’s most valuable fintech firms.

Employees will be allowed to sell up to 20% of their personal holdings to new and existing investors over the coming weeks, with payouts likely to follow in the early autumn.

The secondary share sale, which was announced to staff on Monday, comes after Revolut boosted its annual profits by more than 150% in 2024 to £1bn, following a jump in subscriptions and revenues from its wealth and crypto trading divisions.

Revolut’s founder and chief executive, Nik Storonsky, has already enjoyed a $200m-$300m windfall, according to reports, as a result of a separate share sale that valued the company at $45bn last summer. Storonsky is said to be in line for multibillion-dollar fortune if he manages to push the fintech company’s valuation past $150bn (£110bn).

A Revolut spokesperson said on Monday: “As part of our commitment to our employees, we regularly provide opportunities for them to gain liquidity. An employee secondary share sale is currently in process, and we won’t be commenting further until it is complete.”

The announcement will be a boon for longstanding staff but the timing has sparked speculation that Revolut’s much-anticipated stock market debut may be further delayed.

“This could be a sign that the company will either IPO soon or that its employees are getting antsy about the lack of an IPO and want to release their equity in the firm rather than wait for the IPO,” said Kathleen Brooks, a research director at the online broker XTB. “Whatever this moves signals, it is deep shame that Revolut is not planning to IPO in the UK.”

Storonsky suggested last December that New York could be a better fit for the company’s IPO because of the regulatory environment and the size of the market. A US listing would be a major blow to the City and the London Stock Exchange, which has suffered from a growing number of defections.

Revolut bosses have grown frustrated with UK regulators, who have been slow to grant the fintech a full banking licence that would allow it to hold customer deposits and branch out into more lucrative products such as loans and mortgages.

The challenge, in part, was convincing regulators that Revolut had addressed accounting issues and EU regulatory breaches, as well as reputational concerns, including an aggressive corporate culture. The fintech company says it has since resolved those accounting and regulatory problems and has made efforts to improve its working culture.

The fintech waited three years for initial approval, which was finally granted in July 2024, and it has remained on a restricted UK banking licence since.

The chancellor, Rachel Reeves, tried to secure a meeting with watchdogs and regulators earlier this year amid the delay, but was blocked by the Bank of England governor, Andrew Bailey, amid concerns that Reeves was meddling in a process that should be independent from government intervention and influence.