The economic core of the Biden administration’s much-touted Indo-Pacific strategy to counter China is fraying, frustrating allies even

Bill Self landed a massive payday, all the 2023 election results, Titans name Will Levis started for rest of 2023 season and more in the Roundup.

Gareth Southgate says “performance is the priority” in North Macedonia as already-qualified England look to make up for winning with a whimper against minnows Malta. The Euro 2020 runners-up sealed their place at next summer’s edition with two matches to spare and were below par in Friday’s qualifier. England disappointed a packed Wembley crowd by limping to a 2-0 victory over Malta, leading the manager to suggest his players had subconsciously taken their foot off the gas. Southgate did not castigate those that have done so well for him over the years, but he is demanding a vastly-improved display in North Macedonia as they bring the curtain down on 2023. “Performance is the priority,” Southgate said. “We’ve set a standard. We didn’t reach that standard on Friday. We have to get back to what we’re good at. There’s always a chance within that to have a look at a couple of things that we’d like to see as well. “But the biggest thing is making sure we hit the level of performance that we’ve set ourselves.” England’s final match of the year is also set to be their last on foreign soil until the Euros get under way in Germany. A sold-out Tose Proeski Arena awaits despite the Macedonians’ qualification hopes already having gone up in smoke, with revenge the main focus on Monday. Few saw June’s 7-0 Old Trafford annihilation at Old Trafford coming and Blagoja Milevski’s men are looking to get a famous result having drawn at home to reigning European champions Italy since then. “We weren’t at the level of performance that we want on Friday, so all focus on tomorrow’s game,” said Southgate, whose side have so far gone unbeaten this year. “We play a team who, although they can’t qualify, have tremendous pride and they’ll be wounded by what happened in Manchester. “We have to be ready for a really good atmosphere. Full crowd, full stadium. We’ve had a calendar year where we’ve been very good, so we want to finish well.” England’s final camp of the year has been disrupted by absentees. Five players withdrew from the original squad through injury and two more departed the squad before they flew out to the Balkans. The Football Association announced Kieran Trippier had gone home due to a personal issue, while injury meant Jarrod Bowen left the camp on Sunday. “Unfortunately, Jarrod picked up an injury,” Southgate said. “I think he felt it a little bit yesterday and then again at the end of training today. “We didn’t really have enough time to assess it fully and make a really accurate decision before the game, so we felt better to leave him in England so that he can get it properly assessed. “I don’t think it’s got to be anything serious, but we just didn’t have enough time and we wouldn’t take a risk in that situation.” Bowen was in line for a substantial role for rotated England on Monday, so too Trippier. Performance is the priority. We've set a standard. We didn't reach that standard on Friday. We have to get back to what we're good at Gareth Southgate The versatile Newcastle full-back’s withdrawal underlines the dearth of options at left-back in the absence of injured Luke Shaw and Ben Chilwell. “We need to adapt,” Southgate said. “We’ve got a couple of different options and we’re comfortable with it. We can find a good solution to the issue. “We haven’t got somebody that is playing there regularly, but we’ve adapted to lots of situations over the last few years and we’re comfortable with doing that again tomorrow.” Asked about the options and formation switch, he added: “We probably have done it a little bit on personnel going back a few years. “So, yeah, that is an option. We’ve obviously got players that have played as wing-backs. We can adjust. We’ve got Fik (Fikayo Tomori), of course, who did it the other day, Rico Lewis, Marc Guehi can play across there. “He’s done that for us in a game before so it’s just making sure that everybody’s aware of their job. It changes the way maybe you build up patterns and those sorts of things, but we’re comfortable with the situation we’ve got.” Read More Declan Rice urges England to finish 2023 with a ‘bang’ in North Macedonia Jarrod Bowen adds to England withdrawals after injury in training Manchester City storm back to deny Manchester United in Old Trafford WSL derby Arsenal continue winning streak with convincing victory at Brighton Australia ‘top of the mountain’ after record sixth World Cup win ‘It’s the sweetest one’ – Nicolai Hojgaard hails DP World Tour Championship win

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President Joe Biden was dealt an economic and political blow Friday as the United Auto Workers went on strike after the union and major American automakers failed to reach a new contract, a development the White House worked to avoid and now places the president in a bind.

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Lewis Hamilton’s penalty for crossing the track at the Qatar Grand Prix is being “revisited” by the FIA in light of his “role model status.” The 38-year-old crashed out of the race on lap one after colliding with Mercedes team-mate George Russell, with his car stuck in the gravel. Hamilton then crossed the live racetrack, moments before Russell himself drove past after leaving the pit lane. The Brit was fined £34,700 (€50,000), with half of it suspended, and given a formal reprimand. However, F1’s governing body is “revisiting” the incident due to concerns it may act as a precedent for younger drivers. An FIA spokesperson said: “The FIA is revisiting the incident in which Lewis Hamilton crossed a live track during the Qatar Grand Prix. “In view of his role-model status, the FIA is concerned about the impression his actions may have created on younger drivers.” The statement added that Hamilton had been “apologetic” in the initial hearing and “acknowledged that the crossing was a serious safety breach”. The FIA are expected to speak to Hamilton at this weekend’s United States Grand Prix in Austin, Texas. Hamilton apologised to Russell for the crash after the race, taking responsibility after a rare mistake at the start of the grand prix. Read More Nicolas Hamilton: ‘Lewis has never put a penny into my racing... it’s not easy being related to him’ What Lewis Hamilton’s clash with George Russell tells us about state of play at Mercedes F1 drivers unhappy after ‘dangerous’ Qatar Grand Prix causes fainting and vomiting

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