Politics today spans punishment, pressure and public scrutiny. In China, former defense ministers Wei Fenghe and Li Shangfu received suspended death sentences for bribery, among the harshest penalties handed to senior military figures in years and a stark signal that Xi Jinping’s anti-corruption drive is still reshaping the armed forces. In Washington, Donald Trump turned up trade tensions with Europe, giving the EU until July 4 to implement a previously agreed deal or face sharply higher U.S. tariffs, even as he described his latest call with Ursula von der Leyen as productive. In Britain, voters are casting ballots in local and devolved elections that could become an early referendum on Keir Starmer’s Labour government. Closer to home, Senator Susan Collins disclosed that she has long lived with essential tremor, saying it affects appearance, not performance, as she faces reelection.