China Wins Crucial New Friend as US and India Lose Out

News Snapshot:

The election of Mohamed Muizzu in the Maldives over the weekend has set the stage for a fresh geopolitical contest in the Indian Ocean. Muizzu, 45, the mayor of Maldivian capital Malé, won Saturday's presidential poll with 54 percent of the vote, according to the country's election commission, defeating incumbent President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih. The Maldives may offer tourists deep blue waters and white sand beaches, but the South Asian nation could soon find itself in the middle of a great power rivalry that promises to shake up politics across the archipelago, with potentially far-reaching implications for its traditional partner,...