By David Brunnstrom, Simon Lewis and Alasdair Pal WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States, Australia, India and Japan recommitted to working together on Tuesday, after the first meeting of the China-focused "Quad" grouping's top diplomats since President Donald Trump returned to the White House.

Rubio's appointment as secretary of state has been seen as sign that Trump plans to maintain a hard line on China.

New U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio discussed China's "dangerous and destabilizing actions in the South China Sea" with his Philippine counterpart on Wednesday and underscored the "ironclad" U.S.

China’s relations aren’t improving with every U.S. partner. Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has aggressively resisted China’s increasingly assertive stance in their territorial disputes in the South China Sea.

US President Donald Trump's threat to seize the Panama Canal over alleged undue Chinese influence may really be aimed at limiting Beijing's growing diplomatic and economic presenc

Fortunately, Singapore Prime Minister Lawrence Wong thought a full split was unlikely: "I can’t see how a full decoupling can happen at this stage."

Two Iranian cargo vessels carrying an ingredient for missile propellant will sail from China to Iran in the next few weeks, the Financial Times reported on Wednesday, citing intelligence from security officials in two Western countries.

The document suggests that the US will prioritize ensuring that trade serves its national interests, particularly reviewing the China-US trade agreement to evaluate whether it aligns with American economic interests.

In China, Apple’s second largest market, iPhone sales fell 18% in the December ending quarter, according to Bloomberg.

BANGKOK — World shares were mixed on Thursday after China rolled out more moves to try to boost its lagging stock markets by raising confidence that prices will rise. Germany’s DAX gained 0.2% to 21,300 and the CAC 40 in Paris edged 0.1% higher to 7,847.38. Britain’s FTSE 100 slipped less than 0.1% to 8,539.88.

In 1999, when the time came to name the newest panda cub in captivity, a column in the San Diego Union-Tribune joked that the baby should be called “Truman.” Never mind that she was a female.