Questions over US commitment to the region coupled with Trump’s tariff polices could be a boon to China

Even as they face among the most punitive tariffs globally, US secretary of state Marco Rubio has sought to reassure southeast Asian nations of Washington’s commitment to the region, saying countries there may get “better” trade deals than the rest of the world.

In his first official visit to Asia, Rubio met foreign ministers of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) in Malaysia on Thursday, telling his counterparts the US has “no intention of abandoning” the region.

His visit came days after president Donald Trump renewed his threat to impose severe tariffs across many southeast Asian countries if they did not strike deals by 1 August.

Choi Min-kyung is seeking damages from the state represented by its leader and has also submitted a criminal complaint alleging crimes against humanity

A North Korean defector has filed a lawsuit against Kim Jong-un in a South Korean court, alleging torture and sexual violence in the regime’s detention facilities.

Choi Min-kyung, 53, is seeking 50m won (US$37,000) in damages from the North Korean state represented by its leader, Kim Jong-un, and six other officials. She also submitted a criminal complaint asking prosecutors to investigate crimes against humanity charges against Kim and five other officials.

A hole drilled 750ft deep to study museum’s geothermal potential yielded an unexpected surprise

A Denver museum known for its dinosaur displays has made a fossil bone discovery closer to home than anyone ever expected: under its own parking lot.

It came from a hole drilled more than 750 ft (230 meters) deep to study geothermal heating potential for the Denver Museum of Nature and Science.

United Nations’ special rapporteur for Palestinian territories stresses all eyes must remain on Gaza as she urges ‘let’s stand tall, together’

Francesca Albanese, the UN special rapporteur for the West Bank and Gaza, has responded to news that she will be sanctioned by the Trump administration with a post on X saying “the powerful punishing those who speak for the powerless, it is not a sign of strength, but of guilt”.

On Wednesday, as part of its effort to punish critics of Israel’s 21-month war in Gaza, the state department sanctioned Albanese, an independent official tasked with investigating human rights abuses in the Palestinian territories.

Rubicon hip-hop gathering in Bratislava, due to be held on 20 July, says several performers and partners withdrew

The Slovakia festival due to welcome Kanye West next week has been called off after the uproar over the US rapper’s May release of a song glorifying the Nazi leader Adolf Hitler.

Before the 20 July gig was cancelled, Bratislava’s Rubicon hip-hop festival was set to be West’s only confirmed live performance in Europe this year.

When it comes to the horrors of genocide we say these words with an ironic frequency. How do we short-circuit the re-run of this pitiful, shameful cycle?

Today will be a hard day for Sydneysider Mirela Muratovic, a survivor of the only recognised genocide in Europe since the end of the second world war: Srebrenica.

During the 1990s Bosnian war Srebrenica was designated a United Nations-protected “safe area” – a label that came to mean nothing.

Black people also less likely than white people to get social housing and can face ‘overt racism’ from private landlords

Black people in England are almost four times as likely to face homelessness as white people and substantially less likely to get social housing, according to the first major study into homelessness and racism in more than two decades.

A three-year research project by academics at Heriot-Watt University found that ethnicity affects a person’s risk of homelessness, even when controlling for factors such as geography, poverty and home ownership rates.

Committee finds firms’ business models endangered public and two-year-old Online Safety Act ‘not up to scratch’

Social media business models endangered the public by incentivising the spread of dangerous misinformation after the 2024 Southport murders, MPs have concluded, adding that current online safety laws have “major holes”.

The Commons science and technology select committee called for new multimillion-pound fines for platforms that do not set out how they will tackle the spread of harmful content through their recommendation systems.

• England international has already agreed five-year deal

• Chelsea must generate revenue after breaching FFP rules

Arsenal have reached an agreement to sign Noni Madueke from Chelsea for £52m.

The England winger has already agreed terms on a five-year deal and is likely to complete a move to the Emirates Stadium. Arsenal, who are also expected to ramp up their pursuit of Crystal Palace’s Eberechi Eze, have been looking to add more depth on the flanks and have acted quickly after identifying Madueke as a key target.

US president is set to officially open a new golf course at his resort on the North Sea coast at Menie

Keir Starmer has accepted an invitation to visit US president Donald Trump during his expected trip to Scotland this month, according to a report.

The details of the visit, including the date, are still being finalised, Reuters reported. The White House has not commented on the report.

Several hundred bureaus will be merged or eliminated after supreme court sided with Trump administration

The US state department has announced that it plans to move forward with mass layoffs as part of the most significant restructuring of the country’s diplomatic corps in decades. Officials say the cuts will align their mission with Donald Trump’s vision of America first.

The layoffs, which are commonly called reductions in force (or RIFs), along with voluntary redundancies, will affect nearly 15% of the state department’s domestic staff. A senior state department official said that was close to 1,800 people. The restructuring will also see several hundred bureaus merged or eliminated entirely. The department advises the president and leads the US in foreign policy issues.

New manager faces tough questions before next season, with the biggest just how to find the right fit for superstar striker Kylian Mbappé

This is the end. For Real Madrid, the best thing that could be said about their last game of the 2024-2025 season was that it was their last game of the 2024-2025 season. So in the makeshift marquee set up by the MetLife Stadium, Xabi Alonso said exactly that, and repeatedly. He had watched his team, who aren’t entirely his team yet, be taken apart by Paris Saint-Germain; now he wanted to get home and “reset”, forget about it. Well, not forget exactly: the hurt might help, lessons learned. “I want this to have an impact but not drag us down,” he said. “In August we start 2025-26, which will be different.”

The way they fell was familiar, back to their recent past, their reality. “We suffered the way others have suffered against them,” Alonso said, and that was true, but it is not only PSG; it is Madrid too. This was their 68th game of the season and their 15th loss. They won only the Uefa Super Cup, a world away now, and the Intercontinental Cup against Pachuca in Qatar. In the league, Barcelona beat them twice, scoring four each time. In the cup, Barcelona put three past them; in the Super Cup, five. Arsenal scored three in the Champions League. PSG stopped at four because they didn’t need more.

Brazilian president threatened a 50% tariff on US goods in retaliation for Trump’s levy on the Latin American country

In a move seen by many – including Brazil’s president – as an attack on the country’s sovereignty, the US president, Donald Trump, announced on Wednesday that he intends to impose an additional 50% tariff on Latin America’s largest country from 1 August.

Not only was this the highest rate among this week’s announcements – and aimed at a country with which the US has maintained a trade surplus for 17 years – but the letter sent to the Brazilian president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, also stood out for its intemperate tone, in contrast to the standard format adopted in letters to other countries.

As Imrie turns 73, and ahead of her star turn in next month’s The Thursday Murder Club, we revisit the greatest big-screen hits of the actor who is so much more than Miss Babs

Emma Thompson’s Mary-Poppins-with-warts is a dog’s dinner of a movie, but Celia Imrie amuses herself (and occasionally us) with a broader-than-usual turn as the widowed Mrs Quickly, who is pursuing a father of seven (Colin Firth) forced by his aunt to marry within 30 days or face penury. Imrie cites this as one of her favourite roles, despite having a live tarantula on her head in one scene and a wriggling worm in her mouth in another.

The defender faced numerous non-payment issues from the Portuguese club, resulting in his eventual move to QPR

American defender Reggie Cannon has won his appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (Cas), which overturned a decision by Fifa’s Dispute Resolution Chamber and will result in the player being owed about 400,000 euros ($468,000) from Portuguese soccer club Boavista.

The court said Wednesday it had overturned Fifa’s decision on 3 July.

Precursor to a lawsuit also claims the Palestinian activist was maliciously prosecuted and smeared as an antisemite

Lawyers for Mahmoud Khalil, the Columbia University graduate and Palestinian activist who was detained by the Trump administration for months, have filed a claim for $20m in damages against the administration, alleging Khalil was falsely imprisoned, maliciously prosecuted and smeared as an antisemite as the government sought to deport him over his prominent role in campus protests.

The filing – a precursor to a lawsuit under the Federal Tort Claims Act – names the Department of Homeland Security, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the state department.

New York-bound flight took off from Madrid on Sunday, but landed on island in Azores group after engine issue

A Delta flight was diverted to an island in the Atlantic this week after the plane experienced a mechanical issue, leaving the nearly 300 passengers on the island for a day.

The New York-bound flight took off from Madrid on Sunday, but as the flight made its way over the ocean, the flight crew had to divert it to an island in the Azores island group.

• Masters champion holes three long putts to finish

• Scottie Scheffler three off lead after first round

The latest glimpse of a return of Rory McIlroy’s mojo arrived over the closing stretch of the Scottish Open’s first round.

He has spoken of an understandable need to find new mountains to scale after Masters glory completed a career grand slam. On the 15th hole at the Renaissance Club, the Northern Irishman was in trouble; his fairway bunker shot had rolled back towards his feet. McIlroy’s ball sat in the mark created by his first attempt. “It served me right for trying to hit a nine-iron with the lip two feet in front of me,” he said later.

Mario Guevara remains in detention in Georgia while his attorneys work to free the Spanish-language reporter

The last remaining charges have been dropped against Mario Guevara, a prominent Spanish-language journalist outside Atlanta who was arrested by local police while covering “No Kings” day protests in June.

The Gwinnett county solicitor, Lisamarie Bristol, announced on Thursday that her office would not prosecute the three traffic citations laid by the Gwinnett county sheriff’s office following Guevara’s arrest in DeKalb county. Guevara was turned over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) shortly after his arrest, and has remained in federal custody despite being granted bond more than a week ago.

• England midfielder expected to have medical on Friday

• Gibbs-White scored seven and had eight assists last term

Tottenham are poised to sign Morgan Gibbs-White from Nottingham Forest after triggering a £60m release clause. The England midfielder is expected to have a medical on Friday and could complete the move in the next 24 hours.

Gibbs-White has also attracted interest from Manchester City since excelling at Forest, whom he joined from boyhood club Wolves in 2022 for an initial £25m in a deal that was worth up to £42.5m.

Around Gravelines and Dunkirk there is danger, profound squalor and a human spirit that overpowers the politics

It is 5.45am, the dawn light strengthening. A large inflatable dinghy carrying 20 or more people has come discreetly to the east end of the beach at Gravelines. Though it looks packed from the shore, it is perhaps only two-thirds full, according to regular observers. Each person on it wears a fluorescent lifejacket, soon to embark on a risky crossing from France to the UK.

For a few minutes the boat halts several metres from shore, probably waiting for others to run from the scrubland behind the beach, where some have been hiding all night to try to get on. But the only people waiting are a small group of journalists. Once it becomes clear there is nobody else to pick up, the boat’s engine fires up, heading north-west to England, while one person onboard waves back with the sign of peace.

‘One in, one out’ scheme will include a safe route for those who have not tried to cross Channel illegally

People arriving in the UK via small boats will be returned to France as part of what Keir Starmer called a groundbreaking agreement which the government hopes will make a major dent in the number of people crossing the Channel illegally.

Starmer and Emmanuel Macron announced the plan on Thursday at the Northwood military base at the end of the French president’s three-day state visit.

The star comic will follow up Curb Your Enthusiasm with a new show partnering with the former president and his wife

Barack Obama and Larry David are making comedy history for HBO.

The programmer announced on Thursday that the 44th US president and the Curb Your Enthusiasm comic would team up for a sketch comedy series focused on American history, in honor of the country’s 250th birthday.