The United States did not agree to renew the USMCA trade agreement at its six-year joint review on July 1. The deal stays in force but now faces a decade of annual reviews instead of a clean 16-year extension, with the US and Mexico due to hold further talks the week of July 20.
Australia and Vanuatu signed the Nakamal Agreement in Canberra on Monday, a security and economic treaty under which Vanuatu agrees to keep foreign military bases off its territory. The cost to Australia was not disclosed, and Vanuatu's earlier objections stripped Canberra of a veto over the island nation's infrastructure deals.
British Defence Secretary John Healey resigned on Saturday over a dispute about armed forces funding, with junior defence minister Al Carns also leaving the government. Neither issued a detailed statement explaining the specific terms of the disagreement.
An Australian national has been arrested by Thai authorities after the body of a 17-year-old was discovered in a suitcase in Bangkok. Thai police confirmed the arrest; formal charges had not been laid as of Saturday.
Iran has paused negotiations with the United States and threatened to 'completely block' the Strait of Hormuz, ruling out further talks until Israel ends operations in Lebanon and Gaza. Tehran also threatened the Bab-el-Mandeb. A fifth of the world's oil moves through Hormuz.
Ukraine hit targets across approximately 12 Russian regions and Crimea overnight on Saturday, with Russia responding by striking Ukrainian cities and infrastructure before dawn. The exchange follows a similar large-scale operation two nights earlier.
The confirmed death toll from twin earthquakes in Venezuela has passed 589 and continues to rise, with thousands still missing. The UN is scaling up its humanitarian response as rescue teams work around the clock.
The court's conservative majority sided with the Trump administration on Thursday to end Temporary Protected Status for approximately 350,000 Haitians and more than 6,000 Syrians, opening the way for mass deportations to two countries under active conflict or gang control. A separate ruling shut the asylum route at the US-Mexico border.
The United States carried out strikes on Iran on Friday after a drone attack on a cargo ship in the Strait of Hormuz, testing an interim peace arrangement reached one week earlier. The US Treasury simultaneously granted Iran a 60-day sanctions exemption: an escalation and an olive branch on the same day.
The 2026 FIFA World Cup, the first to feature 48 teams and the first hosted across three nations simultaneously, completed its group stage in late June with the Round of 32 now set. Australia advanced as Group D runners-up.
Israeli airstrikes killed at least 12 people across southern Lebanon on Thursday according to Lebanese health officials, including two paramedics. Israel did not publicly account for all targeted sites by time of publication.
Ukraine launched a major nighttime attack targeting approximately 12 Russian regions and Crimea on Thursday, in one of the broader single-night operations of the conflict. Russia struck back across Ukrainian territory before dawn.
