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ASEAN Secretary-General Kao Kim Hourn stressed at the Shangri-La Dialogue that US-China tension-easing efforts are vital for South-east Asia. He urged the “constructive strategic stability” framework to translate into regional peace, while emphasizing ASEAN’s commitment to avoiding coercion and choosing sides.

Key Points

• ASEAN Secretary-General Kao Kim Hourn emphasized at the Shangri-La Dialogue that US-China efforts toward “constructive strategic stability” are vital for South-east Asia, as both superpowers are the region’s most consequential security and economic partners, following tensions sparked by sweeping tariffs and trade disputes since early 2025.

• Panellists highlighted pressure on smaller nations, with Lithuania and New Zealand drawing parallels between geopolitical coercion in Europe and Asia, stressing the importance of upholding international rules and collective regional cooperation.

• Dr Kao addressed rising defence spending concerns and Myanmar’s crisis, supporting recalibrated ASEAN engagement including virtual talks with Myanmar’s foreign minister, while maintaining the Five-Point Consensus peace plan remains active.

US-China Relations and ASEAN’s Strategic Priorities

The easing of tensions between the United States and China represents a critical development for South-east Asia, according to ASEAN Secretary-General Kao Kim Hourn, speaking at the Shangri-La Dialogue on May 30. Dr Kao emphasized that both superpowers are ASEAN’s most consequential security and economic partners, making their relationship of direct regional importance. The newly introduced framework of “constructive strategic stability” — built on the idea that competition and cooperation can coexist — emerged following meetings between President Trump and President Xi in May, offering cautious optimism for regional peace and development.

Trade War Tensions and the Path Toward Normalization

Sino-American relations deteriorated sharply after Trump’s return to office, with sweeping tariffs reaching 145 per cent, triggering Chinese retaliatory measures including export controls and restrictions on rare earths and critical minerals. A partial breakthrough in October 2025 saw tariff reductions and resumed trade flows, though full normalization only followed the May Trump-Xi summit. Dr Kao stressed that ASEAN nations must be able to pursue security and prosperity without coercion or being forced to choose sides, underscoring the bloc’s firm commitment to strategic independence amid intensifying great-power rivalry.

Geopolitical Pressure, Defense Spending, and the Myanmar Crisis

Smaller nations facing geopolitical pressure was a recurring theme at the plenary session, with Lithuania’s Defense Minister drawing parallels between European and Asian coercion tactics, and New Zealand’s Defense Minister advocating collective regional strength. On rising defense expenditure, Dr Kao cautioned that diverting resources toward military spending is “not very healthy,” reaffirming ASEAN’s preference for preventive diplomacy. Regarding Myanmar, Dr Kao signaled a recalibration of engagement, with ASEAN foreign ministers agreeing to a virtual meeting with Myanmar’s counterpart — a notable shift — while reaffirming the Five-Point Consensus peace plan remains the guiding framework.

Source : Easing of US-China tensions crucial for South-east Asia: ASEAN chief

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MIAMI — Lionel Messi scored four goals and added an assist Saturday night as Inter Miami routed CF Montreal 7-1, snapping the team’s winless run in emphatic fashion and pushing the Argentine superstar to the top of Major League Soccer’s scoring race.

The victory at Nu Stadium marked a club record for goals scored in a single match for Inter Miami, according to ESPN, and came after the team had gone five games without a win. Miami improved to 12-4-6 on the season, ending August with a 1-2-2 record for the month despite the emphatic finish.

Carlos Casemiro opened the scoring in the 20th minute, heading in a corner kick from Telasco Segovia for his first goal in his sixth appearance for the club, while the assist marked a career-best ninth of the season for Segovia in his second MLS campaign. Montreal answered in the 37th minute when Fabian Herbers scored his first goal of the year to level the match at 1-1.

Messi took over from there. He put Miami back in front in the 40th minute with a free kick that deflected off a Montreal defender and past goalkeeper Thomas Gillier, marking his 15th goal of the season. He extended the lead to 3-1 in the 52nd minute, dribbling through a cluster of Montreal defenders before finishing with his right foot, a goal that pulled him level with FC Dallas forward Petar Musa atop the league’s scoring chart. Messi then set up Luis Suarez for Miami’s fourth goal in the 80th minute before completing his hat trick three minutes later, chipping the ball over Gillier following a pass from Rodrigo De Paul to make it 5-1. Eighteen-year-old rookie Alexander Shaw added a sixth goal in the 89th minute, his first in three MLS appearances, before Messi capped the rout with a curling free kick deep into stoppage time to make it 7-1.

The four-goal outing marked the eighth time in Messi’s career that he has scored four or more goals in a single match, and the first time he has done so since joining Inter Miami, according to ESPN. His last previous four-goal performance came in February 2020 for Barcelona against Eibar in Spain’s La Liga. He is also now the fastest player in MLS history to reach 20 multigoal games in a regular season, doing so in just 72 appearances for the club. With the performance, Messi moved to 18 goals for the season, two ahead of Musa for the league’s Golden Boot lead, and now has 62 career hat tricks at the club level.

Inter Miami teammate Casemiro praised Messi’s continued influence on the team following the match. “That’s what it means to have Messi on the team,” Casemiro told Apple TV. “We have to enjoy these moments because he is a person, a player that makes history. We saw today that we have to enjoy it, keep supporting and keep competing with him because he continues to be the best.”

Miami interim head coach Guillermo Hoyos, who was serving under a suspension and unable to be on the bench for the match, echoed that sentiment afterward. “There are no words to describe such footballing beauty,” Hoyos said. “So much is going on that words simply fall short.”

Miami’s dominance extended well beyond Messi’s individual tally, with the team controlling 57% of possession and finishing with 11 shots on goal, according to MSN. Goalkeeper Dayne St. Clair made three saves for Miami, while Gillier finished with five saves for Montreal, which fell to 5-11-6 on the season and has now lost five consecutive matches to Inter Miami. Miami’s rout also comes at a significant point in the Eastern Conference standings, providing a substantial confidence boost as the club looks to remain in contention for a top playoff position down the stretch of the regular season.

The result caps a particularly productive individual stretch for Messi, who at 39 years old continues to anchor Inter Miami’s attack alongside longtime national team teammates Suarez and De Paul. His performance Saturday further cements his status as the driving force behind the club since his 2023 arrival, with Saturday’s four-goal haul standing as one of the signature individual performances of his MLS tenure to date.

Download this episode on Apple Podcasts/Spotify or listen below:

August’s jobs report could cement a September rate hike. (0:17) Broadcom earnings give another look at the AI spending. (1:24) John Ternus takes the reins from Tim Cook at Apple. (1:56)

The following is an abridged transcript:

This week brings the August jobs report, which could be crucial for the Federal Reserve’s next move.

Following what traders saw as a hawkish Jackson Hole speech from new Fed Chairman Kevin Warsh, odds of a quarter-point September rate hike have jumped to 57% from 40%, with an 18% chance of another hike in October.

Economists expect a modest rise in August nonfarm payrolls of 55K, with the unemployment rate holding at 4.1%.

Wells Fargo economists say alternative indicators “suggest job growth has stabilized, rather than continuing to deteriorate.”

“Hiring measures from regional Fed surveys have improved in recent months, small business hiring plans have perked back up, and job openings have leveled off. Meanwhile, initial jobless claims remain near multi-decade lows, underscoring that layoffs are still contained.”

SA Analyst Damir Tokic expects a strong August jobs report to “cement” a quarter-point rate hike.

“Warsh clearly stated in his Jackson Hole speech that the labor market is strong, as the unemployment rate at 4.1% is very low by historical standards,” he said. “The main implication for monetary policy is that the labor market is fine, thus, the focus shifts entirely to inflation.”

On the earnings front, Broadcom (AVGO) will give further insight into AI spending when it reports Wednesday. Analysts expect EPS of $3.24 on revenue of $29.4B.

SA analyst Dustin Quasney says the stock faces elevated near-term downside risk ahead of earnings due to high expectations set by Nvidia’s recent results.

For those long the stock, he recommends covered calls that prioritize downside protection.

Here’s how the rest of the earnings calendar shapes up:

On Tuesday, Palo Alto Networks (PANW), Dell (DELL), and Medtronic (MDT) report.

Snowflake (SNOW) weighs in on Wednesday.

Ciena (CIEN) and Zscaler (ZS) are up Thursday.

Also this week, on Tuesday, John Ternus will step into the role of Apple (AAPL) CEO, taking over from Tim Cook, aka Tim Apple, who has led the tech giant since 2011. Cook will move into the role of executive chairman.

SA analyst Envision Research says they are confident the new leadership will preserve the company’s “well-established earning power and shareholder return mechanisms.”

They also see “additional opportunities for Ternus to capitalize on the vast installed (customer) base and to continue growing the base with his deep understanding of the company’s various hardware lineups.”

And Tesla (TSLA) plans to hold an invite-only Cybercab launch event Thursday in Austin, Texas, that will also be livestreamed.

The compact two-seater is designed without a steering wheel or pedals, with fully autonomous passenger transport as its sole purpose. Reports indicate riders may be able to request a Cybercab through Tesla’s existing Robotaxi app in Austin as early as next week.

In the news this weekend, Nvidia (NVDA) CEO Jensen Huang is a notable omission from Time Magazine’s newly released list of the 100 most influential people in artificial intelligence for 2026.

On a list featuring SpaceX (SPCX) CEO Elon Musk, OpenAI (OPENAI) CEO Sam Altman and Anthropic (ANTHRO) CEO Dario Amodei, Huang’s absence raised eyebrows.

Huang was included in the three previous TIME100 AI editions.

And for income investors, Northrop Grumman (NOC) goes ex-dividend Monday, paying out on Sept. 16.

Nike (NKE) and McDonald’s (MCD) go ex-dividend Tuesday. Nike pays out on Oct. 1, and McDonald’s pays out on Sept. 16.

Qualcomm (QCOM) goes ex-dividend Thursday, with a Sept. 24 payout date.

Apple is preparing to unveil its first foldable iPhone alongside the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max at a Sept. 9 event, and mounting leaks suggest the standard Pro models could actually outperform the pricier foldable device, widely expected to be called the iPhone Ultra, in several meaningful ways.

Apple confirmed its fall product event this week with a media invitation carrying the tagline “Surprise and shine,” alongside rumors that the company will unveil three flagship devices this September rather than the usual four-model iPhone lineup: the iPhone 18 Pro, iPhone 18 Pro Max, and the company’s long-rumored foldable. Reports suggest the base iPhone 18 and a lower-cost iPhone 18e will instead arrive in spring 2027, a departure from Apple’s traditional September release pattern.

The first advantage centers on the camera. According to a report from 9to5Mac, the iPhone 18 Pro line is expected to gain a variable-aperture main camera, a feature that would let users manually adjust how much light reaches the sensor, potentially improving Portrait mode results and offering greater control over depth of field along with meaningful gains in low-light photography. Multiple outlets, including the technology site Gotechtor, have reported that the foldable iPhone is not expected to receive the same hardware, largely because the components required for variable aperture are believed to be too large to fit inside the device’s notably thin body.

A second advantage involves optical zoom. Current reports indicate the foldable iPhone will ship with only two rear cameras, a main sensor and an ultrawide lens, while the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max are expected to retain a dedicated telephoto lens as part of their triple-camera systems. That would leave Apple’s most expensive iPhone without true optical zoom capability, a notable gap for a flagship-priced device that could push buyers who prioritize zoom photography toward the standard Pro models instead.

Battery life represents a third area where the Pro line is expected to have an edge. According to 9to5Mac, the iPhone 18 Pro Max is rumored to receive a physical battery roughly 10% larger than the one in the iPhone 17 Pro Max, and it is expected to benefit further from efficiency improvements tied to Apple’s new A20 Pro chip and its in-house C2 modem. While regulatory filings suggest the foldable iPhone should still offer solid battery performance for its category, most reports agree the Pro Max’s combination of a larger physical battery and chip-level efficiency gains should make it the longest-lasting iPhone Apple has ever released, a benchmark the foldable’s unique thin-and-light form factor makes difficult to match.

A fourth potential advantage involves biometric security. Multiple outlets, including Tom’s Guide, have reported that the foldable iPhone may forgo Face ID entirely in favor of Touch ID built into its power button, a design choice likely driven by the challenge of fitting Face ID’s sensor array into such a thin device. The iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max, by contrast, are expected to retain Face ID, preserving the more familiar unlocking and authentication experience current iPhone Pro owners are accustomed to.

Raw processing performance provides a fifth point of separation. According to Tom’s Guide, the foldable iPhone is rumored to use a standard A20 chip rather than the more powerful A20 Pro variant found in the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max, even though both chips are expected to be built on the same advanced 2-nanometer manufacturing process, which industry reports suggest could deliver roughly a 15% improvement in processing speed and a 20% boost in efficiency compared with the current generation.

These reported trade-offs come as the foldable iPhone is expected to command a substantially higher price than the Pro lineup, with multiple outlets estimating a starting price near 2,000 dollars, nearly double what the iPhone 17 Pro Max currently costs. Design-wise, the foldable is rumored to open in a book-style format with a titanium frame, an outer display measuring roughly 5.3 to 5.5 inches, and an inner display around 7.6 to 7.8 inches when unfolded, aiming for an iPad-like 4:3 aspect ratio and a display Apple hopes will be nearly free of the visible crease common to other foldable phones on the market.

Apple has not confirmed any of these specifications ahead of its Sept. 9 event, and the company’s official presentation remains the only source that will resolve the current wave of speculation. For consumers weighing whether the novelty of a folding screen justifies the foldable’s expected premium, however, current leaks suggest the more traditional iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max could actually deliver stronger cameras, longer battery life, familiar biometric security and faster raw performance, at a considerably lower price than Apple’s most ambitious device to date.