By WILL WEISSERT, Associated Press

EDINBURGH, Scotland (AP) — President Donald Trump once suggested his golf course in Scotland “furthers” the U.S.-U.K. relationship. Now he’s getting the chance to prove it.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer is meeting Monday with Trump at a golf property owned by the president’s family near Turnberry in southwestern Scotland — then later traveling to Abderdeen, on the country’s northeast coast, where there’s another Trump golf course and a third is opening soon.

Britain’s Prime Minister Keir Starmer is reflected in a mirror during a business showcase event whilst meeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India at Chequers near Aylesbury, England, Thursday, July 24, 2025.(AP Photo/Kin Cheung, Pool)

During his first term in 2019, Trump posted of his Turnberry property, “Very proud of perhaps the greatest golf course anywhere in the world. Also, furthers U.K. relationship!” Starmer is not a golfer, but toggling between Trump’s Scottish courses shows the outsized influence the president puts on properties bearing his name — and on golf’s ability to shape geopolitics.

However, even as Trump may want to focus on showing off his golf properties, Starmer will try to center the conversation on more urgent global matters. He plans to urge Trump to press Israel to allow more aid into Gaza and attempt to end what Downing St. called “the unspeakable suffering and starvation” in the territory, while pushing for a ceasefire in Israel’s war with Hamas.

Britain, along with France and Germany, has criticized Israel for “withholding essential humanitarian assistance” as hunger spread in Gaza. Over the weekend, Starmer said Britain will take part in efforts led by Jordan to airdrop aid after Israel temporarily eased restrictions.

But British Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds acknowledged Monday that only the U.S. has “the leverage” to make a real difference in the conflict.

Still, asked about the crisis in Gaza on Sunday night, Trump was largely dismissive — focused more on how he’s not personally gotten credit for previous attempts to provide food aid.

“It’s terrible. You really at least want to have somebody say, ‘Thank you,’” Trump said.

The president added, “It makes you feel a little bad when you do that” without what he considered proper acknowledgement.

Starmer is under pressure from his Labour Party lawmakers to follow France in recognizing a Palestinian state, a move both Israel and the U.S. have condemned. The British leader says the U.K. supports statehood for the Palestinians but that it must be “part of a wider plan” for a two-state solution to the Israel-Palestinian conflict.

Also on Monday’s agenda, according to Starmer’s office, are efforts to promote a possible peace deal to end fighting in Russia’s war with Ukraine — particularly efforts at forcing Russian President Vladimir Putin to the negotiating table in the next 50 days.

Trump in the past sharply criticized Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for also failing to express enough public gratitude toward U.S. support for his country, taking a similar tack he’s now adopting when it comes to aid for Gaza. The president, though, has shifted away from that tone and more sharply criticized Putin and Russia in recent weeks.

On Tuesday, Trump will be at the site of his new course near Aberdeen for an official ribbon-cutting. It opens to the public on Aug. 13 and tee times are already for sale — with the course betting that a presidential visit can help boost sales.

Protesters have planned a demonstration in Balmedie, near Trump’s existing Aberdeen golf course, after demonstrators took to the streets across Scotland on Saturday to decry the president’s visit while he was golfing.

Starmer and Trump are likely to find more common ground on trade issues.

While China initially responded to Trump’s tariff threats by retaliating with high import taxes of its own on U.S. goods, it has since begun negotiating to ease trade tensions. Starmer and his country have taken a far softer approach. He’s gone out of his way to work with Trump, flattering the president repeatedly during a February visit to the White House, and teaming up to announce a joint trade framework on tariffs for some key products in May.

Starmer and Trump then signed a trade agreement during the G7 summit in Canada that freed the U.K.’s aerospace sector from U.S. tariffs and used quotas to reduce them on auto-related industries from 25% to 10% while increasing the amount of U.S. beef it pledged to import.

Discussions with Starmer follow a Trump meeting Sunday with European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen at his Turnberry course. They announced a trade framework that will put 15% tariffs on most goods from both countries, though many major details remain pending.

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The president has for months railed against yawning U.S. trade deficits around the globe and sees tariffs as a way to try and close them in a hurry. But the U.S. ran an $11.4 billion trade surplus with Britain last year, meaning it exported more to the U.K. than it imported. Census Bureau figures this year indicate that the surplus could grow.

There are still lingering U.S.-Britain trade issues that need fine-tuning. The deal framework from May said British steel would enter the U.S. duty-free, but it continues to face a 25% levy.

U.K. Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds said Monday that “negotiations have been going on on a daily basis” and “there’s a few issues to push a little bit further today,” though he downplayed expectations of a resolution.

The leader of Scotland, meanwhile, said he will urge Trump to lift the current 10% tariff on Scotch whisky. First Minister John Swinney said the spirit’s “uniqueness” justified an exemption.

Even as some trade details linger and both leaders grapple with increasingly difficult choices in Gaza and Ukraine, however, Starmer’s staying on Trump’s good side appears to be working — at least so far.

“The U.K. is very well-protected. You know why? Because I like them — that’s their ultimate protection,” Trump said during the G7.

Associated Press writer Jill Lawless in London contributed to this report.

By EILEEN NG, JINTAMAS SAKSORNCHAI and SOPHENG CHEANG, Associated Press

PUTRAJAYA, Malaysia (AP) — Thailand and Cambodia have agreed to an “immediate and unconditional” ceasefire in a significant breakthrough to resolve deadly border clashes that entered a fifth day, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said Monday.

Anwar, who chaired the talks as head of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations regional bloc, said both sides have reached a common understanding to take steps to return to normalcy following what he called frank discussions.

In this photo released by The Government Spokesman Office. Thailand’s acting Prime Minister Phumtham Wechayachai, front, departs from Military Airport in Bangkok, to Malaysia, to attend a meeting to discuss regional peace at the Prime Minister’s Office of Malaysia, with Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet, Monday, July 28, 2025. (The Government Spokesman Office via AP)

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet and Thai Acting Prime Minister Phumtham Wechayachai have agreed to an “immediate and unconditional ceasefire” with effect from midnight local time Tuesday, Anwar said as he read out a joint statement.

“This is a vital first step towards de-escalation and the restoration of peace and security,” Anwar said.

Military and officials from both sides will also hold meetings to defuse border tensions, he said. The foreign and defense ministers of Malaysia, Cambodia and Thailand have been instructed to “develop a detailed mechanism” to implement and monitor the ceasefire to ensure sustained peace, he added.

Hun Manet and Phumtam hailed the outcome of the meeting and shook hands at the conclusion of the brief press conference.

Hun Manet said he hoped that bilateral ties could return to normal soon so that some 300,000 villagers evacuated on both sides could return home.

It is “time to start rebuilding trust, confidence and cooperation going forward between Thailand and Cambodia,” he said.

Phumtham said the outcome reflected “Thailand’s desire for a peaceful resolution.”

The fighting flared last Thursday after a land mine explosion along the border wounded five Thai soldiers. Both sides blamed each other for starting the clashes, that have killed at least 35 people and displaced more than 260,000 people on both sides. Both countries recalled their ambassadors and Thailand shut all border crossings with Cambodia, with an exception for migrant Cambodian workers returning home.

The Malaysian meeting followed direct pressure from U.S. President Donald Trump, who has warned that the United States may not proceed with trade deals with either country if hostilities continue. The joint statement said that the U.S. is a co-organizer of the talks, with participation from China. The Chinese and American ambassadors to Malaysia attended the meeting that lasted over two hours.

Local students wrap food to give to villagers while they take refuge in Buddhist pagoda in Srey Snam district, Siem Reap province, Cambodia, Sunday, July 28, 2025, amid the fighting between Thailand and Cambodia. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)

The violence marks a rare instance of open military confrontation between ASEAN member states, a 10-nation regional bloc that has prided itself on non-aggression, peaceful dialogue and economic cooperation.

Evacuees from both sides of border earlier prayed for a ceasefire deal.

At an evacuation shelter in Cambodia’s Siem Reap province far away from the border, Ron Mao, 56, said she abd her family fled their home 0.6 mile away from the front line when fighting broke out Thursday. They took refuge in a shelter but moved again to another camp further away after hearing artillery shelling.

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“I don’t want to see this war happen. It’s very difficult and I don’t want to run around like this,” she said. “When I heard our Prime Minister go to negotiate for peace, I would be very happy if they reached the deal as soon as possible, so that I and my children can return home as soon as possible.”

Thai evacuees echoed the sentiment.

“I beg the government. I want it to end quickly,” said farmer Nakorn Jomkamsing at an evacuation camp in Surin hosting more than 6,000 people. “I want to live peacefully. I miss my home, my pets, my pigs, dogs and chicken,” the 63-year-old woman said.

The 500-mile frontier between Thailand and Cambodia has been disputed for decades, but past confrontations have been limited and brief. The latest tensions erupted in May when a Cambodian soldier was killed in a confrontation that created a diplomatic rift and roiled Thailand’s domestic politics.

Jintamas reported from Surin, Thailand, and Sopheng Cheang from Samrong, Cambodia. Associated Press writers Chalida Ekvitthayavechnukul and Grant Peck in Bangkok contributed to this report.

Highway 52 in St. Paul will be closed overnight throughout much of August for repairs on the Winifred Street pedestrian and bicycle bridge.

Repairs are expected to begin on the Winifred Street pedestrian and bicycle bridge crossing Highway 52 and Lafayette Freeway in St. Paul on Aug. 1, 2025. (Courtesy of the Minnesota Department of Transportation)

The bridge, north of Cesar Chavez Street, has been closed since October when it was struck by a recycling truck’s overheight load, according to MnDOT officials.

MnDOT plans to begin work Friday to remove the damaged eastern end over northbound Highway 52 and replace it with a new section to match the current structure.

Most construction work will be done at night to lessen traffic impacts. Northbound and southbound traffic on Highway 52 is expected to be closed and detoured during nighttime construction. Neighbors should expect noise and bright lights.

Repairs are expected to be completed by late August as weather permits.

Updated road condition information can be found at 511mn.org or by calling 511.

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Today is Monday, July 28, the 209th day of 2025. There are 156 days left in the year.

Today in history:

On July 28, 1945, a U.S. Army B-25 bomber crashed into the 79th floor of New York’s Empire State Building, the world’s tallest structure at the time, killing 14 people.

Also on this date:

In 1794, Maximilien Robespierre and Louis Antoine de Saint-Just were executed by guillotine during the French Revolution.

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In 1914, World War I began as Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia.

In 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson announced he was increasing the number of American troops in South Vietnam from 75,000 to 125,000.

In 1976, an earthquake devastated northern China, killing at least 242,000 people, according to an official estimate.

In 1984, the Los Angeles Summer Olympics officially opened; 14 Eastern Bloc countries, led by the Soviet Union, boycotted the Games.

In 1995, a jury in Union, South Carolina, rejected the death penalty for Susan Smith, sentencing her to life in prison for drowning her two young sons (Smith will be eligible for parole in November 2024).

In 1996, 8,000 year-old human skeletal remains (later referred to as Kennewick Man) were discovered in a bank of the Columbia River in Kennewick, Washington.

In 2004, the Irish Republican Army formally announced an end to its armed campaign against British rule in Northern Ireland.

In 2015, it was announced that Jonathan Pollard, the former U.S. Naval intelligence analyst who had spent nearly three decades in prison for spying for Israel, had been granted parole.

In 2018, Pope Francis accepted the resignation of U.S. Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, the emeritus archbishop of Washington, D.C., following allegations of sexual abuse, including one involving an 11-year-old boy. Both died in April of 2025.

In 2019, a gunman opened fire at a popular garlic festival in Gilroy, California, killing three people, including a six-year-old boy and a 13-year-old girl, and wounding 17 others before taking his own life.

Today’s Birthdays:

Music conductor Riccardo Muti is 84.
Former Senator and NBA Hall of Famer Bill Bradley is 82.
“Garfield” creator Jim Davis is 80.
TV producer Dick Ebersol is 78.
Actor Sally Struthers is 78.
Architect Santiago Calatrava is 74.
CBS TV journalist Scott Pelley is 68.
Actor Lori Loughlin is 61.
Jazz musician-producer Delfeayo Marsalis is 60.
UFC president Dana White is 56.
Actor Elizabeth Berkley is 53.
Basketball Hall of Famer Manu Ginobili is 48.
Actor John David Washington is 41.
Actor Dustin Milligan is 40.
Rapper Soulja Boy is 35.
England soccer star Harry Kane is 32.
Pop/rock singer Cher Lloyd is 32.
Golfer Nelly Korda is 27.