Manchester United began an offseason tour after its worst Premier League season in almost expected fashion, losing its first match against a Southeast Asian All-Star team 1-0 in Kuala Lumpur.

The reaction was swift on Thursday, and from one of the highest places in the land.

Bayern Munich strengthened its defense ahead of the Club World Cup by signing Germany center back Jonathan Tah from its Bundesliga rival Bayer Leverkusen on Thursday.

Munich said Tah arrives on a free transfer with a contract until June 2029.

South Korea's central bank cut its key interest rate and sharply lowered its growth outlook for the country's economy in 2025, as it moved Thursday to counter U.S. President Donald Trump's tariff hikes and weak domestic demand worsened by recent political turmoil.

Following a monetary policy meeting, the Bank of Korea cut its benchmark interest rate by a quarter percentage point to 2.5%. It was its fourth cut since October, when it began lowering borrowing costs for the first time in years to support a weakening economy. The bank slashed its 2025 growth outlook to 0.8%, nearly halving its previous projection of 1.5% announced in February.

Maria Grazia Chiuri, the first woman ever to lead Dior's women's collections, announced Thursday she is stepping down as creative director after nine years at the storied French fashion house.

The Italian designer confirmed her departure in an Instagram post, capping a transformative era defined by bold feminist messaging, record sales and industry-defining collections.

E.l.f. Beauty has acquired Hailey Bieber's Rhode skincare brand in a $1 billion deal, the companies said.

Bieber's Rhode had $212 million in net sales in the 12 months that ended March 31. The company's products are only available online, but by the end of this year it plans to begin an in-store partnership with Sephora in North America and the U.K.

Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba on Thursday showed his determination to defend rules-based free and multilateral trade systems and take a leadership role to expand the Asia-Pacific trade group at a time of deepening tensions and divisions over U.S. tariffs and trade wars.

"High tariffs will not bring economic prosperity," Ishiba told a global forum in Tokyo. "A prosperity built on sacrifices by someone or another country will not make a strong economy."

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen received the International Charlemagne Prize, an annual award for contributions to European unity, on Thursday as the 27-nation bloc confronts Russia's war against Ukraine, the Trump administration's trade war and security issues across the continent.

The European Union's most high-profile political figure, von der Leyen was called "the embodiment of the European spirit" by King Felipe VI of Spain during Thursday's ceremony in Aachen, Germany.

The U.S. economy shrank at a 0.2% annual pace from January through March, the first drop in three years, as President Donald Trump's trade wars disrupted business, the government said Thursday in a slight upgrade of its initial estimate.

First-quarter growth was brought down by a surge in imports as companies in the United States hurried to bring in foreign goods before the president imposed massive import taxes.

Syria signed a $7 billion energy deal on Thursday with a consortium of Qatari, U.S. and Turkish companies as it seeks to rehabilitate its war-ravaged electricity sector.

The agreement was signed at the Syrian presidential palace in the presence of interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa and U.S. envoy for Syria Thomas Barrack. It is expected to generate 5,000 megawatts, covering half of the country's electricity needs.

The Canadian province of Manitoba has declared a state of emergency over a series of wildfires, and Prime Minister Mark Carney has agreed to send in the military to help.

"This is the largest evacuation Manitoba will have seen in most peoples' living memory," Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew said.