Cambodia and Thailand escalated their troop buildup yesterday at dispuory near a historic border temple despite their agreement to hold talks next week to defuse the tensions, a Cambodian general said.
Cambodian Brigadier General Chea Keo said the Thais now have more than 400 troops near the Preah Vihear temple, up from about 200 the day before, and Cambodia has about 800 troops there, up from 380 the day before.
Cambodia claims the Thai troops crossed the border into Cambodian territory on Tuesday in renewed tensions over land near Cambodia’s Preah Vihear temple. Thailand maintains it is protecting its sovereignty and ensuring that any protests among Thais near the temple remain orderly, although a Thai military source has acknowledged the troops are on “disputed” ground.
The border around Preah Vihear has never been fully demarcated.
Despite the potential for a flare-up among the hundreds of armed troops, both sides gave assurances that conflict would be avoided and the atmosphere around the temple appeared relaxed.
Cambodian soldiers snapped photographs of their opponents just meters away and some tourists, including one US women, visited the spectacular site.
The long-standing conflict over the territory was revived by Thai anti-government protesters in recent weeks, coming to a head after UNESCO granted Cambodia’s application for World Heritage Site status for the temple last week with the endorsement of Thailand’s government.
Both countries claim 4.6km² around the temple, and the activists have revived nationalist sentiment over the issue, fearing the temple’s new status will jeopardize claims to the land nearby.
However, Thais living just across the border sought to calm the situation.
Hundreds of villagers in Sisaket Province blocked a group of Thai anti-government protesters from marching to Preah Vihear yesterday. Some shouted at the protesters to “go home” and stop causing trouble as police stood by a barricade blocking the road to the temple.
“We are Thais. We should be able to talk about this” to settle any differences, villager Ubondej Panthep said.
One protest leader, Pramoj Hoimook, said Cambodians have settled on Thai soil “and we want to correct that.”
“We want to get to Preah Vihear to read a statement, asking for our land back,” he said.
On Wednesday night, Cambodia said it agreed with Thailand to hold defense minister talks next Monday to ease tensions. Yesterday, Thai Foreign Ministry spokesman Tharit Charungvat confirmed the meeting.
Cambodian Information Minister Khieu Kanharith said Cambodia would not “use force unless attacked” and that the “situation was stable.”
Kehinde Sanni spends his days smoothing out dents and repainting scratched bumpers in a modest autobody shop in Lagos. He has never left Nigeria, yet he speaks glowingly of Burkina Faso military leader Ibrahim Traore. “Nigeria needs someone like Ibrahim Traore of Burkina Faso. He is doing well for his country,” Sanni said. His admiration is shaped by a steady stream of viral videos, memes and social media posts — many misleading or outright false — portraying Traore as a fearless reformer who defied Western powers and reclaimed his country’s dignity. The Burkinabe strongman swept into power following a coup in September 2022
‘FRAGMENTING’: British politics have for a long time been dominated by the Labor Party and the Tories, but polls suggest that Reform now poses a significant challenge Hard-right upstarts Reform UK snatched a parliamentary seat from British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s Labor Party yesterday in local elections that dealt a blow to the UK’s two establishment parties. Reform, led by anti-immigrant firebrand Nigel Farage, won the by-election in Runcorn and Helsby in northwest England by just six votes, as it picked up gains in other localities, including one mayoralty. The group’s strong showing continues momentum it built up at last year’s general election and appears to confirm a trend that the UK is entering an era of multi-party politics. “For the movement, for the party it’s a very, very big
ENTERTAINMENT: Rio officials have a history of organizing massive concerts on Copacabana Beach, with Madonna’s show drawing about 1.6 million fans last year Lady Gaga on Saturday night gave a free concert in front of 2 million fans who poured onto Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro for the biggest show of her career. “Tonight, we’re making history... Thank you for making history with me,” Lady Gaga told a screaming crowd. The Mother Monster, as she is known, started the show at about 10:10pm local time with her 2011 song Bloody Mary. Cries of joy rose from the tightly packed fans who sang and danced shoulder-to-shoulder on the vast stretch of sand. Concert organizers said 2.1 million people attended the show. Lady Gaga
SUPPORT: The Australian prime minister promised to back Kyiv against Russia’s invasion, saying: ‘That’s my government’s position. It was yesterday. It still is’ Left-leaning Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese yesterday basked in his landslide election win, promising a “disciplined, orderly” government to confront cost-of-living pain and tariff turmoil. People clapped as the 62-year-old and his fiancee, Jodie Haydon, who visited his old inner Sydney haunt, Cafe Italia, surrounded by a crowd of jostling photographers and journalists. Albanese’s Labor Party is on course to win at least 83 seats in the 150-member parliament, partial results showed. Opposition leader Peter Dutton’s conservative Liberal-National coalition had just 38 seats, and other parties 12. Another 17 seats were still in doubt. “We will be a disciplined, orderly
RSS