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27 minutes ago
Cambodian official praises Trump's role in 'bringing peace' as ceasefire with Thailand takes hold
A Cambodian government official has sung praise to U.S. President Donald Trump for "bringing about peace" after Thailand and Cambodia agreed to a cease-fire starting at midnight local time on Monday. The two sides pledged to lay down their weapons following their deadliest fighting in more than a decade. At least 36 people were killed and hundreds of thousands of civilians fled the disputed border areas between the Southeast Asian nations. The ceasefire comes amid pressure from Trump, who said on Truth Social on Saturday that he'd pause trade tariff talks with both countries if hostilities continued. Thailand had initially rejected the offer of a third party mediation but changed its tune following Trump's tariff threat. "Cambodia fully supports the initiative from the U.S., particularly President Donald Trump, to end the conflict or to immediately have a ceasefire," Lim Menghour, Director General of Cambodia's National Assembly, told ABC News on Monday. "Our prime minister received a call from U.S. President Donald Trump who offered mediation to end this conflict, and immediately our prime minister accepted the offer," he added. Menghour described Monday's ceasefire talks in Malaysia as "a good meeting with a good result," which "produced a positive development." In announcing the ceasefire, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, flanked by his Thai and Cambodian counterparts, described it as "a vital first step to a de-escalation and a restoration of peace and security." The two beleaguered leaders shook hands with each other after holding face to face talks for the first time since the conflict first began on Thursday, with both sides blaming each other for firing first -- then pounding each other with attacks along the contested border areas. There's skepticism over whether this ceasefire, which centers around a century-old border dispute, will actually last. While Menghour said the immediate cessation of hostilities is key to resolving this dispute, Cambodia has stated its position clearly. "We do not let go of our sovereignty, our territorial integrity," he stressed. Landmines and nationalism This conflict was an escalation of a months-long standoff fueled in part by landmines and nationalist fervor. Both countries accused each other of opening fire first, early on Thursday near the Ta Moan Thom temple -- around 224 miles from Bangkok. The initial salvos were followed by what Thailand described as airstrikes on military targets in Cambodia, as Bangkok accused Phnom Penh of shelling and killing civilians. Thailand's military closed all border checkpoints with Cambodia and said that fighting was taking place at several points along the undemarcated border, prompting Bangkok to activate an emergency war readiness plan. This armed conflict also comes on the back of a full-blown diplomatic crisis reignited by Bangkok last Wednesday when it said it would withdraw its ambassador to Cambodia and expel Cambodia's own envoy to the country. Thailand's decision followed a land mine blast that wounded five Thai soldiers along the disputed border. A week earlier, another land mine in a different contested area exploded and wounded three Thai soldiers when one of them stepped on it and lost a foot, according to the Thai Army. Cambodia responded by downgrading diplomatic relations with Thailand to their lowest level and recalling all Cambodian staff from its embassy in Bangkok. Phnom Penh also rejected Bangkok's claims of placing landmines in disputed areas, describing them as baseless claims and instead saying that Thai soldiers had veered off agreed patrol routes and triggered a mine left behind from decades of war. Cambodia has many landmines left over from its civil war decades ago, numbering in the millions, according to de-mining groups. Tensions between the two countries have been escalating since a brief exchange of gunfire in late May in one of several small patches of land both countries claim as their own territory. Nationalism has further inflamed the situation on both sides, and Thailand's Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra was suspended from the top job earlier this month over a leaked call with Cambodia's influential former leader Hun Sen in which she was seen as appeasing him over the border row, while undermining her own military. Her dynasty family - which has dominated Thai politics in this millennium -- is also accused of cozying up to Cambodian officials because of their vast business interests in the country. However, the roots of this conflict go even deeper. For more than a century, Thailand and Cambodia have contested sovereignty at various contested points along their 508 miles land border, which has led to skirmishes over several years and at least a dozen deaths, including during a weeklong exchange of artillery in 2011.
Bloomberg
27 minutes ago
- Bloomberg
Trump to Give Putin New Ukraine Truce Deadline
US President Donald Trump said he would shorten his timeline for Russian leader Vladimir Putin to reach a truce with Ukraine or face potential economic penalties. On July 14, Trump announced a 50-day deadline on Russia, threatening to impose stiff economic penalties on Putin if he did not end hostilities with Ukraine. The Kremlin hasn't commented publicly so far on Trump's new deadline. Bloomberg's Adam Blenford reports. (Source: Bloomberg)
CNBC
an hour ago
- CNBC
Euro under pressure as U.S.-EU trade deal fails to impress
The euro struggled to recoup its steep losses on Tuesday as investors sobered up to the fact that terms of the trade deal between the U.S. and the European Union favored the former and hardly lifted the economic outlook of the bloc. France, on Monday, called the framework trade agreement a "dark day" for Europe, saying the bloc had caved in to U.S. President Donald Trump with an unbalanced deal that slapped a headline 15% tariff on EU goods. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said his economy would suffer "significant" damage due to the agreed tariffs. The euro slid 1.3% in the previous session, its sharpest one-day percentage fall in over two months, on worries about growth and as euro-area government bond yields fell. The common currency last traded 0.07% higher at $1.1594. "It hasn't taken long for markets to conclude that this relatively good news is still, in absolute terms, bad news as far as the near term implications for euro zone growth are concerned," said Ray Attrill, head of FX research at National Australia Bank. "The deal has been roundly condemned by France while others - including German Chancellor Merz, are playing up the negative consequences for exporters, and with that, economic growth." The slide in the euro in turn boosted the dollar, which jumped 1% against a basket of currencies overnight. The dollar held on to gains on Tuesday and knocked sterling to a two-month low of $1.3349. The yen edged marginally higher to 148.49 per dollar. The dollar index steadied at 98.67. "While the U.S. dollar's strength... may reflect the perception that the new U.S.-EU deal is lopsided in favor of the U.S., the U.S. dollar's strength may also reflect a feeling that the U.S. is re-engaging with the EU and with its major allies," said Thierry Wizman, global FX and rates strategist at Macquarie Group. Still, Trump said on Monday most trading partners that do not negotiate separate trade deals would soon face tariffs of 15% to 20% on their exports to the United States, well above the broad 10% tariff he set in April. Elsewhere, the Australian dollar eased 0.05% to $0.6518, while the New Zealand dollar was little changed at $0.5972. The offshore yuan was little changed at 7.1813 per dollar. Top U.S. and Chinese economic officials met in Stockholm on Monday for more than five hours of talks aimed at resolving long-standing economic disputes at the center of a trade war between the world's top two economies, seeking to extend a truce by three months. Apart from trade negotiations, focus this week is also on rate decisions from the Federal Reserve and the Bank of Japan (BOJ). Both central banks are expected to stand pat on rates, but traders will watch subsequent comments to gauge the timing of their next moves.
