World
Thai, Cambodian leaders agree to ceasefire after five days of battle
The leaders of Cambodia and Thailand agreed to a ceasefire on Monday effective midnight, in a bid to bring an end to their deadliest conflict in more than a decade after five days of fierce fighting.
Amid an international effort to quell the conflict, the Thai and Cambodian leaders held talks in Malaysia hosted by its Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, the current chair of the ASEAN regional bloc, where both sides agreed to halt hostilities and resume direct communications, Reuters reported.
Anwar said when opening a press conference alongside the Thai and Cambodian leaders that there would be “an immediate and unconditional ceasefire with effect from midnight tonight. This is final.”
The Southeast Asian neighbours accuse each other of starting the fighting last week, before escalating it with heavy artillery bombardment and Thai air strikes along their 817-km (508-mile) land border.
Anwar had proposed ceasefire talks soon after a long-running border dispute erupted into conflict on Thursday, and China and the United States also offered to assist in negotiations.
U.S. President Donald Trump called both leaders at the weekend urging them to settle their differences, warning he would not conclude trade deals with them unless they ended the fighting.
The tension between Thailand and Cambodia has intensified since the killing of a Cambodian soldier during a brief skirmish late in May.
Both sides reinforced border troops amid a full-blown diplomatic crisis that brought Thailand’s fragile coalition government to the brink of collapse.
“Today we have a very good meeting and very good results… that hope to stop immediately the fighting that has caused many lives lost, injuries and also caused displacement of people,” Hun Manet said, expressing appreciation to Trump and to China for its efforts in participating in the process.
“We hope that the solutions that Prime Minister Anwar just announced will set a condition for moving forward for our bilateral discussion to return to normalcy of the relationship, and as a foundation for future de-escalation of forces.”
Acting Thai Prime Minister Phumtham Wechayachai, who had earlier expressed doubts about Cambodia’s sincerity ahead of the negotiations in Malaysia, said Thailand had agreed to ceasefire that would “be carried out successfully in good faith by both sides”.
World
Fire at Saudi factory kills 16 Bangladeshi migrant workers
A major fire at a sofa manufacturing factory in Riyadh, the Saudi capital, killed 16 Bangladeshi migrant workers, officials in Dhaka said on Monday.
The fire broke out on Sunday in the Musa Sanaiya industrial area, Reuters reported.
Bangladesh’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs is monitoring the situation, while officials from the Bangladesh Embassy in Riyadh are working with Saudi authorities to complete the repatriation formalities.
Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment Minister Ariful Haque Choudhury has instructed officials to bring back the bodies as soon as possible and ensure necessary government assistance and compensation for the bereaved families.
With around 3.5 million Bangladeshis living in Saudi Arabia, the country remains the largest destination for Bangladeshi migrant workers, who sent home more than $2.7 billion in remittances last year.
World
Israel rejects Trump’s 15-point plan for Gaza, PM Netanyahu says
Israel has rejected U.S. President Donald Trump’s Board of Peace 15-point plan for Gaza, and will not withdraw until Hamas fully disarms, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday, Reuters reported.
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