On Wednesday, clashes at more than a dozen locations along the 817-km (508-mile) Thai-Cambodian border saw some of the most intense fighting since a five-day battle in July

International News via Reuters:

Fighting between Thailand and Cambodia entered its fourth day on Thursday as both sides waited for a promised telephone call from U.S. President Donald Trump, who says he believes he can again end the conflict between the two Southeast Asian nations.

On Wednesday, clashes at more than a dozen locations along the 817-km (508-mile) Thai-Cambodian border saw some of the most intense fighting since a five-day battle in July, which was the worst conflict in recent history.

In July, Trump stopped the fighting with calls to both leaders in which he threatened to halt trade talks unless they ended the conflict. Trump says he expects to speak with the countries’ leaders on Thursday.

“I think I can get them to stop fighting,” Trump told reporters on Wednesday. “I think I’m scheduled to speak to them tomorrow.”

However, Thailand has reacted more warily this time to overtures from Trump and Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, who helped broker the July deal, which resulted in an extended ceasefire signed in October. Thailand insists the matter is for the two countries to resolve.

Anwar said he had spoken with leaders of Thailand and Cambodia on Tuesday and, though no definitive resolution was reached, he appreciated “the openness and willingness of both leaders to continue negotiations in order to ease tensions”.

Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul said on Thursday he would “explain and clarify” the situation if Trump called.

“He will need to hear the details directly from me if he contacts me,” he told reporters. “I believe the foreign minister will already be providing information at the diplomatic level.”

Thailand and Cambodia have blamed each other for the latest clashes that started this week, and have traded accusations that civilians were being targeted in artillery and rocket attacks.

“Right now, no one wants conflict, especially with neighboring countries,” Anutin said. “But Thailand is very confident that it has been invaded. Therefore, it is necessary to safeguard the country’s independence and sovereignty.”

In a Wednesday evening update, Cambodia’s Interior Ministry said homes, schools, roads, pagodas and ancient temples had been damaged by “Thailand’s intensified shelling and F-16 air strikes targeting villages and civilian population centres up to 30 km inside Cambodian territory”.

On Thursday, Cambodia’s defence ministry accused Thailand of committing “brutal acts of aggression” against civilian targets, including schools and temples.

Thailand denies that it targets civilian infrastructure.

The clashes have already taken a heavy toll on civilians, with 10 people killed in Cambodia, including an infant, and 60 people wounded, according to its government.

Nine Thai soldiers have been killed in the fighting and more than 120 were wounded, the Thai army said. Hundreds of thousands of people have been evacuated from border areas in both countries.

Reporting by Reuters Staff, Panarat Thepgumpanat, Orathai Sriring and Devjyot Ghoshal in Bangkok; Writing by John Mair and David Stanway; Editing by Michael Perry

A day after the law took effect with bipartisan support from the major political parties, the country’s social media feeds were flooded with comments from people claiming to be under 16

International News via Reuters:

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Thursday took aim at young people parading themselves on social media a day after a world-first ban on under-16s went live, saying the rollout was always going to be bumpy but would ultimately save lives.

A day after the law took effect with bipartisan support from the major political parties and backing by some three-quarters of Australian parents, the country’s social media feeds were flooded with comments from people claiming to be under 16, including one on the prime minister’s TikTok account saying “I’m still here, wait until I can vote”.

Under the law, 10 of the biggest platforms including TikTok, Meta’s Instagram and Alphabet’s YouTube must bar underage users or face a fine of up to A$49.5 million ($33 million). The government has said it would take some time for the platforms to set up processes to do this.

“This is the law, this isn’t something that can be flouted,” Albanese said on News Corp’s Sky News.

“Some young people who haven’t yet been pulled off social media are sending out notices bragging about it. That just tells the platforms who they are, and so it will be taken down.”

Governments around the world have said they would monitor the Australian ban as they weigh whether to do something similar. U.S. Republican senator Josh Hawley endorsed the ban as it took effect, Nine newspapers reported, while France, Denmark, Malaysia and others have said they plan to emulate the Australian model.

The Australian internet regulator, the eSafety Commissioner, would ask all affected platforms to report numbers of under-16 accounts on the days before and after the ban went live on Wednesday, Communications Minister Anika Wells said.

Albanese has pitched the ban as an intervention to protect young people from mental health risks associated with social media, including bullying, body image problems and addictive algorithms.

While some teens trumpeted their ability to flout the ban, Australian content creators are reporting large falls in follower numbers and views. The government says some 200,000 accounts have been deactivated on TikTok alone since the ban went live.

Meta repeated its opposition to the law, saying some experts, advocates and parent groups were concerned it was driving teenagers to less regulated parts of the internet and that there was “little interest in compliance”.

“This will result in inconsistent application of the law and ultimately does not make young people safer,” a spokesperson said.

TikTok and Snap, owner of Snapchat, declined to comment on the implementation, while YouTube, X, Amazon’s Twitch, Reddit and Australian-owned Kick – all of which are covered by the ban – were not immediately available for comment.

HEATED GLOBAL REACTIONS

The ban generated impassioned reactions across the spectrum of global commentators – including from U.S. psychologist Jonathan Haidt, whose book “The Anxious Generation” featured prominently in the Australian debate.

The ban was “the most significant measure to protect children from social media harms”, he wrote on social media.

“Dr” Phil McGraw, the U.S. television presenter, in an interview on NewsNation’s “On Balance with Leland Vittert”, said the measure would “help immensely and force them to engage with the environment, with friends, get out into the real world”.

A week earlier, American talk show host Oprah Winfrey said the ban would change the lives of a generation.

The United Nations children’s agency UNICEF warned in a statement the ban might encourage children to visit less regulated parts of the internet and could not work alone.

“Laws introducing age restrictions are not an alternative to companies improving platform design and content moderation,” the statement said.

Albanese, visiting a school in Canberra, said the ban would lead to better educational outcomes and behaviour” since “you get better social interaction when students aren’t subject to looking at their devices constantly”.

Australian searches for virtual private networks (VPNs), which can mask an internet user’s location, surged to the highest level in about 10 years in the week before the legislation took effect, according to publicly available Google data.

All 10 platforms named by the ban opposed it before saying they would comply. As the legislation came into force, some platforms not covered by the ban rose to the top of app download charts, prompting the Australian government to say the platform list was “dynamic”.

One app, Lemon8, which is owned by TikTok parent ByteDance, introduced an age minimum of 16. Photo-sharing app Yope told Reuters it had experienced “very fast growth” to about 100,000 Australian users. About half its users were over 16.

The company told Reuters it had told the Australian internet regulator overseeing the ban that it considered itself a private messaging service, not social media.

($1 = 1.4995 Australian dollars)

Reporting by Byron Kaye; Additional reporting by Alasdair Pal; Editing by Stephen Coates

The protests in the capital Sofia and dozens of other towns and cities across the Black Sea nation are the latest in a series of rolling demonstrations and come as Bulgaria prepares to adopt the euro on January 1

International News via Reuters:

Thousands of Bulgarians rallied on Wednesday evening against the country’s minority government and what they say is its failure to tackle endemic corruption in the European Union’s poorest member state.

The protests in the capital Sofia and dozens of other towns and cities across the Black Sea nation are the latest in a series of rolling demonstrations and come as Bulgaria prepares to adopt the euro on January 1.

Protesters used lasers to project the words “Resignation”, “Mafia Out”, and “For Fair Elections” on the parliament building in central Sofia.

“I think the energy of the people will gradually force them (the government) to step down because many reforms are needed,” said Dobri Lakov, 64, a Sofia resident.

“First and foremost, judicial reform. If the judicial system is fixed, everything else will fall into place, absolutely everything.”

Bulgaria’s parliament will hold a vote of no-confidence on Thursday in the government of Prime Minister Rosen Zhelyazkov , the sixth such vote since it took power on January 15 this year. 

Last week, the government withdrew its 2026 budget plan, the first drafted in euros, due to the mass protests. Opposition parties and other organisations said they were protesting against plans to hike social security contributions and taxes on dividends to finance higher state spending.

Despite the government’s retreat over the budget plan, the protests have continued unabated in a country which has held seven national elections in the past four years – most recently in October 2024 – amid deep political and social divisions.  

“It is finally time for normality to come to Bulgaria and for us to free ourselves from the oligarchy, the mafia, and the forces that represent them,” said Angelin Bahchevanov, an IT specialist.

Bulgarian news agency BTA reported on Wednesday that Boyko Borissov, a former prime minister and leader of the ruling GERB party, said the ruling coalition partners had agreed not to resign before Bulgaria joins the euro zone on January 1. 

However, Assen Vassilev of the reformist opposition party “We Continue the Change”, which was among the organisers of Wednesday’s protest, said: “We will enter the euro zone, even if the government has resigned.”

Reporting by Fedja Grulovic; Writing by Ivana SekularacEditing by Gareth Jones

Vietnam’s Ministry of Health earlier this week urged power, steel and chemical plants to cut output when the air quality index exceeds 200

International News via Reuters:

Industrial plants in the Vietnamese capital of Hanoi have come under renewed pressure to scale back their operations as authorities respond to a week of heavy and hazardous smog in the city.

Vietnam’s Ministry of Health earlier this week urged power, steel and chemical plants to cut output when the air quality index exceeds 200. The index gauges the volumes of hazardous small particles known as PM2.5 that are in the air.

The AQI hit 243 midday on Thursday, putting Hanoi fourth on the list of the world’s most-polluted cities, according to AirVisual, which provides independent global air pollution information via a phone app.

The city has topped the list on a number of occasions this week, according to the app, a position it also held in January.

The Southeast Asian country, a regional manufacturing hub which is urbanising rapidly, has been suffering from severe air pollution for years, especially in Hanoi.

“My eyes are itchy, and there’s always a blanket of smog that blocks my vision,” said Hanoi resident Pham Thu Giang, 30. “I have to wear a mask all the time.”

The authorities have identified transportation, industrial production, construction activities and the burning of garbage and agricultural residue as the main sources of air pollution in the city.

“Gasoline-powered motorbikes are used widely in Hanoi, making them a major source of air pollution,” Le Thanh Thuy, an official of the city’s department of agriculture and environment, told local media on Thursday.

The city will impose partial bans on gasoline-powered motorbikes in downtown areas from mid-2026 and will gradually expand the ban thereafter to fossil-fuel-powered cars.

“The current air conditions are very dangerous for the capital Hanoi,” said 75-year old resident Luong Van Toi. “I feel very tired.”

If Hanoi’s AQI is converted into actual PM2.5 concentrations, the pollution this week could be as much as 50 times the 5-microgram/cu m level recommended by the World Health Organization.

Reporting by Thinh Nguyen; Writing by Khanh Vu; Editing by David Stanway

More than one-third of Tuvalu’s 11,000 population applied for a climate visa to migrate to Australia, under a deal struck between the two countries two years ago

International News via Reuters:

The first climate migrants to leave the remote Pacific island nation of Tuvalu have arrived in Australia, hoping to preserve links to their sinking island home, foreign affairs officials said on Thursday.

More than one-third of Tuvalu’s 11,000 population applied for a climate visa to migrate to Australia, under a deal struck between the two countries two years ago.

The intake is capped at 280 visas annually to prevent a brain drain in the small island nation.

Among the islanders selected in the initial intake of climate migrants is Tuvalu’s first female forklift driver, a dentist, and a pastor focused on preserving their spiritual life thousands of kilometres (miles) from home, Australian government officials said.

Tuvalu, one of the countries at greatest risk from climate change because of rising sea levels, is a group of low-lying atolls scattered across the Pacific between Australia and Hawaii.

Manipua Puafolau, from Tuvalu’s main island of Funafuti, arrived in Australia a fortnight ago. A trainee pastor with the most prominent church in Tuvalu, he plans to live in the small town of Naracoorte in the state of South Australia, where several hundred Pacific Islanders work in seasonal agriculture and meat processing jobs.

“For the people moving to Australia, it is not only for their physical and economic well-being, but also calls for spiritual guidance,” he said in a video released by Australia’s foreign affairs department.

Tuvalu Prime Minister Feleti Teo visited the Tuvaluan community in Melton, Melbourne, last month to emphasise the importance of maintaining strong ties and cultural bonds across borders as citizens migrate, Tuvalu officials said.

On Tuvalu’s main atoll of Funafuti, the land is barely wider than the road in many stretches. Families live under thatched roofs, and children play football on the airport runway due to space constraints.

By 2050, NASA scientists project daily tides will submerge half of Funafuti atoll, home to 60% of Tuvalu’s residents, where villagers cling to a strip of land as narrow as 20 metres (65 feet). The forecast assumes a one-metre rise in sea levels, while the worst case, double that, would put 90% of the country’s main atoll under water.

CLIMATE VISAS OFFER ‘MOBILITY WITH DIGNITY’

Australia’s Foreign Minister Penny Wong said the climate migrants would contribute to Australian society.

The visa offered “mobility with dignity, by providing Tuvaluans the opportunity to live, study and work in Australia as climate impacts worsen”, Wong said in a statement to Reuters.

Support services are being established by Australia to help Tuvaluan families set up in the east coast city of Melbourne, Adelaide in South Australia and in the northern state of Queensland.

Kitai Haulapi, the first female forklift driver in Tuvalu, recently married and will relocate to Melbourne, population five million. In a video released by Australia’s foreign affairs department she says that she hopes to find a job in Australia and continue to contribute to Tuvalu by sending money back to her family.

Dentist Masina Matolu, who has three school-aged children and a seafarer husband, will move with her family to the northern Australian city of Darwin. She plans to work with indigenous communities.

“I can always bring whatever I learn new from Australia back to my home culture, just to help,” she said in a video statement.

Reporting by Kirsty Needham; Editing by Michael Perry