Trump’s remarks differed significantly from those of Thai premier Anutin hours earlier, who made no mention of an agreement to end the fighting between the Southeast Asian neighbours

International News via Reuters:

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Friday he had spoken by telephone with the leaders of Thailand and Cambodia, who both agreed to end border hostilities and return to a ceasefire he brokered earlier this year.

“I had a very good conversation this morning with the Prime Minister of Thailand, Anutin Charnvirakul, and the Prime Minister of Cambodia, Hun Manet, concerning the very unfortunate reawakening of their long-running War. They have agreed to CEASE all shooting effective this evening, and go back to the original Peace Accord,” Trump posted on Truth Social.

“Both Countries are ready for PEACE and continued Trade with the United States of America.”

CONTRASTING REMARKS

Trump’s remarks differed significantly from those of Thai premier Anutin hours earlier, who made no mention of an agreement to end the fighting between the Southeast Asian neighbours, which raged for a fifth day on Friday.

Anutin said he had asked Trump to urge Cambodia to cease hostilities and remove landmines. 

“I explained to President Trump that we are not the aggressor against Cambodia but we are retaliating,” Anutin told reporters. 

“He wants a ceasefire. I told him to tell our friends –  don’t just say a ceasefire but they must tell the world that Cambodia will cease fire, withdraw its troops, remove all landmines it has planted. They must show us first.”

Cambodia and Thailand have been firing rockets and artillery at several points along their disputed 817-km (508-mile) border, in some of the heaviest fighting since a five-day clash in July that Trump halted with calls to both leaders to end their worst conflict in recent history. 

This week’s outbreak of fighting has killed at least 20 people, with more than 260 wounded, according to tallies by both countries, which have blamed each other for reigniting the conflict.

THAI FURY OVER LANDMINES

Trump was keen to intervene again to salvage the truce he brokered, which was expanded in October when he met the Thai and Cambodian prime ministers in Malaysia, who agreed on a process to withdraw troops and heavy weapons and release 18 Cambodian prisoners of war. 

But Thailand last month suspended that agreement, venting its fury after a Thai soldier was maimed in the latest in a series of incidents involving landmines that Bangkok says were newly laid by Cambodia. Cambodia rejects the allegations.

Trump, who has repeatedly said he deserves the Nobel Peace Prize, lauded himself on Thursday as a global peacemaker who had  “solved eight wars” and had expressed confidence he would get the truce “back on track”.

Reporting by Trevor Hunnicutt in Washington and Panarat Thepgumpanat and Orathai Sriring in Bangkok; Writing by Martin Petty; Editing by David Stanway, William Mallard and Alex Richardson

The looting of Italy’s rich artistic and archaeological heritage is a centuries-old problem, but the Carabinieri police art squad has had some success in recent years in recovering stolen artefacts

International News via Reuters:

Italian authorities said on Friday they had arrested 34 “tomb raiders” suspected of looting treasures from archaeological sites in Sicily and the neighbouring region of Calabria.

The looting of Italy’s rich artistic and archaeological heritage is a centuries-old problem, but the Carabinieri police art squad has had some success in recent years in recovering stolen artefacts.

In Sicily, nine people were placed in pre-trial detention and 14 under house arrest on charges including criminal conspiracy, theft of cultural property, trading in stolen goods and counterfeiting, police and prosecutors said.

Officers seized around 10,000 archaeological artefacts, including 7,000 coins issued by various Greek city states that existed on Sicily in ancient times, the Catania prosecutors’ office said in a statement.

Police also seized hundreds of clay and terracotta vases, bronze rings, brooches and arrowheads. The estimated total value of the recovered goods is 17 million euros ($20 million), prosecutors said. 

The word “tombaroli”, or tomb raiders, is applied in Italy to criminals who loot any archaeological treasures, not only those found in ancient tombs or graves.

Authorities also discovered a clandestine lab in the eastern Sicilian province of Catania, which produced fake ancient coins, pottery and copper, and seized some looted coins in Germany, where they had been smuggled for resale. 

AGRICULTURAL CODE WORDS 

In Calabria, two people were put in pre-trial detention and nine under house arrest on similar charges. Prosecutors from the town of Catanzaro said the suspects had operated with the “implicit consent” of a local Ndrangheta mafia clan.

The suspects kept phone contacts to a minimum for fear of being wiretapped, and used agricultural code words in their conversations, such as “asparagus” or “fennel”, to disguise their illicit activities, prosecutors said.

In the suspects’ lingo, “chainsaw” stood for “metal detector”, they added. 

Sicily is home to various ancient Roman and Greek archaeological sites, including the spectacular Valley of the Temples in Agrigento. Calabria also has a rich historical heritage.    

“We are talking about territories as vast as the cultural heritage that lies under their ground,” General Antonio Petti, head of the Carabinieri art squad, told a press conference in Rome. 

($1 = 0.8531 euros)

Reporting by Alvise Armellini, editing by

Germany, Italy and their manufacturers have been lobbying Brussels to at least water down plans for a ban by 2035, arguing they need support in the face of intense competition from China

International News via Reuters:

A Volvo Cars executive said on Friday he hoped the European Commission would resist pressure to scrap an effective ban on combustion engine car sales, saying the Swedish automaker was “ready to go” with electric alternatives.

Germany, Italy and their manufacturers have been lobbying Brussels to at least water down plans for a ban by 2035, arguing they need support in the face of intense competition from China.

A leading German EU lawmaker said on Friday the European Commission will move to scrap the ban next week and suggested there would be an alternative proposal for a 90% reduction in CO2 emissions for automakers’ fleet targets

Ditching the ban would be “a pity,” Volvo Cars Chief Commercial Officer Erik Severinson told Reuters.

Volvo Cars and fellow Swedish automaker Polestar have been among the fiercest opponents of changing plans, alongside other electric car makers that say they feel let down after investing heavily in the transition.

Severinson said he understood there would be some sort of compromise on the proposals, but warned that shifting course now would undermine confidence in future regulation.

“It kind of deteriorates the trust for the whole system… We have invested a lot and we’re ready to go,” he said. “All of a sudden, the playing field changes because someone else wasn’t.”

“I don’t expect us to have been fully heard in the compromise that comes, and that is very negative for us,” he added. 

The planned ban was a key part of the EU’s strategy to drive the continent’s decarbonisation and boost the development of electric vehicles.

Campaigners calling for the EU to scrap it say the bloc should allow other technologies including plug-in hybrids, biofuels and e-fuels.

Reporting by Marie Mannes; Editing by Andrew Heavens