Month: December 2025

Bangkok (TIP)- Thailand’s army accused Cambodia on Monday of violating a newly signed ceasefire agreement, reached after weeks of deadly border clashes, by flying more than 250 drones over its territory.
The Southeast Asian neighbours agreed to the “immediate” ceasefire on Saturday, pledging to end renewed border clashes that killed dozens of people and displaced more than a million this month.
But the fresh allegation from Bangkok and its threat to reconsider releasing Cambodian soldiers held by Thailand left a sustained truce in doubt, even as their foreign ministers wrapped up two days of talks hosted by China.
The Thai army said on Monday, Dec 29, “more than 250 unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) were detected flying from the Cambodian side, intruding into Thailand’s sovereign territory” on Sunday night, according to a statement.
“Such actions constitute provocation and a violation of measures aimed at reducing tensions, which are inconsistent with the Joint Statement agreed” during a bilateral border committee meeting on Saturday, it said.
The reignited fighting this month spread to nearly every border province on both sides, shattering an earlier truce for which US President Donald Trump took credit.
Under the truce pact signed on Saturday, Cambodia and Thailand agreed to cease fire, freeze troop movements and cooperate on demining efforts and combatting cybercrime.
They also agreed to allow civilians living in border areas to return home as soon as possible, while Thailand was to return 18 Cambodian soldiers captured in July within 72 hours, if the ceasefire held.
– ‘Small issue’ –
Cambodian Foreign Minister Prak Sokhonn described the drone incident as “a small issue related to flying drones seen by both sides along the border line”.
He said on Cambodian state television on Monday that the two sides had discussed the issue and agreed to investigate and “resolve it immediately”.
Thai army spokesman Winthai Suvaree said in a statement the drone activity reflected “provocative actions” and a “hostile stance toward Thailand”, which could affect the security of military personnel and civilians in border areas.
Thailand’s army “may need to reconsider its decision regarding the release of 18 Cambodian soldiers, depending on the situation and the behaviour observed”, it said.
Several family members of soldiers held by Thailand for six months had little faith they would be released, even before Bangkok raised fresh doubts.
Heng Socheat, the wife of a soldier, told AFP on Monday she worried the Thai military might renege on its pledge.
“Until my husband arrives home, then I will believe them,” she said.

Seoul (TIP)- North Korea said on Monday, Dec 29, it fired long-range strategic cruise missiles into the sea to test the country’s nuclear deterrence, days after it showed apparent progress in the construction of its first nuclear-powered submarine. Sunday’s launches were the latest weapons display by North Korea ahead of its planned ruling Workers’ Party congress early next year. Keen outside attention on the congress, the first of its kind in five years, will be on whether North Korean leader Kim Jong Un will establish new priorities in relations with the US and respond to Washington’s calls to resume long-dormant talks.
The official Korean Central News Agency reported that Kim expressed “great satisfaction” over Sunday’s launches, which occurred off the country’s west coast. It said Kim noted that testing the reliability of North Korea’s nuclear deterrence and demonstrating its might are “just a responsible exercise of the right to self-defence and war deterrence” in the face of external security threats. South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said it was aware of several cruise missile launches made from North Korea’s capital region on Sunday morning. It said South Korea maintains a readiness to repel any potential North Korean provocations through its alliance with the United States.
UN Security Council resolutions prohibit North Korea from launches involving its huge stockpile of ballistic missiles. Its cruise missile tests are not banned, but they still pose a threat to the US and South Korea because they are highly manoeuvrable and fly at low altitudes to avoid radar detection. Analysts say North Korea would aim to use cruise missiles to strike US warships and aircraft carriers in the event of conflict.
Last week, North Korea test-launched new anti-air missiles off its east coast and displayed photos showing a largely-completed hull of a developmental nuclear-powered submarine. North Korea implied it would arm the submarine with nuclear missiles.
A nuclear-powered submarine is among a slew of sophisticated weapons systems that Kim has vowed to introduce to cope with what he describes as US-led security threats. Some experts say North Korea’s recent alignment with Russia — including sending thousands of troops and military equipment to support President Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine — may have helped it to receive crucial technologies in return.
North Korea has focussed on weapons-testing activities to expand its nuclear arsenal since Kim’s high-stakes nuclear diplomacy with US President Donald Trump collapsed in 2019.
But in an apparent response to Trump’s repeated outreach, Kim suggested in September that he could return to talks if the US drops “its delusional obsession with denuclearisation” of North Korea. Experts say Kim might think his enlarged nuclear arsenal would give him greater leverage to wrest concessions in potential talks with Trump.

Jerusalem (TIP)- Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Donald Trump will meet Monday to discuss the ceasefire in Gaza, whose troubled opening months are stoking concern that regional fighting could resume in the new year.
Trump is to host Netanyahu, his most frequent foreign guest, at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida after hearing complaints from Arab and Muslim partners about continuing Israeli military strikes in the war-shattered and now-divided Palestinian enclave, as well as in Lebanon and Syria.
Israel says it’s fending off fresh threats by armed Islamist groups. Chief among these is Hamas, which triggered the two-year conflict in the Gaza Strip and agreed to the truce and a full hostage release — but not to surrender weapons as demanded by Trump’s internationally endorsed 20-point peace plan. The group has said it might be willing to integrate into the military of a future Palestinian state.
In Lebanon, Israel has been hitting Hezbollah and accusing the Beirut government of lagging in its promise to prevent the militia from rearming and regrouping at the border.
Netanyahu’s goal in the Trump talks will be to “strengthen, preserve and safeguard the achievements of the war and thus ensure that the offensive capabilities that we denied our enemies won’t be restored,” said Guy Levy, a Netanyahu spokesman.
Trump has been highly supportive of Israel even as it faced censure elsewhere over the Gazan carnage. When Netanyahu took the war to Iran — the sponsor of Hamas and Hezbollah — in June, US strategic bombers joined Israel’s air force in the assault on its nuclear facilities.
But the president has shown impatience with questions of when and how his Gaza plan can move to the reconstruction and reconciliation stages, known as Phase 2.
Israelis, meanwhile, are bracing for more war. A poll by the Israel Democracy Institute think-tank found that 71% of the public believe there will be a flare-up with Hezbollah in the coming year. Sixty-nine percent see it happening with Iran, and 53% with Hamas.
“No one is arguing that the status quo is sustainable in the long term, nor desirable,” US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, said.
Trump is expected soon to name fellow global leaders to a “Board of Peace” to oversee the interim administration of post-war Gaza. Formation of an International Stabilization Force, also known as ISF, consisting of troops from other countries, should soon follow.
Yet Israeli and US officials privately acknowledge arguing over whether Israel should withdraw troops and tanks from parts of the 53% of the territory it still holds, and hand them over to the ISF, even as Hamas remains armed and defiant in the rest. It’s also unclear whether the ISF would be willing and able to confront Hamas, which is branded a terrorist group in the West.
Another sticking point has been over Hamas’ failure to return the body of the last of the some 250 people it seized during the Oct. 7, 2023 shock invasion of southern Israel.

PALM BEACH (TIP)- U.S. President Donald Trump said on Sunday that he and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy were “getting a lot closer, maybe very close” to an agreement to end the war in Ukraine, while acknowledging that the fate of the Donbas region remains a key unresolved issue.
The two leaders spoke at a joint news conference after meeting at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida on Sunday afternoon. Both leaders reported progress on two of the most contentious issues in peace talks – security guarantees for Ukraine and the division of eastern Ukraine’s Donbas region that Russia has sought to capture.
Both Trump and Zelenskiy offered few details and did not provide a deadline for completing a peace deal, although Trump said it will be clear “in a few weeks” whether negotiations to end the war will succeed. He said a few “thorny issues” around territory must be resolved.
Zelenskiy said an agreement on security guarantees for Ukraine has been reached. Trump was slightly more cautious, saying that they were 95% of the way to such an agreement, and that he expected European countries to “take over a big part” of that effort with U.S. backing.
French President Emmanuel Macron, in an X post published after Trump met with Zelenskiy, said progress was made on security guarantees. Macron said countries in the so-called “Coalition of the Willing” would meet in Paris in early January to finalise their “concrete contributions.”
Zelenskiy has said previously that he hopes to soften a U.S. proposal for Ukrainian forces to withdraw completely from Donbas, a Russian demand that would mean ceding some territory held by Ukrainian forces. While Moscow insists on getting all of Donbas, Kyiv wants the map frozen at current battle lines.
Both Trump and Zelenskiy said on Sunday the future of the Donbas had not been settled, though the U.S. president said discussions are “moving in the right direction.” The United States, seeking a compromise, has proposed a free economic zone if Ukraine leaves the area, although it remains unclear how that zone would function in practical terms.
“It’s unresolved, but it’s getting a lot closer. That’s a very tough issue,” Trump said.
Nor did the leaders offer much insight into what agreements they had reached on providing security for Ukraine after the war ends, something Zelenskiy described Sunday as “the key milestone in achieving a lasting peace.”
Russia has said any foreign troop deployment in Ukraine is unacceptable.
Zelenskiy said any peace agreement would have to be approved by Ukraine’s parliament, or by a referendum. Trump said he would be willing to speak to parliament if that would secure the deal.