• Thailand, Cambodia dispute demarcation of their 800km border.
• Both sides blame each other for instigating the renewed fighting.
• Latest clashes expand to five provinces of both countries. 

BANGKOK: More than 500,000 people have fled their homes to safety in Thailand and Cambodia since the start of a reignited border conflict, both governments said on Wednesday, surpassing the total number evacuated during similar clashes earlier this year.

“Civilians have had to evacuate in large numbers due to what we assessed as an imminent threat to their safety. More than 400,000 people have been moved to safe shelters,” across seven provinces, Thai defence ministry spokesperson Surasant Kongsiri told reporters at a news conference.

“We want to prevent a recurrence of the attacks on civilians we suffered in July 2025.”

In Cambodia, “101,229 people have been evacuated to safe shelters and relatives’ homes in five provinces,” as of Tuesday evening, defence ministry spokeswoman Maly Socheata told reporters.

The Southeast Asian neighbours dispute the colonial-era demarcation of their 800-kilometre (500-mile) frontier, where competing claims to historic temples have spilt over into armed conflict.

This week’s clashes are the deadliest since five days of fighting in July that killed dozens and displaced around 300,000 on both sides of the border before a shaky truce was agreed, following intervention by US President Donald Trump who co-signed a truce between a Cambodia and Thailand in October during a visit to Asia.

Both sides blame each other for instigating the renewed fighting, which on Tuesday expanded to five provinces of both Thailand and Cambodia, according to an AFP tally of official accounts.

Trump’s call

Meanwhile, reacting to the latest violence, President Trump has said that he was planning to “make a phone call” on Wednesday about the renewed clashes between Thailand and Cambodia over their contested border.

During a rally speech to supporters in the northeastern US state of Pennsylvania on Tuesday, Trump listed various conflicts he has become involved with diplomatically, concluding with: “And I hate to say this, one named Cambodia-Thailand, that it started up today.”

“Tomorrow, I have to make a phone call, and I think they’ll get it,” he continued.

“Who else could say, ‘I’m going to make a phone call and stop a war of two very powerful countries’?”

• Japan scrambles jets to monitor Russian-Chinese patrols.
• Joint flight seen as show of force, says Japan’s defence minister. 
• China-Russia military cooperation increases across region.
  

TOKYO/MOSCOW: Japan has scrambled jets to monitor Russian and Chinese air forces conducting joint patrols around the country, the Japanese defence ministry said late Tuesday, amid rising tensions between Tokyo and Beijing.

Two Russian Tu-95 nuclear-capable strategic bombers flew from the Sea of Japan toward the East China Sea to rendezvous with two Chinese H-6 bombers, and performed a “long-distance joint flight” in the Pacific, the ministry said.

Four Chinese J-16 fighter jets joined the bombers as they made a round-trip flight between Japan’s Okinawa and Miyako islands, it added. The Miyako Strait between the two islands is classified as international waters.

Japan also detected simultaneous Russian air force activity in the Sea of Japan, consisting of one early-warning aircraft A-50 and two Su-30 fighters, the ministry said.

Japanese Defence Minister Shinjiro Koizumi said in a post on X on Wednesday that the Russian and Chinese joint operations were “clearly intended as a show of force against our nation, which is a serious concern for our national security.”

Japan’s fighter jets “strictly implemented air defence identification measures,” Koizumi added.

Russian news agencies reported that the Russian-Chinese joint flight near Japan lasted for eight hours, citing Moscow’s defence ministry.

South Korea’s military also said on Tuesday that seven Russian planes and two Chinese planes had entered its air defence zone.

Japan said on Sunday that Chinese carrier-launched fighter jets aimed radar at Japanese military aircraft a day earlier, an account Beijing disputed.

Beijing’s rising military actions near Japan follow Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s comment last month that Tokyo could respond to any Chinese military action against Taiwan that also threatened Japan’s security.

China and Russia have been ramping up military cooperation in recent years elsewhere, conducting joint operations such as an anti-missile training on Russian territory and live-fire naval exercises in the South China Sea.

ABU DHABI: The United Arab Emirates will change and standardise the timing of the Friday sermon and prayer across the country from 2 January 2026, the General Authority of Islamic Affairs, Endowments and Zakat (Awqaf) said.

Under the new schedule, Friday prayers and the sermon (khutbah) will be held at 12:45pm local time in all mosques nationwide.

Previously, Dubai and Abu Dhabi generally held Friday prayers at around 1:30pm local time, while Sharjah and some northern emirates conducted the prayer at around 12:30pm local time. 

The new rule brings every mosque in the country under a single, unified timing.

The authority urged worshippers to arrive early to avoid missing the sermon and to ensure they receive the full religious reward, emphasising the importance of punctuality.

Officials said the decision aims to improve organisation and ensure consistent prayer timings across all emirates, supporting better crowd management and community coordination.