border

Under the change Britons will provide four fingerprints and a facial biometric scan to a machine during their first arrival

British travellers visiting Europe are being warned to prepare for the possibility of even longer queues from today. The rollout of the EU’s new border check tech aims to eventually speed up entry, but its expansion this month presents a risk of greater delays, according to travel association ABTA.

Under the automated Entry/Exit System (EES), Britons will provide four fingerprints and a facial biometric scan to a machine during their first arrival, followed by one scan on each subsequent arrival and departure. “As more places introduce the system, and more passengers are processed through it, there is a greater risk that people will face queues and delays,” ABTA warns.

“It’s important travellers are prepared for this as they prepare to go through passport control.” The EU set a January 10 deadline for its member states to roll out the EES at half of their border crossings.

Manual passport stamping will continue until 9 April, meaning double red tape. “We are also urging border authorities to do all they can to minimise delays. They have contingency measures at their disposal – such as standing down the system or limiting checks – and we want them to be utilised to help manage the flow of people,” ABTA says.

The Entry Exit System (EES) requires non-EU citizens to register at the EU border by scanning their passport and having their fingerprints and photograph taken. The rollout began last October and mean British passport-holders need to register on their first visit to a country where EES checks are operating. Registration is valid for a rolling three-year period or until the passport expires.

The new system will be phased in over six months, meaning different ports may have varying requirements until April 2026. By January 10 half of all checkpoints should be in operation.

On exit, and for subsequent visits to a participating country, travellers will only need to scan their passport and provide either fingerprints or a photograph at the border.

EES will be a requirement when entering Schengen area countries including Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland. EES will not be required when travelling to Ireland and Cyprus.

For travellers using the Port of Dover, Eurotunnel at Folkestone or Eurostar at St Pancras International, the process will take place at the border before they leave the UK.

The government has supported these juxtaposed ports (Eurostar, St Pancras; Eurotunnel, Folkestone; and the Port of Dover) with £10.5m of funding for border infrastructure to make the change as smooth as possible for travellers. While EES is an EU system, the government has been working closely with the travel industry, ports and transport operators to help raise public awareness and understanding of the border changes.

Minister for Border Security and Asylum, Alex Norris, said: “We recognise that EES checks will be a significant change for British travellers, which is why we have worked closely with our European partners to ensure the rollout goes as smoothly as possible.

“The UK and EU have a shared objective of securing our borders and these modernisation measures will help us protect our citizens and prevent illegal migration.”

Minister for Aviation, Maritime and Decarbonisation, Keir Mather, said: “We’ve backed our ports and operators with £10.5 million to help them get ready for the EU’s new Entry/Exit System, ensuring they have the infrastructure and systems in place to manage the changes.

“Our priority is to minimise disruption for travellers and hauliers, particularly at our busiest border crossings. We’ll continue working closely with European partners and local resilience forums to keep traffic flowing and journeys smooth.”

Travellers do not need to take any action before travelling and the process is free. Registration will take place upon arrival at the EU border and may take slightly longer than previous border checks.

Whilst the checks should only take 1-2 minutes for each person, they may lead to longer wait times at border control upon arrival in the Schengen area. At the juxtaposed ports, where registration will be completed in the UK prior to departure, there may be longer waits at busy times. Eurotunnel, Eurostar and the Port of Dover have plans in place to minimise disruption as much as possible.

Children under 12 will not be fingerprinted but under the new EU rules, all travellers, including babies, will be photographed and have digital records created.

The UK Government has rolled out its own Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) scheme, which is a digital permission to travel for visitors who do not need a visa for short stays, or do not have another valid UK immigration status prior to travelling to the UK.

You’re HBO, and your newest release is an explosive documentary about one of the most controversial sectors of the United States government: the Border Patrol. What do you do to get it as much attention as possible?

We’re seeing their strategy play out right now.

“Critical Incident: Death at the Border” recounts the death of Anastasio Hernández Rojas, a 42-year-old undocumented immigrant who died in 2010 days after immigration agents handcuffed, beat and Tasered him near the San Ysidro Port of Entry after trying to deport him to Mexico. Border Patrol at the time said they used force after Hernández Rojas, who had lived in this country since he was 15, resisted them.

The case drew international attention and Hernández Rojas’ family received a $1-million settlement from the federal government, which declined to file criminal charges against those involved in his death even though the San Diego County coroner’s office ruled it a homicide. Enter John Carlos Frey, a reporter who has pursued the story for nearly 15 years and who is one of the protagonists in “Critical Incident.”

He knocks on the doors of agents who were there when Hernández Rojas died, discovers footage that contradicts the Border Patrol’s official account and uncovers a secretive Border Patrol unit tasked with the “mitigation” of use-of-force incidents that was disbanded in 2022. The documentary includes an interview with a whistleblower who claimed bosses told him to doctor evidence to exculpate the agency in the death of Hernández Rojas. It also alleges the cover-up went all the way up to Customs and Border Protection commissioner Rodney Scott, who was Border Patrol deputy chief for the San Diego region when Hernández Rojas died.

Scott appears near the end of “Critical Incident” to dismiss those “allegations” and declines to comment about any culpability those involved may have had, citing ongoing litigation. “This case from over a decade ago was thoroughly investigated and resolved by the Department of Justice and local law enforcement,” a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson told the Times in a statement when I asked for comment about the documentary’s findings. “Efforts to malign CBP and ICE officers as lawbreakers are slanderous, irresponsible, and only reveal the media’s eagerness to mislead the American people.”

“Critical Incident” is taut, disturbing, timely and a brisk hour and a half. It deserves as many viewers as possible and a publicity campaign as ubiquitous as what HBO is currently pushing for its hit hockey romance, “Heated Rivalry.”

Instead, the network released “Critical Incident” on Dec. 29, when most Americans were lost in a haze of Christmas leftovers, “Avengers: Endgame” reruns and college football bowl games. It’s not listed alongside other recently released documentaries on HBO’s website, and I wasn’t able to find it on the network’s streaming app’s “Just Added” tab.

Director Rick Rowley was diplomatic about his documentary’s “difficult” release date, saying he has “limited insight” into HBO’s decision. He’s nevertheless confident “this film is going to have a long life because these [Border Patrol] issues are only more pressing as the days pass.”

Frey wasn’t as polite: “If I was an executive and released it on that date, I would be fired.”

Rodney Scott, then-nominee for commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, arrives for a Senate confirmation hearing in April 2025.

(Stefani Reynolds / Bloomberg via Getty Images)

An HBO spokesperson pushed back on Frey’s criticism, stating, “The documentary was actually released during one of the highest usage times on the platform and we are proud to say the film is doing very well, even showing up in the top 10 rail.”

In development for four years, Frey said “Critical Incident” was supposed to air just before the 2024 election. He showed me a text message from a senior producer attesting to that. But HBO held on to it even as a Senate committee grilled Scott about Hernández Rojas’ death during his confirmation hearing last April, which isn’t included in the documentary. The documentary didn’t air even as the Border Patrol’s invasion of cities far from the U.S.-Mexico border throughout last year made the story “Critical Incident” told more relevant than ever.

HBO “buried it on purpose,” Frey, 56, told me over breakfast in Boyle Heights. He blames the current political environment — specifically, Netflix’s proposed $82.7-billion bid to acquire HBO’s parent company, Warner Bros., which federal regulators would have to approve. The last thing executives wants to do right now, Frey argued, is anger President Trump by promoting a documentary that attacks his deportation deluge.

“They buried it on the worst day of the year when no one is watching, and of course, they’re going to deny it,” Frey said.

“That is, of course, not true,” the HBO spokesperson said .

Covering la migra is personal for Frey, who grew up in Tijuana and Imperial Beach with views of the U.S.-Mexico border fence. When he was 12, a Border Patrol agent approached his mother — then a green card holder — while her son was playing outside.

“He wouldn’t believe anything she would say and wouldn’t let her go to our house to get her documents,” Frey said. He’s of average height, deep-voiced and barrel-chested and tends to respond to questions with questions. “Why would he? The agent deported her.”

As an adult, Frey began to cover the Border Patrol in a post-9/11 era. Much like today, it was rapidly expanding, and aggressive tactics like breaking car windows when the occupants weren’t resisting and agent-involved shootings were endemic. The Hernández Rojas case entered his scope after someone reached out claiming they had footage of his death.

“The original narrative was Anastasio became belligerent, they subdued him and he died,” Frey said. “The case was closed, the Border Patrol had written it off.”

The source was initially too scared to share their recording, but Frey eventually convinced them after forwarding his stories about repeated Border Patrol abuses of power. What he saw — about a dozen Border Patrol agents circling a prone, moaning Hernández Rojas, Tasering and punching him while onlookers scream at them to stop — left the reporter “disgusted.”

The footage eventually aired on a 2012 PBS program, which made the story go national. Frey’s continued work on the case eventually caught the attention of Rowley, whose documentaries on neo-Nazi groups, the murder of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi and the War on Terror have earned him Emmy wins and an Oscar nomination.

The documentarian wanted to examine the Border Patrol’s impunity, and, he said, “Anastasio’s story is one of the only stories that takes you all the way to the top. And you have to work with John if you’re going to do the Anastasio case. He’s fearless.”

Rowley is proud of his final product but admitted that he’s “used to having more press around a film release, especially about a film about … the most important domestic issue in the country, especially in the last year.”

That’s what angers Frey the most about the release of “Critical Incident.”

“The stories I used to hear — ‘Border Patrol broke my windows, left me bloodied, grabbed me without asking any questions’ — it’s now in neighborhoods,” he said. He twisted a napkin, tossed it into the pile of twisted napkins next to his coffee cup.

“It’s a deliberate choice when you’re going to release a documentary and how. If I were HBO and I had evidence of a murder by the feds, I would’ve led with that inmy promotion. I would think that’s a selling point, especially with the [immigration] raids. Instead, they have me hugging someone in the trailer.”

Frey shook his head. “We made a good film, but half the battle is getting people to see it.”

The aid is earmarked to help support both countries in border stabilisation efforts, demining and tackling drug trafficking and cyberscams.

The United States has announced it will provide $45m in aid to help solidify a fragile truce brokered by President Donald Trump between Thailand and Cambodia.

Michael DeSombre, the US assistant secretary for East Asia, said on Friday that the US would offer $20m to help both countries combat drug trafficking and cyberscams, which have become a major concern in Cambodia.

DeSombre was meeting with senior Thai and Cambodian officials in Bangkok and Phnom Penh on Friday and Saturday to discuss implementation of the peace accords, according to a senior State Department official.

DeSombre also said $15m would be given for border stabilisation efforts to help support people displaced by the recent fighting, as well as $10m for de-mining and unexploded ordnance clearance.

“The United States will continue to support the Cambodian and Thai governments as they implement the Kuala Lumpur Peace Accords and pave the way for a return to peace, prosperity and stability for their people and the region,” DeSombre said in a statement.

DeSombre was referring to an agreement signed between the two countries in Trump’s presence during his October visit to Malaysia, then head of the ASEAN regional bloc.

Border clashes between Cambodia and Thailand flared up again last month, after the collapse of a truce brokered in July by Trump and Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim to end a previous round of conflict.

The Southeast Asian neighbours agreed on another ceasefire on December 27, halting 20 days of fighting that killed at least 101 people and displaced more than half a million on both sides.

Thailand accused Cambodia of violating this latest ceasefire, though later retracted the accusation, with the Thai military saying the Cambodian side had contacted them to explain the so-called violation was an accidental fire.

Cambodia, meanwhile, has called on Thailand to pull its forces out of several border areas that Phnom Penh claims as its own.

The nations’ longstanding conflict stems from a dispute over France’s colonial-era demarcation of their 800km (500-mile) border, where both sides claim territory and several centuries-old temple ruins.

Trump has listed the conflict as one of several wars he says he has solved as he loudly insists he deserves the Nobel Peace Prize.

Trump, on taking office, drastically slashed foreign aid, including for months freezing longstanding assistance to Cambodia for de-mining, with the administration saying it will provide money only in support of narrow US interests.

US citizens have been targeted by financial fraud operations taking place at scam centres throughout Southeast Asia.

Thailand is a longtime US ally, while the US has sought to improve relations with Cambodia to try to woo it away from strategic rival China.

Tensions rise as Brazil reinforces its northern border following US air strikes in Venezuela and the abduction of its President Nicolas Maduro.

Sao Paulo, Brazil – Brazil plans to send national guard troops to northern Roraima state, which borders Venezuela and has a strong presence of illegal armed groups who traffic drugs and mine illegally on both sides of the international boundary, according to a government decree.

In an official decree published on Thursday, the government authorised an unspecified number of National Public Security Force (FNSP) troops to be sent to Pacaraima, as well as Roraima’s capital, Boa Vista, about 213km (132 miles) from the border.

The move comes after the US on Saturday bombed Venezuela and abducted its president, Nicolas Maduro. On Sunday, Brazil temporarily closed its border with Venezuela near Pacaraima.

The decree said the FNSP will support the state’s public security agencies and operate in ways “essential to the preservation of public order and the safety of people and property”.

Brazilian media reported on Wednesday that Venezuela was reinforcing its military presence on the border, and multiple armed groups, including Venezuelan colectivos and Brazilian gangs like the First Capital Command (PCC) and the Red Command (CV), operate in the area.

Gimena Sanchez, Andes director for the Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA), told Al Jazeera that Brazil’s deployment of guard troops to the border is an “appropriate move”. She said that violence caused by Colombian rebel groups active in Venezuela is pushing the population further south towards Brazil.

She added it “makes sense [for Brazil] to reinforce the border”, but noted there still has notbeen a mass displacement of Venezuelans.

Brazil has been a fierce critic of the US attacks. On the social media platform X, its president, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, said the US had crossed an “unacceptable line”.

Asked whether President Lula’s comments could provoke Washington, Sanchez said that the US is more concerned with Cuba, Mexico and Colombia at the moment. “Given that context and also that some European countries as well condemned it, I don’t think Brazil is at risk of being the focus of ire of the Trump administration,” she concluded.

Italy called on Wednesday in a letter to EU’s Agriculture Commissioner ChristopheHansen to lift the bloc’s carbon border tax in order to ease pressure on fertilizer prices for European farmers. The date for the Mercosur signature is still not clear.

Expectations for Rome to greenlight the trade deal had risen in Brussels after European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen pledged on Tuesday to unlock additional funding for farmers to the tune of €45 billion as soon as 2028 in a designed to sway the pivotal support of the Italian government in favour of the deal.

“If in today’s meeting these conditions are certified by the Commission, Italy will support the deal (Mercosur),” Meloni’s agriculture minister Francesco Lollobrigida told reporters in Brussels.

Italy’s request comes as the Commission convened EU agriculture ministers in Brussels on Wednesday for talks on the future Common Agricultural Policy funding -a key piece of the common budget and highly sensitive to domestic politics – and reciprocity in production standards between Latin America and Europe, a key French demand.

France still opposes the Mercosur deal.

Farmers furious as Mercosur enters final stretch

The Mercosur agreement would create a free-trade area between Latin America, including heavyweight economy Brazil and the EU, cutting tariffs across sectors the board for European companies but also opening market access to Latin America.

Italian farmers, alongside France, Poland and Ireland, fear the deal with Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay will expose them to unfair competition.

Italy’s backing of the deal is essential to reach a qualified majority of member states needed to support it, or a blocking minority as a tiebreaker.

This is a developing story.

Sao Paulo, Brazil – Venezuela has temporarily closed its border with Brazil following the United States’s early morning attack on Caracas, in which US forces also “captured” President Nicolas Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores.

The border crossing between the Brazilian city of Pacaraima and Santa Elena de Uairen in Venezuela had been closed on the Venezuelan side for about five hours, blocking citizens from entering Brazil, a Brazilian military official told Al Jazeera.

“There was no formal protocol from Venezuela regarding entry and exit criteria. The fact is that Brazilians are allowed to leave, while Venezuelans face restrictions. But this could change at any time,” said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he is not authorised to speak on the matter.

The head of Brazil’s Federal Police also announced the temporary closure, and the governor of the state of Roraima told Reuters that the border had been reopened after the brief closure.

Brazil’s government said it is monitoring the border and has sent military personnel to the region to bolster security.

“The Minister of Defense indicated that there is no abnormal activity on the border between Brazil and Venezuela, which will continue to be monitored, and that he is in contact with the Governor of Roraima,” read a statement from Brazil’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Venezuelans make up Brazil’s largest foreign population, according to the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics. The state of Roraima alone is home to 77,563 immigrants from the country. In all, some 8 million Venezuelans have fled their homes in the past decade, with more than 6 million resettling in other Latin American countries.

“I think it’s very possible that there will be an exodus of Venezuelans to Brazil, and, in fact, we are already seeing concrete signs of it,” Jessica Leon Cedeno, a Venezuelan journalist who lives in Sao Paulo, told Al Jazeera.

“Millions of people have left the country in search of better living conditions and opportunities.”

Lula says US attacks could ‘destabilise’ the region

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said on Saturday that US President Donald Trump’s actions inside Venezuela were “unacceptable”.

“The bombings on Venezuelan territory and the capture of its president cross an unacceptable line,” wrote Lula on X. “These acts represent a grave affront to Venezuela’s sovereignty and yet another extremely dangerous precedent for the entire international community.”

Brazil’s leader has urged restraint for months amid an increased US military buildup off Venezuela’s coast.

Analysts worry that Maduro’s removal could plunge Venezuela into chaos, potentially resulting in another wave of mass migration, as it witnessed in 2019 after a failed attempt to remove Maduro.

Joao Carlos Jarochinski Silva, a professor of international relations at the Federal University of Roraima, said that a potential wave of migration would depend on multiple factors, including whether Washington continues its military campaign inside the country and whether what remains of Maduro’s regime will put up a fight.

“What is the resilience capacity of Chavismo within Venezuela?” Jarochinski Silva said, referring to the political movement named after former President Hugo Chavez. “This could have consequences that are truly worrying, but given the current scenario, there is no context of fear.”

He added that Trump has so far focused on applauding his military’s action inside Venezuela and has not addressed key humanitarian concerns. Earlier this year, the Trump administration cut funding to the US government’s main agency for foreign aid, USAID, which heavily affected Venezuela’s neighbours, Brazil and Colombia.

“The United States has been cutting humanitarian resources lately,” he said, adding that there will be consequences to the US military actions inside the country. “For example, refugees, other people who may be affected by this. He doesn’t commit to this agenda at any point.”

Saudi-backed Hadramout governor says move under way to ‘peacefully’ take over military sites from STC.

Fighting broke out on Friday in Yemen’s Hadramout province that borders Saudi Arabia, between forces loyal to the region’s Saudi-backed governor and the separatist Southern Transitional Council (STC).

The STC accused Saudi Arabia of bombing its forces near the border on Friday.

Seven people were killed and than 20 people were also wounded as seven air strikes hit a camp in Al-Khasah, said Mohammed Abdulmalik, head of the STC in Wadi Hadramaut and Hadramaut Desert.

But Hadramout’s governor Salem al-Khanbashi said on Friday that the efforts to take back bases from the STC were meant to “peacefully and systematically” reclaim military sites in Yemen’s southern province.

“The operation is not a declaration of war or an escalation, but rather a precautionary measure to protect security and prevent chaos,” he said in a statement.

Al Jazeera’s Mohammed Al Attab, reporting from Sanaa, said fighting was reported to be taking place on Friday in positions where STC forces are located along the Saudi border.

But, he added, “we are still waiting for confirmation about what is going on there,” saying that the latest information available from the area suggested the STC had maintained control of its positions.

The outbreak in fighting comes after Yemen’s Saudi-backed government said it ‍had appointed al-Khanbashi to take overall command of the National Shield forces in the eastern province, granting him full military, security and administrative authority in what it said was a move to restore security and order.

Saudi Arabia and the internationally recognised Yemeni government that it backs have accused the United Arab Emirates of arming the STC and pushing it to seize parts of the Hadramout and al-Mahra provinces in southern Yemen last month. Riyadh has warned that it views the STC’s growing presence in these provinces — which border Saudi Arabia — as a threat to its national security. The UAE has rejected these allegations and said that it is committed to Saudi Arabia’s security.

Last week, the UAE said it was pulling its remaining forces out of Yemen after Saudi Arabia backed a call for its forces to leave within 24 hours.

Saudi Arabia, the UAE and the STC are all part of a military coalition that Riyadh pulled together a decade ago to confront the Houthis. But the STC’s increasingly aggressive secessionist acts, and allegations that the UAE is assisting the group, have fostered tensions within the coalition.

The head of the Saudi-backed Presidential Leadership Council, Rashad al-Alimi, warned against any attempt to oppose the government’s decisions to prevent the country from sliding into a new cycle of violence.

“The decision to end the Emirati military presence came within the framework of correcting the course of the [coalition] and in coordination with its joint leadership, and in a way that ensures the cessation of any support for elements outside the state,” al-Alimi said in a statement.

Tensions escalate

The STC has insisted its fighters will remain in place in the southern provinces that Saudi Arabia and the official Yemeni government want them to withdraw from.

On Friday, Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to Yemen blamed STC leader Aidarus al-Zubaidi for refusing to grant landing permission the previous day for a plane carrying a Saudi delegation to Aden.

“For several weeks and until yesterday, ‌the Kingdom sought to make all efforts with the Southern Transitional ⁠Council to end the escalation … but it faced continuous rejection and stubbornness from Aidarus Al-Zubaidi,” the Saudi ambassador, Mohammed Al-Jaber, said on X.

A halt in flights at Aden International Airport ‌on Thursday continued into Friday as both sides traded blame for the air traffic shutdown.

In a statement on Thursday, the STC-controlled Transport Ministry accused Saudi Arabia of imposing an air blockade, saying Riyadh required ‍all flights to go via Saudi Arabia for extra checks. A Saudi Arabian source, however, denied the allegation, saying Yemen’s internationally recognised government, led by the Presidential Leadership Council, was behind the requirement for UAE-bound flights to land for inspection in Jeddah.

Yemeni presidential adviser Thabet al-Ahmadi confirmed to Al Jazeera that it had imposed a requirement that applied to one flight route departing from Aden airport. He said the move was meant to prevent STC money smuggling.

The separatist Southern Transitional Council accuses Saudi Arabia of bombing its forces near the border.

Dec. 27 (UPI) — Weeks into a vicious border war that has killed dozens of people and displaced roughly half a million, Thailand and Cambodia agreed to a 72-hour cease-fire on Saturday.

The countries announced in a joint statement that they would not conduct any military activities along the border, although their troops can stay there, in an effort to have a prolonged period of peace to see if the cease-fire will hold, The New York Times and Financial Times reported.

The agreement comes after several days of negotiations to end renewed fighting that has plagued the border region for weeks, including Thai air strikes on Cambodia’s Banteay Meanchey Province early Friday morning.

“The signing is not the end, but the beginning of proving sincerity through action,” Thailand’s Air Chief Marshal Prapas Sornchaidee said in a statement posted to X.

“Thailand will proceed based on the same principles it has consistently communicated to the international community,” said Sornchaidee, who is acting as director of the joint press center and principle spokesperson on the border negotiations.

The cease-fire was due to start at 12:00 p.m. local time, with all fighting and military activity halted and both sides avoiding “unprovoked firing or advancement or movement of troops toward the other side’s positions,” according to the agreement.

The agreement requires both sides to refrain from any type of provocative actions, to avoid disseminating “false information or fake news” and to commit to efforts for both countries to better work together.

Additionally, if the cease-fire holds for the full 72 hours, Thailand agreed to return 18 Cambodian soldiers — something it initially agreed to do in October — and both sides will start to allow civilians to return to their homes along the 500-mile border between the countries.

The soldiers were captured in July after weeks of fighting, which also had resulted in a cease-fire and an eventual peace accord signed in October in Kuala Lumpur.

That cease-fire and peace agreement rumbled in November when Thailand accused Cambodia of laying new landmines along its border — weapons that both countries have employed — Financial Times reported.

The new agreement, which was signed at 10:30 a.m. local time on Saturday morning, follows recent overtures from the United States and China to increase diplomatic efforts and end the conflict, the New York Times reported.

“The United States welcomes this announcement from Cambodia and Thailand on reaching a cease-fire that halts hostilities along their border,” U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement. “We urge Cambodia and Thailand to immediately honor this commitment and fully implement the terms of the Kuala Lumpur Peace Accords.”

With a cease-fire agreed to after three days of negotiations, a trilateral meeting between the foreign ministers of Cambodia, Thailand and China will be held on Sunday and Monday to continue working toward a more lasting peace, Cambodian officials said.

A ceasefire between Thailand and Cambodia has come into effect after weeks of deadly fighting across the border. Al Jazeera’s Assed Baig says artillery fire has stopped but the next 72 hours will be a critical test of whether the truce holds. Hundreds of thousands of displaced civilians are hoping it lasts.

Tensions are flaring along the Tajikistan-Afghanistan border in Central Asia with the Tajik government reporting multiple armed incursions this month, straining its fragile relationship with Afghanistan’s Taliban leaders.

More than a dozen people have been killed in attacks by men whom Tajik authorities call “terrorists” and the resulting clashes with Tajik forces, officials in Dushanbe and Beijing said. Victims include Chinese nationals working in remote areas of the mountainous former Soviet republic.

In the latest fighting this week, at least five people were killed in Tajikistan‘s Shamsiddin Shokhin district, including “three terrorists”, officials said.

Tajikistan has long opposed the rise of the Taliban in Afghanistan, a country it shares a largely unsecured 1,340km (830-mile) border with.

Despite cautious diplomatic engagement between the two countries to adjust to new regional realities, analysts said, the frequency of the recent border clashes risks eroding the Taliban’s credibility and raises questions about its capacity to enforce order and security.

Here is all we know about the clashes along the Tajik-Afghan border and why they matter:

What’s happening on the Tajik-Afghan border?

The border runs along the Panj river through the remote, mountainous terrain of southern Tajikistan and northeastern Afghanistan.

On Thursday, Tajikistan’s State Committee for National Security said in a statement that “three members of a terrorist organisation” crossed into Tajik territory on Tuesday. The committee added that the men were located the following morning and exchanged fire with Tajik border guards. Five people, including the three intruders, were killed, it said.

Tajik officials did not name the armed men or specify which group they belonged to. The officials, however, said they seized three M-16 rifles, a Kalashnikov assault rifle, three foreign-made pistols with silencers, 10 hand grenades, a night-vision scope and explosives at the scene.

Dushanbe said this was the third attack originating from Afghanistan’s Badakhshan province in the past month that has resulted in the deaths of its personnel.

These attacks, Tajik officials said on Thursday, “prove that the Taliban government is demonstrating serious and repeated irresponsibility and non-commitment in fulfilling its international obligations and consistent promises to ensure security … and to combat members of terrorist organisations”.

The Tajik statement called on the Taliban to “apologise to the people of Tajikistan and take effective measures to ensure security along the shared border”.

Tajikistan has not suggested what the motive for the attacks may be, but the assaults have appeared to target Chinese companies and nationals working in the area.

How is China involved in all this?

Beijing is Tajikistan’s largest creditor and one of its most influential economic partners with a significant footprint in infrastructure, mining and other border-region projects.

China and Tajikistan also share a 477km (296-mile) border running through the high-altitude Pamir Mountains in eastern Tajikistan, adjacent to China’s Xinjiang region.

Two attacks were launched against Chinese companies and nationals in the last week of November. On November 26, a drone equipped with an explosive device attacked a compound belonging to Shohin SM, a private Chinese gold-mining company, in the remote Khatlon region on the Tajik-Afghan border, killing three Chinese citizens.

In a second attack on November 30, a group of men armed with guns opened fire on workers employed by the state-owned China Road and Bridge Corporation, killing at least two people in Tajikistan’s Darvoz district.

Tajik officials said those attacks had originated from villages in Afghanistan’s Badakhshan province but did not disclose any affiliation or motive behind the attacks.

Chinese nationals have also come under attack in Pakistan’s Balochistan province and along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border.

China’s embassy in Dushanbe advised Chinese companies and personnel to evacuate the border area. Chinese officials demanded “that Tajikistan take all necessary measures to ensure the safety of Chinese enterprises and citizens in Tajikistan”.

Who is carrying out these attacks?

While the attackers have not been identified, analysts and observers believe the attacks carry the hallmarks of the ISIL (ISIS) affiliate in Khorasan Province (ISKP), which, they said, aims to discredit Afghanistan’s Taliban leaders.

“The ISKP has attacked foreigners inside Afghanistan and carried out attacks on foreigners inside Afghanistan as a key pillar of their strategy,” said Ibraheem Bahiss, a Kabul-based analyst at the International Crisis Group think tank.

“The aim is to shatter the Taliban’s image as a security provider with whom the regional governments should engage,” Bahiss told Al Jazeera.

How has the Taliban reacted to these attacks?

Kabul expressed its “deep sorrow” over the killings of Chinese workers on November 28.

The Taliban blamed the violence on an unnamed armed group which, it said, is “striving to create chaos and instability in the region and to sow distrust among countries”, and it assured Tajikistan of its full cooperation.

After this week’s clashes, Sirajuddin Haqqani, the Taliban’s interior minister, said Kabul remains committed to the 2020 Doha Agreement, its deal with the United States for a phased foreign troop withdrawal from Afghanistan in exchange for Taliban commitments to prevent Afghanistan from being used as a base for attacking other countries.

Addressing a police cadet graduation ceremony at the National Police Academy in Kabul on Thursday, Haqqani said Afghanistan posed no threat to other countries and the door to dialogue remains open.

“We want to address problems, distrust or misunderstandings through dialogue. We have passed the test of confrontation. We may be weak in resources, but our faith and will are strong,” he said, adding that security had improved to the extent that Taliban officials now travel across the country without weapons.

The Taliban insists that no “terrorist groups” are operating from Afghanistan. However, in a recent report, the United Nations sanctions-monitoring committee cited the presence of multiple armed groups, including ISKP, Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, al-Qaeda, the Turkistan Islamic Party, Jamaat Ansarullah and Ittehad-ul-Mujahideen Pakistan.

Jamaat Ansarullah is a Tajik group linked to al-Qaeda-aligned networks and active primarily in northern Afghanistan near the Tajik border.

How are relations between Tajikistan and the Taliban?

For decades, the relationship between Tajikistan and the Taliban has been defined by deep ideological hostility and ethnic mistrust with Dushanbe one of the group’s fiercest critics in Central Asia.

In the 1990s, Tajikistan aligned with the anti-Taliban Northern Alliance, led by Afghan military commander and former Defence Minister Ahmad Shah Massoud.

After the Taliban’s return to power in Afghanistan in August 2021, Tajikistan stood as the lone holdout among its neighbours in refusing to officially recognise the new government.

However, pragmatic diplomatic engagement quietly began about 2023, driven by economic necessity and shared security fears over the presence of ISKP. Stepping up the restoration of relations, a high-level Tajik delegation visited Kabul in November, the first such visit since the Taliban’s return to power.

But the two governments continue to trade accusations that the other is harbouring “terrorists”, the major thorn remaining in their bilateral relationship, and that drug smuggling is occurring across their border.

The Tajik-Afghan border has long been a major trafficking route for Afghan heroin and methamphetamine into Central Asia and onwards to Russia and Europe, exploiting the area’s rugged terrain and weak policing.

“The rising frequency [of the clashes] is new and interesting and raises a point: whether we might be seeing a new threat emerging,” Bahiss said.

Badakshan province, from which Tajik authorities said the attacks on Chinese nationals originate, presents a complex security situation for the Taliban as it has struggled to stem the threat from armed opposition groups, Bahiss added.

This security issue has been further complicated by the Taliban’s crackdown on poppy cultivation in the province, he said. The Taliban has faced resistance to this policy from farmers in the north. This is largely because the terrain of Badakshan means poppies are the only viable cash crop.

How is the Taliban faring with other neighbours?

Since the Taliban retook control of Afghanistan in 2021, some of its neighbours have maintained a pragmatic transactional relationship while others have not.

Relations with Pakistan, previously its patron, have particularly deteriorated. Islamabad accuses Kabul of harbouring fighters of Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan, also known as the Pakistan Taliban. Tensions over this issue boiled over in November when Pakistan launched air strikes in Kabul, Khost and other provinces, prompting retaliatory Taliban attacks on border posts.

Dozens of people were killed before a ceasefire was brokered by Qatar and Turkiye. However, both sides have engaged in fighting since, blaming each other for breaking the fragile truce.

The Taliban denies Islamabad’s allegations and has blamed Pakistan for its “own security failures”.

Meanwhile, the Taliban is now invested in developing a new relationship with Pakistan’s archrival, India, with delegations visiting Indian cities for trade and security discussions. New Delhi was earlier part of the anti-Taliban alliance. However, that approach has changed with the deteriorating ties between Pakistan and the Taliban.

The incident is the third of its kind in recent weeks in which Tajik border guards and civilians have been killed.

Five people have been killed in a firefight between border guards and intruders on Tajikistan‘s border with Afghanistan, the Tajik border protection agency says.

Heavily armed raiders from Afghanistan crossed into Tajikistan at the village of Kavo in the Shamsiddin Shokhin district on Tuesday and were located on Wednesday, according to a statement by the border agency published by Tajik news agency Khovar.

The border agency said the men attacked a guard post, killing two border guards, and three of the intruders died in the ensuing gun battle.

The agency said the incident was the third of its kind in recent weeks in which Tajik border guards and civilians were killed.

The border guards secured the weapons and ammunition used by the intruders, including grenades, three M-16 rifles, a Kalashnikov assault rifle, three foreign-made pistols with silencers, 10 hand grenades, a night-vision scope, explosives and other ammunition at the scene, the agency said.

“The terrorists refused to obey orders from Tajik border guards to surrender and offered armed resistance. They intended to carry out an armed attack on one of the border posts of the Border Troops of the State Committee for National Security of the Republic of Tajikistan,” the statement said.

Chinese citizens working for a mining company in the region have also been among those killed.

The latest incident demonstrated “the Taliban government’s failure to fulfil their international obligations and repeated commitments to ensuring security and stability along the state border with the Republic of Tajikistan and to combating members of terrorist organisations, reflecting serious and recurring irresponsibility”, the statement added.

It agency said that it expected an apology from the Afghan leadership.

Tajikistan will defend its territorial integrity against “terrorists and smugglers” by all means, it added.

Afghanistan has not yet commented on the incident.

Drugs from Afghanistan are smuggled into Central Asia across the largely unsecured 1,340km (830-mile) border. Russian forces are stationed in Tajikistan and have in the past participated in joint exercises with Tajik forces to help secure the border.

Jordan’s military said the attacks ‘neutralised arms and drug traffickers’ and destroyed their laboratories and factories.

Jordan’s military has launched strikes on drug and weapons smugglers in the country’s northern border regions with Syria, targeting sites used as “launch points” by trafficking groups into Jordanian territory, according to reports.

The Jordan News Agency, Petra, said the strikes on Wednesday “neutralised a number of arms and drug traffickers who organise weapons and narcotics smuggling operations along the northern border of the Kingdom”.

Jordan’s armed forces destroyed “factories and workshops” used by the trafficking groups, Petra reports, adding that the attacks were carried out based on “precise intelligence” and in coordination with regional partners.

The Jordanian military did not name the partner countries involved in the strikes but warned that it would “continue to counter any threats with force at the appropriate time and place”, Petra said.

Syrian state broadcaster Al-Ikhbariah TV reported on its Telegram channel that the Jordanian army had carried out air strikes on locations in the southern and eastern countryside of Syria’s Suwayda governorate.

A resident of Syria’s Suwayda border region told the AFP news agency that the bombardment “was extremely intense and targeted farms and smuggling routes”, while the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said jets and helicopters had reportedly taken part in the raid.

The observatory said photos taken at the scene of the attacks showed destruction at an abandoned military barracks of the former al-Assad regime in Suwayda.

There were no initial reports of casualties from the Jordanian attacks and no official comment from authorities in Damascus.

A farm believed to have been used for storing drugs was among the targets, according to the Zaman Al Wasl online news site, which also reported that similar Jordanian attacks had been carried out previously in a bid to stem the flow of captagon – an addictive, amphetamine-type stimulant.

Before the removal of Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad in December 2024, captagon had become the regime’s largest export and key source of funding amid the country’s years of grinding civil war.

Produced in vast quantities in Syria, the synthetic drug flooded the region, particularly the Gulf states, prompting neighbouring countries to announce seizures and call on both Lebanon and Damascus to ramp up efforts to combat the trade.

Although Damascus denied any involvement in the drug trade, analysts estimated that production and smuggling of captagon brought in billions of dollars for al-Assad, his associates and allies as they looked for an economic lifeline amid the civil war, which was fought between 2011 and the regime’s toppling last year.

Across a large conference room table somewhere inside the bowels of the Wynn Las Vegas, the members of Grupo Frontera appeared tired.

The Tex-Mex quintet had been shuffling up and down the Las Vegas strip for eight straight hours doing media interviews in the lead-up to the Latin Grammys, held on Nov. 13 at MGM Grand Garden Arena. They were nominated twice in the regional Mexican song category for their cumbia norteña tracks “Me Jalo,” a collaboration with the clamorous Mexican American band Fuerza Regida, and “Hecha Pa’ Mí,” but would lose out to Los Tigres del Norte’s “La Lotería.”

Despite the exhaustion, Grupo Frontera was happy to be back in Sin City once again — a testament to how far they’ve come in such a brief period of time.

In 2022, shortly after forming, the South Texas band showed up during the last Latin Grammys week held in Las Vegas, uninvited to any legitimate ceremony; it’s a common move by growing artists to get their name out there and possibly rub elbows with some of the biggest stars and producers in the Latin music world.

“We were just doing everything around it but not the [Latin] Grammys,” says lead vocalist Adelaido “Payo” Solís III. “I always think of that time that we came with nothing under our belt.”

Grupo Frontera had already generated buzz thanks to their cover of “No Se Va,” a 2018 hit by Colombian pop band Morat. Their norteño take cracked the Billboard Hot 100 despite the group having no major label deal or studio album of their own. Fame came quickly for them after linking up with fellow border kid Edgar Barrera. The award-winning songwriter-producer (Madonna, Shakira, Karol G and The Weeknd) took the band under his wing after watching them perform at the grand opening of a tire shop in McAllen, Texas.

In early 2023, Barrera paired them up with Bad Bunny for “Un x100to.” Backed by the accordion — a staple of borderland music for more than a century — the modern lovelorn cumbia about stalking an ex on Instagram and using the last remaining bit of phone battery to apologize broke containment, propelling Grupo Frontera into the mainstream. A week after its release, Bad Bunny brought Solís on stage to perform the track at Coachella.

With a co-sign from the biggest artist on the planet and under the tutelage of Barrera, Grupo Frontera quickly cemented itself as the Texas representative of the new wave of música Mexicana, becoming one of the biggest players in a genre on the cusp of dominating the global streaming charts.

“The first year was a hundred percent the songs, lyrics and what [Barrera] told us to do,” said Solis. “We didn’t really know anything about the music industry so in the beginning we just let him guide us and develop the sound he wanted for us.”

The band called Barrera their Rick Rubin, referencing the Def Jam Records co-founder who produced albums for the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Slayer, Run-D.M.C., Lady Gaga and plenty more seminal acts.

Since then, Grupo Frontera has put out three full-length albums and four EPs, collecting three Latin Grammys in the process — they won for Regional Mexican song in 2023 (“Un x100to”) and 2024 (“El Amor de su Vida” a collab with Grupo Firme), and Norteño album in 2023 for their debut studio album, “El Comienzo,” which peaked at No. 34 on the Billboard 200.

Their most recent LP, “Lo Que Me Falta Por Llorar” (released Oct. 23), is a blend of classic cumbias norteñas (the bouncy, heart-torn “Que Bueno Que Te Fuiste”), swaying Tejano songs (“Si me Quiere”) and a hip-churning huapango (“Quien la Manda”). It also leans into other popular Latin genres, with strands of reggaetón in “No Lo Ves” (featuring Ozuna) and trap flare in “Triste Pero Bien C—,” (featuring rapper Myke Towers).

“It’s like ‘Goldilocks and the Three Bears,’ fame,” said Solís. “The first [album] was too small, the second one was too big, and this one was just right.”

In November, Grupo Frontera received their first two Grammy nominations for their joint EP “Mala Mia” with Fuerza Regida, and a solo EP titled “Y Lo Que Viene.” The band was notified before performing at the Grand Ole Opry, marking yet another milestone as it became the first regional Mexican group to play at the iconic Nashville venue.

There’s an ongoing bet within the group: If Grupo Frontera wins an American Grammy, Juan Javier Cantu, the group’s accordion player and secondary vocalist, will tattoo a gramophone somewhere on his person. It’s a big deal given his apprehension toward body art.

All other band members, which also include congas player Julian Peña Jr., bajo quinto player Alberto “Beto” Acosta and drummer Carlos Guerrero, already have a gramophone tattoo to represent their Latin Grammy victories to date. They’re an expensive habit, Solís noted, pointing to Acosta, whose neck and arms are covered in ink, as evidence.

“ I think Beto’s body is worth more than his watches,” he said.

“He’s worthless,” Cantu chimed in. Confused, I asked if he instead meant “priceless.”

“No, he meant worthless,” Guerrero jokingly interjects, causing the group to jolt in roaring laughter. Teasing aside, there is an unequivocal sense of respect and appreciation for one another. Throughout the interview, the band members busted each other’s chops, throwing in the occasional “Te amo, compadre!”

“We want to always be the five of us, however long the group lasts,” said Cantu, who admits he’s the most sentimental of the bunch. “We’ve had our differences but there’s never been a moment where someone wants to leave [the band].”

The latest album comes at a pivotal time for the Texas band, which will embark on its international “Triste Pero Bien C—” tour next year. Not everything about their meteoric rise has been rosy.

Earlier this year in a now-deleted TikTok video, Grupo Frontera appeared to be dancing to the Village People’s “Y.M.C.A.,” a song associated with Donald Trump’s rallies since at least 2020. Other videos of Solis’ grandparents dancing to the song while holding voting stickers circulated online, prompting many spectators to wonder if the members were Trump supporters.

“No way, I don’t think people will believe that! It didn’t happen,” Solis first told himself when he saw the rumors begin to spread online.

“It’s like when you are a little kid and your mom asks you, ‘Who did this?’ You know you didn’t do anything but they blame you for it, but your mom knows you didn’t do it,” added Solis. “That’s a bit of how we were feeling at the moment.”

Shortly after the social media frenzy, Grupo Frontera was named as a headliner for the Sueños music festival in Chicago, inciting backlash among many attendees. One person online created a petition for its removal from the lineup on Change.org.

The growing onslaught of criticism prompted the band to respond, posting a message on its social media platforms on Feb. 7 and again on Feb. 22 stating that Grupo Frontera had “no affiliation, nor any alliance, with any political party that’s against immigrants and the Latino community.”

The statements came at a fraught political moment for many in the Latino community. Trump, who has vehemently targeted immigrant groups, had just been sworn into office for his second term and was promising to conduct “the largest mass deportation in U.S. history.” Many political experts also pointed to the Latino vote swaying toward Trump.

“Our music is to make love, connect people by the border, not the opposite,” Cantu said. “Why would we get involved in something that is seriously damaging families?”

Solis hoped to clear the air on the topic once and for all, and move forward from the social media rumors.

“Any person who is against our people and who is harming our people, not just our Mexican community but all Latinos, we do not support that,” he said. “Not just the president, but anybody.”

The band members say they’ve learned several key lessons from this experience. For one, they’ve continued to show up where they believe counts the most, in the communities they hold dear to their heart. In March, when flash floods impacted Reynosa, Mexico, the border city across from the river from the Rio Grande Valley, the group delivered aid to support impacted individuals. The band also donated a portion of all proceeds from its surprise EP “Y Lo Que Viene” to frontline organizations in the wake of the ongoing immigration raids targeting Los Angeles since June.

“When it comes from the heart, people feel it and know it,” Cantu said.

“That’s how this dream began with us five, we wanted to make music that was different from what people were hearing, [music] that made sense and that everyone who is in their homes can unite over a song,” said Cantu. “[We want to hear ] a kid say, ‘I want to listen to ‘No Capea’’ and his grandfather too!”

One could assume that such online rumors would weigh on the mental health of each member, perhaps frustrate them to no avail, but the group has made peace with the idea that some individuals will continue to question the group’s intentions.

“But we understand people that are frustrated and want to take out their anger towards someone, no one wants to see [their favorite artist] supporting someone who is against the community,” said Cantu. “But we are with you.”

While mostly quiet during the entire interview, Peña, who often delivers the group’s tagline at the end of every song (“Y esto es Grupo Frontera!”), lifted up his sleepy gaze from the table to deliver one final statement of the afternoon: “There’s a saying, that what one does not owe, one does not fear.”

Planned talks come as Southeast Asian leaders urge both countries to show ‘maximum restraint’ and return to dialogue.

Thailand and Cambodia have agreed to hold a meeting of defence officials later this week as regional leaders push for an end to deadly violence along the two countries’ shared border.

Thailand’s Foreign Minister Sihasak Phuangketkeow announced the planned talks on Monday after a special meeting in Kuala Lumpur of Southeast Asian foreign ministers, who were trying to salvage a ceasefire.

That truce was first brokered by Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) chair Malaysia and United States President Donald Trump after cross-border fighting broke out in July.

Sihasak told reporters that this week’s discussions would be held on Wednesday in Thailand’s Chanthaburi, within the framework of an existing bilateral border committee.

But just hours after the regional crisis talks were held in Malaysia, Cambodia’s Ministry of Defence said the Thai military deployed fighter jets to bomb areas of Siem Reap and Preah Vihear provinces.

The Thai army said Cambodia had fired dozens of rockets into Thailand, with Bangkok’s air force responding with air strikes on two Cambodian military targets.

Thailand and Cambodia have engaged in daily exchanges of rocket and artillery fire along their 817km (508-mile) land border following the collapse of the truce, with fighting at multiple points stretching from forested regions near Laos to the coastal provinces of the Gulf of Thailand.

Despite the cross-border fire, Cambodia’s Ministry of Interior said it remains “optimistic that the Thai side will demonstrate sincerity” in implementing a ceasefire.

Thailand’s Sihasak, however, cautioned that the upcoming meeting may not immediately produce a truce. “Our position is a ceasefire does not come with an announcement, but must come from actions,” he said.

His ministry said the two nations’ militaries would “discuss implementation, related steps and verification of the ceasefire in detail”.

The planned meeting comes as ASEAN on Monday urged both countries to show “maximum restraint and take immediate steps towards the cessation of all forms of hostilities”.

In a statement after the talks in Kuala Lumpur, ASEAN also called on both Thailand and Cambodia to “restore mutual trust and confidence, and to return to dialogue”.

ASEAN members also reiterated their concerns over the ongoing conflict and “called upon both parties to ensure that civilians residing in the affected border areas are able to return, without obstruction and in safety and dignity, to their homes”.

Fighting has resumed hours before the countries’ foreign ministers meet in Malaysia to discuss steps to de-escalate hostilities.

OMAHA — The Federal Railroad Administration has sent letters to two railroad operators demanding they make sure that Mexican crews can speak English and don’t operate a train more than 10 miles inside the United States.

A number of Mexican train crews who recently hauled trains over the border to rail yards in Texas had trouble understanding important safety information in English during inspections the Trump administration ordered, U.S. officials said.

Railroads Union Pacific and CPKC routinely rely on foreign crews at times to bring trains over the border to their rail yards in the U.S. before switching to American engineers and conductors. The Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen union said handoffs used to happen at the border. The engineers union has been worried about using foreign crews for some time because of safety, security and job concerns.

Union Pacific and CPKC said the railroads are committed to ensuring safety and security and will work to ensure they are complying with the rules.

The Trump administration has also been cracking down on truck drivers who don’t speak English, saying it seeks to make sure crews can communicate in an emergency and understand crucial instructions.

“Whether you’re operating an 80-ton big rig or a massive freight train, you need to be proficient in our national language — English,” Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said. “If you aren’t, you create an unacceptable safety risk.”

The Transportation Department has withheld $40 million from California, which it accused of not enforcing the English proficiency requirement. Duffy has also threatened to sanction several other states that he says have improperly issued commercial driver’s licenses to unauthorized immigrants.

That became a key concern after several deadly crashes involving semitrucks driven by immigrants in the country illegally.

Inspectors cite problems

Federal Railroad Administration Administrator David Fink told both railroads they could face enforcement action if inspectors find additional occurrences of train crews operating in the U.S. without being proficient in English.

Inspectors found problems in Union Pacific’s Eagle Pass rail yard and CPKC’s facility in Laredo, Fink said.

Union Pacific had a interpreter on hand to help its Mexican crews, but Fink said the railroad might try to remove that person in the future, and inspectors said they worried about how well the crews understood operating rules and required brake tests.

At CPKC’s rail yard, Fink said, inspectors found numerous instances of train crews having a hard time understanding operating bulletins and U.S. regulations that require information about hazardous materials and emergency responses to be maintained in English.

Unions support the move

The engineers union and the SMART-TD union that represents conductors welcomed the Trump administration’s move because they say Mexican crews aren’t as well-trained and need to understand crucial safety information.

Earlier this year, the engineers union also highlighted two arrests of members of Mexican crews on suspicion of smuggling — one accused of helping migrants cross the border illegally and the other for allegedly trying to bring drugs into the U.S.

“The administration should be commended for standing up for border security, public safety and American jobs by creating stronger safety standards for crews that bring trains from Mexico to the United States,” Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen National President Mark Wallace said. “It’s critical that locomotive engineers are able to speak to dispatchers and first responders in English when trains are moving on U.S. soil.”

Railroads’ response

“We have the same goals — a safe, secure border that keeps the supply chain fluid,” Union Pacific spokesperson Kristen South said. “Part of ensuring safe operations is good communication.”

CPKC spokesperson Patrick Waldron said the railroad — which operates one continuous network across Canada, the U.S. and Mexico — makes sure international crews at both borders do not travel more than 10 miles into the U.S.

“Safety is foundational to everything we do,” he said.

Union Pacific picks up and hands off trains to its partner, FerroMex railroad, at the border. It said changing out crews at its rail yard seven miles over the border in Eagle Pass helps keep freight moving, because previously the switch was done at a single-track bridge, forcing rail traffic to come to a halt. The railroad said it worked with U.S. Customs and Border Patrol to make the change.

Funk writes for the Associated Press.

Despite Trump claim of ceasefire, no end on horizon to latest round of conflict recently reignited by border skirmish.

Cambodia’s defence ministry has accused Thailand’s military of bombing the casino hub of Poipet, a major land crossing between the two nations, which are engaged in renewed clashes along their border.

The ministry said in a statement on Thursday that Thai forces had “dropped 2 bombs” in the municipality of Poipet, located in the northwestern province of Banteay Meanchey, at about 11am (04:00 GMT) that morning.

At the time of reporting, Thailand had not yet confirmed the strike on the bustling casino hub, which is popular with Thai gamblers.

The interior ministry said this week that at least four casinos in Cambodia have been damaged by Thai strikes.

Renewed fighting between the Southeast Asian neighbours this month has killed at least 21 people in Thailand and 17 in Cambodia, while displacing about 800,000, officials said.

Thailand said on Tuesday that between 5,000 and 6,000 Thai nationals remained stranded in Poipet after Cambodia closed its land border crossings with its neighbour.

Cambodia’s interior ministry said the border closures were a “necessary measure” to reduce risks to civilians amid the ongoing combat, adding that air travel remained an option for those seeking to leave.

Truce denial

Five days of fighting between Cambodia and Thailand in July killed dozens of people before a truce was brokered by the United States, China and Malaysia, and then broken within months.

United States President Donald Trump, who has repeatedly intervened in the longstanding conflict this year, claimed last week that the two countries had agreed to a new ceasefire.

But Bangkok denied any truce had been agreed upon, and fighting with artillery, tanks, drones and jets has continued daily since a border skirmish earlier this month caused the latest round of conflict.

The conflict stems from a territorial dispute over the colonial-era demarcation of their 800km (500-mile) border and a smattering of ancient temple ruins situated on the frontier.

Each side has blamed the other for instigating the renewed fighting, claiming self-defence, while trading accusations of attacks on civilians.

China said it was sending its special envoy for Asian affairs to Cambodia and Thailand on Thursday for a “shuttle-diplomacy trip” to help bridge the gaps and “rebuild peace”.

Dec. 16 (UPI) — President Donald Trump has awarded 13 soldiers and Marines the newly established Mexican Border Defense Medal for their contributions to safeguarding the U.S. southern border.

The service members are the first to receive the commendation, created Aug. 13 in a memo signed by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to honor those deployed to the U.S.-Mexico border.

The commander-in-chief awarded the medals to the service members at the White House.

“On day one of my administration, I signed an executive order making it [the] core mission of the United States military to protect and defend the homeland. And today, we’re here to honor our military men and women for their central role in the protection of our border,” Trump said during the ceremony.

Since returning to the White House in January, Trump has overseen crackdowns on immigration and crime that have included the deployment of troops to the U.S.-Mexico border.

More than 10,000 U.S. military service members attached to Joint Task Force Southern Border have been deployed to the U.S.-Mexico border in support of the Department of Homeland Security, with the missions to secure the border, disrupt transnational criminal organizations and respond to national security threats.

Trump said Monday that more than 25,000 service members have served in this “incredible and historic operation,” which has overseen 13,000 patrols along the border.

“They’ve spent night and day enduring scorching hot and bitter cold, and they’ve given up their holidays and their weekends, working with the offices of Customs and Border Protection,” Trump said.

“And today, we give these great warriors the recognition that they have earned — and they have really earned it.”

The medal, according to the Department of Defense, is identical to the Mexican Border Service Medal awarded for service in 1916 and 1917 in the Mexican state of Chihuahua as well as the U.S.-Mexico border regions in New Mexico and Texas.

It is bronze with a sheathed Roman sword hanging on a tablet on the front, which bears an inscription that reads: “For Service on the Mexican Border.”

Those eligible for the award must have been permanently assigned to a designated Department of Defense military operation supporting CBP within the area of eligibility for at least 30 consecutive or non-consecutive days from Jan. 20 of this year.

“We’re proud of this mission,” Hegseth said during the White House event. “We’re proud to defend the American people and pinning these medals on is an example of how important it is to us.”

The Trump administration states that its crackdown has resulted in more than 2.5 million undocumented migrants removed from the United States and the lowest level of illegal border crossings since 1970.