It’s been 30 years since the Bosnia war ended, but the conflict still shapes the country today. Many key terms, from ‘sniper safaris’ to ethnic cleansing, mark its legacy. Al Jazeera’s Alma Milisic explains the ones you should know.
The Philippines has accused Chinese coastguard ships of firing water cannon at Filipino fishermen near a disputed South China Sea shoal, injuring three people and causing “significant damage” to two fishing vessels.
On Saturday, the Philippine coastguard (PCG) said that nearly two dozen Filipino fishing boats were attacked a day earlier, near an atoll called the Sabina Shoal that falls within the country’s 200km (124-mile) Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).
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The fishermen faced high-pressure spray from Chinese water cannon, and Chinese vessels attempted aggressive blocking manoeuvres, according to Manila.
It was the latest in a series of confrontations between Chinese and Philippine ships in the contested waters of the South China Sea, which Beijing claims nearly in its entirety despite an international ruling against the claim.
Friday’s incident took place in a fish-rich area about 150km (93 miles) from the Philippine island of Palawan.
“As a result of these aggressive actions, three Filipino fishermen sustained physical injuries, including bruises and open wounds,” Commodore Jay Tarriela, a spokesman for the Philippine coastguard, said in a statement posted on Facebook.
“Two [Filipino fishing boats] also suffered significant damage from high-pressure water cannon blasts.”
During the incident, a Chinese boat also cut the anchor lines of several Filipino vessels, endangering their crews, according to the Philippine coastguard.
“The PCG calls on the Chinese coastguard to adhere to internationally recognised standards of conduct, prioritising the preservation of life at sea over pretensions of law enforcement that jeopardise the lives of innocent fishermen,” it said in a separate statement.
PCG Successfully Renders Assistance to Harassed Filipino Fishermen at Escoda Shoal Amid Aggressive Actions by Chinese Vessels
The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) today announced the successful deployment of its multi-role response vessels, MRRV-4403 and MRRV-4411, to the vicinity… https://t.co/DW4eXgtjG3 pic.twitter.com/P2QOwRDjbB
China, however, defended its actions on Friday as necessary to maintain its “territorial sovereignty” over the Sabina Shoal, which it referred to by the Chinese name Xianbin Jiao.
In a statement, Chinese coastguard spokesperson Liu Dejun said the military’s vessels had taken “necessary control measures, including issuing verbal warnings and expelling by external means, in accordance with laws and regulations”.
Dejun accused the Philippine vessels of having “deliberately intruded” on the shoal “under the pretext of fishing”.
Tarriela told the Reuters news agency that the Chinese coastguard’s statement amounted to an admission of wrongdoing.
In Saturday’s statement, the Philippine coastguard added that the vessels it deployed to aid the injured fishermen were repeatedly blocked from reaching the Sabina Shoal.
“Despite these unprofessional and unlawful interferences, the PCG successfully reached the fishermen this morning and provided immediate medical attention to the injured, along with essential supplies,” the statement said.
There has been a history of clashes between Chinese and Philippine vessels in the South China Sea, as each side seeks to assert its territorial claims.
A separate incident on Friday took place at the Beijing-controlled Scarborough Shoal, known in China as Huangyan Dao.
There, the Chinese military said that it had also “warned and expelled” several small aircraft from the Philippines that flew through what it considers its airspace.
In October, the Philippines also accused a Chinese ship of deliberately ramming one of its government vessels in the Spratly Islands, where Beijing has sought to assert its sovereignty claims for years. Beijing blamed Manila for the incident.
A month earlier, one person was injured when a water cannon from a Chinese coastguard vessel shattered a window on the bridge of a fisheries bureau vessel near the Scarborough Shoal.
China claims an area in the South China Sea that cuts into the exclusive economic zones of Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam, which all have competing claims.
In 2016, an international tribunal sided with the Philippines, finding that China’s claims exceeded lawful limits under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.
Thailand’s military has launched a new offensive against Cambodia to “reclaim sovereign territory”, spurning mediation efforts including that of United States President Donald Trump.
Violence between the two Southeast Asian nations continued on Sunday, a day after Phnom Penh announced that it was shutting all of its crossings with Thailand, its northern neighbour.
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The conflict stems from a long-running dispute over the colonial-era demarcation of their 800km (500-mile) shared border. Fighting has left at least 25 soldiers and civilians dead, and displaced over half a million people on both sides.
The newspaper Matichon Online quoted a Royal Thai Navy spokesman, Rear Admiral Parach Rattanachaiyapan, as saying that its forces “launched a military operation to reclaim Thai sovereign territory” in an area of the coastal province of Trat.
“The operation began in the early morning hours with heavy clashes, conducted under the principles of self-defence according to international law and the preservation of national sovereignty,” Rattanachaiyapan told the Thai newspaper.
The Thai military said it has “successfully controlled and reclaimed the area, expelling all opposing forces”.
The public television channel Thai PBS also reported that the country’s military “planted the Thai national flag” after “driving out all opposing forces” in the area.
Thailand’s TV 3 Morning News quoted the military as saying that, as of early Sunday, the country’s “army, Navy and Air Force are continuing with [their] operations” along the border.
It also reported “sporadic clashes” in several other areas, including in Surin’s Ta Khwai area where “direct fire and indirect” and drone attacks took place.
There were no immediate reports on casualties from the latest incidents. The Cambodian military has yet to issue a statement regarding the latest fighting on Sunday.
But the Cambodian news website Cambodianess reported attacks in at least seven areas including in Pursat province, where the Thai military reportedly used F-16 fighter jet to drop bombs in the Thma Da commune.
Thai military also allegedly fired artillery shells southward into Boeung Trakoun village in the Banteay Meanchey province.
Al Jazeera could not independently confirmed the reports as of publication time.
Late on Saturday, Cambodia announced that it was shutting all border crossings with Thailand due to the fighting.
“The Royal Government of Cambodia has decided to fully suspend all entry and exit movements at all Cambodia-Thailand border crossings, effective immediately and until further notice,” Cambodia’s Ministry of Interior said in a statement late on Saturday.
The border shutdown was yet another symptom of the frayed relations between the neighbouring countries, despite international pressure to secure peace.
Earlier on Saturday, Trump had declared that he had won agreement from both countries for a new ceasefire.
But Thai officials said they had not agreed to pause the conflict. Rather, Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul pledged that his country’s military would continue fighting on the disputed border.
Thai Minister of Foreign Affairs Sihasak Phuangketkeow also said on Saturday that some of Trump’s remarks did not “reflect an accurate understanding of the situation” on the ground.
Cambodia has not commented directly on Trump’s claim of a new ceasefire, but its Ministry of National Defence said earlier that Thai jets carried out air strikes on Saturday morning.
The latest large-scale fighting was set off by a skirmish on December 7, which wounded two Thai soldiers, derailing a ceasefire promoted by Trump that ended five days of combat in July.
The July ceasefire was brokered by Malaysia and pushed through by pressure from Trump, who threatened to withhold trade privileges unless Thailand and Cambodia agreed. It was formalised in more detail in October at a regional meeting in Malaysia that Trump attended.
Trump has cited his work on the Southeast Asian conflict as he lobbies for a Nobel Peace Prize.
Late on Saturday, a spokesman for Trump said in a statement: “The President expects all parties to fully honor the commitments they have made in signing these agreements, and he will hold anyone accountable as necessary to stop the killing and ensure durable peace.”
Here is where things stand on Sunday, December 14:
Mayor Brett Smiley of Providence, Rhode Island, has confirmed that two people have been killed and eight more are critically injured after an active shooter was reported on the campus of Brown University.
Exams were under way on Saturday when the shooting began on the Ivy League campus in the United States.
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The suspect remains at large, according to Rhode Island officials. They described the suspect as a man dressed in black who left the scene on foot, and they added that no weapons had been recovered.
At a news conference afterwards, Smiley said that university leaders became aware of the shooting at about 4:05pm local time (21:05 GMT), when a 911 call was received by emergency responders.
“I can confirm that there are two individuals who have died this afternoon, and there are another eight in critical status, though stable, at Rhode Island Hospital,” Smiley said.
“Those are the only injuries or casualties that we know at this time,” he added. “ But as I mentioned – and it’s important to remind folks – these numbers may change. We are still in the early hours.”
Smiley declined to identify the shooting victims, emphasising that the investigation was ongoing.
At approximately 4:22pm local time (21:22 GMT) on Saturday, the university issued an emergency update that there was a gunman near the Barus and Holley engineering and physics building.
“Lock doors, silence phones and stay hidden until further notice,” the university said in its update.
“Remember: RUN, if you are in the affected location, evacuate safely if you can; HIDE, if evacuation is not possible, take cover; FIGHT, as a last resort, take action to protect yourself.”
Upon arriving at the scene, law enforcement swept the building, according to Providence police chief Timothy O’Hara.
“They did a systematic search of the building. However, no suspect was located at that time,” O’Hara said. “They were able to clear that building and provide a safe place for all of the students and faculty and workers that were in that building to meet at.”
He added that it is not clear yet how the suspect entered the building but that he exited onto Hope Street.
At 5:27pm local time (22:27 GMT), Brown University reported that shots had been fired near Governor Street, approximately two blocks away from the engineering and physics lab.
In the lead-up to the news conference, it was unclear if law enforcement had detained a suspect, as conflicting reports circulated online.
The university, for instance, had to withdraw an early announcement that a suspect had been apprehended, writing, “Police do not have a suspect in custody and continue to search for suspect(s).”
US President Donald Trump published a similar retraction on his online platform, Truth Social, after erroneously posting at about 5:44pm (22:44 GMT) that the suspect was in custody.
“I have been briefed on the shooting that took place at Brown University in Rhode Island,” Trump also wrote. “The FBI is on the scene.”
Law enforcement remains on site at the university. The incident is currently under investigation.
Saturday’s shooting is the second major incident of gun violence on a university campus this week.
Just four days ago, on December 9, Kentucky State University in the southern city of Frankfort also experienced gunfire on campus, killing one student and leaving a second critically injured. The suspect in that case was identified as Jacob Lee Bard, the parent of a student at the school.
The risk of gun violence has transformed the academic experience in the US, with many schools holding preparedness drills for active shooter situations.
“This is just the reality of life in America. From first graders to middle schoolers to high schoolers to students in college, they do active shooting drills. So they know how to do this,” Al Jazeera correspondent Patty Culhane said from Maryland.
“What they tell them is: Avoid. Deny. Defend,” she added, citing a popular school safety slogan.
“Avoid” stands for staying away from danger. “Deny” is meant as advice if escape is not possible: Victims are advised to find shelter, stay out of sight, and use materials to create barricades, if necessary.
“Defend” is the final step: If avoiding or denying the danger is not possible, the motto advises those in a violent situation to use whatever they can to defend themselves from harm.
Mass shootings are a relatively common threat in the US.
The Gun Violence Archive, a nonprofit that tracks shootings in the US, has documented at least 389 mass shootings this year alone. It defines mass shootings as incidents where four or more people are shot or killed, not including the perpetrator.
Schools are often a target. The nonprofit Everytown for Gun Safety reports that there have been 154 incidents of gunfire on school campuses in 2025. Those incidents resulted in 49 deaths and 135 injuries.
Saturday’s shooting comes as the academic semester winds down at Brown University. The last day of classes for the fall semester was on Thursday, and the school is in its final examination period until December 20.
At the news conference, school officials said that exams had been under way on Saturday between 2pm and 5pm (19:00 GMT and 22:00 GMT).
The seventh-oldest university in the US, Brown is considered part of the prestigious Ivy League, a cluster of private research colleges in the Northeast. Its student body numbers 11,005, according to its website.
Mayor Smiley encouraged community members to reach out to one another as the city grapples with the aftermath of Saturday’s deadly shooting.
“ It’s going to be a difficult rest of the day, difficult weeks and months ahead as this community heals,” he said. “Each and every one of us can play a small role in that, in supporting one’s neighbour.”
Governor Dan McKee, meanwhile, explained that he had been in touch with the White House, as well as other governors whose states had experienced similar shootings in recent years.
“ The unthinkable has happened,” McKee said. “ Our thoughts go out to those who have been impacted by this in any way, and we’ll continue to provide assistance to the authorities here in Providence as well as statewide.”
Trump also encouraged people to pray for the Brown community.
“I’ve been fully briefed on the Brown University situation. What a terrible thing it is,” the president said as he arrived at the White House on Saturday night. “All we can do right now is pray for the victims and for those that were very badly hurt, it looks like.”