Thailand has suspended the implementation of a United States-brokered peace agreement with neighbouring Cambodia after a landmine blast near their border injured two of its soldiers.
Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul said after Monday’s incident that all action set to be carried out under the truce will be halted until Thailand’s demands, which remain unspecified, are met.
“The hostility towards our national security has not decreased as we thought it would,” Anutin asserted. He did not elaborate on what Thailand’s demands were.
There was no immediate response from the Cambodian government.
Simmering
Thailand and Cambodia signed a ceasefire on the sidelines of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit in Malaysia last month after territorial disputes between the two Southeast Asian countries led to five days of border clashes in July.
Those hostilities killed at least 43 people and displaced more than 300,000 civilians living along the border.
The Thai army said in a statement that Monday’s mine explosion in Sisaket province injured two soldiers.
Thai Defence Minister Natthaphon Narkphanit said the army is still investigating whether the mine was newly laid.
Thailand has previously accused Cambodia of laying new mines in violation of the truce, a charge that the Cambodian government denies.
Similar landmine explosions have occurred both before and since the deal, and tension has simmered.
Under the terms of the ceasefire, Thailand should release 18 Cambodian soldiers, and both sides must begin removing heavy weapons and land mines from the border.
Natthaphon said Thailand will postpone the release of the Cambodian soldiers, initially scheduled for this week.
The two sides have reported some progress on arms removal, but Thailand has accused Cambodia of obstructing mine clearance.
Cambodia said it’s committed to all terms of the truce and urged Thailand to release its soldiers as soon as possible.
Complex issues
Thailand and Cambodia agreed to a truce mediated by Malaysia in July after US President Donald Trump threatened to impose tariffs.
The dispute is among eight conflicts that Trump has taken credit for resolving, although critics have noted that the peace deals he has helped to initiate often implant swift and simplistic ceasefires, leaving complex issues behind the conflicts unresolved and likely to reignite hostilities.
While the Thai-Cambodian truce has generally held since July 29, both countries have traded allegations of ceasefire breaches.
The International Olympic Committee says no decision has been taken on whether to introduce a blanket ban on transgender women from female categories across all sports.
IOC president Kirsty Coventry previously vowed to bring in the move as part of her election campaign.
On Monday the Times reported that the ban was set to be announced as early as next year.
Despite the IOC statement, the likely outcome is that such a ban will be introduced.
Last week an update was presented by the organisation’s medical and scientific director to members as it works through the details of the potential move.
Coventry told BBC Sport in June that the IOC must “play a leading role” in discussions in this area.
At the time she revealed a working group on the issue made up of experts and international federations would “ensure that we find consensus”.
In February US President Donald Trump signed an executive order that prevents transgender women from competing in female categories.
A riot in a prison in southern Ecuador has killed at least 31 inmates, according to prison authorities.
In a statement released on Sunday, Ecuador’s SNAI prison authority said 27 of those found dead at the Machala prison in El Oro province had been hanged. A further four died amid an armed riot that also left 33 inmates and one police officer injured.
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The violence, during which residents reported hearing gunfire, explosions, and cries for help, came less than two months after 14 inmates died at the same facility in what authorities described as a dispute between gangs.
Authorities said they were still working to “fully clarify the facts”, and forensic medical personnel were on site to verify information. The conditions of the injured were not immediately clear.
The deadly day at Machala’s prison, which began at about 3:00am (08:00 GMT), marks the latest spasm of prison unrest in the South American country.
Elite police teams entered the prison immediately and regained control after the riot broke out, said the SNAI authority.
It did not specify the identities of the deceased or confirm whether the violence was another case of inter-gang fighting.
The riot is believed to have broken out amid the start of an operation to move some inmates into a new maximum-security prison, built by President Daniel Noboa’s government in another province, that is due to be inaugurated this month.
Ecuador’s prisons are among the deadliest in Latin America as overcrowding, corruption and weak control by the authorities have allowed gangs connected to drug traffickers in Colombia and Mexico to proliferate.
At the end of September, an armed confrontation at the prison in Machala left 14 inmates and a prison official dead. Days later, another 17 people were killed in a prison riot in the northern city of Esmeraldas, near the border with Colombia.
Noboa’s administration, which has pledged to take a tough stance on crime, blames the violence on rival gangs battling for dominance and territorial control.
The late star stepped down from her role as Love Island host after being charged with allegedly assaulting her then-boyfriend
Caroline Flack’s loved-ones have revealed just how devastated the former Love Island host was when she was lost her presenting role.
The much-loved TV star began hosting the show in summer 2015 after it was revived on ITV2, following on from the less popular celebrity series of the same name.
Caroline stepped down from her position in December 2019 after being charged with the assault of her then-boyfriend Lewis Burton. The charges had attracted a whirlwind of negative media attention, which effectively forced Caroline to step away from the series.
“In order to not detract attention from the upcoming series I feel the best thing I can do is to stand down for series 6,” she wrote in an Instagram statement.
Fellow broadcaster Laura Whitmore took over the hosting mantle and it seems Caroline was distraught by the replacement.
Speaking in the new Disney Plus documentary, Caroline Flack: Search for the Truth, the presenter’s best friend Mollie Grosberg sheds light on her feelings at the time.
Mollie said: “Love Island was a massive thing for Caroline. Laura taking over brought up every single insecurity.”
She went on to reveal that the former host did in fact tune in.
“We weren’t allowed to watch it. Then she wanted to watch it so we’d sit and watch it together. And then every day she’d ask me for the numbers ‘How many viewers? How many viewers?,” Mollie explained.
Naturally, Laura taking over caused “turmoil” for the former Strictly Come Dancing winner.
“That constant turmoil killed Caroline,” her close friend admitted.
“She felt like she was being airbrushed out of the show. She said ‘I know that I’m gone. I know that I’m done this is it.'”
Even Caroline’s agent Louisa Booth also saw the devastating impact of losing her gig. Louisa shared: “She [Caroline] just saw the crumbling of everything she’d built.”
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Caroline tragically died by suicide aged 40 in February 2020.
Caroline Flack: Search For The Truth is streaming on Disney+.
In the new Disney+ documentary, Caroline Flack’s friend Mollie said: “Throughout this whole thing, Caroline’s worst nightmare was that the body cam footage was going to be released”
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Caroline Flack’s mum and best friend said her greatest fear was the release of body camera footage from the night of her row
Caroline Flack’s “nightmare” fear was that police body cam footage from the night of her fight with Lewis would be shown in court where she appeared “half naked and unhinged”.
On the night of December 12, 2019, Caroline and boyfriend Lewis Burton had both been on night’s out separately enjoying some drinks.
Once they got home they went to bed laughing and joking but after Lewis fell asleep his phone went and it was messages from another woman.
The pair then got into a row and Caroline hit Lewis with a phone before he called 999.
Very sadly, Caroline also told best friend Mollie Grosberg at that moment she felt her boyfriend was “gone” and her career could also be over and so she deliberately self-harmed before the police arrived. This meant there was blood in the room and on their bed.
Police video footage picks up on some of this and the Crime Prosecution Service intended to use the footage in court as evidence, where Caroline would have been facing an assault charge.
In the new Disney+ documentary, friend Mollie said: “Throughout this whole thing, Caroline’s worst nightmare was that the body cam footage was going to be released. It wasn’t because she was scared of what she’d done to Lewis. She was scared because she looks completely and utterly unhinged in this body cam footage.”
Her Lawyer Paul Morris also agrees the body cam footage was a big issue for Caroline.
He said: “This was a snapshot into her private life at its worst. She was covered in blood. She was half naked. She was in a really dark place.”
And her mum Christine said: “It showed her mental health, if you like. She knew it wasn’t going to make her guilty of abuse, but it was going to show her to the outside world how she sometimes felt.”
Her agent Louisa Booth becomes tearful when she thinks about it. Looking back, Louise said: “She kept saying to me, I just can’t have people see the body cam footage. I can’t have my family know that that’s out there. And I just think she was not thinking of herself. I think she’s thinking of other people actually.”
Caroline was clinging to the idea the court case would still be dropped. But she found out it would definitely go ahead on Feb 13.
She messaged her friend: “They won’t drop the case. My life is over. The bodycam. My head is throbbing.”
Her Lawyer Paul Morris said: “This case was prosecuted because, in my view, it would have been more difficult to stop the snowball rolling than it would be to just let it continue. Saving face, I think adequately describes the stance that I think was taken.”
Former head of CPS crown prosecutor Nazir Afzal studies the police documents gathered by Christine and is in no doubt she should only have received a caution.
He tells the documentary: “Having looked at all your evidence I can’t understand why they rushed the judgement. This was a case where there is no previous history, no coercive behaviour. Mr Burton never wanted this case and was adamant. This was a one off occasion where she lost her temper and did what she did, which she accepts. For all of those reasons, the very worst thing that should have happened was a caution.”
He added: “I have prosecuted thousands of these cases, none of this makes sense. Almost immediately in the cold light of day, prosecutors would have formed a view that this case is going nowhere and they should have stopped the case. They are required to stop the case where there is insufficient evidence. I can’t think of any reason to proceed, unless they were scared of what the media were going to say about them. It is not about losing face, this is about justice. My take on it is Caroline would still be with us if certain decisions weren’t taken in that month or two.”
Caroline went into a meltdown after receiving the news, trashing her flat and friends including Mollie rushed there and had to call for an ambulance, but she eventually calmed down and managed to go to sleep.
However she then urged friends to go home the next morning as her sister would be coming to the flat later on February 15.
But her sister Jody arrived at a locked door and the sounds of Caroline’s dog barking. Once inside she learned that Caroline had died.
Caroline’s mum Christine ends the documentary by saying: “I want to stress to anyone feeling that bad, that scared and tired of life, there’s always a way forward.
“You know, you’re not strange. If you have depression, you’re not strange. If you’ve got mental health problems, you’re normal. That’s life, and it’s just helping deal with that and making you feel okay about it, because you know, you should just feel okay about it.”
*Both episodes of Caroline Flack: Search For The Truth premiere on Disney+ today.
In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on freephone 116 123, or email jo@samaritans.org or jo@samaritans.ie. Refuge is the largest domestic abuse organisation in the UK and can be Contacted free 24/7 on 0808 2000 247
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READ MORE: Caroline Flack documentary ‘Search for the Truth’ release date and how to watch
British and Irish Lion Mack Hansen has been recalled to the Ireland squad for the side’s remaining autumn Tests, but Jamie Osborne will miss out with a shoulder injury.
Ireland are back in action against Australia on Saturday in Dublin (20:10 GMT) before taking on world champions South Africa at Aviva Stadium on Saturday, 22 November (17:40 GMT).
Connacht’s Hansen has rejoined the squad despite initially being considered out for the autumn series because of the foot injury he picked up in his side’s United Rugby Championship loss to the Bulls last month.
Hansen has never started at full-back for Ireland, although his past four Connacht appearances have been in the position, but with usual starter Hugo Keenan also out the former Brumbies player gives head coach Andy Farrell another option in his back three.
Osborne wore the 15 jersey against New Zealand and Japan to start the month but was replaced by Jimmy O’Brien in the second half of the 41-10 win over the latter on Saturday and Farrell said afterwards that his shoulder injury did not “look good”.
Hansen’s club-mate Darragh Murray has also been called into the squad with the second row capped during the summer tour to Georgia and Portugal.
Leinster pair Garry Ringrose and Josh van der Flier remain doubts for this weekend’s game against the Wallabies with hamstring strains and their progress will be monitored before the team is announced on Thursday.
