Category World News

Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra’s government has been rocked after a major coalition partner quit amid mounting public anger over a leaked phone call she had with a former Cambodian leader.

Paetongtarn faced growing calls to resign on Thursday as the kingdom was racked by renewed political instability, with fears that an ongoing border dispute with Cambodia could trigger military clashes.

The crisis engulfing Paetongtarn’s government comes after audio was leaked of a phone call she held with Cambodia’s ex-leader Hun Sen, who still wields considerable influence in his country, discussing a border dispute between the countries in which a Cambodian soldier was killed in a clash in May.

During the June 15 call, Paetongtarn pressed Hun Sen for a peaceful resolution to the dispute, calling him “uncle” and urging him not to listen to “the other side” in Thailand, including an outspoken Thai army general who she said “just wants to look cool”.

Paetongtarn later told reporters that her stance towards Hun Sen was a negotiation tactic, and there were no issues with the military.

Coalition partner quits

The leak has caused a strong backlash against the 38-year-old prime minister – the daughter and niece, respectively, of former leaders Thaksin and Yingluck Shinawatra – just 10 months into her premiership.

Late Wednesday, the conservative Bhumjaithai party – her Pheu Thai party’s biggest partner – pulled out of the coalition, saying Paetongtarn’s conduct had wounded the country and the army’s dignity.

The loss of Bhumjaithai’s 69 MPs leaves Paetongtarn’s coalition with a slim majority in parliament, raising the prospects of a snap election just over two years since the last one.

Other coalition parties will hold meetings on Thursday to discuss their next steps, with their defection from the coalition likely to spell the end of Paetongtarn’s government.

The main opposition People’s Party, a successor to the Move Forward Party that won most seats in a 2023 vote but was disbanded last year by a court, said new elections were needed.

“The situation yesterday on the leaked phone call is the last straw for Prime Minister Paetongtarn in harming public trust in her,” People’s Party leader Natthaphong Ruengpanyawut said.

“I want the prime minister to dissolve parliament. I think the people want a government that can solve problems for the people, a legitimate government that comes from a democratic process.”

Hundreds of antigovernment protesters demonstrated outside Government House on Thursday, demanding Paetongtarn quit, the AFP news agency reported.

Army ‘affirms commitment’ to democracy

Paetongtarn’s perceived slight on a general is a sensitive issue in a country where the army has played an influential role in politics. There have been a dozen coups since the end of absolute monarchy rule in 1932.

The military said in a statement that army chief General Pana Claewplodtook “affirms commitment to democratic principles and national sovereignty protection”, AFP reported.

“The Chief of Army emphasised that the paramount imperative is for ‘Thai people to stand united’ in collectively defending national sovereignty,” the statement said.

The crisis engulfing Paetongtarn has prompted fears that another coup could eventuate, AFP reported. Both Thaksin and Yingluck were removed from power by the military.

Paetongtarn met top security officials on Thursday to discuss the crisis with Cambodia, the Reuters news agency reported.

With Thailand’s defence minister, army chief and armed forces commander at her side, she apologised over the leaked conversation, appealed for national unity and affirmed her support for the military.

“We don’t have time for infighting. We have to protect our sovereignty. The government is ready to support the military in all ways,” she said.

Cambodian ambassador summoned

The leak has further inflamed tensions between Thailand and neighbouring Cambodia, amid the simmering territorial dispute. On Thursday, Thailand summoned the Cambodian ambassador over the matter, saying the disclosure of a private conversation was unacceptable.

“It is a breach of diplomatic etiquette, a serious violation of trust, and undermines conduct between two neighbouring countries,” Thai Foreign Ministry spokesperson Nikorndej Balankura said.

Video shows distressing scenes as a badly wounded Palestinian girl in Gaza embraces the body of her father, who was killed in an Israeli attack on Khan Younis. Luna Rasras was sheltering in a tent with her family when the attack happened. Her siblings were also killed.

Kiev, Ukraine – A domestic flight that spans the Baltic and the Pacific takes almost nine hours to reach Vladivostok’s port in Vladivostok, which is located just outside of Moscow.

Russia’s east-to-west border is approximately 10 000 kilometers (6,200 miles), or 17 million square kilometers (6,6 million square miles), making up 11% of the landmass of the Earth, which is slightly larger than the combined areas of China, India, Indonesia, and Saudi Arabia.

Despite having two-thirds of it permafrost, Russia’s sheer size prevented invasions, whether it was through Napoleon’s Grand Army in 1812 or the 3.8 million soldiers of Nazi Germany and its allies in 1941.

Russia’s size has become a liability as the conflict with Ukraine, a former province whose Cossack armies once led czarist conquests, continues to grow.

Former deputy chief of Ukraine’s general staff, Lieutenant General Ihor Romanenko, sarcastically told Al Jazeera, “Russia’s territory offers maximum capabilities for strikes.”

Ukrainians rewrite the rules of conflict and reject Russia’s dated tactics, from top brass to civilian volunteers building drones in their garages.

Kyiv shows every day that the nearly 2, 000 kilometers (1, 230 miles) long border between Russia and Ukraine is treacherous in both directions.

Tens of thousands of servicemen were diverted by it in Kursk and Bryansk, two western Russian regions.

In addition, Moscow’s Soviet-era air defense systems, which were built to intercept NATO missiles, are spread too thin throughout western Russia, frequently failing to withstand more sophisticated Ukrainian drone attacks.

According to Romanenko, the Ukrainian Security Service, the principal intelligence agency that has carried out numerous stings in Russia, “if a group of people is professional and motivated enough, it’ll always find a way to accomplish a goal, and that’s something the SBU proved.”

Operation Spiderweb, a massive drone attack launched by the SBU on June 1, marking the first time since the 2022 global invasion, was carried out there.

Near the Belaya airbase in the Irkutsk region, almost 4, 000 kilometers (2, 500 miles) east of the Ukrainian border, Ukrainian drones reportedly flew out of a truck to destroy or harm several strategic bombers.

Bombers were also targeted by the same sting in the Amur region, which is 7,500 kilometers (4,660 miles) east of Ukraine, but the Ukrainka (“Ukrainian woman”) airstrip was the only place the bombers were saved due to a technical issue.

The sting is a lesson that military installations are now more vulnerable than ever to cheap, easily hidden, and quickly deployed weapons, according to Mick Ryan, a former Australian general and fellow at the Sydney-based Lowy Institute.

Following humiliating defeats, Kyiv’s campaigns on Russian soil are bold and ambitious.

Many Ukrainians accompanied the occupants when they were ordered to surrender government buildings and military installations without firing a single shot following the 2014 annexation of Crimea.

A third of the southeast Donbass region was taken over by Moscow-backed separatists a few weeks later, and Ukrainian forces were pushed out.

Moscow anticipated a blitzkrieg in 2022, so Vladimir Putin and his top brass might not have thought to consider defending its own territories.

Volodymyr Fesenko, the head of the Kyiv-based Penta think tank, told Al Jazeera, “They didn’t think about it at all, they didn’t plan a long operation.” Moscow “didn’t anticipate Ukraine to hold off on to Russian territory for such a long time and repel Russian aggression.”

Additionally, Ukrainian drones aim at locations in Moscow and the surrounding area, which have a large concentration of military installations and bases.

One of the palaces was reportedly slightly damaged by two Ukrainian drones that flew over the Kremlin in May 2023.

Two years later, Moscow’s suburbs continue to be awash with humming hummingbirds.

A woman who lives southwest of Moscow and requests anonymity told Al Jazeera, “I cherish nights without air raid sirens.”

Western Russia’s civil flights are frequently delayed or canceled, so some travelers take trains to airports in northern Kazakhstan.

Ukraine began pursuing Russia’s economy, which is the backbone of the country.

Nearly a sixth of Russia’s oil refining capacity was hampered by dozens of strikes on oil refineries and pipelines, according to the Pentagon’s defense intelligence agency in mid-May.

The strikes came as a response to Russia’s campaign to obliterate Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, causing a 30-percent increase in domestic gasoline prices, and triggering the import of gasoline from neighboring Belarus.

Washington slammed Kyiv for raising global oil prices because the attacks were so devastating.

In a nation with infamously potholed roads, Kyiv makes use of Russia’s excessive reliance on railroad supply lines.

Seven people were killed and 69 people were hurt when two bridges collapsed on May 30 in the western Russian towns of Kursk and Bryansk, causing the derailment of two trains.

Moscow attributed the explosions to “terrorist attacks” on Ukraine.

However, some analysts contend that Kyiv’s attacks on Russia are too belated, insufficient, and unfocused.

According to Nikolay Mitrokhin, a researcher at Germany’s Bremen University, Ukraine has “fore long ignored outdoor ammunition depots but symbolically and senselessly struck Moscow.”

Russia responded by building hangars and moving planes to even more distant airfields when it actually started hitting depots and airbases, he claimed.

What Ukraine can destroy without having the option of restoring, he said, will result in significant one-time losses for Russia. And that’s where I don’t actually see successes.

However, Romanenko, a retired general, believes that the real successes are still in store.

In light of the growing hostilities between Israel and Iran, US President Donald Trump claims he is still considering options for military action.

Trump stated on Wednesday that Iran’s South Lawn would be “big” and that the next week will be “big”. He did, however, warn them when they reached out to him that “it’s very late to be talking.”

The US’s 30-pound (13, 000 kg) bunker buster bomb, which is thought to be the most powerful weapon ever built and carved deep into a mountain, is the only one that can demolish Tehran’s nuclear-armed Fordow Fuel Enrichment Plant.

The only nation with these bombs, which B-2 bombers can deliver, is the United States. It would change a lot if it were deployed against Iran, moving away from intercepting missiles on Israel’s behalf and conducting active offensive strikes there.

Bunker bombs: what are they?

Bombs that can’t be used with conventional bombs generally serve as “bunker busters.”

The GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrator is the US military’s most potent bunker buster. This precision-guided bomb is made of high-strength steel and can be penetrating up to 200 feet (61 meters) underground before exploding, weighing about 30 000 pounds (13.6 kg), including a 2, 700 kg (6, 000 kg) warhead.

The B-2 Spirit, a stealth bomber from the US, can carry two bunker buster bombs simultaneously, making it the only aircraft currently used to launch the GBU-57. Multiple bombs can be dropped simultaneously, either by the same aircraft or by several, allowing each strike to penetrate deeper, boosting the impact overall.

Israeli-made bunker busters, such as the GBU-28 and BLU-109, are typically dropped from fighter jets like the F-15. However, these weapons can’t penetrate deep enough to reach fortified sites like Iran’s Fordow nuclear facility because of their much shorter penetration range. Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah reportedly perished in Beirut’s underground headquarters using several BLU-109 bombs in 2024.

How far away is Iran’s nuclear facility, Fordow?

To withstand air strikes and bunker buster attacks, Iran’s Fordow Fuel Enrichment Plant, which is located about 95 kilometers (60 miles) southwest of Tehran, is constructed underground, reportedly up to 80 to 90 meters (260 to 300 feet) underground.

The Fordow facility’s construction is thought to have started in 2006 or so, and it went into operation in 2009, the same year Iran acknowledged it.

Iran agreed to stop enriching Fordow and turn the site into a research center under the 2015 Iran nuclear agreement, known as the JCPOA. Iran resumed uranium enrichment at the facility after the US withdrew from it in 2018. Iran has argued that its nuclear program is intended for civilian purposes.

Iranian and Russian surface-to-air missile systems reportedly defend Fordow, despite Israel’s ongoing strikes having already targeted those defenses.

The campaign is being portrayed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as a mission to end Iran’s missile and nuclear arsenal, which they call an existential threat. Fordow is a significant target, according to officials.

Yechiel Leiter, Israel’s ambassador to the United States, said in an interview with Fox News, “This entire operation really has to be finished with the elimination of Fordow.”

Other nuclear facilities are the targets.

The above-ground portion of Iran’s largest nuclear site, Natanz, is thought to have been destroyed by Israel.

The resulting power loss may have also been harmful to the facility’s underground enrichment halls, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

The extent of Natanz’s damage is apparent in both before and after satellite imagery.

The central Iranian Isfahan enrichment facility has also been damaged by Israeli attacks.

Potential chemical and nuclear contamination

The damaged Natanz site may lead to both radiological and chemical contamination, according to Rafael Grossi, the head of the UN nuclear watchdog, on Monday.

Grossi stated at a Vienna-based IAEA meeting that radiation levels are still acceptable when traveling through Iran’s nuclear sites Natanz and Isfahan, both of which were directly affected by Israeli bombings. He did point out that a radiological release is more likely as a result of the military’s continued escalation.

With a population of roughly 1.4 million and a significant religious and political center, Fordow is located about 32 kilometers (20 miles) south of the city of Qom, Iran’s seventh-largest city.