Story by Reuters

(Reuters) — Thailand and Cambodia agreed on Saturday to halt weeks of fierce border clashes, the worst fighting in years between the Southeast Asian countries that has included fighter-jet sorties, exchange of rocket fire and artillery barrages.

“Both sides agree to maintain current troop deployments without further movement,” their defense ministers said in a joint statement on the ceasefire, to take effect at noon local time (midnight, ET).

“Any reinforcement would heighten tensions and negatively affect long-term efforts to resolve the situation,” according to the statement released on social media by Cambodia’s Defense Ministry.

The agreement, signed by Thai Defense Minister Natthaphon Narkphanit and his Cambodian counterpart Tea Seiha, ended 20 days of fighting that has killed at least 101 people and displaced more than half a million on both sides.

The clashes were re-ignited in early December after a breakdown in a ceasefire that US President Donald Trump and Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim had helped broker to halt a previous round of fighting.

For more than a century, Thailand and Cambodia have contested sovereignty at various undemarcated points along their 817-kilometer (508-mile) land border – a dispute that has occasionally exploded into skirmishes and fighting.

The latest ceasefire would be monitored by an observer team from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) regional bloc as well as direct coordination between both countries, Natthaphon said.

“At the same time, at the policy level, there will be direct communication between the minister of defence and chief of the armed forces of both sides,” he told reporters.

Trump intervention

Simmering tensions between the two countries came to a head in July this year, when the neighbors clashed for five days along some parts of the frontier, leaving at least 48 people dead and 300,000 displaced before Trump intervened to bring about a truce.

That ceasefire broke down in early December with the two sides accusing each other of moves that led to clashes.

Since the conflict restarted, neither Anwar – currently ASEAN chair – nor Trump were successful in stitching together another ceasefire, as fighting spread from forested regions near Laos to the coastal provinces on the Gulf of Thailand.

The renewed parleys came after a special meeting on Monday of Southeast Asian foreign ministers in Kuala Lumpur, followed by three days of talks between the warring sides at a border checkpoint, where the two defense ministers met on Saturday.

In their joint statement, the ministers agreed on the return of people displaced from affected border areas, while also underlining that neither side would use any force against civilians.

Thailand will also return 18 Cambodian soldiers in its custody since the July clashes if the ceasefire is fully maintained for 72 hours, according to the agreement.

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By Jacob Lev, CNN

(CNN) — After a long, tenuous last few weeks for the University of Michigan, the football program appears to have found a new head coach to lead them into a new era – Kyle Whittingham.

The 66-year-old Whittingham was named the Wolverines’ 22nd coach in program history on Friday, signing a five-year deal and replacing Sherrone Moore following his termination and subsequent arrest earlier this month.

Whittingham spent the last 21 years at the helm for the University of Utah Utes football program before announcing he was stepping down following the team’s appearance in the Las Vegas Bowl against Nebraska on December 31.

Longtime Utes defensive coordinator Morgan Scalley will take over as head coach after being named team’s coach-in-waiting last year.

Michigan, who is in need of an experienced head coach after Jim Harbaugh bolted the school for the NFL’s Los Angeles Chargers following the 2023 season, are getting one in Whittingham.

Whittingham went 177-88 at Utah after taking over in 2004 and led the Utes to at least 10 wins in eight of his seasons as coach. The No. 15 ranked squad finished the regular season 10-2 this year.

“We are honored to lead the outstanding student-athletes, coaches, and staff who represent Michigan Football each day,” Whittingham said in a statement Friday. “Michigan is synonymous with tradition and excellence – both on the field and beyond – and our entire program is committed to upholding those values while striving for greatness together. My family and I are thrilled to join the University of Michigan community, and we look forward to helping our players grow, develop, and reach their highest potential – on the gridiron, in the classroom, and as leaders. It’s a privilege to be part of something that inspires pride in every Wolverine fan. Go Blue!”

A potential closing of a shaky chapter

The hiring of Whittingham could bring some much-needed stability to the Michigan football program.

Since winning the national championship in January 2024, the Wolverines have been in utter dismay.

After an uneven 2024 campaign, which featured an impressive win over eventual national champion Ohio State and a bowl win against Alabama in an otherwise disappointing 8-5 season, the NCAA handed the football program a multi-million-dollar penalty and Moore was given an additional suspension as part of a sign-sealing scandal involving former Michigan football staffer Connor Stalions.

Stalions, who worked as a member of Harbaugh’s staff, was levied with an 8-year show-cause order, restricting him from all athletically related activities during that period.

Harbaugh was also given a 10-year show-cause order in the sign-stealing case. That punishment would begin on August 7, 2028, after a separate 4-year show-cause order ends from a separate recruiting case that the NCAA closed last year.

More than a year later, Moore now faces charges of a felony count of home invasion and multiple misdemeanors related to his arrest on earlier this month, just hours after he was dismissed by Michigan.

Moore was charged with third-degree home invasion, which is a felony. He was also charged with one count of misdemeanor stalking and one count of misdemeanor breaking and entering/illegal entry without p

Por Iván Pérez Sarmenti y Anabella González, CNN en Español

Nasry “Tito” Asfura, el candidato declarado ganador de la elección presidencial del 30 de noviembre en Honduras, asegura que el apoyo rotundo que obtuvo del presidente de Estados Unidos, Donald Trump, días antes de los comicios fue “espontáneo” y lo “sorprendió”, pero —desde su perspectiva— no fue definitivo en el resultado de la contienda.

Asfura atribuye el respaldo de Trump a la confianza del mandatario estadounidense en su trayectoria política, misma a la que adjudica haber obtenido la mayor cantidad de votos, según los datos del Consejo Nacional Electoral (CNE).

“Definitivamente (el apoyo de Trump) fue algo espontáneo, cuando yo lo vi también a mí realmente me impresionó”, dijo Asfura este viernes en una entrevista exclusiva con el programa Conclusiones, de CNN, sobre la publicación en la que Trump pidió a los hondureños que votaran por él.

Asfura insiste en que “no hay dudas” de que fue un respaldo importante y afirma que tiene que ver con su propuesta para Honduras.

“Mi campaña fue clara, sencilla y directa. Vengo trabajando hace más de 30 años, creo que hay un trabajo constituido (…) Creo que a él lo motivó mi comportamiento de cara a las elecciones, lo que yo prometí para el pueblo de Honduras”, dijo.

El también exalcalde e integrante del conservador Partido Nacional asegura que busca dejar en claro su objetivo de tener una relación cercana con Estados Unidos, una intención que, argumenta, repitió a lo largo de la campaña.

El futuro presidente reconoce que Estados Unidos es el socio comercial más importante y cercano de Honduras, con quien tienen lazos imposibles de soslayar. Más de 2 millones de hondureños viven en EE.UU. y el país también se beneficia de las remesas, apunta Asfura, algo que considera imprescindible sostener.

Casi un mes después de los comicios y tras un proceso electoral marcado por los retrasos, la incertidumbre y la controversia del escrutinio especial, autoridades del CNE informaron el miércoles oficialmente que Asfura superó por un 0,74 % de la votación a su más cercano rival, Salvador Nasralla, del Partido Liberal. El estrecho margen es de poco más de 27.000 votos.

Nasralla dijo esta semana que no acepta el resultado y que impugnará ante la Justicia, además de que cuestionó el rol de las consejeras del CNE.

Asfura sabe que su contrincante está insatisfecho, pero defiende los resultados y pide “ver hacia adelante”.

“Él tiene derecho a decir lo que piensa y a actuar como actúa. Sé que todo lo que se hizo está conforme a ley, institucionalmente las cosas están claras”, dijo Asfura. “Los valores son reales y hay que respetar la institucionalidad”.

El candidato declarado ganador considera que el pueblo de Honduras cumplió con su deber y salió a votar en paz. “Hubo complicaciones, es una historia larga, pero al final se aclararon. Al final ahí están los datos, datos reales”, dijo.

A diferencia de los señalamientos de otros candidatos, Asfura dice que mantuvo “una actitud prudente” durante las semanas de escrutinio y que, aunque los datos preliminares eran favorables para él, “en ningún momento salí a decir que había ganado ni a quitarle la paz y la tranquilidad a Honduras”.

Durante la entrevista, Asfura también habló —entre otros temas— sobre Venezuela, los gobiernos de izquierda en América Latina y el expresidente Juan Orlando Hernández, también integrante del Partido Nacional y quien estuvo preso en Estados Unidos y después fue indultado por Trump.

Sobre Venezuela, consideró que no hay democracia en ese país y que, con su ofensiva militar en el Caribe, Estados Unidos está buscando “proteger” a su población. Washington afirma que su despliegue en

By Taylor Romine, CNN

(CNN) — Two civilians and one deputy were injured and the suspected shooter was fatally shot, following a standoff at a sheriff’s office in Idaho, officials said.

The suspected gunman entered the lobby of the Shoshone County Sheriff’s Office in Wallace and opened fire, Shoshone County Sheriff William Eddy said at a Friday evening news conference. Authorities responded to a report of shots fired at around 2:40 p.m. PT Friday, the sheriff’s office said.

An officer-involved shooting followed, and the suspect was pronounced dead at 4:15 p.m., he said.

The injuries of the three people shot were described as minor, according to Eddy, who said two female victims were shot in the leg and a deputy received a gunshot wound to the ear.

Wallace, Idaho, is about 70 miles east of Spokane, Washington.

This is a developing story and will be updated.

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