Trump warns of 'serious consequences' if Musks funds Democrats
BEDMINSTER, New Jersey (Reuters) -- Donald Trump said on Saturday his relationship with his billionaire donor Elon Musk is over and warned there would be "serious consequences" if Musk funds U.S. Democrats running against Republicans who vote for the president's sweeping tax and spending bill.
In a telephone interview with NBC News, Trump declined to say what those consequences would be, and went on to add that he had not had discussions about whether to investigate Musk.
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Japan Today
2 hours ago
- Japan Today
Thailand and Cambodia reinforcing troops on disputed border after May skirmish, Thai minister says
Royalist activists hold placards as they protest in front of the Royal Embassy of Cambodia, following a recent clash at the Thailand-Cambodia border on May 28, 2025, in Bangkok, Thailand, June 6, 2025. REUTERS/Chalinee Thirasupa By Panarat Thepgumpanat and Devjyot Ghoshal Thailand has reinforced its military presence along a disputed border with Cambodia, following an increase in troops on the other side, Thailand's defense minister said on Saturday. Tensions between the two Southeast Asian countries have been simmering since a Cambodian soldier was killed on May 28 in a brief conflict in an undemarcated border area. For days, the two Southeast Asian governments have been exchanging carefully worded statements committing to dialogue. But Phumtham Wechayachai, who also serves as Thailand's deputy prime minister, said Cambodia had rejected proposals in bilateral talks held on Thursday that could have led to a de-escalation. "Furthermore, there has been a reinforcement of military presence, which has exacerbated tensions along the border," Phumtham said in a statement. "Consequently, the Royal Thai Government has deemed it necessary to implement additional measures and to reinforce our military posture accordingly." He did not provide details on the extent of reinforcements by either side. In a separate statement on Saturday, the Thai army said Cambodian soldiers and civilians had repeatedly made incursions into Thailand's territory. "These provocations, and the build-up of military forces, indicate a clear intent to use force," the Thai army said, adding that it would take control of all Thai checkpoints along the border with Cambodia. Although border checkpoints between the two countries remain open, they may gradually become more restrictive, ranging from earlier closing times to complete closures, depending on security assessments in each area, Thai army spokesperson Winthai Suvaree said. Thailand currently operates 17 official border crossings with Cambodia, spanning seven provinces along their shared 817-km (508 miles) frontier, government data shows. A spokesperson for Cambodia's foreign ministry did not immediately respond to questions from Reuters on the Thai army's announcement. "This is our stance, not to initiate conflict, but to defend ourselves," Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet said in speech earlier on Saturday. "Our guiding principles are ... respect for international legal frameworks. These grounded strategies are key to safeguarding our nation's sovereignty," he said, adding that its armed forces were ready to defend against aggression. Thailand remains committed to pursuing bilateral dialogue as a means to restore stability, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Saturday. "The Thai side reaffirms its readiness to engage through established bilateral mechanisms, particularly the upcoming meeting of the Thailand-Cambodia Joint Boundary Commission (JBC), scheduled for June 14," Foreign Ministry spokesperson Nikorndej Balankura told reporters. "We sincerely hope that the negotiations will proceed in good faith", he added. The military reinforcements come despite efforts by Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, who is the current chair of the Southeast Asian ASEAN bloc, and China to reduce tensions. Thailand and Cambodia have for more than a century contested sovereignty at various undemarcated points along their 817 km (508 miles) land border, which was first mapped by France in 1907 when Cambodia was its colony. Tension escalated in 2008 over an 11th-century Hindu temple, leading to skirmishes over several years and at least a dozen deaths, including during a week-long exchange of artillery in 2011. Current governments in both countries, however, have enjoyed warm ties. Former leaders Thaksin Shinawatra of Thailand and Cambodia's Hun Sen have had a close relationship, and Thaksin's daughter and Hun Sen's son are now the incumbent prime ministers of their countries. Still, nationalist sentiment has risen in Thailand and the Thai military said on Friday it is ready to launch a "high-level operation" to counter any violation of its sovereignty. Cambodia said this week it would refer disputes over four parts of the border to the International Court of Justice and asked Thailand to cooperate. Phumtham reiterated in his Saturday statement that Thailand does not recognise the jurisdiction of the court and proposed that all boundary-related issues be resolved through bilateral negotiations. © Thomson Reuters 2025.
Japan Today
2 hours ago
- Japan Today
Israeli airstrikes kill 55; body of Thai hostage retrieved from Gaza
Women react at the site of an Israeli strike on a house, in Gaza City, June 7, 2025. REUTERS/Ebrahim Hajjaj By Maayan Lubell and Jaidaa Taha The Israeli military has retrieved the body of a Thai hostage who had been held in Gaza since Hamas' October 7, 2023 attack, Defence Minister Israel Katz said on Saturday, as Israeli airstrikes killed 55 people, according to local medics. Nattapong Pinta's body was held by a Palestinian militant group called the Mujahedeen Brigades, and was recovered from the area of Rafah in southern Gaza, Katz said. His family in Thailand has been notified. Pinta, an agricultural worker, was abducted from Kibbutz Nir Oz, a small Israeli community near the Gaza border where a quarter of the population was killed or taken hostage during the Hamas attack that triggered the devastating war in Gaza. The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), the U.S.- and Israeli-backed aid group, said on Saturday it was unable to distribute assistance to Palestinian civilians, blaming threats by Hamas, which Gaza's dominant militant group denied. Israel's military said Pinta had been abducted alive and killed by his captors, who had also killed and taken to Gaza the bodies of two more Israeli-American hostages that were retrieved earlier this week. There was no immediate comment from the Mujahedeen Brigades, who have previously denied killing their captives, or from Hamas. The Israeli military said the Brigades were still holding the body of another foreign national. Only 20 of the 55 remaining hostages are believed to still be alive. The Mujahedeen Brigades also held and killed Israeli hostage Shiri Bibas and her two young sons, according to Israeli authorities. Their bodies were returned during a two-month ceasefire, which collapsed in March after the two sides could not agree on terms for extending it to a second phase. The military said on Saturday it had killed As'ad Abu Sharaiya, who served as the head of the Mujahideen, but there was no confirmation from the group. Israel has in recent weeks expanded its offensive across the Gaza Strip as U.S., Qatari and Egyptian-led efforts to secure another ceasefire have faltered. Medics in Gaza said 55 people in total were killed in Israeli airstrikes across the enclave on Saturday. At least 15 Palestinians were killed and 50 wounded by airstrikes in the Gaza City district of Sabra in the northern Gaza Strip on Saturday, local health authorities said. More than one missile landed in the area. The target seemed to have been a multi-floor residential building, but the explosion damaged several other houses nearby, according to witnesses and media. The Israeli military did not immediately comment. It later warned people to evacuate the nearby district of Jabalia, saying it was going to strike there after rockets were launched by militants in the vicinity. The Palestinian Health Ministry said on Saturday that Gaza's hospitals only had fuel for three more days and that Israel was denying access for international relief agencies to areas where fuel storages designated for hospitals are located. There was no immediate response from the Israeli military or COGAT, the Israeli defence agency that coordinates humanitarian matters with the Palestinians. Meanwhile, the Israeli military said it had uncovered "an underground tunnel route, including a command and control center from which senior Hamas commanders" operated beneath the European Hospital compound in southern Gaza. It added that it had located several bodies of militants whose identities were "under examination". The Israeli government and military said last month it had killed Mohammad Sinwar, Hamas' Gaza chief, but Hamas did not confirm his death. The United Nations has warned that most of Gaza's 2.3 million people are at risk of famine after an 11-week Israeli blockade, with the rate of young children suffering from acute malnutrition nearly tripling. Aid distribution was halted on Friday after the GHF said overcrowding had made it unsafe to continue operations. The GHF, which has been fiercely criticised by humanitarian organisations for alleged lack of neutrality, said it was unable to distribute any humanitarian aid on Saturday because Hamas had issued "direct threats" against its operations. "These threats made it impossible to proceed today without putting innocent lives at risk," the GHF said in a statement in which it also said it intended to resume aid distribution "without delay". A Hamas official told Reuters he had no knowledge of such 'alleged threats'. On Wednesday, the GHF suspended operations and asked the Israeli military to review security protocols after Palestinian hospital officials said more than 80 people had been shot dead and hundreds wounded near distribution points between June 1-3. Eyewitnesses blamed Israeli soldiers for the killings. The Israeli military said it fired warning shots on two days, while on Tuesday it said soldiers had fired at Palestinian "suspects" who were advancing towards their positions. The Israeli military said on Saturday that 350 trucks of humanitarian aid belonging to the U.N. and other international relief groups were transferred this week via the Kerem Shalom crossing into Gaza. The war erupted after Hamas-led militants took 251 hostages and killed 1,200 people, most of them civilians, in the October 7, 2023 attack, Israel's single deadliest day. Israel's military campaign has since killed more than 54,000 Palestinians, most of them civilians, according to health authorities in Gaza, and flattened much of the coastal enclave. © Thomson Reuters 2025.
Japan Today
2 hours ago
- Japan Today
Russian attacks on Ukraine's Kharkiv kills four, wounds at least 60, officials say
Firefighters work at the site of a building hit by a Russian drone strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kharkiv, Ukraine June 7, 2025. REUTERS/Sofiia Gatilova Russia attacked the eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv at night and in the evening with drones, missiles and guided bombs, killing at least four people and injuring more than 60, including a baby, local officials said on Saturday. One of Ukraine's largest cities, Kharkiv is located just a few dozen kilometres from the Russian border and has been under constant Russian shelling during more than three years of war. "Kharkiv is currently experiencing the most powerful attack since the start of the full-scale war," city mayor, Ihor Terekhov, said on the Telegram messenger early on Saturday. Dozens of explosions were heard in the city through the night and Russian troops were striking simultaneously with missiles, drones and guided aerial bombs, he said. Multi-story and private residential buildings, educational and infrastructure facilities were attacked, Terekhov noted. Photos by local authorities and Reuters showed burnt and partially destroyed houses and vehicles, and of rescuers carrying those injured to safety and removing debris. Kharkiv governor Oleh Syniehubov said that one of the city's civilian industrial facilities was attacked by 40 drones, one missile and four bombs, causing a fire, adding there may still be people under the rubble. In the evening, Russian aircraft once again attacked Kharkiv with guided bombs, which Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called "another brutal murder". "It was a brutal blow to the city in broad daylight, and in fact, they have been attacking our city of Kharkiv for the entire day," Zelenskyy said in his evening statement. "Last night, there was a massive drone strike on Kharkiv, and now there are aerial bombs. Dozens of people have been injured in the past 24 hours." he said. The Ukrainian military said Russia launched 206 drones, two ballistic and seven other missiles against Ukraine overnight. It said its air defense units shot down 87 drones while another 80 drones were lost - in reference to the Ukrainian military using electronic warfare to redirect them - or they were drone simulators that did not carry warheads. Ten locations were hit, the military said. © Thomson Reuters 2025.
