Russia pounds Ukraine with 300 drones, killing 1 in Odesa
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, posting on X, said Russia had fired more than 300 drones and over 30 cruise missiles.
One person died when Russian forces attacked the Black Sea port city of Odesa with more than 20 drones and a missile, the city's mayor, Hennadii Trukhanov, said Saturday on Telegram, while five people were rescued when a fire broke out in a residential high-rise building.
According to Zelensky, six other people were wounded in the attack on Odesa, including a child, and critical infrastructure was damaged in Ukraine's northeastern Sumy region.
The Ukrainian president also thanked international leaders 'who understand how important it is to promptly implement our agreements' aimed at boosting Ukraine's defense capabilities, including joint weapons production, drone manufacturing and the supply of air defense systems.
Russia has been intensifying its long-range attacks on Ukrainian cities. It now often batters Ukraine with more drones in a single night than it did during some entire months in 2024, and analysts say the barrages are likely to escalate. On July 8, Russia unleashed more than 700 drones — a record.
Russia's Defense Ministry said it shot down 71 Ukrainian drones overnight into Saturday. Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said that 13 drones were shot down as they approached the Russian capital.
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Los Angeles Times
28 minutes ago
- Los Angeles Times
In Epstein furor, Trump struggles to shake off a controversy his allies once stoked
WASHINGTON — Despite the sun bearing down on him and the sweat beading across his face, President Trump still lingered with reporters lined up outside the White House on Friday. He was leaving on a trip to Scotland, where he would visit his golf courses, and he wanted to talk about how his administration just finished 'the best six months ever.' But over and over, the journalists kept asking Trump about the Jeffrey Epstein case and whether he would pardon the disgraced financier's imprisoned accomplice, Ghislaine Maxwell. 'People should really focus on how well the country is doing,' Trump insisted. He shut down another question by saying, 'I don't want to talk about that.' It was another example of how the Epstein saga — and his administration's disjointed approach to it — has shadowed Trump when he's otherwise at the height of his influence. He's enacted a vast legislative agenda, reached trade deals with key countries and tightened his grip across the federal government. Yet he's struggled to stamp out the embers of a political crisis that could become a full-on conflagration. The Republican president's supporters want the government to release secret files about Epstein, who authorities say killed himself in his New York jail cell six years ago while awaiting trial for sex trafficking. They believe him to be the nexus of a dark web of powerful people who abused underage girls. Administration officials who once stoked conspiracy theories now insist there's nothing more to disclose, a stance that has stirred skepticism because of Trump's former friendship with Epstein. Trump has repeatedly denied prior knowledge of Epstein's crimes and claimed he cut off their relationship long ago. For a president skilled at manipulating the media and controlling the Republican Party, it has been the most challenging test of his ability to shift the conversation in his second term. 'This is a treadmill to nowhere. How do you get off of it?' said Kevin Madden, a Republican strategist. 'I genuinely don't know the answer to that.' Trump has demanded his supporters drop the matter and urged Republicans to block Democratic requests for documents on Capitol Hill. But he has also directed the Justice Department to divulge some additional information in hopes of satisfying his supporters. A White House official, who insisted on anonymity to discuss internal strategy, said Trump is trying to stay focused on his agenda while also demonstrating some transparency. After facing countless scandals and investigations, the official said, Trump is on guard against the typical playbook of drip-drip disclosures that have plagued him in the past. It's clear Trump sees the Epstein case as a continuation of the 'witch hunts' he's faced over the years, starting with the investigation into Russian interference during his election victory over Democrat Hillary Clinton nearly a decade ago. The sprawling inquiry led to convictions against some top advisors but did not substantiate allegations Trump conspired with Moscow. Trump's opponents, he wrote on social media on Thursday, 'have gone absolutely CRAZY, and are playing another Russia, Russia, Russia Hoax but, this time, under the guise of what we will call the Jeffrey Epstein SCAM.' During the Russia investigation, special counsel Robert Mueller and his team of prosecutors were a straightforward foil for Trump to rail against. Ty Cobb, the lawyer who served as the White House's point person, said the president 'never felt exposed' because 'he thought he had a legitimate gripe.' The situation is different this time now that the Justice Department has been stocked with loyalists. 'The people that he has to get mad at are basically his people as opposed to his inquisitors and adversaries,' Cobb said. In fact, Trump's own officials are the most responsible for bringing the Epstein case back to the forefront. FBI Director Kash Patel and his deputy, Dan Bongino, regularly stoked conspiracy theories about Epstein before assuming their current jobs, floating the idea the government had covered up incriminating and compelling information that needed to be brought to light. 'Put on your big-boy pants and let us know who the pedophiles are,' Patel said in a 2023 podcast. Atty. Gen. Pam Bondi played a key role too. She intimated in a Fox News Channel interview in February that an Epstein 'client list' was sitting on her desk for review — she would later say she was referring to the Epstein files more generally — and greeted far-right influencers with binders of records from the case that consisted largely of information already in the public domain. Tensions spiked earlier this month when the FBI and the Justice Department, in an unsigned two-page letter, said that no client list existed, that the evidence was clear Epstein had killed himself and that no additional records from the case would be released to the public. It was a seeming backtrack on the administration's stated commitment to transparency. Amid a fierce backlash from Trump's base and influential conservative personalities, Bongino and Bondi squabbled openly in a tense White House meeting. Since then, the Trump administration has scrambled to appear transparent, including by seeking the unsealing of grand jury transcripts in the case — though it's hardly clear that courts would grant that request or that those records include any eye-catching details anyway. Deputy Atty. Gen. Todd Blanche has taken the unusual step of interviewing the imprisoned Maxwell over the course of two days at a courthouse in Tallahassee, Fla., where her lawyer said she would 'always testify truthfully.' All the while, Trump and his allies have resurfaced the Russia investigation as a rallying cry for a political base that has otherwise been frustrated by the Epstein saga. Trump's director of national intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, who just weeks ago appeared on the outs with Trump over comments on Iran's nuclear ambitions, seemed to return to the president's good graces this week following the declassification and release of years-old documents she hoped would discredit long-settled conclusions about Russian interference in the 2016 election. The developments allowed Trump to rehash long-standing grievances against President Obama and his Democratic advisors. Trump's talk of investigations into perceived adversaries from years ago let him, in effect, go back in time to deflect attention from a very current crisis. 'Whether it's right or wrong,' Trump said, 'it's time to go after people.' Megerian and Tucker write for the Associated Press.
Newsweek
29 minutes ago
- Newsweek
Thailand-Cambodia Clash Tests US Against Growing China Influence in Asia
Based on factual reporting, incorporates the expertise of the journalist and may offer interpretations and conclusions. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. A deadly and dramatic escalation in a decades-long border dispute between Thailand and Cambodia is the latest challenge to U.S. President Donald Trump's vow to enforce a more peaceful international order. But the fiery bout in Southeast Asia also marks a test for Washington's waning influence in a region viewed as a crucial theater in a geopolitical competition between the United States and China. "This crisis represents a critical test of American and Chinese influence in Southeast Asia," Sophal Ear, a regional expert and associate professor at Arizona State University's Thunderbird School of Management, told Newsweek. "For the U.S., Thailand is a key strategic partner, essential to sustaining American military and diplomatic presence in the region," Ear said. "For China, Cambodia is a central player in its regional ambitions under the Belt and Road Initiative, serving as a strategic foothold." He argued that "both powers recognize significant stakes: instability could undermine their respective regional alliances and economic interests, while an overly aggressive stance risks deepening geopolitical competition." A Cambodian soldier stands on a truck carrying a Russian-made BM-21 rocket launcher traveling along a street in Oddar Meanchey province on July 25, 2025. A Cambodian soldier stands on a truck carrying a Russian-made BM-21 rocket launcher traveling along a street in Oddar Meanchey province on July 25, 2025. TANG CHHIN SOTHY/AFP/Getty Images Another U.S. Setback The latest Thailand-Cambodia border dispute dates back to 1907, when a map drawn during French colonial rule in Cambodia marked a boundary still cited by Cambodian officials today. Thai officials dispute this demarcation and claim territory beyond it, including ancient Khmer-era Hindu temples, such as Preah Vihear, despite two International Court of Justice rulings favoring Cambodia's claims. Their rivalry has played out against the backdrop of broader international conflicts among world powers, including World War II and the Cold War. A decade before the U.S. war in Vietnam, then divided between a communist north and a nationalist south, Thailand joined the U.S.-backed Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO), serving as a bulwark against the spread of communism in the region. North Vietnam would emerge victorious against the U.S., uniting the nation and quickly going to war with the rival China-backed Khmer Rouge communist leadership of Cambodia, leading to its downfall. Thailand, meanwhile, remained a staunch ally of the U.S. anti-communist posturing in Asia. However, its prominence in Washington's foreign policy has declined in recent decades, particularly as the U.S. has intensified its relations with its former foe, Vietnam. China, meanwhile, has invested heavily in ties with all countries in the region, including Cambodia, Thailand and Vietnam. However, as Beijing's growing global presence occupies a larger space in U.S. foreign policy, some argue that its attention to Thailand has been sidelined. "I think the U.S. already flunked the test and that should be a wakeup call," Evan Feigenbaum, vice president for studies at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and former deputy assistant secretary at the U.S. State Department, told Newsweek. "Because if the U.S. frame on Southeast Asia is that it's all about fighting the proxy fight with China for influence," he said, "the fact that the U.S. is now missing in action and really has no leverage to bring to bear on either party, should tell you everything." Royal Thai Army soldiers are pictured on U.S.-built M1126 armored vehicles on a road in Chachoengsao province on July 24, 2025. Royal Thai Army soldiers are pictured on U.S.-built M1126 armored vehicles on a road in Chachoengsao province on July 24, 2025. LILLIAN SUWANRUMPHA/AFP/Getty Images China's Balancing Act Both the U.S. and China have called for de-escalation since the fighting first erupted Thursday, with at least 15 killed and dozens wounded. The Thai military has since claimed that more than 100 Cambodian soldiers have been killed as fighting spread throughout their rugged border, spanning some 500 miles. "The United States is gravely concerned by reports of the escalating fighting along the Thailand-Cambodia border," the State Department said in a statement issued Thursday. "We are particularly alarmed by reports of harm to innocent civilians," the statement added. "We express our deepest condolences on the loss of life. We strongly urge the immediate cessation of attacks, protection of civilians, and peaceful settlement of disputes." Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi called the situation "deeply distressing and concerning" and urged a "calm and careful handling." At the same time, he argued that the "issue lies in the legacy left by Western colonial powers." "As a mutual neighbor and friend to both Cambodia and Thailand, China is committed to maintaining an objective and impartial stance, and will continue to play a constructive role in helping to de-escalate tensions and ease the situation," Wang said Friday during a meeting with Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) chair Kao Kim Hourn, who is seeking to mediate the conflict. While Cambodia is traditionally viewed as a close partner of China, Beijing's neutrality is also informed by its efforts to maintain and develop close relations with Thailand. "The more logical model for [China], where their interests are threatened is to just kind of bring the hammer down quietly," Feigenbaum said. "But I think their calculation would be that they would pay a cost with both they really don't want to take sides between these two, because they want good relations with both of them." "So, they'd either have to bring pressure to bear on both of them simultaneously, or choose a side," he added. "The latter is not an option for them." Further complicating any external role are the charged domestic politics that have helped fuel tensions to the point of open conflict. After frictions intensified in May when an exchange of cross-border fire led to the death of a Cambodian soldier, Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra was caught in a leaked phone call addressing Cambodian Senate President and former Prime Minister Hun Sen with terms of endearment and criticizing Thai military leadership. The incident led to her suspension from office and has threatened her already fragile ruling coalition. As for whether the U.S. could step in where China was hesitant, Feigenbaum was doubtful, seeing Beijing as now closer to Washington's oldest ally in Asia. "The U.S. really doesn't have the influence anymore on Thailand, so the idea that Thailand is some kind of U.S. proxy is nonsense," he said. "And meanwhile, China has a good relationship with the royal family in Thailand, they're the number one trading partner. They're the number one investment partner." "The U.S. is still important economically," he said," but in relative terms, China, in a lot of ways, has become much more important." Risk of Escalation Derek Grossman, a former U.S. intelligence official now serving as a professor at the University of Southern California, also believed that the Thailand-Cambodia conflict had yet to escalate to a Cold War-style proxy conflict, similar to the one the U.S. engaged in against China and the Soviet Union in Vietnam. At the same time, he warned that the situation had the potential to further drag in the world's top two powers should it continue to escalate. "While it is true that Thailand is a security ally of the U.S. and Cambodia is a close partner of China, both Washington and Beijing have called for an immediate ceasefire and de-escalation," Grossman told Newsweek, "and thus there isn't a proxy struggle playing out to achieve strategic advantage in Indochina—at least not yet." "That said, if the conflict worsens, it's likely that the U.S. and China would deepen their support for their respective friends," Grossman added. "Beijing has already said, for example, that the reason for the conflict was due to Western colonialism—a clear knock against powers external to the region." Grossman also noted how Thailand has thus far turned down international mediation efforts in favor of direct talks, a tactic he said could be attributed to the belief that it "has the upper hand militarily and that it has Washington in its corner if the crisis escalates." Meanwhile, Ear warned that, "if China hawks frame it as U.S.-ally Thailand v. China-backed Cambodia, this might be seen as a proxy war brewing even though this has nothing to do with China," while noting the most likely path for both Beijing and Washington was "to encourage diplomacy and de-escalation." "The career diplomats are busy writing their statements, I'm sure," Ear said. "I just hope the politicos aren't too preoccupied between Epstein files, to pay the attention to this regional conflict."
Los Angeles Times
an hour ago
- Los Angeles Times
Tens of thousands flee their homes as Thailand and Cambodia clash
SURIN, Thailand — Tens of thousands of people sought refuge on Friday as border fighting between Thailand and Cambodia entered a second day, heightening fears of an extended conflict. The U.N. Security Council planned to hold an emergency meeting in New York on the crisis, while Malaysia, which chairs a regional bloc that includes both countries, called for an end to hostilities and offered to mediate. The Thai Health Ministry on Friday said more than 58,000 have fled from villages to temporary shelters in four affected border provinces, while Cambodian authorities said more than 23,000 people have evacuated from areas near the border. The latest flare-up in a long-running border dispute between the two countries has killed at least 19 people in Thailand — mostly civilians — while Cambodia confirmed its first fatality on Friday. Thailand's acting prime minister, Phumtham Wechayachai, said Friday that Cambodia may be guilty of war crimes due to the deaths of civilians and damage caused to a hospital. He said Thailand had exercised the 'utmost restraint and patience in the face of provocations and aggression' from Cambodia. Tensions over a disputed border area erupted into fighting after a land mine explosion along the border wounded five Thai soldiers on Wednesday. The Thai military reported clashes early Friday in multiple areas along the border, including near the ancient Ta Muen Thom temple claimed by both sides. Associated Press reporters near the border could hear sounds of artillery from early morning hours. The Thai army said Cambodian forces had used heavy artillery and Russian-made BM-21 rocket launchers, prompting what Thai officials described as 'appropriate supporting fire' in return. Thailand said six of its soldiers and 13 civilians were killed, including children, while 29 soldiers and 30 civilians were wounded. Cambodia's chief official in Oddar Meanchey province, Gen. Khov Ly, said a man died Thursday after a Thai rocket hit a Buddhist pagoda where he was hiding. At least four civilians in the province were also wounded Thursday. The Cambodian Education Ministry claimed that on Friday two Thai rockets had hit a school compound in Oddar Meanchey but caused no injuries. It said all schools in the province have been closed. The Thai army denied it targeted civilian sites in Cambodia, and accused Cambodia of using 'human shields' by positioning their weapons near residential areas. As the fighting intensified, villagers on both sides have been caught in the crossfire, leading many to flee. Around 600 people took shelter at a gymnasium in a university in Surin, Thailand, about 50 miles from the border. Evacuees sat in groups, on mats and blankets, and queued for food and drinks. Seamstress Pornpan Sooksai was accompanied by four cats in two fabric carriers. She said she was doing laundry at her home near Ta Muen Thom temple when shelling began Thursday. 'I just heard, boom, boom. We already prepared the cages, clothes and everything, so we ran and carried our things to the car. I was frightened, scared,' she recalled. Rattana Meeying, another evacuee, said she had also lived through the 2011 clashes between the two countries but described this flare-up as worse. 'Children, old people, were hit out of the blue,' she said. 'I never imagined it would be this violent.' At the nearby Phanom Dong Rak hospital, periodic explosions could be heard Friday, and a military truck arrived with three injured Thai soldiers, including one who had both legs severed. Thursday's shelling shattered windows at one of the hospital's buildings and damaged its roof. In the neighboring Sisaket province, more villagers took their belongings and left homes in a stream of cars, trucks and motorbikes after they received an evacuation order on Friday. Across the border in Cambodia, villages on the outskirts of Oddar Meanchey province were largely deserted. Homes stood locked, while chickens and dogs roamed outside. Some villagers earlier dug holes to create makeshift underground bunkers, covering them with wood, tarpaulin and zinc sheets to shield themselves from shelling. Families with children were seen packing their belongings on homemade tractors to evacuate, though a few men refused to leave. A remote Buddhist temple surrounded by rice fields accommodated several hundred evacuated villagers. Women rested in hammocks, some cradling babies, while children ran about. Makeshift plastic tents were being set up under the trees. Veng Chin, 74, pleaded with both governments to negotiate a settlement 'so that I can return to my home and work on the farm.' The conflict marks a rare instance of armed confrontation between member countries of the Assn. of Southeast Asian Nations, though Thailand has tangled with Cambodia before over the border and has had sporadic skirmishes with western neighbor Myanmar. Malaysia, the current ASEAN chair, expressed concern. Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said Friday that Thailand and Cambodia had agreed to a ceasefire and to withdraw their troops from the border, but requested more time before implementing the action, according to a report by Malaysia's Bernama national news agency. Anwar said he had spoken to both Cambodian leader Hun Manet and Thailand's Phumtham and urged them to open space for 'peaceful dialogue and diplomatic resolution,' while offering to have Malaysia facilitate talks. U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has also called for restraint and urged both countries to resolve disputes through dialogue, according to U.N. deputy spokesman Farhan Haq. The 500-mile frontier between Thailand and Cambodia has been disputed for decades, but past confrontations have been limited and brief. The last major flare-up in 2011 left 20 dead. The current tensions broke out in May when a Cambodian soldier was killed in a confrontation that created a diplomatic rift and roiled Thailand's domestic politics. Things got worse when a land mine wounded five Thai soldiers on Wednesday, leading Bangkok to close the border and expel the Cambodian ambassador. The next day, clashes broke out along the border. Saksornchai and Cheang write for the Associated Press. AP writer Eileen Ng in Kuala Lumpur contributed to this report.
