Dark threat that's hidden in the woods has been festering at America's front door... now the country's at breaking point
But recent months have shattered that calm with a terrifying wave of immigration crises, drug smuggling, and diplomatic friction between the long-standing allies.
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Reuters
10 minutes ago
- Reuters
Thai and Cambodian leaders head to Malaysia for peace talks
BANGKOK/PHNOM PENH, July 28 (Reuters) - The leaders of Thailand and Cambodia were set to hold talks in Malaysia on Monday to reach a ceasefire in their deadly border dispute, with the United States saying its officials would be assisting in the peace process. Thailand's government said it was attending talks arranged by Malaysia in its role as chair of the regional ASEAN bloc, while Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet said the talks were co-organised by the United States with the participation of China. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said State Department officials were in Malaysia to assist peace efforts, after President Donald Trump had earlier said that he thought both leaders wanted to settle the conflict. "We want this conflict to end as soon as possible," Rubio said in statement released late on Sunday in the U.S. and early Monday in Asia. "State Department officials are on the ground in Malaysia to assist these peace efforts." Tensions between Thailand and Cambodia have intensified since the killing in late May of a Cambodian soldier during a brief border skirmish. Border troops on both sides were reinforced amid a full-blown diplomatic crisis that brought Thailand's fragile coalition government to the brink of collapse. Hostilities broke out last Thursday and have escalated into the worst fighting between the Southeast Asian neighbours in more than a decade. The death toll has risen above 30, including more than 20 civilians, while authorities report that more than 200,000 people have been evacuated from border areas. Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim had proposed ceasefire talks soon after the border dispute erupted into conflict on Thursday, and China and the United States also offered to assist in negotiations. Thailand had said it supported calls for a ceasefire in principle but wanted to negotiate bilaterally, while Cambodia had called for international involvement. Anwar said he expected to chair the negotiations after being asked by representatives of the two governments to try to find a peace settlement, state media agency Bernama reported. "So, I'm discussing the parameters, the conditions, but what is important is (an) immediate ceasefire," he said late on Sunday.
The Guardian
an hour ago
- The Guardian
Daughter of woman murdered by man who US deported speaks out: ‘He was denied due process'
The daughter of a woman murdered by a man from Laos who is among those controversially deported from the US to South Sudan has spoken out about her family's pain but also to decry the lack of rights afforded to those who were expelled to countries other than their own. Birte Pfleger lives in Los Angeles and was a history student at Cal State University in Long Beach when her parents came to visit her from their native Germany in 1994 and ended up shot by Thongxay Nilakout during a robbery while on a sightseeing trip. Pfleger's mother, Gisela, was killed and her father, Klaus, wounded. Nilakout, now 48, is Laotian and was among eight convicted criminals from countries including Mexico, Cuba, Vietnam and Myanmar who were deported to the conflict-torn African country, amid uproar over Donald Trump's extreme immigration policies. In an interview with the Guardian, Pfleger said: 'It's been 31 years living with the irreparable pain and permanent grief, so, on the one hand, I wanted him gone. On the other hand, I'm a historian and I have taught constitutional history. He was denied due process and that's a constitutional problem.' The government of South Sudan has not disclosed the men's exact whereabouts since arriving in the country earlier this month, after legal problems had caused them to be stuck in nearby Djibouti after legal wrangling, or provided any details about their future. A lawyer representing the men said 'their situation is fragile,' noting their relatives have not heard from the deportees since a US military plane flew them to Juba, South Sudan's capital, before midnight on 4 July. A police spokesperson in South Sudan, Maj Gen James Monday Enoka, indicated that the men may ultimately be moved on. 'They will be investigated, the truth will be established and if they are not South Sudanese they will be deported to their rightful countries,' Enoka said. But few details are forthcoming. The US Department of Homeland Security called the men 'sickos'. The deportations had been initially blocked by US district judge Brian Murphy, who had ruled that the group needed to receive notice and due process before being taken to South Sudan, including the opportunity to express fear of being harmed or tortured there. But in a 7-2 ruling, the US supreme court paused Murphy's orders, clearing all obstacles preventing the Trump administration's plan. Just days after the ruling, the administration issued a memo suggesting officials would ramp up deportations to third countries with little notice and due process. The directive by Todd Lyons, acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice), said US officials may deport migrants to countries other than their own with as little as six hours' notice, even if those third party nations have not made assurances about their safety. Legal experts have objected. 'We are going to continue to fight the policy that conflicts with the statute, the regulations and with the constitution,' said Trina Realmuto, executive director of the National Immigration Litigation Alliance, an organization leading a class-action lawsuit against Ice. The UN human rights office denounced the action and urged the US to halt deportations to third-party countries. More than 250 Venezuelans have just been repatriated after being deported by the US without due process to a brutal anti-terrorism prison in El Salvador. Previously a multinational group of migrants was sent to Panama from the US and ended up trapped in a hotel then caged in a jungle setting, while more recently another group was deported to the tiny African kingdom of Eswatini, which critics there described as 'human trafficking' and lamented the prospect of more to follow. 'International law is clear that no one shall be sent anywhere where there are substantial grounds for believing that the person would be in danger of being subjected to serious human rights violations such as torture, enforced disappearance or arbitrary deprivation of life,' the UN said in a statement. Nilakout was 17 when he was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for his murderous attack on Birte Pfleger's parents. In 2012, the US supreme court ruled that life without parole was unconstitutional for minors. After nearly 30 years behind bars, Nilakout became eligible for parole in 2022, despite a challenge from Pfleger, and was released from a California state prison the following year. He was picked up in Trump's mass deportation dragnet after the Republican president returned to the White House in January. Pfleger, now a history professor at Cal State University in Los Angeles, said she felt conflicted when she found out that Nilokaut had been deported to South Sudan. 'The moral dilemma here is that he should have never been let out of prison. But once he was released from prison, Ice should have been able to deport him, or he should have self-deported to Laos. But of course, what happened is he was put on a Gulfstream jet headed for South Sudan that violated a federal judge's orders to give notice. He and the others were denied due process,' she said. Pfleger continued: 'I am not involved in victims' rights organizations or anything like that. I have not gone to law school, but I have read the constitution and the history of it. And I think that due process rights are fundamental. And when they're no longer fundamental, we all have a problem.' The pain for Pfleger and her sister of losing their mother and their father being wounded having watched his wife get shot and being unable to help her persists, and the family had not expected Nilakout to be freed, she said, adding that her father, Klaus, is 93 and frail. My mom was everything to him,' she said. In a statement, the government of South Sudan cited 'the longstanding support extended by the United States' during its fight for independence and its post-independence development, for the latest cooperation. Between 2013 and 2016, a civil war killed 400,000 people in South Sudan. Earlier this year, the threat of a new war breaking out pushed the US embassy to issue a level 4 warning to Americans not to go to South Sudan because of crime, kidnapping and armed conflict there. The German government recently warned, via the foreign minister, Annalena Baerbock, posting on social media that: 'After years of fragile peace, South Sudan is again on the brink of civil war.' The UN commission on human rights in South Sudan warned 'We are witnessing an alarming regression that could erase years of hard-won public progress.' The UN added that a humanitarian crisis was looming with half the country already suffering food insecurity and two million internally displaced, with a further two million having fled the violence to seek sanctuary in neighboring countries.
Reuters
an hour ago
- Reuters
Eroding protections for public lands
'Public lands have tremendous bipartisan support in the state,' Lawson said in reference to her home state of Montana, about 30% of which is federal public land. 'Everybody from the wilderness advocates who want public land preserved in perpetuity to the hunters and anglers to the OHV (off-highway vehicle) Jeepers. Everybody loves public lands. Access to those public lands is so integral to daily life.' Deep budget and staffing cuts to the U.S. National Forest Service, National Park Service and Bureau of Land Management could affect their ability to effectively care for these lands at a time when they are experiencing record numbers of visitors. Last year, national parks welcomed more than 332 million visitors, a new high, up 6 million from 2023. The National Park System has lost 24% of its permanent staff since Trump returned to office in January, according to the National Parks Conservation Association, a watchdog advocacy group. The association attributes much of the drop to job cuts and staff taking buyouts offered by Trump's administration. And, the National Forest Service cut about 10% of its workforce as part of the administration's campaign to reduce spending. This legislation that Trump signed also rescinded funding for conservation and climate resilience projects in national parks and Bureau of Land Management land that was provided in a law signed by his predecessor Joe Biden called the Inflation Reduction Act. 'Unleashing America's economic potential goes hand-in-hand with preserving our public lands, as years of mismanagement, regulatory overreach and neglect of routine management have hindered outdoor recreation opportunities,' the White House said in a statement to Reuters. Leshy said budget and staffing cuts could be a strategic move by U.S. officials who have long wanted to dispose of public land, pointing to Russell Vought, director of the White House Office of Management and Budget and a force behind the Project 2025 initiative that laid out a conservative blueprint for reshaping the U.S. government. 'I think they've decided, looking at the opinion polls, that it's not popular and it's not wise to press for outright selling off or disposing, transferring federal lands. So what they're doing instead is hollowing out their management, is slashing their budgets and slashing the personnel,' Leshy said. 'The aim is, 'Let's make federal management so bad and so dismal that it will change public opinion,'' Leshy added.
