BANGKOK — Thailand and Cambodia have begun withdrawing heavy weapons and conducting de-mining operations along their contested border as part of steps to de-escalate tensions following last week’s signing of an extended truce, Thai officials said on Monday.

The leaders of Thailand and Cambodia signed an enhanced ceasefire deal last week in Kuala Lumpur in the presence of US President Donald Trump, three months after border tensions between the two countries exploded into a deadly five-day conflict.

Government spokesman Siripong Angkasakulkiat said Thailand would not release 18 Cambodian soldiers it has held since the conflict or re-open border checkpoints until it assessed Cambodia was adhering to the agreement.

Rear Admiral Surasant Kongsiri, a Thai defense ministry spokesman, told a press conference that de-mining operations along the border have started, with Thailand proposing the removal of land mines in 13 areas and Cambodia in one.

On Friday, the two countries said in a joint statement that they had agreed to withdraw heavy weapons from the border in three phases, starting with rocket systems, followed by artillery and then tanks and other armored vehicles.

On Saturday, the Cambodian defense ministry said the first phase of the withdrawal was scheduled to take three weeks from November 1.

“We expect the withdrawal of heavy weapons to be concluded by the end of the year,” Mr. Surasant said on Monday.

The two countries have also stepped up joint efforts to combat transnational cybercrime and were working on an urgent joint demarcation effort at disputed border areas, he said.

The five-day war in July killed at least 48 people and temporarily displaced hundreds of thousands on both sides in what was the worst fighting between the two countries in decades. An initial ceasefire brokered in Malaysia with US involvement was signed on July 28. — Reuters

SEOUL — US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth visits South Korea on Monday for talks expected to involve Washington’s goal of reshaping the role of US troops in Korea in an evolving security environment and is also expected to visit the DMZ border with North Korea.

The defense chiefs are scheduled to hold the annual Security Consultative Meeting (SCM) on Tuesday, the highest-level forum where the two countries chart the course of their military alliance and South Korea’s defense against nuclear-armed North Korea.

South Korean Defense Minister Ahn Gyu-back and Hegseth will discuss combined defense readiness against North Korea and cooperation on regional security and cyber and missile defense, the South’s ministry said.

The two are expected to discuss plans to respond to the “changing security environment and threats” by developing the alliance between the two countries, it said.

Washington is considering making the role of the 28,500 US troops in South Korea more flexible with an eye on maintaining the balance of power in Asia amid concerns about Chinese activities in the South China Sea and around Taiwan.

US officials have signaled a plan to make the US forces more flexible to potentially operate outside the Korean peninsula in response to a broader range of threats such as the defense of Taiwan and to check China’s growing military reach.

South Korea has resisted the idea of shifting the role of US troops but has worked to grow its defense capabilities in the past 20 years with the goal of taking on the command of the combined forces – including its 450,000 troops – in wartime.

South Korea plans the largest defense budget increase in years for 2026 partly to address US President Donald Trump’s demand its allies pay more for US military presence in their countries.

Mr. Hegseth is expected to visit the Panmunjom truce village on the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) border with North Korea with South Korea’s Mr. Ahn.

Nuclear-armed North Korea has ignored overtures from Trump and South Korean President Lee Jae Myung for dialogue and has dramatically advanced its missile and conventional military capabilities.— Reuters

BRUSSELS — The European Union is considering a brake clause to weaken its 2040 climate target in the future, if it becomes clear countries’ forests are not absorbing enough CO2 emissions to meet the goal, a draft EU compromise proposal showed.

EU countries are attempting to approve their new 2040 climate target at a November 4 meeting of their climate ministers, just in time to avoid European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen going empty-handed to the UN’s COP30 climate summit with other world leaders on November 6.

But with some countries concerned about the costs to struggling domestic industries, the EU is considering various flexibilities and options to weaken the climate target, which the commission has said should be to cut planet-warming emissions 90% by 2040.

Countries’ latest draft negotiating compromise, seen by Reuters on Sunday, added a new clause that said if forests and other land-based activities that absorb CO2 emissions fall short, the EU will be allowed to propose “an adjustment of the 2040 intermediate target corresponding to and within the limits of the possible shortfalls”.

Brussels could also respond by proposing extra measures to help get the forest sector back on track for the emissions goal, it said.

The move echoes a proposal made by France last week, previously reported by Reuters, which had demanded an “emergency brake” to reduce the 90% emissions target by 3%, if forests and the land-use sector underdeliver.

The amount of CO2 absorbed by Europe’s forests and land-use sector dropped by nearly a third in the last decade, because of factors including wildfires and unsustainable forest management.

Previous negotiating drafts showed countries were already considering letting the EU revise the 2040 goal every two years, another route that could weaken it in the future.

But their ministers will still have to thrash out key issues on Tuesday, including the share of the 90% emissions reduction which countries will be allowed to cover by buying foreign carbon credits.

Support from at least 15 of the 27 EU members is needed to pass the goal.

A spokesperson for Denmark, which holds the EU’s rotating presidency and drafted the document, said all the necessary ingredients were now in place to land a deal.

“With COP30 about to start this is the time to agree on the 2040 target,” the spokesperson said.— Reuters

An earthquake of magnitude 6.3 struck near one of Afghanistan’s largest cities Mazar-e Sharif early on Monday, the US Geological Survey said.

The USGS issued an orange alert in its PAGER system, which is an automated system that produces information on the impact of earthquakes, and indicated that “significant casualties are likely and the disaster is potentially widespread.”

Past events with this alert level have required a regional or national level response, the system’s alert added.

The earthquake hit at a depth of 28 kilometers near Mazar-e Sharif, which has a population of about 523,000, according to USGS.

The country’s national disaster management agency said reports on casualties and damage would be shared later. Reuters could not immediately verify the extent of damage from the earthquake.

Videos of rescue efforts being carried out to save people trapped under rubble and images of fallen debris in buildings were shared on the social media platform X. One video showed rescuers pulling what appeared to be dead bodies from rubble.

Reuters could not immediately verify the footage and the images.

Thousands died and thousands more were injured after an earthquake and a series of aftershocks hit Afghanistan in August, the Taliban administration said.

Afghanistan is especially vulnerable to earthquakes as the country is located on two major active faults that have the potential to rupture and cause extensive damage.

In 2015, an earthquake struck northeastern Afghanistan, killing several hundred people in Afghanistan and nearby northern Pakistan. Another in 2023 killed at least 1,000 people.— Reuters