Donald Trump said on Saturday that he had called the leaders of Cambodia and Thailand, pressing them for an immediate ceasefire following border clashes.

At the beginning of a private visit to his Scottish golf courses, the US president wrote on Truth Social that both nations “have agreed to immediately meet and quickly work out a Ceasefire and, ultimately, PEACE!”

Both countries thanked him for his concern and efforts. Cambodia has accepted his request for a ceasefire, while Thailand stressed the need for a dialogue between the two countries.

After the US president’s calls, however, shelling continued along the border overnight.

The response from the prime ministers of Thailand and Cambodia to Trump’s phone calls has been positive, yet neither has changed its position.

Cambodia had already proposed a ceasefire; its military is weaker than Thailand’s and it has been losing ground and equipment to the Thai artillery bombardments and air strikes.

“I made it clear to [Trump] that Cambodia agreed with the proposal for an immediate and unconditional ceasefire between the two armed forces,” Cambodian PM Hun Manet said after the phone call, adding that Trump’s mediation “will truly help protect the lives of many soldiers and civilians”.

On the other hand, Thailand says it is willing to consider a ceasefire, but is sticking to its previous demand that dialogue with Cambodia must come first.

Acting Prime Minister Phumtham Wechayachai “thanked President Trump for his concern and expressed that Thailand agrees in principle to have a ceasefire in place. However, Thailand would like to see sincere intention from the Cambodian side,” the Thai foreign ministry said in a statement.

At least 33 soldiers and civilians have been killed while thousands of Thai and Cambodian nationals have been displaced since fighting broke out on 24 July.

Trump said that he looked forward to resuming trade talks with Cambodia and Thailand though it wasn’t appropriate to hold discussions until the “fighting STOPS”.

He has intervened a week before US tariffs on Cambodia and Thailand are due to come into force.

From 1 August, businesses in the US shipping in goods from Thailand or Cambodia will have to pay a 36% tax unless an agreement can be reached before then.

It is not clear how Trump has become involved in the situation, given that just a day ago Thailand’s foreign minister Maris Sangiampongsa said: “I don’t think we need any mediation from a third country yet.”

Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim had previously offered to facilitate talks between Thailand and Cambodia.

Earlier on Saturday, Cambodia had already called for “immediate” ceasefire with Thailand and a peaceful resolution to the dispute.

After teeing off at his luxury resort Trump Turnberry in South Ayrshire, the US president said that he had spoken to Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet and Phumtham.

“When all is done, and peace is at hand, I look forward to concluding our Trading Agreements with both!” Trump wrote.

Thailand and Cambodia have each accused the other of firing first in this latest clash.

Thailand claims fighting began when Cambodia’s military deployed drones to conduct surveillance of Thai troops near the border.

Cambodia alleges that Thai soldiers violated a prior agreement by advancing on a Khmer-Hindu temple.

The dispute between the two countries dates back more than a century, when the borders of the two nations were drawn after the French occupation of Cambodia.

Reinier de Ridder survives a brutal knockdown to win by split decision against Robert Whittaker in the main event at Etihad Arena in the UAE.

Reinier de Ridder secured the biggest win of his Octagon career at UFC Abu Dhabi, narrowly securing a hard-fought split decision over former middleweight champion Robert Whittaker at the Etihad Arena in the United Arab Emirates.

De Ridder (21-2) earned his third win of 2025 by defeating the Australian by split decision; two of the three judges scored the 84kg (185-pound) bout 48-47 for de Ridder, while a third had it 48-47 for Whittaker.

“I don’t want to fight like this [Whittaker], man, this guy was too tough,” de Ridder said in a post-fight interview on Saturday. “I expected to take him down. He was so tough, so durable. Heavy f****** hands.”

The Dutch fighter had to survive a brutal knockdown in round three when Whittaker dropped him with a right hand to the chin in the opening minute.

De Ridder managed to survive the attack, and consolidated his overall superiority in strikes – de Ridder landed 169 in total, compared with 100 for Whittaker, according to official UFC statistics – and recovered to win the final two rounds by wearing down the 34-year-old with repeated knees to the body and constant grappling.

Throughout the five-round fight, there was little to separate the pair. When the final bell sounded, the split decision reflected the closeness of the contest.

De Ridder’s victory was his fourth Ultimate Fighting Championship career victory. Whittaker (27-9) has now lost two straight and three of his five most recent fights.

Following his victory, de Ridder, ranked 13th heading into the Whittaker fight, called for a title shot against the winner of the middleweight championship bout between Dricus Du Plessis and Khamzat Chimaev at UFC 319 on August 16.

“I want to finish a guy in the first round, so maybe it would be better if I fought Khamzat [Chimaev] or Dricus [Du Plessis]. Give me my title shot.”

In the co-main event, former UFC bantamweight champion Petr Yan defeated Marcus McGhee by unanimous decision. Yan outpaced his opponent in total strikes, significant strikes, control and takedowns.

In the middleweight match, Shara Magomedov bounced back from his first professional loss, which came against Michael Page in February, to win over Marc-Andre Barriault by unanimous decision. Magomedov earned a 30-27 score from all three judges.

Israel has said it is prepared to open humanitarian corridors to allow UN convoys into Gaza, following weeks of international pressure and a growing hunger crisis.

In a statement on Saturday, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it had allowed air drops of humanitarian aid to resume, the first of which consisted of seven pallets of flour, sugar and canned food provided by international organisations.

The announcement came amid calls for Israel to let more aid into Gaza and amid warnings of mass starvation following months of limited supply to the territory’s two million people.

Israel denied what it called “the false claim of deliberate starvation in the Gaza Strip”.

The IDF said it had “begun a series of actions aimed at improving the humanitarian response in the Gaza Strip”, and was “prepared to implement humanitarian pauses in densely populated areas”.

It also stated that it had resumed supplying power to a desalination plant in Gaza, which it said would “serve about 900,000 residents”.

Reuters late on Saturday reported Palestinian sources as confirming air drops had resumed in northern Gaza.

Israel cut off all supplies to Gaza from the start of March, and resumed with new restrictions in May.

Along with the US, it backed the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) and allowed it to operate in Gaza.

There have been almost daily reports of Palestinians being killed while seeking aid since the GHF began operations in late May. Witnesses have told the BBC most have been shot by Israeli forces. Israel has said that its troops fire warning shots and has disputed reported death tolls. It accuses Hamas of instigating chaos near the aid points.

The UN, aid groups and some of Israel’s allies have blamed the country for a growing food crisis in Gaza, and called for the unrestricted entry and delivery of aid as the Hamas-run health ministry said dozens of people were dying from malnutrition. On Saturday it put the toll from the last few days at 125, including 85 children.

The World Health Organization (WHO) chief, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, described the crisis as “man-made mass starvation”.

The IDF said in its statement that responsibility for food distribution to the population in Gaza “lies with the UN and international aid organisations” and added they must “ensure that the aid does not reach Hamas”.

Israel’s apparent concessions on Saturday followed its acceptance of a Jordanian and UAE plan, backed by the UK, to air drop aid into Gaza. Aid agencies however said such would do little to mitigate the hunger of Gazans.

The head of the UN’s Palestinian refugee agency Unrwa, Philippe Lazzarini, said air drops were “expensive, inefficient, and can even kill starving civilians” if they did not go according to plan.

Lazzarini said his organisation had “the equivalent of 6,000 trucks” in Jordan and Egypt waiting to enter Gaza, and urged Israel “lift the siege, open the gates and guarantee safe movements and dignified access to people in need”.

The BBC spoke to several Gazans on Saturday who worried air drops could cause “serious harm”.

One man living in the north of the strip told BBC Arabic’s Middle East Daily that the process was “unsafe” and “caused numerous tragedies” when similar relief efforts were attempted last year.

“When aid is dropped from the air, it risks landing directly on tents, potentially causing serious harm, including injury or even death,” he said.

Meanwhile, Palestinians are battling dehydration along with starvation. One mother told the BBC she was “living with no food or drink, no food, no bread, not even water.”

Israel launched a war in Gaza in response to the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on 7 October 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were taken hostage.

More than 59,000 people have been killed in Gaza since then, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.

As violence and rights abuses rage on, the coalition pledges to pursue a ‘secular, democratic’ and decentralised Sudan.

A Sudanese coalition led by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitary group has announced it is establishing an alternative government in a challenge to the military-led authorities in the capital Khartoum, with the northeastern African country’s brutal civil war in its third year.

The group, which calls itself the Leadership Council of the Sudan Founding Alliance (TASIS), said RSF leader Mohamed Hamdan “Hemedti” Dagalo will chair the 15-member presidential council of the government, which includes regional governors.

Sudanese politician Mohammed Hassan Osman al-Ta’ishi will serve as prime minister, TASIS said.

“On the occasion of this historic achievement, the leadership council extends its greetings and congratulations to the Sudanese people who have endured the flames of devastating wars for decades,” the coalition said in a statement.

“It also renews TASIS’s commitment to building an inclusive homeland, and a new secular, democratic, decentralized, and voluntarily unified Sudan, founded on the principles of freedom, justice and equality.”

The new self-proclaimed government could deepen divisions and lead to competing institutions as the war rages on between the RSF and the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF).

In May, the Sudanese army said it had completely driven the RSF out of the capital, Khartoum.

The fighting since April 2023 has killed tens of thousands and displaced nearly 13 million people, according to United Nations estimates, resulting in one of the worst humanitarian crises in the world.

In recent months, the violence has been intensifying in the western region of Darfur, where the RSF has been besieging the city of el-Fasher, compounding hunger in the area.

Rights groups have accused both the RSF and SAF of rights abuses. Earlier this year, Amnesty International said RSF fighters were inflicting “widespread sexual violence” on women and girls to “assert control and displace communities across the country”.

Earlier this year, the US imposed sanctions on Hemedti, accusing the RSF of committing “serious human rights abuses” under his leadership, including executing civilians and blocking humanitarian aid.

Sudan has seen growing instability since longtime President Omar al-Bashir was removed from power in 2019 after months of antigovernment protests.

In October 2021, the Sudanese military staged a coup against the civilian government of Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok, leading to his resignation in early 2022.

Sudan’s army chief, Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and Hemedti had shared power after the coup, but then began fighting for control of the state and its resources in April 2023.

Although the rivalry between al-Burhan and Hemedti does not appear to be ideological, numerous attempts to reach a peaceful resolution to the crisis have failed.