BANGKOK (AP) — Armed clashes broke out Thursday between Thailand and Cambodia in long-disputed border areas, rapidly escalating months-long tensions.

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The fighting included gunfire exchanges and shelling and rocket fire, which Thai authorities said killed at least nine Thai civilians and injured 14 others in three provinces. Thailand responded with air strikes.

It was the second armed confrontation since a Cambodian soldier was shot dead in May and a major escalation that came hours after the two countries downgraded diplomatic relations following a land mine explosion that injured Thai soldiers.

Clashes are ongoing in at least six areas along the border, the Thai Defense Ministry said. The first clash Thursday morning happened in an area near the ancient Ta Muen Thom temple along the border of Surin and Cambodia’s Oddar Meanchey province.

Here’s what to know about the dispute between the two Southeast Asian neighbors.

How the dispute began

The dispute flared in May after armed forces of Thailand and Cambodia briefly fired at each other in a relatively small, contested border area that each country claims as its own.

Both sides said they acted in self-defense. One Cambodian soldier was killed.

While the countries said afterwards they agreed to de-escalate the situation, Cambodian and Thai authorities continued to implement or threaten measures short of armed force, keeping tensions high.

Thailand added tight restrictions at the border with Cambodia that stopped almost all crossings except for students, medical patients and others with essential needs. On Thursday, Thai authorities announced they were sealing the border entirely.

Cambodia also banned Thai movies and TV shows, stopped the import of Thai fuel, fruits and vegetables and boycotted some of its neighbor’s international internet links and power supply.

Fighting sparks political turmoil in Thailand

Nationalist passions on both sides have inflamed the situation.

Thailand’s Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra was suspended from office July 1 to be investigated for possible ethics violations over her handling of the border dispute following a leaked phone call with a senior Cambodian leader.

In the June call, Paetongtarn referred to Cambodian former Prime Minister Hun Sen as “uncle” and criticized Thai military leadership, remarks framed by critics as disrespectful to national sovereignty.

Hun Sen was succeeded by his son Hun Manet in 2023 but remains influential as Senate president. He was a longtime friend of her father, Thaksin Shinawatra, a popular but divisive former prime minister, but they became estranged over the border dispute.

The leaked call sparked widespread outrage and protests. Paetongtarn’s Pheu Thai party-led coalition also weakened when its second-largest partner, the Bhumjaithai Party, withdrew support, citing her perceived softness toward Cambodia.

Paetongtarn has apologized and argued her comments were a negotiating tactic. Her ally, former Defense Minister Phumtham Wechayachai, was appointed acting prime minister.

Border claims cause periodic tensions

Border disputes are long-standing issues that have caused periodic tensions between the two neighbors. Thailand and Cambodia share more than 500 miles of land border.

The contesting claims stem largely from a 1907 map drawn under French colonial rule that was used to separate Cambodia from Thailand. Cambodia has been using the map as a reference to claim territory, while Thailand has argued the map is inaccurate.

The most prominent and violent conflicts have been around the 1,000-year-old Preah Vihear temple.

In 1962, the International Court of Justice awarded sovereignty over the temple area to Cambodia. The ruling became a major irritant in bilateral relations.

Cambodia went back to the court in 2011, following several clashes between its army and Thai forces that killed about 20 people and displaced thousands. The court reaffirmed the ruling in Cambodia’s favor in 2013.

Cambodia has again turned to the international court to resolve the border disputes but Thailand has rejected the court’s jurisdiction.

By RAÚL MENDOZA and ISABEL MATEOS

CINTALAPA, Mexico (AP) — With Mexican cattle again barred this month from entry to the United States over fears of spreading a flesh-eating parasite, ranchers and veterinarians in Mexico hundreds of miles from the border are fighting what has U.S. agricultural authorities so on edge.

In the southern state of Chiapas, which borders Guatemala, the New World screwworm fly’s rapid spread appears to have caught most ranchers off guard, despite memories of previous outbreaks in the 1980s and 1990s.

Mexico is building a plant with U.S. support in Chiapas to produce sterile flies, which have proven effective at stopping the spread, but it won’t be ready until next year. Meanwhile, the price of medicines used to treat livestock infected with the screwworm have soared in price.

That has led some to fall back on home remedies like applying gasoline or lime to open wounds to coax out the worms.

In addition to the cost of the medicine, treatment requires careful monitoring and usually involves multiple courses. Any open wound, even very small ones, are an invitation to the fly to lay its eggs.

Veterinarian Alfredo Chávez left Chiapas to study in 1989, so he says he missed seeing the effects of that outbreak, but now he’s seen cases multiply in his corner of the state over the past month.

He’s heard of dozens of cases in the area now and treated about a dozen himself. It’s not just cows either — sheep, pigs, cats and dogs are targets as well.

Armed with a pair of blue tweezers and an aerosol spray that helps draw the maggots out, Chávez moves from animal to animal. He puts maggots in plastic tubes as samples, which he provides to agricultural authorities.

But beyond providing the tubes and encouraging ranchers to report cases, he said that the government hasn’t provided much help.

“We’ve faced it alone,” he said Wednesday.

The U.S. had just gradually started to reopen the border to cattle imports this month after an earlier suspension in May, when the Trump administration said that it would close it again after an infected animal was found in the Gulf coast state of Veracruz. While prevalent in Central America, the concern is that the fly is moving north.

U.S. officials worry that if the fly reaches Texas, its maggots could cause large economic losses, something that happened decades ago.

Ranch caretaker Edi Valencia Santos said that Mexican government officials have come to his community to talk to people with livestock, but so far without resources. He has had five infected animals on the ranch.

Despite cattle in this region going to domestic consumption rather than to the U.S., the presence of the screwworm in Mexico has frozen cattle exports to the U.S. nationwide.

Valencia said that he remembers the small planes distributing sterile flies during those earlier outbreaks, so is optimistic they will eventually help, but for now the costs are piling up on ranchers.

“It’s a big, big problem in Chiapas,” he said.

PARIS (AP) — French President Emmanuel Macron announced Thursday that France will recognize Palestine as a state, amid snowballing global anger over people starving in Gaza.

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Macron said in a post on X that he will formalize the decision at the United Nations General Assembly in September. “The urgent thing today is that the war in Gaza stops and the civilian population is saved.″

The French president offered support for Israel after the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas attacks and frequently speaks out against antisemitism, but he has grown increasingly frustrated about Israel’s war in Gaza, especially in recent months.

France is the biggest and most powerful European country to recognize Palestine. More than 140 countries recognize a Palestinian state, including more than a dozen in Europe.

France has Europe’s largest Jewish population and the largest Muslim population in western Europe, and fighting in the Middle East often spills over into protests or other tensions in France.

The Israeli Foreign Ministry had no immediate comment.

France’s foreign minister is co-hosting a conference at the U.N. next week about a two-state solution. Last month, Macron expressed his “determination to recognize the state of Palestine,” and he has pushed for a broader movement toward a two-state solution, in parallel with recognition of Israel and its right to defend itself.

Thursday’s announcement came soon after the U.S. cut short Gaza ceasefire talks in Qatar, saying Hamas wasn’t showing good faith.

Momentum has been building against Israel in recent days. Earlier this week, France and more than two dozen mostly European countries condemned Israel’s restrictions on aid shipments into the territory and the killings of hundreds of Palestinians trying to reach food.

The Palestinians seek an independent state in the occupied West Bank, annexed east Jerusalem and Gaza, territories Israel occupied in the 1967 Mideast war. Israel’s government and most of its political class have long been opposed to Palestinian statehood and now say that it would reward Hamas after the Oct. 7, 2023, attack.

Israel annexed east Jerusalem shortly after the 1967 war and considers it part of its capital. In the West Bank, it has built scores of settlements, some resembling sprawling suburbs, that are now home to over 500,000 Jewish settlers with Israeli citizenship. The territory’s 3 million Palestinians live under Israeli military rule, with the Palestinian Authority exercising limited autonomy in population centers.

NEW YORK (AP) — About 3.6 million hoses are under recall across the U.S. because hundreds have burst while being used, resulting in at least 29 injuries, including reports of temporarily impaired hearing.

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The recall covers a range of HydroTech-branded, 5/8-inch “Expandable Burst-Proof Hoses” that were sold at major retailers — including, Amazon, Walmart, Home Depot and Target — for garden, lawn care, car washing and other uses between January 2021 and April 2025.

The company said the hoses can burst if the interior, plastic strain relief “breaks or becomes fully unthreaded.”

According to a Thursday notice from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, the recalled hoses pose potential impact and hearing hazards because they can burst unexpectedly. Winston Products, which imported the hoses, has received at least 222 bursting reports to date — resulting in 29 injuries, “including one bone bruise, two sprains and five reports of temporarily impaired hearing from the sound of the hose bursting,” the CPSC notes.

Consumers in possession of the recalled hoses are urged to stop using them immediately. If the hoses were purchased at Ace Hardware, Do It Best, Home Depot or Walmart, Thursday’s recall notice adds, consumers can bring them into those stores to return the product for a full refund. Other impacted shoppers should contact Winston Products to initiate a claim online.

The hoses under recall were sold in various lengths and colors, but can be identified by date code markings and product names listed in Thursday’s notice. The recall only covers “HydroTech 5/8-inch Expandable Burst-Proof Hoses” made on or before August 31, 2024.