By EILEEN NG, JINTAMAS SAKSORNCHAI and SOPHENG CHEANG, Associated Press

PUTRAJAYA, Malaysia (AP) — Thailand and Cambodia have agreed to an “immediate and unconditional” ceasefire in a significant breakthrough to resolve deadly border clashes that entered a fifth day, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said Monday.

Anwar, who chaired the talks as head of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations regional bloc, said both sides have reached a common understanding to take steps to return to normalcy following what he called frank discussions.

In this photo released by The Government Spokesman Office. Thailand’s acting Prime Minister Phumtham Wechayachai, front, departs from Military Airport in Bangkok, to Malaysia, to attend a meeting to discuss regional peace at the Prime Minister’s Office of Malaysia, with Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet, Monday, July 28, 2025. (The Government Spokesman Office via AP)

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet and Thai Acting Prime Minister Phumtham Wechayachai have agreed to an “immediate and unconditional ceasefire” with effect from midnight local time Tuesday, Anwar said as he read out a joint statement.

“This is a vital first step towards de-escalation and the restoration of peace and security,” Anwar said.

Military and officials from both sides will also hold meetings to defuse border tensions, he said. The foreign and defense ministers of Malaysia, Cambodia and Thailand have been instructed to “develop a detailed mechanism” to implement and monitor the ceasefire to ensure sustained peace, he added.

Hun Manet and Phumtam hailed the outcome of the meeting and shook hands at the conclusion of the brief press conference.

Hun Manet said he hoped that bilateral ties could return to normal soon so that some 300,000 villagers evacuated on both sides could return home.

It is “time to start rebuilding trust, confidence and cooperation going forward between Thailand and Cambodia,” he said.

Phumtham said the outcome reflected “Thailand’s desire for a peaceful resolution.”

The fighting flared last Thursday after a land mine explosion along the border wounded five Thai soldiers. Both sides blamed each other for starting the clashes, that have killed at least 35 people and displaced more than 260,000 people on both sides. Both countries recalled their ambassadors and Thailand shut all border crossings with Cambodia, with an exception for migrant Cambodian workers returning home.

The Malaysian meeting followed direct pressure from U.S. President Donald Trump, who has warned that the United States may not proceed with trade deals with either country if hostilities continue. The joint statement said that the U.S. is a co-organizer of the talks, with participation from China. The Chinese and American ambassadors to Malaysia attended the meeting that lasted over two hours.

Local students wrap food to give to villagers while they take refuge in Buddhist pagoda in Srey Snam district, Siem Reap province, Cambodia, Sunday, July 28, 2025, amid the fighting between Thailand and Cambodia. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)

The violence marks a rare instance of open military confrontation between ASEAN member states, a 10-nation regional bloc that has prided itself on non-aggression, peaceful dialogue and economic cooperation.

Evacuees from both sides of border earlier prayed for a ceasefire deal.

At an evacuation shelter in Cambodia’s Siem Reap province far away from the border, Ron Mao, 56, said she abd her family fled their home 0.6 mile away from the front line when fighting broke out Thursday. They took refuge in a shelter but moved again to another camp further away after hearing artillery shelling.

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“I don’t want to see this war happen. It’s very difficult and I don’t want to run around like this,” she said. “When I heard our Prime Minister go to negotiate for peace, I would be very happy if they reached the deal as soon as possible, so that I and my children can return home as soon as possible.”

Thai evacuees echoed the sentiment.

“I beg the government. I want it to end quickly,” said farmer Nakorn Jomkamsing at an evacuation camp in Surin hosting more than 6,000 people. “I want to live peacefully. I miss my home, my pets, my pigs, dogs and chicken,” the 63-year-old woman said.

The 500-mile frontier between Thailand and Cambodia has been disputed for decades, but past confrontations have been limited and brief. The latest tensions erupted in May when a Cambodian soldier was killed in a confrontation that created a diplomatic rift and roiled Thailand’s domestic politics.

Jintamas reported from Surin, Thailand, and Sopheng Cheang from Samrong, Cambodia. Associated Press writers Chalida Ekvitthayavechnukul and Grant Peck in Bangkok contributed to this report.

Highway 52 in St. Paul will be closed overnight throughout much of August for repairs on the Winifred Street pedestrian and bicycle bridge.

Repairs are expected to begin on the Winifred Street pedestrian and bicycle bridge crossing Highway 52 and Lafayette Freeway in St. Paul on Aug. 1, 2025. (Courtesy of the Minnesota Department of Transportation)

The bridge, north of Cesar Chavez Street, has been closed since October when it was struck by a recycling truck’s overheight load, according to MnDOT officials.

MnDOT plans to begin work Friday to remove the damaged eastern end over northbound Highway 52 and replace it with a new section to match the current structure.

Most construction work will be done at night to lessen traffic impacts. Northbound and southbound traffic on Highway 52 is expected to be closed and detoured during nighttime construction. Neighbors should expect noise and bright lights.

Repairs are expected to be completed by late August as weather permits.

Updated road condition information can be found at 511mn.org or by calling 511.

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Today is Monday, July 28, the 209th day of 2025. There are 156 days left in the year.

Today in history:

On July 28, 1945, a U.S. Army B-25 bomber crashed into the 79th floor of New York’s Empire State Building, the world’s tallest structure at the time, killing 14 people.

Also on this date:

In 1794, Maximilien Robespierre and Louis Antoine de Saint-Just were executed by guillotine during the French Revolution.

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In 1914, World War I began as Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia.

In 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson announced he was increasing the number of American troops in South Vietnam from 75,000 to 125,000.

In 1976, an earthquake devastated northern China, killing at least 242,000 people, according to an official estimate.

In 1984, the Los Angeles Summer Olympics officially opened; 14 Eastern Bloc countries, led by the Soviet Union, boycotted the Games.

In 1995, a jury in Union, South Carolina, rejected the death penalty for Susan Smith, sentencing her to life in prison for drowning her two young sons (Smith will be eligible for parole in November 2024).

In 1996, 8,000 year-old human skeletal remains (later referred to as Kennewick Man) were discovered in a bank of the Columbia River in Kennewick, Washington.

In 2004, the Irish Republican Army formally announced an end to its armed campaign against British rule in Northern Ireland.

In 2015, it was announced that Jonathan Pollard, the former U.S. Naval intelligence analyst who had spent nearly three decades in prison for spying for Israel, had been granted parole.

In 2018, Pope Francis accepted the resignation of U.S. Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, the emeritus archbishop of Washington, D.C., following allegations of sexual abuse, including one involving an 11-year-old boy. Both died in April of 2025.

In 2019, a gunman opened fire at a popular garlic festival in Gilroy, California, killing three people, including a six-year-old boy and a 13-year-old girl, and wounding 17 others before taking his own life.

Today’s Birthdays:

Music conductor Riccardo Muti is 84.
Former Senator and NBA Hall of Famer Bill Bradley is 82.
“Garfield” creator Jim Davis is 80.
TV producer Dick Ebersol is 78.
Actor Sally Struthers is 78.
Architect Santiago Calatrava is 74.
CBS TV journalist Scott Pelley is 68.
Actor Lori Loughlin is 61.
Jazz musician-producer Delfeayo Marsalis is 60.
UFC president Dana White is 56.
Actor Elizabeth Berkley is 53.
Basketball Hall of Famer Manu Ginobili is 48.
Actor John David Washington is 41.
Actor Dustin Milligan is 40.
Rapper Soulja Boy is 35.
England soccer star Harry Kane is 32.
Pop/rock singer Cher Lloyd is 32.
Golfer Nelly Korda is 27.

As aggressive and successful as Minnesota’s defense was in the third quarter to get the Lynx back in Sunday night’s game, the lack thereof before and again early in the fourth quarter proved costly.

Atlanta ultimately held off a late Lynx charge and handed Minnesota its first regular-season home loss in 15 outings with a 90-86 win at Target Center.

“We didn’t feel that playing hard is an adjustment and that’s what we had to do at halftime, and we did,” said coach Cheryl Reeve, whose team was down 14 points at halftime. “In the fourth quarter we lost our ball pressure again, we didn’t guard again. We did it for one quarter today.”

Napheesa Collier once again lit up the score sheet with 32 points, eight rebounds, seven assists, four steals and two blocks in almost 37 minutes of action.

Nine of of those points came in the final 4:38 when the Lynx (22-5) thrillingly turned a 13-point deficit into a three-point game in the final seconds and the sellout crowd of 8,788 was rocking.

Collier had seven points in the final 1:22, including a jumper with 10.6 ticks remaining.

She then stole the inbounds pass along the baseline less than three seconds later, but her momentum forced her to step out of bounds before she could get the ball to a teammate.

The positives of the final few minutes are not something Reeve will dwell on.

“We didn’t lay down. That doesn’t mean a whole lot to us, that’s what you’re supposed to do … but we had bigger problems on the night. We just didn’t come to play defensively. We were really easy to play against in the first half. Offensively, we gave into their physicality. It’s not new for us, we saw it in Atlanta.”

That was June 27, a game the Lynx won 96-92 in overtime.

Collier was 14 of 18 from the field. Minnesota’s other four starters were a combined 12 for 34.

“I thought Phee was the only one playing with great aggression … she just didn’t much help,” Reeve said.

Alanna Smith finished with 12 points, Courtney Williams had 11 to go with nine assists. Kayla McBride and Bridget Carleton combined for four points.

Natisha Hiedeman had all 10 of her points off the bench in the fourth quarter.

Brittney Griner, Atlanta’s 6-foot-9 agile center, scored 17 of her season-high 22 points in first half when the Dream shot 60.7% and opened a 46-32 lead at the break. She entered averaging 10.8 per game.

“Coming out in that first half like that really set us back, but we got back on track in the second half,” Collier said.

That started with the defensive pressure.

Providing a bolt of energy off the bench, Diamond Miller’s aggression on both ends helped set the tone as Atlanta (15-10) made just five of 20 shots in the third quarter and Minnesota got within three before the Dream led 60-54 at quarter’s end.

“We were sporadic in our aggression, When we did it we were pretty effective,” Reeve said.

The Dream then made their first six shots of the fourth to push the lead to 74-63.

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