Latest news for 24 July 2025

CAMBODIA

Is this war?

After months of tension (which we covered here), Thailand has now reported civilian casualties from a Cambodian missile that’s hit a residential border area. Thai and Cambodian troops are now clashing at multiple points along their shared border, with both sides also scrambling jets. (CNN)

Comment: This risks escalating further, as both sides seek to project strength to domestic audiences. In the meantime, the regional response has been muted: China has issued a routine statement, while ASEAN hasn’t even managed that.

UNITED STATES

At it again.

In an extraordinary intervention, President Trump’s spymaster (Gabbard) has accused former president Obama of treason, and filed a criminal referral with the justice department after declassifying a 2020 Republican-authored report questioning the Obama-era investigations into Russia’s 2016 electoral interference. Obama has dismissed the accusations as "nonsense". (The Hill)

Comment: Gabbard’s declassified document doesn’t seem to challenge the conclusion of a bipartisan 2020 Senate intelligence committee report (co-signed by Marco Rubio) which found Russia did indeed try to interfere in the 2016 US election. Ditto, there doesn’t appear to be any major new proof of a conspiracy against the Trump campaign. Critics argue the administration is just trying to distract from…

UNITED STATES

Say it ain’t so.

The White House has hit back at reports in both The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times that President Trump’s own attorney-general (Bondi) told him in February his name appears in justice department documents relating to the late convicted predator, Jeffrey Epstein. It’s unclear how significant any mentions might be, with the WSJ reporting they could be unverified hearsay. (WSJ and NYT)

INDIA

Just popping by.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is in the UK to sign a landmark free trade deal that’s been years in the making, and Delhi’s most significant beyond Asia. (Guardian)

Comment: Both Delhi and London saw this long-running negotiation with renewed urgency once President Trump announced his tariffs earlier this year. It’s another example of how, perhaps counterintuitively, protectionism can beget liberalisation, as trade-exposed nations hustle to diversify their ties.

ARGENTINA

Rocky road.

New figures suggest the Argentine economy contracted in May for the third time this year, amid falling wages and rising unemployment. October’s mid-term elections will be a key test for President Milei’s austerity strategy. (BA Times)

NIGERIA

Wanna see a magic trick?

Nigeria’s GDP is now 30% bigger after the national statistics agency updated its methodology to include new sectors. That brings the GDP up to ~$243B. (Yahoo)

SOUTH KOREA

Let’s make babies.

South Korea has recorded its highest fertility growth rate in decades so far this year, along with a corresponding increase in marriages. (F24)

Comment: Seoul has long struggled with the world’s lowest fertility rate, so this baby bump is coming off a low base and still looks fragile. Still, it might be a sign that Korea’s pro-natalist policies (more parental leave, bigger child subsidies, more generous housing loans for newlyweds) are paying off. We wrote about that here.