Thailand accuses Cambodia of ceasefire breach after deadly clashes

Thailand has accused Cambodia of violating a ceasefire just hours after it began, following five days of deadly border clashes that left at least 33 dead and displaced thousands, BBC reported.

Thailand says it halted fire at midnight but continued receiving gunfire from the Cambodian side. Cambodia denies any violations, claiming no clashes have occurred since the truce.

Tensions had flared over a long-standing border dispute, escalating into violence last week. A planned meeting between commanders has been delayed, raising doubts over the truce’s stability, according to BBC.

The ceasefire was brokered in Malaysia, with both sides agreeing to pull back troops and allow independent monitoring. It followed US pressure on Thailand to end the conflict or risk trade talks.

18 Kanwariyas killed in Jharkhand, India road accident

At least 18 Kanwariyas lost their lives and several others were injured in a tragic road accident early Tuesday morning on the Godda-Deoghar road in Jharkhand’s Deoghar district, India.

The incident occurred around 5:30 am near Jamunia More in the Mohanpur area, when a bus carrying pilgrims collided with a truck. The devotees were on their way to offer holy water during the Kanwar Yatra in the month of Shravan, according to Firstpost.

Emergency teams reached the site promptly and took the injured to a nearby hospital. The deceased have been sent for post-mortem.

India's AI-driven tech firings could derail middle class dreams

India's showpiece software industry is facing a moment of reckoning.

The country's biggest private sector employer Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) - also its largest IT services company - has announced it will cut more than 12,000 jobs at middle and senior management levels. This will reduce the firm's workforce by 2%, BBC reported.

The Mumbai-headquartered software behemoth employs over half-a-million IT workers and is considered a bellwether for business sentiment across India's $283bn software industry. It forms the backbone of formal, white-collar employment in the country.

The decision, TCS says, was taken to make the company "future ready" as it invests in new areas and deploys artificial intelligence at scale amid seismic disruptions in its traditional business model, according to BBC.

China offers childcare subsidy to tackle falling birth rate

China is offering parents 3,600 Yuan ($500) per year for each child under three, in its first nationwide effort to raise birth rates. The policy, announced Monday, will be backdated to early 2024 and aims to ease parenting costs for around 20m families, according to BBC.

Despite ending its one-child policy years ago, China’s population continues to shrink and age. Local governments have tested similar incentives, with some offering up to 100,000 Yuan per child. Raising a child in China now costs an average of $75,700—among the highest globally.