PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — Cambodia ’s army announced Friday that it will resume joint military exercises with the United States early next year after they had been suspended for almost a decade.
The announcement on the Facebook page of the Royal Cambodian Army came after several recent meetings of the countries’ top defense and other officials intended to patch up rocky relations. Cambodia halted such exercises with the U.S. in 2017.
The army’s statement said the two countries have agreed to hold a joint drill, “ Exercise Angkor Sentinel 2027,” in February. The news suggested the two sides made progress in overcoming their differences, including Washington’s concerns about Cambodia’s close economic and political ties with China.
The exercise aims to strengthen “interoperability and disaster-response capabilities, reflecting renewed momentum in Cambodia–U.S. military cooperation and a shared commitment to strengthening defense cooperation,” said Friday’s statement.
Washington has been especially concerned about China’s military presence at a Cambodian navy base on the Gulf of Thailand. Beijing assisted with a major upgrade of the base, and the United States has voiced its suspicions that China was granted special but secret privileges there. Cambodian officials have repeatedly rejected that.
The U.S. has also been critical of Cambodia’s human rights record, including continuing clampdowns on political dissidents and critics, often through legal action by courts that rights groups say are under the influence of the ruling Cambodian People’s Party of Prime Minister Hun Manet.
Hun Manet held talks on Aug. 14 with Elbridge A. Colby, Under Secretary for Policy at the U.S. Department of War, on bilateral relations, especially on defense matters, and the resumption of military exercises. Colby is the third-ranking official in the War Department.
Hun Manet said at the time he was satisfied with the “positive momentum in Cambodia–U.S. relations” and the progress in preparing for renewing the Angkor Sentinel exercise, as well as the continued cooperation in capacity-building for the Cambodian Armed Forces.
He stressed that “the joint exercises and training not only build military capability but also serve as a vital bridge to foster close friendship between the armed forces of both countries.”
U.S. Navy Adm. Steve Koehler, commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet, also met with Cambodian Armed Forces Commander-in-Chief Gen. Vong Pisen in August. The men said there were plans to resume a bilateral maritime exercise that had also been suspended in 2017.
FILE - The U.S. warship USS Cincinnati docks upon arrival at Ream Naval Base in Sihanoukville, Cambodia, Saturday, Jan. 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith, File)
PLYMOUTH, Mass. (AP) — A deadlocked jury returns Friday for the seventh day of deliberations in the Lindsay Clancy trial, a day after the jury's foreperson told the judge a single juror won’t follow the court’s instructions about reasonable doubt.
The extraordinary disclosure made Thursday in the form of a note delivered to the judge offered the clearest glimpse yet of what may be keeping jurors from reaching a verdict on whether the Massachusetts mother is criminally responsible for killing her three children.
The jury has twice told Judge William Sullivan that it is unable to agree on a verdict. On Thursday, Sullivan brought in each juror individually and questioned them in private. The judge then reread his instructions on reasonable doubt before sending them back to continue deliberating.
EDITOR’S NOTE: This story includes discussion of suicide. If you or someone you know needs help, the national suicide and crisis lifeline in the U.S. is available by calling or texting 988.
Clancy's lawyer, Kevin Reddington, then asked Sullivan to dismiss the juror from the case, arguing the person had refused to follow the judge's instructions. Prosecutors objected, and Sullivan declined to remove the juror.
“I don’t feel it is proper for me to side with one side or the other of the deliberations,” the judge said. “I don’t feel it’s appropriate for me to say, ‘I agree with one juror or the 11.’ I have asked if they are able to follow my instructions. They swore earlier that they could.”
At one point and for the first time in the trial, Clancy was brought to join a sidebar conversation with the judge. Paralyzed from the waist down after her suicide attempt, Clancy uses a wheelchair, which Reddington pushed to the front of the courtroom.
“She has a right to know what’s going on,” he later told reporters.
Clancy, a 36-year-old former labor and delivery nurse, doesn’t deny strangling her children in the basement of their home in 2023 before trying to take her own life. Her attorney argues that postpartum psychosis led to her actions, while prosecutors say she knew what she was doing when she killed Cora, Dawson and Callan Clancy, ages 5, 3 and 8 months.
The prosecution argues she deliberately sent her then-husband on errands to get him out of the house, and prosecutors have questioned the seriousness of her suicide attempt.
Clancy’s livestreamed trial has generated intense interest, with reporters and spectators packing the courtroom. The case has also sparked deep public divisions over her culpability and the issues around maternal mental health after childbirth.
If the jury ultimately can’t agree on a verdict, the judge could declare a mistrial. Prosecutors would then have to decide whether to put Clancy on trial again, drop the charges or try to negotiate a plea deal with her lawyer.
If the jury decides Clancy was criminally responsible for her actions, it could convict her of either murder or manslaughter. If she is acquitted, a judge could still order her confined to a mental health facility if an evaluation determines that she poses a danger to the public.
Lindsay Clancy's parents, Paula Musgrove, center, and Mike Musgrove, behind, leave Plymouth County Superior Court during a recess for lunch in Lindsay Clancy's murder trial Friday, Sept. 4, 2026, in Plymouth, Mass. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
FILE - A police barricade stands outside the former home of Lindsay Clancy in Duxbury, Mass., July 31, 2026. (AP Photo/Rodrique Ngowi, File)
Judge William Sullivan indicates he was going to declare a mistrial before changing course and giving Lindsay Clancy's defense attorney one hour to appeal as the jury in the case has indicated they they are unable to reach a verdict on Friday, Sept. 4, 2026, in Plymouth, Mass. (Greg Derr/The Patriot Ledger via AP, Pool)
Lindsay Clancy and lawyer Kevin Reddington look at jurors as Judge William Sullivan instructs them to continue deliberations during Clancy’s murder trial on Friday, Sept. 4, 2026, in Plymouth, Mass. (Greg Derr/The Patriot Ledger via AP, Pool)
Judge William Sullivan addresses the jury during deliberations during Lindsay Clancy’s murder trial on Friday, Sept. 4, 2026, in Plymouth, Mass. (Greg Derr/The Patriot Ledger via AP, Pool)
Kevin Reddington, defense attorney for Lindsay Clancy, walks through reporters and television cameras while arriving at Plymouth County Superior Court, Friday, Sept. 4, 2026, in Plymouth, Mass. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
Defendant Lindsay Clancy watches jurors enter the courtroom during her murder trial on Friday, Sept. 4, 2026, in Plymouth, Mass. (Greg Derr/The Patriot Ledger via AP, Pool)
Members of the public wait outside Plymouth County Superior Court during the trial of Lindsey Clancy, Friday, Sept. 4, 2026, in Plymouth, Mass. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
Kevin Reddington, lawyer for Lindsay Clancy, center, is surrounded by reporters as he leaves Plymouth Superior Court where the jury will return in the morning to continue deliberating in the murder trial of Lindsay Clancy for the 2023 killing of her three children, Thursday, Sept. 3, 2026., in Plymouth, Mass. (AP Photo/Josh Reynolds )
Defense attorney Kevin Reddington pushes the wheelchair of Lindsay Clancy for a sidebar with the judge during her trial in Plymouth, Mass., on Thursday, Sept. 3, 2026. (Greg Derr/The Patriot Ledger via AP, Pool)
People attend the Lindsay Clancy trial in Plymouth, Mass., on Thursday, Sept. 3, 2026. (Greg Derr/The Patriot Ledger via AP, Pool)
Defense attorney Kevin Reddington talks with Lindsay Clancy after a jury question during her trial in Plymouth, Mass., on Thursday, Sept. 3, 2026. (Greg Derr/The Patriot Ledger via AP, Pool)
Lindsay Clancy looks at jurors as Judge Sullivan asks them to start deliberations for a sixth day during her murder trial on Thursday, Sept. 3, 2026, in Plymouth, Mass. (Greg Derr/The Patriot Ledger via AP, Pool)
