A senior Buddhist monk in Thailand is facing serious allegations after police accused him of misusing $2.8 million meant for his monastery. Phra Wachirayan Wi, 66, the abbot of the 14th-century Wat Phutthaisawan temple in Ayutthaya, was arrested on Thursday. He was arrested on suspicion of embezzlement and money laundering. A 47-year-old woman, allegedly involved
A major shift is unfolding on Yemen’s Red Sea coast. Houthi fighters have reportedly seized the strategic port city of Mokha from Saudi-backed government forces. The move brings the Iran-aligned group just 75km from the Bab al-Mandab Strait. Why does that matter? The narrow passage is a crucial gateway for trade between Asia and Europe.
What would you do with an unexpected $5,000 payment from the government? President Donald Trump says Americans could get exactly that if Republicans hold Congress after November’s midterm elections. Speaking at the GOP’s first-ever midterm convention in Dallas, Trump promised a “Trump dividend” for every American adult. With roughly 270 million adults, however, the proposal
What do you do after stealing $245 million in bitcoin? Apparently, throw the money at supercars, luxury watches and wild nightclub parties. Singaporean national Malone Lam, 22, pleaded guilty in the US on Tuesday to racketeering conspiracy. He admitted he helped organise one of the largest cryptocurrency thefts ever recorded. According to the US Department
A new road bridge has opened between Russia and North Korea but is it simply about trade, or something more strategic? Stretching across the Tumen River, the bridge is the first direct road link between the two countries. North Korean state media says it will boost “personnel exchanges, tourism and trade”. Russian Prime Minister Mikhail
A routine landing at Miami International Airport turned into a deadly disaster. What went wrong? An Amazon Air Boeing 767-300 cargo plane crashed shortly before 14:00 local time after flying in from San Juan, Puerto Rico. The aircraft overshot the runway, struck vehicles on the ground and caught fire, killing five people and seriously injuring
NASA has launched its newest space observatory. It is sending the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope into orbit on a mission that could reshape our understanding of the universe. A SpaceX Falcon Heavy lifted the roughly $4 billion telescope from Florida on Sunday. It began a journey toward Lagrange Point 2, about 1.6 million kilometres
The US says it has struck a huge oil deal with Venezuela, giving Washington control over more than 65 billion barrels of the country’s proven reserves. President Donald Trump called the agreement “historic”. He claimed it would more than double US oil reserves, increase supply and help bring down petrol prices. But what exactly has
A US judge has blocked the Pentagon from blacklisting Anthropic. This marks a major development in the AI company’s increasingly bitter dispute with the military. Why did the Pentagon target the maker of Claude in the first place? The conflict began after Anthropic refused to let the US military use its AI models for domestic
A devastating landslide-triggered flood has torn through the Himalayas, leaving nearly 1,500 people missing across Nepal and China’s Tibet. With rescuers still searching, could the disaster’s toll climb even higher? At least 165 people are feared dead, while Nepalese authorities say hundreds of foreigners remain unaccounted for. The hardest-hit areas sit along a popular route
Dolly Parton’s remarkable journey from a tiny Tennessee cabin to global stardom has come to an end. The country music legend died peacefully in Nashville on Tuesday at 80, her family said. How did a girl who wrote her first song about a homemade corncob doll become one of music’s biggest names? Parton never stopped
New Zealand is moving to restrict social media access for anyone under 16, but will the plan actually work? Prime Minister Christopher Luxon says children are being exposed to harmful content. They are also being exposed to addictive technology and online pressures they are not ready to handle. Under the proposed Online Safety Bill, platforms
