Zoo, forced to close over animal cruelty, reborn as rehab centre

Before it was forced to close over its “intolerable” treatment of animals, the Islamabad Zoo was home to neglected elephants and underfed lions pacing back and forth behind the bars of their enclosures. Now, four years later, it is a rehabilitation centre for Pakistani wildlife, providing a refuge for motherless leopard cubs, tigers seized from owners...

Man nabbed for posing as Singapore Airlines pilot at Delhi airport

NEW DELHI/SINGAPORE (The Straits Times/ANN): Police in India arrested a man at the New Delhi international airport on April 25 for impersonating a Singapore Airlines (SIA) pilot, after he was found walking around the airport dressed in full pilot gear. In a fashion not dissimilar to the semi-fictional Hollywood film Catch Me If You Can starring...

New York returns 30 pillaged relics to Cambodia and Indonesia

PHNOM PENH/NEW YORK (AFP): New York prosecutors said Friday they had returned to Cambodia and Indonesia 30 antiquities that were looted, sold or illegally transferred by networks of American dealers and traffickers. The antiquities were valued at a total of US$3 million, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said. Bragg said in a statement that he had returned...

Thaksin-linked Thai TV broadcaster to shut down after 15 years

BANGKOK (Bloomberg): Voice TV, a Thai media company owned by former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra’s family, said it will cease operations next month and lay off about 200 employees including journalists. Voice TV is known for its television channel with programs reaching about 22 million households nationwide through digital terrestrial, satellite, and cable TV, according to...

Taiwan hit by several quakes again, strongest reaching 6.1-magnitude, no immediate reports of damage

TAIPEI (AFP): Taiwan was hit by a series of at least 10 earthquakes in the early hours of Saturday, with the strongest reaching 6.1 magnitude, according to the island's Central Weather Administration. No tsunami warning reports followed the earthquakes, which triggered mobile phone alarms in capital Taipei, an AFP journalist said, and came just several days...

Timeline: King Charles set to resume duties after cancer treatment

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's King Charles will return to public duties on April 30 following nearly three months of treatment for cancer, Buckingham Palace said on Friday. The positive news about the king's health comes after a tough start to 2024 for the royal family. Six weeks after the king's cancer diagnosis was revealed in February,...

Andrew Tate human trafficking trial can start, Romania court says

BUCHAREST (Reuters) -The trial of internet personality Andrew Tate on human trafficking charges can go ahead, a Romanian court ruled on Friday, 10 months after he was first indicted, although his representative said he would challenge that decision. Tate was indicted in June along with his brother Tristan and two Romanian female suspects for human trafficking,...

Azerbaijan’s Aliyev rejects criticism over journalists’ arrests

BERLIN (Reuters) - Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev on Friday rejected criticism over the arrests of journalists and said the fact that people had access to the internet meant press freedom was assured. "We must protect our media landscape from external negative influences, just like any other country, and everyone must comply with the laws," Aliyev told...

Crypto liquidations cross $210m with longs accounting for 85%

The cryptocurrency market has witnessed over $210 million worth of liquidations across the board, with long positions accounting for 85% of this bloodbath amid the latest market turmoil. Data from crypto analytics resource Coinglass confirms that market participants have suffered a blow from the recent turbulence, which has triggered a 4% drop in the price of...

Russia pilots new system for tracing crypto-to-fiat links

Russia’s central bank and Rosfinmonitoring pilot a new system to trace connections between crypto transactions and fiat operations. The Bank of Russia alongside Rosfinmonitoring, the country’s main body for financial intelligence, is working on a platform to detect connections between fiat operations and crypto transactions amid efforts to evaluate the size of the local crypto market. According to a report from...