Bangladesh engages with Myanmar's Arakan Army insurgents
DHAKA -- Four Rohingya refugees were fishing early in the morning near the border at Cox's Bazar in southern Bangladesh earlier this month when they were abducted by members of the Arakan Army, Myanmar insurgents.
Luckily for these four, Border Guard Bangladesh managed to secure their release the next day, after negotiating with the Arakan Army. It made a clear contrast to the 55 Bangladeshi fishermen who were released by the Buddhist-dominated insurgent group in mid-April, days and months after they were kidnapped.
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Nikkei Asia
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In this photo taken in June 2015, Shi Yongxin, third from right in yellow and red robes, abbot of the Shaolin Temple, attends a ceremony in Xi'an in northwest China's Shaanxi province. (Chinatopix via AP) BEIJING (AP) -- China's famous Shaolin Temple announced on Sunday that its abbot is under investigation on suspicion of misappropriation and embezzlement of project funds and temple assets. Shi Yongxin is alleged to have committed criminal offenses and violated Buddhist precepts by maintaining relationships with multiple women over a long period and fathering at least one child, according to a notice from the temple's authority on its WeChat account.
Asahi Shimbun
5 hours ago
- Asahi Shimbun
Head of China's famous Shaolin Temple under investigation on suspicion of embezzling funds
In this photo taken June 28, 2015, Shi Yongxin, third from right in yellow and red robes, abbot of the Shaolin Temple, attends the opening ceremony of an urban zen center named Shaolin Chan Hall in Xi'an in northwest China's Shaanxi province. (Chinatopix via AP) BEIJING--China's famous Shaolin Temple announced on Sunday that its abbot is under investigation on suspicion of misappropriation and embezzlement of project funds and temple assets. Shi Yongxin is alleged to have committed criminal offenses and violated Buddhist precepts by maintaining relationships with multiple women over a long period and fathering at least one child, according to a notice from the temple's authority on its WeChat account. The notice said a joint investigation was being carried out by multiple departments and its findings would be announced in due course. The fame of the Shaolin Temple, based in the central Chinese province of Henan, has gone beyond a religious institution. It is also renowned for its martial arts culture, or kung fu, which has been referenced in many movies and TV dramas, including the 1982 film 'The Shaolin Temple,' starring martial arts superstar Jet Li. Local media reported that Shi Yongxin, whose original name is Liu Yingcheng, had faced accusations in the past, including claims that he fathered several children and embezzled money. Provincial investigation reports exonerated him of all charges in 2016, according to the Caixin Global news outlet. Shi Yongxin entered the Shaolin Temple in 1981 and became its abbot in 1999, according to the temple's website. China's state news agency Xinhua reported in 2015 that he was known as a 'CEO monk,' attracting criticism for developing commercial operations to promote kung fu shows and merchandise. Earlier on Sunday, Chinese local media outlets reported that authorities had dismissed as fake an online notice claiming Shi Yongxin was intercepted by authorities while trying to flee to the U.S. with a number of mistresses and some 20 children.
Japan Today
a day ago
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Cambodia-Thailand conflict: Monks, dancers and volunteers offer respite as violence escalates
Thai Buddhist monks who fled clashes between Thai and Cambodian soldiers take shelter in Surin province, Thailand, Saturday, July 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit) By Jintamas Saksornchai, Sopheng Cheang, Anton L. Delgado and Grant Peck Long-festering tensions over border territory have escalated into armed conflict between Cambodia and Thailand, leading to dozens of deaths on both sides and displacing tens of thousands of people. Neither side is prepared to claim responsibility for the first volley on Thursday, and they each blame the other for the continuing skirmishes. While regional and international allies and organizations have called for a ceasefire, scant attempts at mediation had resulted in no peace talks as of early Sunday. It's a grim situation, but there is some light amid the darkness. On both sides of the border, some people are working around the destruction, intent on creating a safe space or finding normalcy. A temple in Thailand's northeastern province of Surin has something most of the country's 27,000 active Buddhist monasteries do not: a concrete bunker to shelter from bombs and shelling. The temple, which asked not to be identified by name because of safety concerns, is about 10 kilometers (6 miles) from the border with Cambodia. The temple's abbot, Phut Analayo, said the decision to build a bunker was made shortly after a brief armed clash between Thai and Cambodian soldiers in May inflamed cross-border relations, culminating in the current fighting. Phut Analayo said donations paid for materials and equipment for the bunker, and the temple's monks and nearby villagers built it in four or five days. Construction was speedy because the bunker is made from large precast concrete drainage pipes a little over a meter (yard) in diameter, protected by mounds of earth, metal frames and sheeting. It's divided into two tubular rooms, each about four meters (yards) long, and wired with electricity. There's a kitchen with a kettle, an electric rice cooker and basic cookware. It's a tight fit, but because most of the nearby residents have fled to safer areas, there is enough space for the temple's six monks and the dozen or so villagers who sleep there every night. 'When we need to use the bathroom, we have to wait to make sure if things are quiet. If it's quiet out there, we will go out,' Phut Analayo said. He said his temple has ceased religious activities for now but that the remaining monks stayed out of concern for the monastery and the people it serves. 'If I leave, the people who rely on us will lose their spirit," he said. 'I'm scared too, but I'll just stay here for now, when I can.' Thai monasteries frequently serve as sanctuaries for stray dogs, and the more than 10 living at the temple are seemingly unbothered by the crisis. "If I leave them behind, how will they live? What will they eat? So I have to stay to take care of them. Every life loves their lives all the same,' Phut Analayo said. Learning ballroom dancing is how some senior citizens in northeastern Thailand usually spend their leisure hours, but the latest border conflict has motivated them to try to help some of the thousands of people displaced by the fighting. About a dozen members of the Ballroom Dance for Health of the Elderly of Surin Province club went Saturday to a shelter housing about 1,000 evacuees, where they handed out clothes, toiletries, blankets and pillows. Retired civil servant Chadaporn Duchanee, the ballroom teacher, initiated the project. On Friday, she gathered with friends at her home to fill small yellow plastic bowls with toiletries and other goods to give to the evacuees. The 62-year-old posted on Facebook about the donation she made on Thursday, and her pupils proved happy to participate, too. 'We want to help, said Chadaporn. 'Everyone left in a hurry, without bringing their belongings, just trying to escape the line of fire, so they fled empty handed,' Prapha Sanpote, a 75-year-old member of Chadaporn's donation team, said she hopes the conflict is resolved quickly. 'Our people couldn't go home. They have to leave home, and it's not just the home they had to leave,' he said. 'It's their belongings, their cattle, or their pet dogs, because they left without anything. How will those animals live? Everything is affected.' It looks just like your typical roadside stall found commonly all over Southeast Asia, but this one seems exceptionally well-provisioned. Also, it's not selling anything, even though there are boxes of bottled water, plastic bags filled with fruit and vegetables and the occasional packet of instant noodles. It is there to solicit donations of food and other essentials to give to evacuees escaping fighting along the border. It also gives handouts to members of the armed forces headed in the other direction, toward the front lines. This pop-up operation is at the border of Siem Reap, home to Cambodia's Angkor Wat temple complex, and Oddar Meanchey province, which is an active combat zone. It's a one-stop shop on a key road that convoys of police and military vehicles roar along with sirens blaring. Chhar Sin, a 28-year-old self-described youth volunteer, mans the stall, which is located in her home Srey Snam district. 'We're used to seeing people bustling around, we're not surprised by that,' she said, between handing out parcels to eager hands. But even here, 100 kilometers (60 miles) from the border with Thailand, she senses people don't feel safe, as the streets seem emptier than usual. She and other volunteers, are spending the weekend collecting supplies from ordinary Cambodians to dole out to the less fortunate. Families drive by on tractors to donate vegetables, while others swing by on motorbikes carrying bananas, dragon fruit and rambutans. 'For today and tomorrow, we are standing here waiting to give gifts to the people who are displaced from war zones and are seeking safety,' Chhar Sin said Saturday. 'We will provide them with food because they have nothing, and some of them come with only a few clothes and a hat.' When she woke up Saturday morning, Kim Muny, made the decision not to open her convenience store, but instead cook rice for members of the Cambodian military and fleeing civilians. 'Cambodians have a kind heart. When we heard that soldiers and displaced people needed help, we decided to help with an open heart,' said the 45-year-old after donating parcels of rice wrapped in banana leaves at the stall. 'We know our soldiers don't have time to cook, so we will do it for them.' Alone in a mostly evacuated pagoda, Tho Thoross began a Buddhist chant to express gratitude for all that is good in life. The 38-year-old Tho Thoross is one of the last monks in the city of Samrong, the provincial capital of Cambodia's Oddar Meanchey province, which is on the front line of the cross-border fighting. Most civilians have fled the town, spooked by the sounds of artillery and what they suspect was a Thai military drone hovering above them. All but seven of the 40 monks at the monastery have left. As chief monk of Wat Prasat Samrong Thom, Tho Thoross ordered more than a dozen of the temple's novices — young monks in training — to evacuate to displacement camps farther from the border with Thailand, which is 40 kilometers (25 miles) away. The temple is the largest in the town of Samrong, as well as the oldest, dating back over a century. Its distance from the border does not keep it protected from artillery and aerial attacks, but it nonetheless is considered a relatively safe place. Most Cambodians and Thais are Buddhists. Nine monks from other temples that felt more insecure are also staying at Wat Prasat Samrong Thom. In the Buddhist tradition, temples are community centers and almost always places of sanctuary, and on Thursday, several displaced villagers stopped by briefly on their way to a government-arranged safety zone. Tho Thoross provided them with food. He said the latest fighting is '10 times bigger' than prolonged clashes over similar issues in 2008 and 2011, when the clashes were confined to certain areas. 'But today, the fighting is happening everywhere along the border.' said Tho Thoross, who has lived in Oddar Meanchey for nearly three decades. 'As a Buddhist monk living in a province bordering Thailand, I would like to call on both sides to work together to find a solution that is a win-win solution for all,' he declared Saturday. Sopheng Cheang and Delgado reported from Samrong, Cambodia; Peck reported from Bangkok. Associated Press video journalist Tian Macleod Ji in Surin, Thailand contributed to this report. © Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
