1790750877 photo

Meet Jayda Dawn, the Indiana 11th-grader who became America’s national poetry champion in her first year and won $20,000 | World News

PC: James Kegley/ National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) Jayda Dawn, then an 11th grader at University High School of Indiana in Carmel, was named the 2026 Poetry Out Loud National Champion in April and won a $20,000 grand prize. She recited poems by Langston Hughes, Alice Duer Miller, and Albery Allson Whitman. Months after…

Read More
1790747219 photo

In the 1980s, a Swedish flea-market buyer paid just over SEK 20 for a small Buddha statue; four decades later, experts traced it to the Ming dynasty, and it sold for SEK 2.44 million at auction

A tiny Buddha statue bought for just over SEK 20 at a Swedish flea market in the 1980s has turned into a multimillion-kronor discovery after experts identified it as a rare work from China’s Ming dynasty. The gilt-bronze statue of Shakyamuni Buddha, which had spent decades in a private Swedish home, fetched a final price…

Read More
1790743561 photo

A Utah couple bought a 30-acre ‘Lord of the Rings’-inspired estate in 2017, later added a pond, guesthouse and waterfalls; after a $5 million price cut, the 32-room property is now asking $38 million

The main exterior with the large circular/“hobbit” entrance (Photo: Homes.com) A 30-acre estate in Provo, Utah, inspired by The Lord of the Rings, has received a $5 million price cut and is now listed for $38 million, Realtor reported. The 32-room property was previously asking $43 million. It includes a nearly 23,000-square-foot main house, a…

Read More
1790739904 photo

Chinese AI agents display ‘concerning’ behaviour in safety tests, mirroring US systems

Chinese-powered AI agents are showing behaviours such as deception, bypassing safeguards and concealing failures, according to research papers and technical assessments reviewed by Reuters.These findings mirror growing concerns about the risks posed by increasingly autonomous AI systems in the United States.In one experiment, agents powered by models from Alibaba, DeepSeek and Moonshot falsely exaggerated their…

Read More
1790736200 photo

‘Conspiratorial farce’: North Korea denies planting land mines that injured 3 South Korean soldiers

The powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on Wednesday rejected South Korean findings that North Korea likely planted the land mines that injured three South Korean soldiers last week, describing Seoul’s claims as a “conspiratorial farce.“Also Read: North Korean mines likely behind blasts that injured 3 South Korean personnel, Seoul saysKim Yo…

Read More
1790732524 photo

In 1964, an Arizona couple began building a carport with discarded bottles; years later, the project had grown into a 2,700-sq-ft home made with thousands of bottles and listed for $432,500

Main entrance of the constructed bottle and rock home (Source: Coldwell Banker Realty) A Tucson couple’s simple plan to build a shelter for a family car in 1964 grew into a 2,700-square-foot home made from tens of thousands of discarded glass bottles. The unusual property has now been put on the market for $432,500 (£342,000)….

Read More
1790728855 photo

Forty-five North Carolina property owners sued over roads planned through their neighborhoods for the 1,800-home Hilton Bluffs project; the developer removed both links, then the county denied its revised one-access plan

A legal dispute over access roads for a planned 1,800-home development in North Carolina has led to revised site plans being rejected. The dispute began after 45 property owners took legal action to stop proposed roads from passing through their neighbourhoods. Development company Copper Builders faced a lawsuit filed in Superior Court on behalf of…

Read More
1790725200 photo

Oldest known house built in Reno was sold for $1 on one condition: it had to be moved and preserved; in 2025, the 1868 Benham-Belz House was relocated after more than 150 years

The Benham-Belz House, which is believed to be the oldest surviving house built in Reno, sat at 347 West Street, on Lot 8 of Block E of the original Reno townsite, for 150 years. But in July 2025, the historic house left the neighbourhood where it had stood since the 19th century. Its move was…

Read More
1790721520 photo

Florida officials have cleared the way for a $100 million-plus surf park where developers plan a 35-acre attraction with a six-acre artificial wave lagoon and half-mile beach miles from the ocean

A major new attraction is moving forward in Wesley Chapel, Florida, bringing the possibility of ocean-style surfing to a community located miles from the coast. According to the Pasco County Community Website, Pasco County commissioners voted 3-0 in September to approve a comprehensive plan amendment and rezoning connected to the Two Rivers development. The approval…

Read More
1790717872 photo

In the early 1970s, David Wolkowsky began stewarding a remote island near Key West and hosted famous guests there; decades later the 14-acre Ballast Key became part of a national wildlife refuge

A private 14-acre island nine miles west of Key West that once hosted famous writers and Hollywood stars has officially become part of the Key West National Wildlife Refuge. The move completes a conservation effort that lasted for decades. Known as Ballast Key, the remote tropical island was bought in the early 1970s by the…

Read More