Indonesia Are they rule-breakers or are they free? Freedom for these riders comes in an unlikely form, the Vespa. Equipped with only their imagination, everything from plastic bottles to tree stumps is fair game to customize their vehicles, transforming them into the gnarliest rides with enough character to put motorbikes to shame. In Indonesia, these vehicles mean more than just freedom of expression – for these riders, this is about liberation of the soul. Their families and communities don't get it, so they become outcasts and rebels. But that doesn't matter anymore; they've created inner circles with a bond and passion so deep, they feel like family. And they welcome the side-eyes: to these riders, strange looks and attention feel like being famous.

Singapore Fish. To some, food, to others, symbols of divinity. In Singapore, owning a certain fish can be the ultimate display of wealth. Meet Eugene "Dr. Ark" Ng, a fish cosmetic surgeon who operates on a fish native to Malaysia: the Arowana, that fetches between anywhere between $250 USD to $100,000. Hailed as the pioneer and best of the best when it comes to beautifying Arowanas, we spent a day learning about how he works and why he's revered. The Arowana is an elegant, 3-foot long fish with shining scales. It once was known as a villagers common source of food, but now, it's held as a symbol of wealth and success. These fish are carefully cultivated and highly limited, with 1 out of 10,000 fish in a supply being especially "prized." What role does Dr. Ark play in all this? He's the doctor you bring your fish to when they need a clean up. With more precision handling the fish than most expert sushi chefs, he swiftly adjusted the fish's "droopy" eye and scales, proving why he is the GOAT when it comes to cosmetic fish surgery.

Ishigaki Island, Japan. Everyone's heard about people running into aliens. And everyone thinks generally the same thing: those people are crazy. Claims of encounters with extraterrestrials are usually dismissed as superstition or hallucination. So, when we heard reports of numerous and consistent UFO sightings on Ishigaki -- a modest, neighboring island to Okinawa in southwest Japan -- we arrived as skeptics. When we got to the island, we met Naoyoshi Watanabe, a resident who's heard of a creature with freaky features..."like some sort of mummified octopus, but with a face, arms, and legs." He says his friends came across the creature while fishing in the popular tourist spot, the "Blue Cave." Weirdly, about a week after they told Naoyoshi-san about their encounter and request to look into it, they'd forgotten about it entirely. When Naoyoshi-san's tried to follow up, they don't know what he's talking about. That's weird. But it's one story, and we weren't fully convinced. So we trekked up to the northernmost tip of the island to meet with Suekazu Maeda, a man who claims to regularly 'summon the vehicles of the legendary beings.' He was excited by captive audience, and walked us through his tried and true method - flashing a light into the night sky. Initially, nothing happened, just as expected: no outer-world being appeared. But then, almost as if on command, spheres of light as big as the stars were bursting into the night sky. Over the course of an hour, we were in awe as we witnessed around 8-9 flashes of light interacting with each other in the sky. We were shocked--it felt like being in a daze. Maeda-san, however, was unfazed. He's seen them before, many times, even heard them make noise. He only wishes he could see their faces.

The United States and Taliban authorities are contributing to the dire suffering of Afghanistan, disproportionately women and children. Bombings continue – particularly in places or worship, attacks on minority groups are on the rise, and 22M people are facing extreme hunger according to The World Food Program. It’s expected that a million children under the age of 5 will die within this year for hunger related reasons. President Biden’s executive order to divert half of Afghanistan’s ($7B) aid to 9/11 victim’s families has been met with criticism: a statement by 14 U.N. independent rights experts also blamed the U.S. government for making life worse for Afghan women through blocking billions of dollars that could be used to provide desperately-needed humanitarian relief to tens of millions in the country. Indian External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar reminded Europe on Tuesday: “You spoke about Ukraine, I remember what happened less than a year ago in Afghanistan where an entire civil society was thrown under the bus by the world,” he said in response to a question asked by Norway’s foreign minister, Anniken Huitfeldt. Here’s Keshia Hannam with what has been happening since the Taliban took over and how the US contributed to, and needs to be held accountable, for the crisis in Afghanistan. Link to support: https://linktr.ee/AFBT

Kazakhstan became the world's No.2 centre for bitcoin mining after the United States last year. WHY? Cryptocurrency mining requires massive amounts of electricity and because it's so cheap in Kazakhstan, the country saw an opportunity to capture the growing market when China outlawed crypto mining in June 2021. However, this growing market was put on hold when the Kazakh government shut its Internet down during a time of unrest. This is part 1 of how Kazakhstan went from a bitcoin paradise to a miner's limbo.

Australian Senator Pauline Hanson is facing review by the Human Rights Commission for racism, after her latest tweet to Senator Mehreen Faruqi. Hanson has historically championed a Muslim ban, mockingly worn a burqa, and linked Islam to terrorism. Will Australia continue to allow it? This comes off the back of Queen Elizabeth’s death, where Faruqi tweeted that she couldn’t mourn the leader of a racist empire. Hanson tweeted back to Faruqi, telling her to “piss off back to Pakistan”, amongst many other offensive remarks. In her string of decades of racist, anti-immigrant comments, Hanson has also tweeted that Australia is in danger of being “swamped by Asians” Will the Australian Human Rights Commission uphold the racist complaint or continue to allow her outbursts? To learn more about Australia’s history of racist and anti-immigrant laws and their lasting impact, check out EST Explains episode on the White Australia Policy here.