Houston Rockets forward Kevin Durant said Saturday that LeBron James and the new-look Philadelphia 76ers have the offensive firepower to compete for the 2027 NBA championship, comparing the team’s combined scoring power to the championship Golden State Warriors squads he once played on.

Speaking at a USA Basketball Foundation charity event in Ladera Ranch, California, Durant evoked his two Golden State Warriors title teams, which also featured Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson, when discussing the scoring potential of Philadelphia’s newly assembled core of James, Jaylen Brown, Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey. “The last time they put three 20-point scorers on a team, they said it was unfair, which was the [Warriors] team I was on,” Durant said. “[The 76ers] have got four 25-point scorers on this team. So, hell yeah, I think they’re going to be a contender. They’re going to be a fun team to watch. It’s going to be League Pass-worthy.”

Brown, Embiid and Maxey each averaged at least 25 points per game last season, giving the 76ers a level of combined scoring depth that Durant suggested exceeds even the star power he experienced during his own championship years in Golden State, when the Warriors’ trio of 20-point scorers drew criticism from around the league for creating an uneven competitive landscape.

Philadelphia’s roster transformation this offseason has been significant. The 76ers acquired Brown from the Boston Celtics in a trade before adding James on a two-year, $8 million contract following a lengthy free agency process that saw James ultimately choose Philadelphia over several other prominent suitors. Oddsmakers have responded to the moves by ranking the 76ers among the league’s leading championship contenders for next season, trailing only the Oklahoma City Thunder and San Antonio Spurs in current title odds.

The stakes carry significant historical weight for both the franchise and its newest star. Philadelphia is seeking its first NBA championship since 1983, a drought spanning more than four decades. James, meanwhile, is pursuing a milestone that would be unprecedented in league history: becoming the first player ever to win an NBA championship with four different franchises, following his previous titles with the Cleveland Cavaliers, Miami Heat and Los Angeles Lakers.

Beyond his comments on the 76ers, Durant used the same charity event to address his own future with the U.S. national basketball team, reiterating his desire to compete at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. Durant would turn 40 shortly before those Games begin, but he has previously said he does not want to simply age out of consideration for the roster. “I didn’t want to just take my name out of consideration just because of the simple fact that I’m older and I did it before,” Durant said in earlier comments regarding his Olympic ambitions. “Grant understands my love for Team USA. That’s my family. The level of love I have for Team USA and the whole organization over there is unmatched, so I’d love to be part of it until I’m done playing.”

Durant has played in the past four Olympics and became the career scoring leader for USA men’s basketball in the process, but he has said he wants to earn any potential spot on the 2028 roster rather than receive automatic consideration based on his past accomplishments. Speaking about how that decision would ultimately be made, Durant deferred to USA Basketball’s leadership. “It’s really on [USA Basketball managing director] Grant Hill and what Team USA wants to do,” Durant said. “I stay on top of my game and hopefully I get that call, but there’s so many great players who deserve to be on the team.”

If selected for the 2028 roster, Durant would have the opportunity to become the first men’s basketball player in Olympic history to win five gold medals, provided the United States wins the men’s tournament for a sixth consecutive time. Durant, James and Curry famously played together for the first time at the 2024 Paris Olympics, leading Team USA to gold with victories over Nikola Jokic and Serbia in the semifinals and Victor Wembanyama and host-nation France in the championship game, a run that many assumed at the time would mark the trio’s final Olympic appearance together given their ages.

In his first season with Houston after being traded from Phoenix, the 37-year-old Durant has continued performing at an elite level, averaging 26.1 points, 5.4 rebounds and 4.4 assists per game while shooting 50.6% from the field, 40.4% from three-point range and 88.1% from the free-throw line, numbers that underscore why he remains in serious consideration for a spot on the national team roster despite his age.

Durant’s remarks add to the wave of reaction across the league since James’s decision to sign with Philadelphia became official, with players, executives and analysts continuing to weigh in on how the addition reshapes both the 76ers’ immediate championship outlook and the broader competitive landscape heading into the 2026-27 NBA season.

One of the most closely followed stories involves the disappearance and death of two Russian siblings in Thailand. Thai police have made significant progress, with suspects confessing to the killings after investigators discovered the siblings’ buried motorcycle, providing crucial physical evidence in the case. The investigation captured international attention as authorities raced against time following the initial disappearance, with local media detailing the complex sequence of events leading to the arrests.

In another high-profile case, Thailand awaits the outcome of a Georgian investigation into the death of Thai YouTuber “Hlun Solo,” a travel content creator whose passing has highlighted hidden risks faced by solo content creators operating in the region. The case has sparked broader conversations about safety protocols for digital creators working independently, with Thailand’s growing creator economy facing scrutiny over inadequate safeguards. The family has since authorized repatriation of the vlogger’s remains, though Georgia’s delayed reporting of the death has drawn criticism and calls for answers from Thai officials.

Tragedy also struck with a Bangkok bar fire that left dozens dead, marking one of the more devastating incidents in recent memory. Additionally, security concerns persist in southern Thailand, where five soldiers were killed in a checkpoint attack, underscoring the region’s ongoing insurgency challenges that show no signs of abating despite years of conflict.

Economic and Financial Developments

Thailand’s economic landscape shows mixed signals. The country recorded a current account deficit of $3.5 billion, while private investment eased in June and retail sales fell at a softer pace, according to TradingView data. However, personal spending rose at a faster pace, suggesting resilient consumer demand despite broader economic headwinds.

In a notable financial development, Thailand’s 2-billion-baht Savings Plus bond tranche sold out in just 21 seconds, demonstrating strong investor appetite for government securities. Meanwhile, the Bank of Thailand is developing a baht-backed stablecoin to enhance payment systems and financial efficiency, signaling the country’s push toward digital currency innovation.

On the regulatory front, Thailand is cracking down on USDT transactions as part of broader efforts to combat China-linked criminal networks, while also moving closer to removal from a financial watchlist—a positive signal for the country’s international financial standing, as detailed in Bangkok Post’s coverage of the development.

Trade relations remain complex, with Thailand detailing US tariff exemptions and duties across key export categories, even as questions persist about whether Thailand has sufficient leverage to negotiate favorable terms with Washington.

Infrastructure and Technology Investment

Thailand is positioning itself as a regional technology and infrastructure hub. True Internet Data Center is seeking a $2 billion loan to build new AI-focused data center capacity, reflecting the global AI investment surge flowing into the country. This growth, however, raises sustainability concerns as energy-intensive data centers challenge the nation’s environmental goals.

The government has unveiled an ambitious “Siam Silica” plan to drive a regional semiconductor hub, complemented by a broader semiconductor roadmap aimed at building domestic high-tech manufacturing capacity. Thailand is also targeting advanced green manufacturing hub status, aligning technology growth with environmental commitments.

Transportation infrastructure is expanding significantly, with eight high-speed rail contracts due for tender in December and a 27-billion-baht rail link project connecting the Gulf coast to the Andaman coast. Additionally, Thailand’s first megawatt-level EV charging station has launched, supporting the country’s electric vehicle transition.

Regional Relations and Humanitarian Concerns

Tensions along the Thai-Cambodian border continue to generate humanitarian concern, with over 20,000 Cambodians remaining displaced following border clashes, according to UN experts. Additionally, Cambodian jobseekers fear falling into debt traps amid Thailand’s border reinforcement measures, highlighting the human cost of heightened security postures.

Thailand’s approach to Myanmar has also drawn criticism, with human rights organizations urging the government to end legitimization of Myanmar’s military regime and instead expand engagement with democratic alternatives.

Sports, Tourism, and Cultural Highlights

Thailand scored a major sporting win as MotoGP confirmed Thailand will host the 2027 season opener, marking the series’ first 850cc race of the new era. This announcement generated coverage across multiple international motorsport outlets, cementing Thailand’s growing status as a motorsport destination.

In tourism, Thailand continues deploying culinary “soft power” to boost exports and global cultural influence, while also planning “wellness sandboxes” to drive economic growth through health-focused tourism initiatives. The country’s online travel boom is being reshaped by AI technology amid an increasingly crowded digital marketplace.

Cultural recognition arrived with southern Thailand landing its first UNESCO heritage site, while the historic “Death Railway” prepares to apply for World Heritage status, honoring a significant but somber chapter in the nation’s history.

Governance and Regulatory Reform

Thailand is overhauling more than 100 laws to boost national competitiveness, alongside efforts to set stricter business registration checks aimed at curbing nominee arrangements. The government is also moving to limit cannabis strictly to medical use, reversing earlier liberalization policies, and reviewing export control regimes to ensure compliance readiness for businesses navigating international trade requirements.

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King Charles III met privately with Prince Harry, Meghan Markle and their two children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet, on July 10, marking the first time the king had seen his younger son’s family together in more than four years, Buckingham Palace confirmed.

The king and Queen Camilla hosted Harry, Meghan and their children at Highgrove House, the monarch’s private estate in Gloucestershire, west of London. It was the first time Charles had seen his two grandchildren in person in more than four years, and the first time Harry and Meghan had been in the United Kingdom together since 2022, when they attended Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral. Buckingham Palace described the gathering as a private family visit and said no photographs or additional details would be released.

The meeting followed days of uncertainty over the Sussexes’ travel plans. Harry had arrived in London the previous week for a series of charity engagements, including an Invictus Games Foundation event in Birmingham, and there had been widespread media reports beforehand about whether Meghan and the children would join him. According to BBC News, Harry had been reassessing whether it would be safe for his wife and children to travel amid an unresolved dispute over his security arrangements while in the UK, after his request for taxpayer-funded protection during the visit was denied.

Notably absent from the Highgrove reunion were Prince William and Catherine, Princess of Wales, who instead appeared together at a separate public event in Windsor the same day. Buckingham Palace has not commented on the reason for their absence.

Roya Nikkhah, royal editor of The Sunday Times, reported that William and Harry have not seen each other or spoken since Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral in 2022. Writing about the Highgrove meeting, Nikkhah said, “What will the Prince of Wales make of his father’s olive branch to the Sussexes? He won’t like it, that’s for sure.” She added that while William has largely stopped discussing his brother publicly, “his feelings of betrayal by his brother’s departure from the monarchy and subsequent outbursts still sting.”

The Highgrove meeting was not the first sign of a gradual thaw between Harry and his father specifically. In September 2025, Harry and Charles held a private tea at Clarence House, their first in-person meeting in 19 months, which Buckingham Palace also confirmed at the time. That meeting followed Harry telling the BBC in May 2025 that his father would not speak to him “because of this security stuff,” and that he was eager to reconcile with the royal family, saying, “I would love reconciliation with my family. There’s no point in continuing to fight anymore. Life is precious.”

The relationship between Harry and the rest of the royal family has remained strained since he and Meghan stepped back from official royal duties in 2020 and relocated to California. That strain deepened following the 2023 publication of Harry’s memoir, “Spare,” in which he wrote that William had physically pushed him to the ground during an argument about Meghan, whom William had reportedly described as “difficult,” “rude” and “abrasive.” Harry said in the book that he did not retaliate and that William later apologized. Asked last year whether he regretted making those claims public, Harry told the Guardian, “My conscience is clear.”

Harry’s UK security arrangements have remained a central and unresolved point of tension. After he stepped back from royal duties, his taxpayer-funded protection was downgraded from full-time coverage to case-by-case review. He challenged that change in court and lost his appeal earlier this year.

Following the Highgrove meeting, neither Buckingham Palace nor representatives for the Sussexes released further public comment beyond confirming that the visit had taken place. No date has been announced for any future meeting between the two branches of the family.

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Losing a smartphone can be a stressful experience, but Samsung Galaxy owners have access to a suite of built-in tools designed specifically to help locate, lock or remotely erase a missing device before it falls into the wrong hands. Here are five practical steps Galaxy owners can take to track down a lost phone.

1. Use the SmartThings Find website from any browser. Samsung Galaxy devices ship with a service called SmartThings Find, formerly known as Find My Mobile, which uses a user’s Samsung account to locate, ring or remotely wipe a lost device. To use the service, visit the SmartThings Find website at smartthingsfind.samsung.com and sign in using the same Samsung account associated with the missing phone. The tool can be accessed from a desktop computer, tablet or any other device with a web browser, and once signed in, users will see all of their Find-compatible devices listed for selection. The lost phone generally needs an active internet connection for real-time location tracking to work, though on newer Samsung models, offline location detection is also possible under certain circumstances.

2. Enable offline finding before you lose your phone. SmartThings Find includes a feature called Offline Finding, which allows a lost device to be located even when it is no longer connected to the internet, provided the phone is still powered on. The feature works by creating a mesh network of nearby Samsung devices that have consented to participate, using Bluetooth Low Energy connections to relay location data back to Samsung’s servers, even when the lost phone itself lacks a direct internet or cellular connection. Because this feature relies on proximity to other participating Samsung devices, it works best in populated areas where other Galaxy users are likely to be nearby. Owners should confirm this setting is turned on in advance, since it cannot be enabled remotely after a phone has already gone missing.

3. Turn on “Send last location” for low-battery situations. If a lost phone’s battery dies before it can be located, SmartThings Find can still provide its last known position, provided the “Send last location” feature has been enabled beforehand. When active, this setting automatically transmits the device’s location to Samsung’s servers once the battery drops to 20%, giving owners a final reference point even after the phone powers down completely. This feature, along with offline finding and general remote-find permissions, can be checked and enabled by opening Settings, navigating to Security and Privacy, then selecting Lost Device Protection and confirming that “Allow this phone to be found,” “Send last location” and “Offline finding” are all switched on.

4. Use a paired Galaxy Watch to locate a misplaced phone nearby. For situations where a phone has simply been misplaced somewhere close by, rather than lost entirely or stolen, Galaxy Watch owners can use their watch to help locate it. Pressing the Home button on the watch and swiping to the Samsung Find app allows users to select their phone from a list of connected devices and view its location. Tapping the ring icon on the watch causes the phone to play a sound, helping the owner pinpoint its exact location within a home, office or other nearby space. If the watch-based search does not succeed in locating the device, users can fall back on the SmartThings Find or Samsung Find websites for a more comprehensive search.

5. Remotely lock, unlock or erase the device if it can’t be recovered. Beyond simply locating a lost phone, SmartThings Find offers several additional remote management tools for situations where recovery seems unlikely or security has become a concern. Users can remotely lock the device to prevent unauthorized access, or in a worst-case scenario, remotely erase all data stored on the phone to protect personal information from falling into the wrong hands. The service can also retrieve a log of the most recent 50 calls and messages received on the phone before it went missing, which can sometimes help identify whether someone else has been using the device. An unlock option is also available, which removes any PIN, password or fingerprint locks on the device, a feature generally intended for situations where an owner has regained physical possession of the phone but has forgotten their own credentials.

To use any of these SmartThings Find or Samsung Find features, several baseline conditions must be met on the lost device beforehand. The phone or tablet must be powered on, since a completely powered-off device will only display its last known recorded location rather than real-time tracking. The device must also have been connected to a stable network at the time it was lost, a Samsung account must already be linked to the device, and remote control permissions must be enabled, a setting Samsung generally turns on automatically when a user first signs into a Samsung account on a new device.

Given how central these settings are to successfully locating a lost device after the fact, Samsung and technology support guides consistently recommend that Galaxy owners proactively verify their Find and remote control settings are properly configured well before a phone ever goes missing, since several of the service’s most useful recovery features, including offline finding and last-location reporting, cannot be activated remotely once a device has already been lost.