Cambodia's Defense Ministry says a huge explosion at a military base in the southwest that killed 20 soldiers and injured many others was an accident caused by a “technical issue” from the old and degraded ammunition that was being moved. The army already said on Tuesday that Saturday’s blast was believed to have been an accident caused by mishandling of ammunition by troops. The Defense Ministry’s followed an allegation leveled by an opposition politician-in-exile suggesting that the explosion had been an attack. It also warned anyone publishing “untrue information” about the blast could face prosecution.

A haunting new video released in the early morning hours is the latest effort by the Army to lure soldiers to some of its more secretive units. Hints of its origin are tucked into the frames as they flash by touting the power of words, ideas and “invisible hands.” Army Special Operations Command hopes that those drawn to the video may be interested in joining as one of its psychological warfare soldiers. The release of the Ghost in the Machine 2 video comes two years after the first one which generated a firestorm of online chatter.

An immigrant from Laos who has been battling cancer won an enormous $1.3 billion Powerball jackpot in Oregon earlier this month. But Cheng “Charlie” Saephan's luck hasn't just changed his life — it's also drawn attention to Iu Mien, a southeast Asian ethnic group with origins in China, many of whose members fled from Laos to Thailand and then settled in the U.S. following the Vietnam War. During a news conference Monday introducing him as one of the jackpot winners, Saephan wore a sash identifying himself as Iu Mien. Cayle Tern, president of the Iu Mien Association of Oregon, says the win is significant because so many Iu Mien refugees came to the U.S. with nothing.

Massachusetts Air National Guard member Jack Teixeira, who pleaded guilty to federal criminal charges for leaking highly classified military documents about the war in Ukraine and other national security secrets, will face a military justice proceeding later this month. Air Force officials say he faces two charges in the military justice system, including obstructing justice and failing to obey a lawful order. Prosecutors will present evidence during the military proceeding on May 14 at Hanscom Air Force Base in Massachusetts. The case could then move to a court-martial. Teixeira admitted illegally collecting some of the nation’s most sensitive secrets and sharing them on the social media platform Discord.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is in Israel to press for a cease-fire deal with Hamas, saying “the time is now.” Blinken warned that Hamas would bear the blame for any failure to get an agreement to halt the war in Gaza off the ground. He greeted the families of Israeli hostages held in Gaza who were protesting outside a meeting between him and Israel’s president, telling them that setting their loved ones free was “at the heart of everything we’re trying to do.” Blinken is trying to advance a truce that would free hostages in exchange for a halt in the fighting and delivery of much needed food and aid to Gaza.