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Extreme athlete Felix Baumgartner has died in a paragliding crash in Italy. The Austrian sportsman, 56, reportedly lost control of his aircraft on Thursday at around 4pm in Porto Sant'Elpidio, Marche. Italian local media has reported the dare-devil crashed into the pool of the Le Mimose campsite after feeling unwell before taking off. A woman was also left injured in the incident after being struck by Baumgartner as he plummeted to the ground. She was taken to Murri Hospital, but her condition is not serious, according to initial reports. Baumgartner had taken off from Fermo, but while flying over the...

At least two dead in Israeli destruction of Catholic Church in Gaza: Enough - UpdatedThe Cross still stands, after an Israeli attack causes grave damage on the Church of the Holy Family in Gaza:(Image source: @catholicsat on Twitter)At least two of our fellow Catholic sisters in Gaza have been killed, and many are injured, including the Parish Priest. In declarations to Vatican News, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, Cardinal Pizzaballa, said the following: “What we know for sure is that a tank, the IDF says by mistake, but we are not sure about this, they hit the Church directly, the...

In my car today and Freddie Mercury’s “WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS” came on. Without a doubt, could have been written for the future Donald Trump and MAGA. I can just see Trump walking on stage with Freddy belting this out. A few excerpts:

Alcohol may have done more than just fuel celebrations in ancient societies. A study led by Václav Hrnčíř from the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology suggests that indigenous fermented drinks helped ancient societies grow in size and complexity. The study, published in Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, draws a link between alcohol and the rise of structured governance. Researchers analyzed data from 186 traditional societies worldwide. They found that communities producing their own alcoholic drinks, like fruit wines or cereal beers, often showed higher levels of political organization. The team focused on societies that existed before industrialization and widespread...

Space agency is looking for alternative ideas that can be incorporated into the design of the next iteration of SPEED flight vehicles. ================================================================ NASA is asking the public to help it with the design of an ejector system in its SPEED system. Image courtesy of NASA. ============================================================= July 16 (UPI) -- Dreaming of designing part of a rocket for NASA? The space organization is offering a challenge for those who think they can solve a capability gap in its Stratospheric Projectile Entry Experiment on Dynamics (SPEED), a two-stage stratospheric drop test architecture. SPEED is under development to bridge the state-of-the-art...

Did you know that Coldplay’s current live show has a whole kiss-cam segment, like an NBA game? During Coldplay’s live show, stadium screens apparently show unsuspecting couples in the crowd, and then Chris Martin urges them to kiss. I didn’t know that. Neither, apparently, did Andy Byron, CEO of the tech platform Astronomer, which is reportedly valued at $1.3 billion. At a recent Coldplay gig in Boston, Coldplay’s kiss-cam caught Byron all snuggled up with a woman who is not his wife, and that video quickly went viral. Earlier this week, Coldplay ployed a pair of shows at Foxborough’s Gillette...

When famed pirates overtook a Portuguese ship in 1721 once laden with treasure (now valued over $138 million), the battle went well for the pirates, who eventually sank the ship off the coast of Madagascar. A pair of American archaeologists now claim they’ve discovered the final site of the lost vessel. Known as the Nossa Senhora do Cabo—translated as Our Lady of the Cape—the ship left India with a Portuguese viceroy and the Archbishop of Goa, 200 slaves, and treasure aplenty. Pirates were ready and Olivier “The Buzzard” Levasseur led an ambush of the ship near Reunion Island in the...

An overturned truck spilled its load of milk into a road in New York's Columbia County. Photo courtesy of the Columbia County Sheriff's Office/Facebook July 15 (UPI) -- A tractor-trailer hauling a load of milk overturned in New York's Columbia County, resulting in what the local sheriff's office described as a "significant spill." Columbia County Sheriff Donald J. Krapf said in a social media post that investigators are probing the cause of the single-vehicle crash at the intersection of Gahbauer Road and State Route 217 in Claverack. "The tractor-trailer, which was hauling milk, overturned on its side, resulting in a...

The “Cola Wars” has apparently hit the White House. President Donald Trump said he suggested to Coca-Cola to change its formula use real cane sugar in Coke in the U.S. However, the company is mum so far, per the Associated Press. Other markets, such as Mexico and Australia, use real cane sugar. The U.S. production uses high-fructose corn syrup. “I have been speaking to Coca-Cola about using REAL Cane Sugar in Coke in the United States, and they have agreed to do so,” Trump wrote on social media. “I’d like to thank all of those in authority at Coca-Cola. This...

British Locals Protest Housing of Migrants [LIVE Coverage]

“The employment of individuals under the age of 21 in the cannabis industry is strictly illegal, a serious matter, and is not tolerated,” the statement said. “We encourage anyone with information about child labor or trafficking at any facility to immediately contact the Department.” Glass House did not immediately respond to a request for comment Monday. But in a statement posted to X last week, the company said it “does not and has never employed minors.” Federal officials raided the company’s operations in Santa Barbara and Ventura counties as part of the Trump administration’s ongoing campaign against undocumented immigrants in...

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt (Photo:Jordan Conradson/TGP) White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt addressed President Trump’s swollen legs and hand bruises on Thursday with an update from the President’s physician. “the President remains in excellent health, which I think all of you witness on a daily basis here,” she told reporters. In recent days, it was noticed that the President had bruising and other markings on the back of his hand and swollen ankles. This led to mass speculation, especially from the left, that President Trump was suffering from edema and a life-threatening heart condition. Photos:

Gov. Gavin Newsom on Wednesday confirmed he's seriously considering two options to try to redraw California's congressional districts to get more Democrats elected to the U.S. House of Representatives. The update comes after President Donald Trump earlier this week urged Republican state lawmakers in Texas to help the party pick up five seats in that state. Gov. Greg Abbott has directed the state Legislature to discuss redistricting in an upcoming special legislative session. Unlike Texas, the California Legislature does not draw district maps. Every 10 years, the state's independent redistricting commission undertakes the work through a lengthy, citizen-led process. Voters...

Portland, Ore. — Federal police officers enraged anti-ICE agitators after using a Donald Trump impersonation voice to issue official orders to vacate ICE facility property.

Explanation: Discovered on July 1 with the NASA-funded ATLAS (Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert, System) survey telescope in Rio Hurtado, Chile, 3I/ATLAS is so designated as the third known interstellar object to pass through our Solar System It follows 1I/ʻOumuamua in 2017 and the comet 2I/Borisov in 2019. Also known as C/2025 N1, 3I/ATLAS is clearly a comet, its diffuse cometary coma, a cloud of gas and dust surrounding an icy nucleus, is easily seen in these images from the large Gemini North telescope on Maunakea, Hawai‘i. The left panel tracks the comet as it moves across the sky against fixed...

LONDON — In a protest to make the nation's democratic process more inclusive, Muslims in the United Kingdom marched to demand that the voting age be lowered to 13 so their wives would be able to vote. Following intense debate on the wisdom and necessity of lowering the voting age in the UK, lawmakers agreed that there could be a case to be made for making it legal for the child brides of the country's millions of Muslim residents to vote in elections. "Every wife in the UK should have the right to vote, even when they are children," said...

America's first national park and the first and oldest in the world, Yellowstone National Park, is regularly in the headlines. Just recently, Yellowstone visitors shared the grim reality of trying to gain entry to the park while it experiences record-high visitation—on a Tuesday morning of all days, not even on a busy weekend. However, some of the most eyebrow-raising stories coming out of the park typically involve visitors regularly crossing the line; for example, only days ago, a park visitor was spotted actually tasting the thermal water of one of Yellowstone's springs. Naturally, though, accounts of tourists behaving badly also...

After weeks of speculation, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced a government reshuffle with economist Yulia Svyrydenko as prime minister and Justice Minister Olga Stefanishyna as the next US ambassador. Svyrydenko played a key role in concluding a natural resources agreement giving Washington preferential access to Ukraine's mineral wealth. -snip- Svyrydenko, who was confirmed by Ukraine's parliament on Thursday, is known for finalising a natural resources deal with the United States that nearly derailed ties between the countries. "She was the key and the only person leading these negotiations. She managed to prevent them from unravelling," said Tymofiy Mylovanov, a former...

In the latest episode of the “IMO” podcast — the same one where Barack Obama appeared alongside Michelle to help shut down rumors of a looming divorce — the former first couple shifted the conversation to the topic of boys and fatherhood. But what started as a seemingly harmless discussion quickly veered into unsettling territory.(snip) Obama didn’t just downplay the importance of fathers; he openly advocated for embedding young boys to be groomed by members of the LGBTQ community. The message was that traditional masculinity isn’t enough, and boys need to be groomed — ideologically, emotionally, and socially — by...

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt reiterated on Thursday that Russia must reach either a ceasefire or a peace deal with Ukraine within the next 50 days if it wants to avoid facing "steep" tariffs and secondary sanctions, which would target countries buying oil from it. Leavitt acknowledged that the trade between the United States and Russia amounted to only $3 billion last year but noted that it is "still a lot of money," and tariffs on such trade could motivate Russia to accept a ceasefire. The White House press secretary noted Trump has put "many hours" into resolving the...