Thai cave rescue: All 12 boys and soccer coach freed

 The last remaining member of the Wild Boars soccer team and their coach have been pulled out of a flooded cave in Thailand, bringing an end to a near three-week ordeal that prompted an international rescue effort that captivated audiences around the world.

The twelfth boy and his coach were the last of the team to be rescued Tuesday, after a complicated three-day operation to extricate the team, who became trapped on June 23 when rising flood water cut them off deep inside the cave.

In the last 18 days, what began as a local search for the missing 13 turned into a complex rescue operation, involving hundreds of experts who flew in from around the world to help.

The parents of the boys have maintained a constant vigil outside the cave since they went missing, praying for their safe return.

PADUPAFRICA joins The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW)

PADUPAFRICA Registered with the United Nations to be a the CEDAW stakeholders meeting programe july 2018 abuja . The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), adopted in 1979 by the UN General Assembly, is often described as an international bill of rights for women. Consisting of a preamble and 30 articles, it defines what constitutes discrimination against women and sets up an agenda for national action to end such discrimination.

The Convention defines discrimination against women as "...any distinction, exclusion or restriction made on the basis of sex which has the effect or purpose of impairing or nullifying the recognition, enjoyment or exercise by women, irrespective of their marital status, on a basis of equality of men and women, of human rights and fundamental freedoms in the political, economic, social, cultural, civil or any other field."

By accepting the Convention, States commit themselves to undertake a series of measures to end discrimination against women in all forms.Women now have a Hub were we can report,educate,learn,and network..We are causing the changes that we want to see.

Pad up Africa is a non for profit foundation an arm of chaperone group .. with a core goal of provision of Free Sanitary Pads & educative, informative and communicative materials on menstrual hygiene to adolescent girl.

'They're All Gone:' Car Crash Kills New Jersey Father and 4 Daughters, Leaving Mother Behind

A New Jersey mother was the only member of her family to survive a multi-car crash that occurred in Delaware on Friday and took the lives of her husband and four daughters.

Mary Rose Trinidad, her husband Audie Trinidad, 61 and their daughters — Kaitlyn, 20, Danna, 17, and 13-year-old twins Allison and Melissa —were driving on a Delaware highway in their minivan when a pickup truck going the opposite direction crossed over the median and slammed into their vehicle, ABC News 7 reported.

The family of six were returning home to Teaneck, New Jersey after going on a trip to Ocean City, Maryland according to the New York Post, who spoke with Audie’s brother, Daniel Trinidad.

“I’m trying to keep it together. We don’t know how we will cope once reality sets in. They’re all gone, gone,” he told the outlet.

“They’re a God fearing family. They go to church. My brother texted me a picture of the blue crabs they ate on 4th of July. They’re all gone in the blink of an eye,” he continued, adding that “Their bodies in the morgue are unrecognizable.”

A New Prime Suspect For Depression

It all started with ketamine. To some, vets mainly, it’s a horse tranquilliser. To others, a party drug. To those with severe clinical depression, a potential, literal, life-saver. A dose of ketamine can rapidly dull the symptoms of depression, providing immediate relief for those crippled by the darkest thoughts. And while ketamine does not work for everyone, it seems to work in many people who are untouched by standard anti-depressant drugs.

Ketamine could then be our best lead in the hunt for depression. For if we search for where ketamine affects the brain, and for how it affects the brain, we will get vital clues to the cause of depression. And so to a long-lasting effective treatment. Two studies just published in Nature used precisely this trick, and spectacularly uncovered not just compelling evidence of the tiny brain region to target, but exactly what goes wrong in it to create depression — that some neurons are, literally, depressed.

The hunt for depression is a tricky case for any neural detective. Your brain has 86 billion neurons. Where to start looking for suspects? Well, let’s think about that for a second. We want somewhere in the brain that can control how you feel things are going — that things are sometimes better than expected, and worth enjoying. And somewhere in the brain that has something to do with serotonin, because the long-standing treatment for clinical depression are “SSRIs”, drugs that make more serotonin available by stopping it from being mopped up.

Enter the lateral habenula. Rolls off the tongue, doesn’t it? But it fits the suspect’s profile. It connects to both serotonin and dopamine releasing neurons. When dopamine neurons burst with activity, that’s a signal we just got something better than expected (serotonin neurons might signal a similar thing). And when the lateral habenula releases a burst of activity, it stops the dopamine and serotonin neurons from bursting. Stops them from telling the brain — hey, that was unexpected.

State of emergency in parts of California as wildfires blaze amid high temperatures

More than 2,000 people have been evacuated near Santa Barbara as the flames destroyed dozens of buildings. Across the West, nearly 60 fires blaze across 13 states.
Temperatures were still hot, winds remained fierce, and terrain was making firefighting tricky across much of Northern California on Sunday.

Straddling the California-Oregon border, the Klamathon Fire grew by almost 40 percent overnight. It's the first California wildfire to kill a civilian since last December.

10 killed, 73 injured after train derails in northwestern Turkey

10 people killed and 73 were injured Sunday after a passenger train derailed in the northwestern Turkish province of Tekirdağ.

The Ministry of Transport said five carriages of the train's six cars, with 362 people on board, traveling from Uzunköprü, Edirne to Istanbul were toppled near Sarılar village of Tekirdağ's Corlu district after "the ground between the culvert and the rail collapsed" due to heavy rain.

Tekirdağ governor Mehmet Ceylan said injured people have been evacuated from the scene of the accident with helicopters.

Over 100 ambulances have been sent to the scene, TRT Haber said, quoting Health Ministry Undersecretary Eyüp Gümüş. The Turkish army said in a statement that it had sent helicopters to the scene.

Ceylan said the train derailed due to adverse weather conditions.

The transport ministry in a statement said officials confirmed that because of heavy rains, the ground beneath the rails subsided away, causing the train to derail.

Turkey Dismisses Over 18,000 Civil Servants for Alleged Terror Links

Turkey issued a decree on Sunday dismissing more than 18,000 personnel over suspected links to Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ) and other terror organizations, ahead of this month's expected lifting of a two-year-old state of emergency imposed after an attempted coup in July 2016.

The decree follows President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's victory in June 24 presidential election and comes before he swears his oath on Monday, inaugurating an executive presidency.

The Official Gazette said 18,632 people had been dismissed including 8,998 police officers in the emergency decree over suspected links to terror organizations and groups that "act against national security."

Some 3,077 army soldiers were also dismissed as well as 1,949 air force personnel and 1,126 from the naval forces.

Another 1,052 civil servants from the justice ministry and linked institutions have been fired as well as 649 from the gendarmerie and 192 from the coast guard.

Two-Year-Old in California Dies From Self-Inflicted Gunshot Wound

Police in Fresno, California are looking for answers after a toddler somehow managed to get his hands on a gun and shoot himself. The two-year-old was apparently in a bedroom of his home when the tragic accident occurred.

The boy’s parents were not at home at the time, and two family friends were reportedly watching over the toddler. “At the time that this occurred, there were two adults inside the home with the child. Neither of them are the child’s parents,” Fresno Police Department Lt. Rob Beck told local ABC affiliate KFSN. Other reports say the adults in the home were the father’s fiancée and a friend.
The shooting was reported to police shortly before 1 p.m. on Saturday. The toddler was still breathing when officers arrived and was transported to a nearby hospital. Police reported at 6 p.m. that doctors were unable to save him.

One of the things police are investigating is whether the gun the toddler grabbed belongs to the parents or the family friends who were home at the time. “You’re required to, if you have firearms in the home, they need to be locked and out of reach of children,” Beck said.

Drug addict, Hammed Akorede who set himself ablaze in Lagos is still alive

The family of drug addict, Hameed Akorode, who set himself ablaze with petrol, in broad daylight at Omole Phase 1 Ojodu, has released a video denying media reports that he has died.

Daughter of former deputy governor of Ondo State found dead under the bed of her boyfriend’s house

Adenike Khadijat Oluboyo, daughter of the immediate past Deputy Governor of Ondo State, Alhaji Lasisi Olugbenga Oluboyo, was found dead at her boyfriend’s house in Akure today July 8th..

Oluboyo, who was a final year student of Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba Akoko, was found dead in the house of Adeyemi Alao, popularly known as Q.S.

Femi Joseph, the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Ondo command told the News Agency of Nigeria that the incident is being investigated.

Twitter suspends over 70 million accounts

 

Twitter Inc. suspended more than one million accounts in recent months to reduce the flow of misinformation on the platform. Twitter and other social media platforms such as Facebook Inc. have been under scrutiny by United States lawmakers and international regulators for doing too little to prevent the spread of false content.


The companies have been taking steps such as deleting user accounts, introducing updates and actively monitoring content to help users avoid being victims to fake content. Twitter suspended more than 70 million accounts in May and June, and the pace has continued in July, the media reported on Friday, citing data it obtained.

Mark Zuckerberg is now the third-richest person alive

Move over, Warren Buffett: Mark Zuckerberg is now the third-richest person in the world.
The Facebook CEO jumped ahead on Friday with a net worth of $81.6 billion, according to calculations by Bloomberg. That put him about $373 million in front of Buffett, the legendary investor and Berkshire Hathaway (BRKA) CEO.

Zuckerberg claimed the No. 3 spot on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index because Facebook (FB) shares rose 2.4%. The stock has spiked about 15% this year.

For the first time, the three richest people alive are all tech titans. Amazon's Jeff Bezos, worth about $141 billion, is first, followed by Microsoft (MSFT) founder Bill Gates, according to the Bloomberg index.

Related: Jeff Bezos is the richest person in history

Tech stocks have been a bright spot in a sometimes volatile market this year. Netflix (NFLX) has more than doubled, Amazon (AMZN) has surged 46%, Apple (AAPL) is up about 11%, and Google (GOOG) has gained 9%.

Lindsey Bell, an investment strategist with CFRA Research, said last month that she expects tech stocks to help lead the market higher over the next year.

The fall of Brazil’s playboy billionaire

This week the businessman who was once a symbol of an era of hope in Brazil was sentenced to 30-years in jail for corruption.

Before his criminal conviction, maverick mining tycoon Eike Batista was widely considered Brazil's most daring and successful entrepreneur of a generation.

But he is now the symbol of a new time in the country that is struggling to recover economically whilst trying to turn a page on a history of corruption.

No other country in the world has had quite a dramatic reversal of fortune as Brazil in the past decade.

Just a few years ago, Latin America's largest economy was booming and playing catch up to more advanced nations.

And then it all crumbled. Political crisis, corruption, recession, impeachment and austerity measures - it all happened in a matter of months.

"From boom to bust" is how Brazil is often described in financial pages. Eike Batista's personal story follows roughly the same timeline.

Inspiration
At the height of his powers Eike Batista was an impressive businessman who amassed a fortune in mining with hard work, charm and the right connections in the business world.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY @SHULEYDEE & MANY HAPPY RETURNS!

Shuleydee added another fruitful year & decided to celebrate a low key lavish birthday party  with close friends and business associates,  she has been anticipated to shut down the industry 2018 the better half of the year with her very hot catchy single CHOCOLATE....

she was recently endorsed as a brand ambassador for PAD UP AFRICA an NGO initiative of CHAPERON GROUP abuja and in april she also penned a deal with Concorde Hotel Imo State, paparazzi have spotted her on the island with 2FACE ,TIMAYA, MR REAL DJ PRIDDY making power moves for her highly anticipated single,
her rise to stardom is imminent, she recently floated her label FOREVER RECORDS & shot Ayama Video in Abuja and she's billed to go on africa/us tour .

 here is a heart warming message from her  close friends posted on her page

3 YouTube vloggers die in waterfall accident in Canada

Popular Canadian YouTubers Ryker Gamble, Alexey Lyakh and Megan Scraper died on Tuesday in a tragic accident that occurred at Shannon Falls in British Columbia.

In a statement released on Wednesday, the Squamish RCMP wrote that, “On July 3rd, 2018, at 11:55 am Squamish RCMP received a call from BC Ambulance regarding three people who were swimming in one of the pools at the top of Shannon Falls.”

“The individuals were with a group of friends when they slipped and fell into a pool 30 metres below,” the police continued, adding that all three bodies had since been recovered, and the case was being referred to the British Columbia Coroners Service. They did not release the names of the deceased.

Shannon Falls is the third highest waterfall in British Columbia, reaching a height of 1,009 ft.

Japan floods: Dozens killed in deluges and landslides

  

Flooding and landslides have killed at least 50 people and left dozens missing in western areas of Japan.

Most of the deaths have occurred in Hiroshima prefecture, which has been hit by torrential rain since Thursday. Hundreds of homes have been damaged.

About 1.5 million people have been ordered to leave their homes and three million more advised to do so.

Thousands of police, firefighters and soldiers are taking part in search-and-rescue operations.

Some of the victims have been buried alive by landslides, Japan's Kyodo news agency reports.

In the town of Motoyama, about 600km (370 miles) west of the capital Tokyo, 583mm (23in) of rain fell between Friday morning and Saturday morning, Japan's meteorological agency said.

More rain is expected over the next few days.

Kyoto, about 300km to the east of Hiroshima, has also been hit by downpours. Local resident Manabu Takeshita told the Japan Times website: "Anybody living near the river has got to be nervous because typhoon season is just really starting.

Steve Ditko (co-creator of Spider-Man and Doctor Strange) found dead in New York apartment

American comics artist, writer and co-creator of Marvel comic superheroes Spider-Man and Doctor Strange, Steve Ditko has passed away aged 90 after being found dead in his midtown Manhattan apartment.

According to New York Police Department spokesman George Tsourovakas, Mr. Ditko was found dead on June 29.
Marvel President Dan Buckley said in a statement "the Marvel family mourns the loss" of Mr Ditko. Steve transformed the industry and the Marvel Universe, and his legacy will never be forgotten.

He added: "Our thoughts are with his family, loved ones, and fans during this sad time.”
Ditko was born in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, in 1927. After graduating from high school in 1945, Mr. Ditko joined the Army and was stationed in Germany, where he drew cartoons for a service newspaper.

He later worked in comics in the 1950s in New York, before eventually landing a drawing job with Marvel forerunner Atlas Comics.

In the 1960s Stephen Ditko, along with Stan Lee and Jack Kirby were behind the Marvel Comics’ rebirth, as well as Spider-Man and Doctor Strange. Mr. Ditko also created many of their enemies, including the Green Goblin, Baron Mordo, the Sandman, the Dread Dormammu, the Vulture and the Lizard.

Teenage girl dies after being swept over 125-foot waterfall

Authorities in western North Carolina have recovered the body of a 16-year-old girl who plummeted from a 125-foot waterfall on the Fourth of July.

H'Money Siu was hiking with a group when she entered a river above Rainbow Falls and was swept over the falls, Lake Toxaway Deputy Fire Chief Bobby Cooper told CNN.
Siu was with a group of about 25 people, including her 11-year-old sister, Cooper said.
The group parked their cars in Gorges State Park and then hiked the 1.5-mile trail to the falls, which are in the Pisgah National Forest, North Carolina State Parks spokeswoman Katie Hall told us.
Hall said Siu and her sister began swimming in Horsepasture River above the falls. Both were swept away by the current, but the younger sister was rescued before she went over the falls.
Siu's was the second death at the falls in the past two weeks.
Officials were notified of the incident at around noon. Cooper said a dive team found Siu's body in a pool of water below the falls at about 4 p.m.
About 45 rescuers from the county and other local areas were part of the effort to find Siu's body, Cooper said. The US Forest Service and North Carolina State Parks were also involved in the effort.
The girl and her family were from Charlotte, North Carolina, authorities said.
The other recent Rainbow Falls death
Siu's death is the second to take place at Rainbow Falls within a two-week period, Cooper said.
A 42-year-old man from Charleston, South Carolina, died June 23 after he was swept over the falls, CNN affiliate WYFF reported.
The man was hiking with his wife and dog above the falls when the dog got into the river. He went in to rescue the dog and they both went over the falls, WYFF reported.
"This is a situation where people are really excited to be in a special place and are overconfident they can handle the beat of the water," Hall told us. "Until people start take those warnings seriously, we'll continue to see things like this."
The many dangers of waterfalls
Hall said there's signage about waterfall safety at multiple places around Rainbow Falls and along the trail.
But at the end of the day, it's up to visitors to keep themselves safe, she said.
"Just stay off the top of the falls and look at them from the bottom," Cooper said.
Officials could add more signs and obstacles to keep people from getting close to the falls, Hall said, but that would compromise the park's wild setting.
"We strive to keep the parks as natural as possible," she said.
On their website North Carolina State Parks devote a whole page to waterfall safety, including warnings about how currents can sweep people over the falls and hold them underwater.

Mom shoots man who took her car with kids inside

A woman shot a man who she says took her car at a southern Dallas gas station Wednesday night.

Michelle Booker-Hicks told FOX 4 it happened around 10 p.m. as she was paying for her gas at a Shell station along Interstate 35 near Camp Wisdom Road.

She saw a man get into the car with her 2 and 4-year-old sons in the back seat. She jumped back in too, grabbed a gun from her glove box and shot the man in the face to get him to stop.

“I proceeded to jump in my backseat and told the gentleman to stop, to get out the car. He would not get out of the car. He turned around and looked at me. I reached over the armrest to get my glove compartment and that’s when I fired at him once I got the gun from my glove compartment,” she said.

Practically Everyone in the World Will See the Longest Eclipse of the Century on July 27. Here's What to Know

The longest total lunar eclipse of the century is set to dazzle most of the world, except the U.S., just shy of a year after the 2017 solar eclipse created a path of totality across America.

The July 2018 eclipse — which will happen on Friday, July 27 — will last about four hours and be visible across wide swaths of the world including Europe, Asia, Australia, Africa, South America and the Middle East. The totality, or when the earth’s shadow covers the moon and creates complete darkness, will last one hour and 43 minutes.

While many people will be able to see partial views of the eclipse, areas in eastern Africa, the Middle East and some parts of Europe and Asia will have some of the best views of the moon turning red and when the totality begins to recede, astronomers tell us.

Here’s everything you need to know about how to view the July 27 total lunar eclipse:

What is a total lunar eclipse?
A lunar eclipse occurs when the earth comes between the moon and the sun, causing the earth’s shadow to cover the moon. According to NASA, the moon often turns reddish during totality because the sunlight bending through earth’s atmosphere during sunsets and sunrises are then reflected onto the moon.

The “blood moon” will be a much different view than the 2017 solar eclipse, which darkened the skies for a few minutes as the moon passed in front of the sun.

The July 27 total lunar eclipse will also be seen by many more people than last year’s eclipse. Solar eclipses are typically only seen by a small selection of the earth’s population because the shadow cast by the moon is comparatively smaller than that cast by the earth. That means anyone who is on the side of the earth that is experiencing nighttime will be able to see the lunar eclipse whereas a solar eclipse can only be seen by the people who are where the moon’s shadow falls.

Because solar eclipses are seen by a much smaller section of the population, and the view of the blocked sun is so breathtaking, they create a lot of fanfare.

Yes, your phone is spying on you and these researchers proved it

It surely says something about the dark side of technology that as time goes on, many of us are increasingly likely to believe the worst of what’s alleged about our devices. That we’re being used, manipulated, spied on, listened to, watched, taken advantage of in service of selling ads — even if evidence is presented to the contrary.

Some academics at Northeastern University recently set out to look into one such long-held assumption, the zombie conspiracy which no one ever seems to be able to kill over whether our phones are secretly listening to us to know which ads to present to us. A conspiracy that no less than Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg tried to swat down himself when he was grilled by Congress earlier this year.

What the researchers found: Your phone probably isn’t spying you. At least, not like that.

The study looked at 17,260 Android apps and specifically paid attention to the media files being sent from them. As Business Insider summarizes it, “The researchers found no instance in which these apps turned on the phone’s microphone unprompted and sent audio. But they did find that some apps were sending screen recordings and screenshots to third parties.”

Or — we’re all worried about the wrong kind of spying.

Nigerian police discover bodies of 41 suspected bandits Inside a forest in Zamfara

Police have discovered the bodies of 41 persons suspected to be part of bandits terrorising villages in Zamfara State, north-west Nigeria.
Kenneth Ebrimson, the Commissioner of Police in the state confirmed the figure while briefing reporters in Gusau, the state capital. According to him, police personnel found the men with their throats cut at different locations in the state.

Ebrimson revealed that 18 bodies were discovered in a river on Sunday and 23 others at a forest in the Zurmi area of Zamfara. He added that four suspects were arrested after the bush area was combed while the police recovered machetes and guns during the search. The police commissioner disclosed further that the suspects were identified as members of a local vigilante group who decided to embark on a mission of “extra-judicial killings”.


While residents were unable to identify any of the bodies who they said were not resident in the area, the police said they could be members of a group involved in cattle rustling and kidnapping. Farming and cattle herding communities in Zamfara have for years been terrorised by gangs of cattle thieves and kidnappers who raid villages, steal cows and abduct locals for ransom.

As a hideout, the gangs use the Ruggu forest which straddles Zamfara, Katsina and Kaduna states. The attacks have prompted villagers to form militia groups for protection but they, too, have been accused of taking the law into their own hands and killing suspected bandits. Those killings attract reprisals from motorcycle-riding criminal gangs, who carry out indiscriminate killings and arson in retaliation.

In April the Nigerian government deployed troops to Zamfara to fight the gangs while the police outlawed the vigilantes to end the tit-for-tat killings.

A woman climbed the base of the Statue of Liberty on the Fourth of July to protest migrant family separations

A woman who climbed up to the robes of the Statue of Liberty to protest the separation of migrant families was taken into custody after a standoff with police on the Fourth of July.

Authorities had tried to talk the woman down but she refused to leave. For nearly three hours, she crossed the base of the statue, at times sitting in the folds of the statue's dress and under Lady Liberty's sandal. The woman was identified as Therese Patricia Okoumou by a law enforcement source close to the investigation and another source who knows her.
The woman was part of a group of protesters and had declared that she wouldn't come down until "all the children are released," a source with the New York Police Department told us.

A woman who climbed up to the robes of the Statue of Liberty to protest the separation of migrant families was taken into custody after a standoff with police on the Fourth of July.

Authorities had tried to talk the woman down but she refused to leave. For nearly three hours, she crossed the base of the statue, at times sitting in the folds of the statue's dress and under Lady Liberty's sandal. The woman was identified as Therese Patricia Okoumou by a law enforcement source close to the investigation and another source who knows her.
The woman was part of a group of protesters and had declared that she wouldn't come down until "all the children are released," a source with the New York Police Department told us.

Lightning strike injures young man, child before fireworks show in Illinois

Two people were critically injured from a lightning strike before a 4th of July fireworks show in Sheridan, Illinois.

Online newspaper The Times reports that a young man, about 20 years old, and a 3 or 4-year-old girl were taken to OSF St. Elizabeth Medical Center in Ottawa by ambulance.

No further details were immediately available.

Wisconsin girl, 16, returns home after being sex trafficked into Chicago, mother says

A missing Wisconsin teen returned home a month after being lured to Chicago by sex traffickers, her mother says.

Armoni Chambers, 16, was found Wednesday after activists received a tip about a Facebook video in which the girl appeared to be assaulted, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported.

Bonnie Bruno, Chambers’ mother, and activist Tory Lowe traveled to Chicago to search for her, the newspaper reported. Chambers was trafficked by several men before going to Chicago, Bruno said.

“Her entire time in Chicago was trauma after trauma after trauma,” she said. “She was afraid. She thought she was going to die.”

Milwaukee police declared Chambers missing June 18, according to FOX6 Milwaukee. Bruno received a tip about video surveillance showing Chambers boarding a Chicago-bound Greyhound bus in Milwaukee. Family and activists used the next several days to track down every lead to find the teen.

Tragic Chinese billionaire falls and dies while trying to take a picture

A Chinese billionaire has died after he fell while trying to take a beautiful picture.

57-year-old Wang Jian, who is the chairman and co-founder of one of China’s largest conglomerates, HNA, was travelling in France when the tragic accident happened, according to the company.

HNA said on Wednesday that Wang Jian had fallen and died from his injuries on Tuesday in Provence, without providing any more details of his death.


French media reported that a 57-year-old Chinese tourist had died after falling down the stairs of a church in the village of Bonnieux on Tuesday while trying to take a photograph. Other reports said Wang had fallen off a cliff while having his picture taken. Police said they were not treating his death as suspicious.

Japanese Rocket Crashes and Explodes in Flames Shortly After Launch

An uncrewed Japanese rocket has crashed only seconds after launch. The MOMO-2 rocket burst into flames shortly after take-off on June 30.
Luckily there were no injuries caused by the short-lived flight. The unfortunate rocket was developed by Japanese start-up company Interstellar Technologies.

The company aims to design and develop small, lightweight, and low-cost rockets that can send satellites into space. This disastrous flight was the second take-off for the company, its first flight was a partial success in that the MOMO did manage to leave the launch pad but communications with it were lost about a minute after it had lifted off.

Second rocket crash for new company
The rocket's booster only managed to reach an altitude of about 12 miles (20 kilometers) before it splashed down into the Pacific Ocean. A video of the 10-meter high rocket launching then crashing is a combination of tragedy and comedy, however, the company won’t be put off saying they are on track to put a satellite into low Earth orbit by 2020.
Interstellar Technologies wants to be able to offer satellite launches for as little as US$440,000 compared to the price the Japanese government offers of US$1.8 million minimum. While it's an ambitious and exciting goal, the fledgling company will need to go some way before it can convince investors it can safely deliver payloads to space.

85 Percent of the Asteroid Belt Is Composed of the Remnants of Ancient Planets

A new study from the University of Florida has found that 85 percent of our solar system's asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter is made up of the remnants of five or six ancient small planets.

Lead author on the newly published research paper Stanley Dermott says it's likely that the remaining 15 percent could also end up being from old planets too.

Research into the asteroid belt offers insights into the way our own Earth was formed. It also gives scientists critical information about the formation of the asteroid and offers the opportunity to determine if any matter is going to peel off and head towards earth.
"These large bodies whiz by the Earth, so of course we're very concerned about how many of these there are and what types of material are in them," Dermott said in a press release. "If ever one of these comes towards the earth, and we want to deflect it, we need to know what its nature is."

The study discovered that the size of the asteroid determines its orbit. This discovery suggests that the differences we observe in meteorites found on Earth relate to the evolutionary changes that occurred inside a few large, vanguard bodies that existed more than four billion years ago.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if we eventually trace the origins of all asteroids in the main asteroid belt, not just those in the inner belt, to a small number of known parent bodies,” Dermott said. This research helps theoretical astronomers in their quest to investigate where planets like our own might exist in the universe.
But before those questions can be fully understood it is crucial to more fully understand the processes that produced the planet we live on. Last month NASA discovered an asteroid heading on a collision course with Earth.

Google says it's not reading your Gmail, except when....

Google published a blog explaining the terms on which hundreds of app makers are given access to millions of inboxes belonging to Gmail users.
The company was also at pains to point out that "no one at Google reads your Gmail."
But there are a couple of key exceptions to this rule, including when Google needs to go investigate a bug or "abuse" of the platform.
It's not clear whether Gmail users are notified when Google rummages through messages to address these issues.

Google was hauled over the coals this week for reportedly giving hundreds of app makers access to millions of inboxes belonging to Gmail users.

The Wall Street Journal reported that users who signed up for "email-based services" like "shopping price comparisons," and "automated travel-itinerary planners" were most at risk of having their private messages read.

In response to the story, Google published a blog on Tuesday detailing how third-party developers have to go through an involved review process before they are given access to Gmail.

Suzanne Frey, Google Cloud's director of security, trust, and privacy, also said that Gmail's 1.4 billion users hold the keys to their own data and can control permissions.
In the same piece, Frey was at pains to point out that Google itself does not read user emails.

'Dead' woman wakes up in a morgue. Why does this keep happening?

A woman was taken to the morgue and pronounced dead after a car crash near Johannesburg in South Africa.

The only problem? She wasn't dead.
According to the BBC, the unnamed woman woke up in a mortuary fridge after a car pile-up on June 24 which reportedly left two others dead.

The woman was discovered by a morgue worker, according to the news service, and she is now recovering in a hospital east of Johannesburg.

The woman's family declined to comment on the incident to the BBC, but said, "We need answers."

So, how did this happen? An investigation is reportedly underway. Ambulance company Distress Alert, who mispronounced the woman dead, told news publisher Times Live, “Equipment used to determine life showed no form of life on the woman."

"This did not happen because our paramedics are not properly trained," the company's statement added. "There is no proof of any negligence by our crew."

How does this keep happening?
It's not the first time this has happened. In fact, it's not as uncommon as you'd think.

Facebook shutters the teen app it just bought

Facebook is shutting down three apps, including a teen app called tbh, which it bought about eight months ago.
In a blog post, the social network said it would shutter the tbh, Hello and Moves apps due to "low usage." Facebook will delete user data from the apps within 90 days.

"We know some people are still using these apps and will be disappointed," the company said in a blog post late Monday. "But we need to prioritize our work so we don't spread ourselves too thin."

Facebook acquired tbh -- which stands for the popular texting acronym "to be honest" -- for an undisclosed sum last October. The app let users participate in anonymous polls and give positive feedback to friends. It initially was widely popular among teens. Over 5 million people downloaded the app in a matter of weeks.

Woman, 92, allegedly killed son who wanted to put her in a nursing home

A 92-year-old woman allegedly killed her son in Arizona because she did not want to be sent to an assisted living facility, authorities said.

Anna Mae Blessing was charged with first degree murder, aggravated assault and kidnapping after authorities found her 72-year-old son dead Monday at their home in Fountain Hills, Maricopa County Sheriff's Office said.
Blessing hid two pistols in the pockets of her robe and shot her son several times in his bedroom, the sheriff's office said in a statement.
Her son's girlfriend was also in the room and said she heard Blessing telling her son she was tired of the way he treated her, court documents said.
"From my understanding, she had thought about it for a few days because there was a dispute regarding her son wanting to put her in an assisted living home," Maricopa County Sgt. Bryant Vanejas told 3m360

How Angelique Kidjo, Omotola Jalade, and other stars turned up at the Afrikan Shrine to party with Emmanuel Macron

Nigerian celebrities turned up at the new Afrikan Shrine to celebrate a night of culture with French President, Emmanuel Macron who was hosted by the Lagos State governor, Akinwunmi Ambode.

French President, Emmanuel Macron was in Nigeria yesterday to witness the signing of new deal with the country at the state house Abuja before he made his way to the New Afrika Shrine in Lagos.

During his speech, the French President said he never expected to return to Nigeria under these circumstances almost 17 years after his first stay in the country.

In his words, 'It's very emotional for me to come back to Nigeria 17 years after my stay. I didn't imagine I’d be back in these conditions. Democracy is never written in advance. I'm probably a good example of that'.

Speaking about the shrine and why he chose to visit, he said, 'the Shrine is an iconic cultural hub. And I say with a lot of humility that I recognize the importance of African culture'.

Some of the celebs who were at the event included, Banky W, Omotola Jalade, Dakore Akande, Alexx Ekubo, Rita Dominic, Desmond Elliot, Angelique Kidjo, Yemi Alade, and Ramsey Nouah.

Tina Turner's oldest son commits suicide at age 60

Music legend Tina Turner's oldest son, Craig Raymond Turner, has committed suicide ... according to a report by TMZ. Read below...

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ ... Craig died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound at his home in Studio City, CA. Authorities arrived at his place just after noon Tuesday and he was pronounced dead at the scene.

Craig was born when Tina was 18 ... before she married Ike Turner. Once Tina and Ike wed, Ike adopted Craig. His biological father was a saxophonist named Raymond Hill, who performed with Ike's band.

I went on a Border Patrol ride-along in one of the most heavily crossed areas on the US-Mexico border

I was in Southern Texas covering the immigration crisis and separation of families for nearly a day when I got word that I had secured a Border Patrol ride-along.

"The Rio Grande sector accounts for about 40% of the apprehensions in the United States," a Border Patrol agent named Chris Seiler told me as we drove away from the station a few days later. "The McAllen station specifically is about 20% of the entire nation, and we catch about 300 individuals a day just in this 50-mile span of border."

For nearly five hours last Monday morning, I followed Seiler and another agent, Rene Quintanilla, around as they patrolled on and around the Rio Grande, which separates the US and Mexico.

Here's what happened:

A 3-year-old Idaho girl who was stabbed at her birthday party died

A 3-year-old Idaho girl who was stabbed at her birthday party died Monday, two days after a man invaded the celebration and attacked nine people with a knife, authorities said.

Timmy Kinner is accused of stabbing a group of children and the adults who tried to protect them at the party at an apartment complex that is home to many refugee families.

Word of the child's death came at Kinner's first court appearance, where Ada County Magistrate Judge Russell Comstock told him that he was charged with first-degree murder and other felonies in connection with the Saturday night attack.

Comstock told Kinner he was "an extreme danger to the community" and ordered him held without bond.

Kinner is American, and the victims are members of refugee families from Syria, Iraq and Ethiopia. Boise Police Chief William Bones said the evidence does not suggest the attack was a hate crime.

The suspect had recently stayed at the apartment complex but was asked to leave Friday over bad behavior, Bones said.

Why LeBron James Chose the LA Lakers

The first time, LeBron James sat clumsily with Jim Gray on national TV, announcing that he was taking his talents to South Beach.

That didn't go over too well.

Upon returning to Cleveland, the announcement came in the form of an elaborately written essay in Sports Illustrated. Lots and lots of words.

This time? There was only an old-school press release sent out into the world by his representation agency, Klutch Sports. It contained exactly one sentence, which stated simply that James had agreed to a four-year, $154 million deal with the Los Angeles Lakers.

Then came the customary three pound signs (###) at the end of the release, which in public relations lingo is an indication to the news media that there is no more copy to come.

That couldn't be further from the truth, because LeBron James' latest chapter—the Hollywood chapter, the Showtime chapter—might just be the most fascinating yet.

"If I'm going to leave Cleveland again," James told a confidant leading up to this decision, according to a person familiar with their conversation, "it needs to be like what I dreamt of as a kid."

Remember, this is a man who grew up in Northeast Ohio rooting for the Cowboys and the Yankees. It's the go-big-or-go-home sports fan mentality.

In 2014, James went home. Now, he's going big.

Archbishop Philip Wilson sentenced for concealing child sex abuse

A Catholic archbishop in Australia has been given a maximum sentence of 12 months in detention for concealing child sexual abuse in the 1970s.

Philip Wilson, now archbishop of Adelaide, is the most senior Catholic globally to be convicted of the crime.

He was found guilty by a court last month of covering up abuse by a paedophile priest in New South Wales.

On Tuesday, the court ordered Wilson to be assessed for "home detention" - meaning he will probably avoid jail.

Magistrate Robert Stone said the senior clergyman had shown "no remorse or contrition". He will be eligible for parole after six months.

Wilson has not resigned as archbishop, despite relinquishing his duties in the wake of his conviction.

In May, a court found he had failed to report his colleague James Patrick Fletcher's abuse of altar boys to police.

Wilson, then a junior priest in the Maitland region, had dismissed young victims in a bid to protect the Church's reputation, Magistrate Stone ruled.

Facebook’s Privacy Blunders Continue – Company Reports a New Bug That Unblocked People

Someone needs to go help Facebook… The company continues to hit itself with disaster after disaster. What seems like an unending saga of privacy mishaps, Facebook has now announced a fresh new problem. The social networking giant that doesn’t consider itself a monopoly has said that a software “bug” unblocked some people who had been blocked by another user.

This means that if you blocked someone after an abusive or a frustrating incident, they were able to see at least some of your posts. Over 800,000 users were affected by this bug between May 29 and June 5. It remains unclear why it has taken the company an additional one month to inform the affected users.

“Starting today we are notifying over 800,000 users about a bug in Facebook and Messenger that unblocked some people they had blocked,” the company wrote today. “The bug was active between May 29 and June 5 – and while someone who was unblocked could not see content shared with friends, they could have seen things posted to a wider audience. For example pictures shared with friends of friends. We know that the ability to block someone is important – and we’d like to apologize and explain what happened.”