Amazon founder Jeff Bezos has described the first ever launch of his private spaceflight company Blue Origin as the “best day ever”. The billionaire, 57, achieved his childhood dream of becoming an astronaut 52 years to the day it was sparked by watching Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin walk on the moon. Mr Bezos himself
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Harvey Weinstein has been extradited to California to face more sex assault charges, New York prison officials said. The former Hollywood producer was convicted and sentenced to 23 years in a New York prison last year for rape and sexual assault. He is wanted for trial in Los Angeles, California, on charges of allegedly attacking
More than 360,000 acres (531 square miles) have been destroyed by a wildfire in the US state of Oregon, where more than 2,000 people have been given evacuation orders, while a similar number of firefighters are battling the blaze. The Bootleg fire, centred in and around the Fremont-Winema National Forest, 250 miles (400km) south of
Jeff Bezos says his dream of travelling into space was born when, as a five year old, he watched Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin walk on the moon in 1969. Fifty-two years to the day, the Amazon founder and richest man on the planet will blast off in his own rocket to make that dream
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos has said he is “ready”, not nervous, for his flight to the edge of space. The billionaire is set to blast off on Blue Origin’s sub-orbital New Shepard rocket from Texas, with his brother Mark, female astronaut Wally Funk who trained in 1961 but never went to space, as well as
A New York police officer kept a stabbing victim alive by using an empty bag of crisps and tape. NYPD officer Ronald Kennedy has been praised by police bosses for his quick thinking after placing the makeshift tourniquet over the man’s wound. The extraordinary action was captured on body cam after the officer responded to
Britney Spears has posted on Instagram that she won’t perform again while her father has control over her career. The 39-year-old is currently undergoing a legal battle over a conservatorship that has overseen her life and career since 2008, when she suffered a series of mental health crises. Her father Jamie Spears has the final
Britney Spears has hit out at people closest to her who “never showed up”, as her battle against her conservatorship continues. It comes after the 39-year-old’s sister Jamie Lynn, 30, and mother Lynne, 66, shared messages of support for the singer on their social media channels. The pop star is engaged in a legal bid
A man known as the “Hollywood Ripper” has been sentenced to death for the murder of two women and attempted killing of a third. Michael Gargiulo, 45, was convicted almost two years ago, but delays due to procedural problems and the COVID pandemic means it was only on Friday that he was ordered to death
Misleading information about vaccines and COVID-19 on online platforms like Facebook is killing people, Joe Biden has said. Speaking to reporters as he left the White House on Friday afternoon, the US president was asked if he had a message to platforms like the social media giant regarding the misleading or incorrect information that frequently
Firefighters are battling to control a wild inferno which is spreading up to four miles a day and has left 2,000 people homeless in Oregon. The so-called Bootleg Fire is ripping through southeast Oregon and is said to be the largest of dozens of wildfires burning across the US. The blaze has now torched an
A moon “wobble” will contribute to an increase in severe flooding in the mid-2030s, NASA has warned. The moon’s orbit, which affects the Earth’s tides, has a natural “wobble” every 18.6 years that causes extremely high and low tides. In a new study, published by Nature Climate Change, NASA’s Sea Level Change Science Team calculated
Judges have ruled that “Tiger King” Joe Exotic should have been given a shorter prison sentence. The former zookeeper was sentenced in January 2020 to 22 years in federal prison after being convicted of trying to hire two different men to kill animal rights activist Carole Baskin and violating wildlife laws. A three-judge panel for
A record number of people died of a drug overdose in the US last year, according to government estimates. The death toll of 93,000 is a big increase from the 72,000 estimate in the previous year, and it means there were more than 250 deaths each day, roughly 11 every hour. Only two states –
Four Iranians have been charged with plotting to kidnap a New York-based journalist and human rights activist critical of Iran and take her back to Tehran, the US Department of Justice says. Court papers did not name the target, but Iranian-American journalist Masih Alinejad said it was her. Authorities said the accused – alleged intelligence
The long-range weather forecast from meteorologist Mike Everett is bleak: “Places like this could become uninhabitable.” He has spent the last week guiding viewers of NBC News in Palm Springs, California, through its latest record-breaking heatwave. The desert city is used to the heat but things are extreme. It has recorded its hottest June ever,
US inflation revved up further last month partly thanks to the biggest monthly bounce in used vehicle prices for more than 60 years. America’s consumer price index (CPI) rose by 5.4% in June compared to a year ago, matching a level last seen in 2008, as the economy continued to rebound from the coronavirus crisis
Cuba’s president has accused Cuban Americans of using social media to trigger protests over high prices and food shortages. Police have been out in force on the island’s streets after demonstrations in several cities and towns. The protests are some of the biggest displays of anti-government sentiment seen in recent years and come as the
Firefighters are grappling with searing heat as they struggle to contain a huge wildfire in California as western states remain in the grip of a fierce heatwave. It comes after a large part of the US west baked over the weekend in triple-digit temperatures which are expected to continue into the start of this week.
There was at least one Englishman with something to celebrate on Sunday night. It will go down in the life story of Sir Richard Branson as the day he was officially handed the title of astronaut after his successful trip to the edge of space and back. And if the live feed of the England game