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Austrian skydiver Felix Baumgartner, aged 43, performed a jump Sunday from 39 km above the Earth's surface using a full-pressure suit, a parachute canopy, a capsule, and a helium balloon. Baumgartner broke the sound barrier as his top speed reached 1342 km/h (834 miles per hour), exceeding the speed of sound, and landing in the New Mexico desert, United States. The jump follows several days of waiting for atmospheric winds to decrease to make sure the jump would be safe, and the capsule would not be blown away. A balloon with 850 megalitres (

Actor and television host Gary Collins died yesterday at age 74. He died at Biloxi Regional Medical Center, in Biloxi, Mississippi, of natural causes according to Harrison County, Mississippi Deputy Coroner Gary Hargrove. He starred on television series The Sixth Sense, Born Free, The Iron Horse, and The Wackiest Ship in the Army. He hosted Hour Magazine from 1980 to 1988. He appeared on television shows such as Charlie's Angels, Fantasy Island, and The Love Boat. From 1985 to 1989 he hosted the Miss America Pageant. He was also a radio perso

A Finnish study has indicated that having higher body levels of lycopene — a red chemical occurring in tomatoes, watermelons, grapefruit, peppers, and papaya — may reduce the risk of stroke. The research for the study, which is in the issue of medical journal Neurology released today, examined 1,031 men aged between 42 and 61 over a period of twelve years on average. The study, which was financed by the Lapland Central Hospital, found that the men with higher amounts of lycopene in their blood system experienced fewer strokes than men with lo

U.S. President Barack Obama and former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney sparred Wednesday evening during the first of three presidential debates leading up to the 2012 election. According to Nielson, approximately 67.2 million people tuned in to the 90-minute debate moderated by Jim Lehrer of PBS as President Obama, the Democratic nominee, and Romney, the Republican nominee, exchanged jabs on domestic policy and the U.S. economy. Viewership increased 28% from the first 2008 presidential debate, which had an audience of about 52.4 million peo

Former New York Times publisher Arthur Ochs Sulzberger died at 86 years old on Saturday. According to his family Sulzberger had had a long illness. He was known as "Punch", his nickname when he was a child. In 1963, Sulzberger became publisher of The New York Times and chairman and chief executive of The New York Times Company. He retired as publisher in 1992. In 1997, Sulzberger left the chief executive position and was succeeded by his son, Arthur Ochs Sulzberger, Jr.. While Sulzberger was the paper's publisher it won 31 Pulitzer Prizes. A

The Iranian Fars News Agency (FNA) yesterday apologised over an article it reproduced Friday, originally written by US satirical news website The Onion on Monday September 24. The parodic article reported "a Gallup poll" suggesting "the overwhelming majority of rural white Americans" would vote for Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the President of Iran, instead of US President Barack Obama. The Onion article also said "77 percent of rural Caucasian voters" would prefer to drink beer with Ahmadinejad or attend a baseball game with him as opposed to Obama.

Belconnen, Australian Capital Territory — Wednesday night, the Canberra Capitals defeated the Chinese women's national B basketball team 75–64 at the Belconnen Basketball Centre in a pre-season warm up game before the start of the Women's National Basketball League in October. Several new players joined the Capitals this season, including Samantha Norwood, Valeria Ogoke, and Tessa Lavey, while Natalie Porter, Carly Wilson, and Marianna Tolo are not with the team this season. Playing before a packed crowd, the game started with both teams' na

A state transport bus fell off a bridge on the river Purna killing at least seventeen people in Buldhana district of Maharashtra in central India. The Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) bus between Paturda and Shegaon fell after a burst tire caused the driver to lose control of the vehicle. The bridge is narrow and without protective railings. The bus tumbled twice, falling 45 feet. The bus contained about 50–70 passengers including school children in the morning bus. There were ten women and seven men amongst the fatalit

In the past two days, at least two rockets fired from Syria have landed in northern Israel, according to the Israeli military. Both rockets landed in the Golan Heights neighborhood of Israel, which shares its border with Syria. At least two mortar shells also hit the same area yesterday. No damage to buildings was reported and no one was injured in any of the incidents. Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) believe that the rockets and mortars were strays intended for "villages inside Syria and are part of the ongoing internal conflict." An official o

Radio personality Chris Moyles presented his last edition of The Chris Moyles Show, a breakfast radio programme on UK station BBC Radio 1, from 0630 to 1000 BST (0530 to 0900 UTC) Friday. At its peak in 2010, the programme was receiving an audience of 7.9 million. Moyles, who had been presenting the breakfast show since January 2004, announced his departure in July. Moyles said he had had "the best time of [his] life" and wished to "give [the listeners] a heads up and tell [them] that we are going to wrap it up" on his show on July 11. "Thank

Thousands of people, including women and children, have gathered since Sunday on the southern coast of India, to protest against the operation of the nuclear power plant of Kudankulam and the nuclear program of the government. An official announcement stated that the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board's inspection of the reactor pressure vessel of Unit-1 was completed and enriched uranium fuel will be loaded into the first 1000-mw-reactor this month. This was the reason for the people to raise another protest since March this year. The governmen

Wagga Wagga, New South Wales — Sunday, Australian opposition leader Tony Abbott competed in the 2012 Lake to Lagoon fun run in Wagga Wagga, alongside with the Member for the Riverina, Michael McCormack, amongst over 2000 runners and walkers. After the warm-up by the Workout Wagga girls, Abbott started at the front of the pack but was quickly overtaken by the faster runners, crossing the finishing line with a time of 46 minutes 49 seconds. After crossing the line Abbott mingled and posed for photographs with the public. Abbott was interviewed