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 flew 351,210ft to the edge of space from a launch site in West Texas.
He was joined in the mission by his younger brother Mark and the two people who have become the youngest and oldest to travel to space – Dutch 18-year-old Oliver Daemen and 82-year-old aerospace pioneer Wally Funk respectively.
Image: Mr Bezos gives the thumbs up after landing. Pic: Blue Origin
Mr Bezos gave a thumbs up out of the window after touching back down, with cheers of “Wow, that was incredible” heard from inside the capsule.
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Jeff Bezos prepares to blast off as he ventures towards the edge of space and the beginning of commercial spaceflight.
After exiting the pod the tech founder and his brother hugged their parents Jackie and Mike, with Ms Funk thanking the pair for the experience – 60 years after she trained for it but wasn’t allowed to go.
At the apogee of their journey, which was 11 minutes in total, the astronauts had an opportunity to take in extraordinary views of Earth and get out of their seats and float around the cabin for about four minutes.
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Image: The Amazon founder celebrates as he emerges from the space capsule
Image: Wally Funk celebrates as Mr Bezos hugs his parents. Pic: Blue Origin
The four became the first people to lift off aboard the New Shepard rocket built by the entrepreneur’s private spaceflight company Blue Origin.
“I know it’s going to change me and I’m excited to find out how,” Mr Bezos told CNN in an interview before the flight.
Ms Funk said she felt like she was 24 years old ahead of the launch: “It’s great, I love being here.”
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Blue Origin celebrates after Jeff Bezos, his crew, and the reusable rocket all touch down in Texas
Dutch teenager Oliver Daemen was Blue Origin’s first paying passenger, replacing an anonymous person who had previously bid $28m (£20.6m) for a seat on the flight.
Blue Origin said the mystery bidder knew that the flight was scheduled for 20 July before placing their bid, but they subsequently deferred their place “due to scheduling conflicts”.
Former United States secretary of state Henry Kissinger has died aged 100.
He passed away at his home in Connecticut on Wednesday, according to a statement from Kissinger Associates Inc.
The veteran politician had major influence on American foreign policy under Presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford.
Born in Germany in 1923, Mr Kissinger fled the Nazi regime with his family as a teenager and settled in the US in 1938.
During eight years as a national security adviser and secretary of state, Dr Kissinger was involved in major foreign policy events including the first example of “shuttle diplomacy” seeking peace in the Middle East, secret negotiations with China to defrost relations between the burgeoning superpowers and the instigation of the Paris peace talks seeking an end to the Vietnam conflict.
Image: Dr Kissinger with President Gerald Ford and Chairman Mao Zedong in Beijing in 1975
In 1973 he was jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to negotiate an end to the Vietnam War.
However, Dr Kissinger, along with President Nixon, also bore the brunt of criticism from the US’s allies following the fall of Saigon to North Vietnamese forces in 1975 as the remaining US personnel fled what is now known as Ho Chi Minh City.
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Image: Henry Kissinger meeting President Xi Jinping in Beijing earlier this year. Pic: AP
His influence over US diplomacy – which continued long after he left office – has not been without controversy, and some activists called for him to be prosecuted for war crimes.
He remained active in politics, even after his 100th birthday in May, attending meetings in the White House, publishing a book on leadership styles, and testifying before a Senate committee about the nuclear threat posed by North Korea.
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In July 2023 he made a surprise visit to Beijing to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping.
During his early life, after becoming a naturalised US citizen in 1943, Dr Kissinger joined the US Army the same year and was awarded a Bronze Star.
He would go on to serve with US counter intelligence in occupied Germany.
Dr Kissinger earned his bachelor’s, master’s, and PhD degrees at Harvard University, where he taught international relations for almost 20 years before President Nixon appointed him national security advisor in 1969.
Image: Henry Kissinger with Richard Nixon and Israeli prime minister Golda Meir
He is survived by his wife of nearly 50 years, Nancy Maginnes Kissinger, two children by his first marriage, David and Elizabeth, and five grandchildren.
According to the statement from Kissinger Associates: “He will be interred at a private family service. At a later date, there will be a memorial service in New York City.”
Senator and former presidential candidate Mitt Romney paid tribute to Dr Kissinger on X describing him as a “great one” and saying: “Fortunate indeed is America for his lifetime of diplomacy, wisdom, and love of freedom.”
Winston Lord, former US ambassador to China and Dr Kissinger’s one time special assistant said: “The world has lost a tireless advocate for peace.
“America has lost a towering champion for the national interest. I have lost a cherished friend and mentor.
“Henry blended the European sense of tragedy and the American immigrant’s sense of hope.”
Cindy McCain, the wife of late Senator John McCain said: “Henry Kissinger was ever present in my late husband’s life.
“While John was a POW and in the later years as a Senator & statesman.
“The McCain family will miss his wit, charm, and intelligence terribly.”
At least one person has died after a US military aircraft crashed off the coast of a Japanese island.
Six crew members were on board the Osprey aircraft when it crashed on Wednesday.
The Japanese coastguard said one crew member had been found – and was later pronounced dead – along with grey-coloured debris believed to be from the aircraft.
They were found at sea around half a mile off the eastern coast of Yakushima.
The cause of the crash and the status of the other people on the aircraft were not immediately known.
Image: The Japanese coastguard conduct a search and rescue operation. Pic: Kyodo/Reuters
Fishing boats in the area found three people in the surrounding waters, a representative of a local fisheries cooperative said. Their condition is unknown.
Another Osprey landed safely at the island’s airport on Wednesday, at around the time of the crash.
“The government will confirm information about the damage and place the highest priority on saving lives,” Japan’s chief cabinet secretary Hirokazu Matsuno told reporters.
The Osprey is a hybrid aircraft that takes off and lands like a helicopter, but during flight can rotate its propellers forward and cruise much faster like an aeroplane.
Image: A US Osprey aircraft taking off in Japan in 2018. Pic: AP
US and Japanese officials said the aircraft belonged to Yokota Air Base in western Tokyo.
In Okinawa, where about half of the 50,000 American troops in Japan are based, Governor Denny Tamaki told reporters he will ask the US military to suspend all Osprey flights in Japan.
Another crash-landed in the ocean off Japan’s southern island of Okinawa in December 2016, prompting a temporary US military grounding of the aircraft.
It also comes after five US service members were killed after their aircraft suffered a “mishap” during a routine air refuelling mission in the eastern Mediterranean Sea.
Elon Musk has been accused of promoting a long-debunked conspiracy theory which alleged high-profile Democrats ran a paedophile abuse ring from a Washington pizza restaurant.
The billionaire posted and later deleted a meme referencing “Pizzagate” on X on Tuesday, NBC News reports.
It was an image from TV show The Office, with fake dialogue superimposed on to the scene to make it look like the characters were arguing about whether the conspiracy was real.
“Does seem at least a little suspicious,” Musk wrote.
His post was seen by NBC News – Sky’s US partner network – before it was taken down.
The conspiracy began during the 2016 US election to smear Democrat candidate Hillary Clinton, and led to a man entering the pizza restaurant in question with an assault rifle.
NBC News reports Musk has replied to X posts about Pizzagate at least four times since 20 November.
They feature unfounded insinuations that journalists were involved.
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No evidence has ever been uncovered that a child trafficking ring was being run from the pizzeria, or that Democrat politicians were involved and journalists covered it up.