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The explosions in Toropets, in the Tver region, were so intense that they were picked up by NASA satellites and earthquake monitors.

A Ukrainian drone attack on a Russian missile facility early Wednesday threw up towering fireballs visible from space and thundering detonations that triggered earthquake monitors.

Even by the standards of this incendiary conflict, video showing the blasts north of Moscow made for remarkable footage.

Officials on both sides said it was the result of a large Ukrainian drone attack on Toropets, a town in the Tver region around 230 miles from the Russian capital. Russian state media has previously reported that the military was building an arsenal for storing missiles and other explosives there.

• Government data released ahead of Japan’s “Respect for the Aged Day” showed that the country’s population aged 65 and over had risen to an all-time high of 36.25 million.
• According to Robert Feldman, chief economist at Morgan Stanley MUFG Securities, the data fuels concerns about demographic shifts and a labor crunch in the country.

The notion that Americans should dial down their incendiary rhetoric is undeniable, but that message cannot be delivered credibly by the person who literally sent a mob to the US Capitol, and then sat back and cheered the thugs who assaulted cops for three hours.

The plea to ease up on hate speech cannot be made by the guy who invented a patois of political violence, who prods supporters to assault hecklers, threatens to shoot undocumented immigrants and looters, jeers the husband of a rival who was assaulted with a hammer, and refers to opposition as “vermin.”

And the idea that the toxic talk has gone too far sounds hollow coming from a demagogue who thinks Hillary Clinton’s fate might best be settled by “Second Amendment people,” that Liz Cheney should be sent before a military tribunal, and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, Mark Milley, should be executed.

This is the political atmosphere that Donald Trump has nurtured, so when he whines about how “the rhetoric of Biden and Harris” has inspired two troubled people (both likely Republicans) to shoot at him with assault rifles, it can be dismissed as one of the most pitiful attempts at gaslighting from a deranged felon who has made a career of it.

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The explosion was the second in a week in Cologne's city center. Police said it was still too early to say if there was a connection. Sniffer dogs were on the site as officers investigated.

JD Vance has suggested that American support for NATO should be predicated on the European Union not regulating Elon Musk and his X social media platform, formerly known as Twitter.

The Republican vice presidential nominee and Ohio senator claimed in an interview with YouTuber Shawn Ryan that a top EU official had threatened to arrest the billionaire if he allowed former President Donald Trump back on X.

“The leader, I forget exactly which official it was within the European Union, but sent Elon this threatening letter that basically said, ‘We’re going to arrest you if you platform Donald Trump,’ who, by the way, is the likely next president of the United States,” Vance said in the interview published last week.

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The 30-year-old was attacked some 500 kilometers off the coast of Gran Canaria. She lost a leg in the attack and suffered a heart attack before a Spanish rescue helicopter could get her to hospital.

Trump claims to be a “leader on fertilization.” His party wants to leave it up to the whims of states, with disastrous consequences.

Trump told many lies at last week's debate against Vice President Kamala Harris. One, it seems increasingly clear, is the stumbling claim---meant to shore up his support of in vitro fertilization, or IVF---that he is "a leader on fertilization."

On Tuesday, Senate Republicans provided even more evidence of Trump's lie, by voting---again---to block a floor vote on a bill that would protect IVF access nationwide. Introduced by Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), who said she used IVF to give birth to her two daughters, the legislation would prevent states from enacting restrictions on fertility treatments.

Trump has done far more to impede IVF access than protect it. He is, in fact, the reason it's in the news at all: Trump appointed three of the five conservative Supreme Court justices who overruled Roe in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, imperiling IVF access in states like Alabama. (The state's Supreme Court ruled in February that frozen embryos, often discarded in the IVF process, could be considered children under state law.)

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Florida Judge Aileen Cannon failed to disclose lavish trips hosted by influential conservative law school

Florida District Court Judge Aileen Cannon failed to disclose her attendance at several right-wing judicial seminars — including one that took place after she began overseeing former President Donald Trump’s classified documents case, which she ultimately threw out — in apparent violation of federal court rules.

According to a Tuesday report from ProPublica, in May of 2023, Cannon attended a swanky banquet hosted by George Mason University's Antonin Scalia Law School

one of the leading conservative law schools in the nation. The school was renamed in honor of the late Supreme Court justice after a $20 million donation brokered by Supreme Court architect Leonard Leo, who controls a billion-dollar dark money fund and serves as co-chair chairman of of the Federalist Society, the powerful conservative lawyers network. 

Cannon, a longtime member of the Federalist Society, attended a lecture and dinner alongside members of the society, Scalia's family members, and prominent federal judges, according to materials obtained by ProPublica. Cannon submitted several reimbursement requests to the law school related to her travel expenses.

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Rep. Mikie Sherrill (D-N.J.) tore into Republicans as many of them blame the Democrats' rhetoric for the second assassination attempt on former President Trump.

Trump was the target of an apparent assassination attempt while he was golfing at his resort in Florida on Sunday. No one was hurt, but Trump has since blamed Democrat rhetoric for the second attempt on his life in just two months.

CNN's Jim Acosta on Monday asked Sherrill Monday whether the protection around the former president needs to change in the wake of the latest incident. She suggested that the attempted assassination stemmed from the GOP's rhetoric and the availability of assault rifles in the country.

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People who consumed 200 to 300 milligrams of caffeine a day were less likely to develop coronary heart disease, type 2 diabetes or stroke.

There are certain studies that coffee lovers, well, love. 

This is one of them: Drinking several cups of caffeinated coffee or tea a day may protect against Type 2 diabetes, coronary heart disease and stroke.

The findings, published Tuesday in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, add to existing research suggesting that daily coffee drinkers have better heart health than nondrinkers — provided they don’t drink too much caffeine.

Several people have lost their lives in forest fires that have been raging in Portugal since the weekend. Thousands of firefighters have been deployed to combat the flames