After more than a week of blazing temperatures rushing over 40°C (104ºF), Germany was ravaged by hailstorms, flash floods and tornadoes. MORE

As California’s record-breaking drought continues to worsen, officials have introduced tough new restrictions that went into effect on June 15, 2015. The city’s one million residents face fines of up to $500 per day if they are found not to be in compliance with the strict new rules.MORE

Hey California parents, we have a few questions for you:

Are you afraid of measly little measles? Doesn’t matter – Your children will be force vaccinated or they can’t attend school!

Do you believe in natural cures that really work and are you perfectly healthy, opposing vaccines and flu shots that contain deadly mercury, aluminum and formaldehyde?

Doesn’t matter – Your children will be force vaccinated or they can’t attend school! MORE

Last week, the US Patent and Trademark Office approved an application from Boeing’s Robert Budica, James Herzberg, and Frank Chandler for a laser-and-nuclear driven airplane engine. MORE

Russian President Vladimir Putin has gone through an extended spell without peppering his speeches with mentions of a “New Russia” (Novorossiya) made up of Ukrainian lands that were once under tsarist control.

The veteran Kremlin leader had fervently promoted the project while the separatists were gaining ground along Ukraine’s eastern industrial heartland toward the end of last year. MORE

Two robots have tied the knot in Japan in what is thought to be the first wedding of its kind in the world. MORE

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Chinese stocks plunged rapidly out of the Wednesday open, with the Shanghai Composite Index SHCOMP, -5.90% starting down 7% and extending the loss to 8.2%, before recovering slightly to 4.8%. The selloff came despite a rare pledge by the People’s Bank of China as the markets opened that it would closely watch stock movements and continue to use multiple ways to support the state-backed margin-finance entity — China Securities Finance Corp. (CSF) — in order to safeguard the stability of the markets and “hold the line against systemic and regional financial risks.” MORE

Body-branding is a painful practice often regarded as too cruel to inflict on animals, but that hasn’t deterred tattoo enthusiast Kerri, who let Channel 4 film her first foray into more extreme body modification. MORE

State Sen. Ricardo Lara, an openly gay Los Angeles Democrat, wants to replace a bronze statue of Serra with a monument honoring the late Sally Ride, the nation’s first female astronaut. Lara said Ride would become “the first member of the LGBT community” to be honored in Statuary Hall. MORE

I was at the FEST at Borremeo Seminary on Sunday and had a great time with my family. Some of the music (Skillet) was a little disturbing, but overall it was a wonderful event.

However, I was very distracted at Mass by the very prominent display of rainbow colored flags, banners on the side of the stage and on the actual altar itself. I hope this wasn’t intentional, but I would think that those who organized the event would know that the rainbow colored sash/flag theme is the main symbol used by the gay/lesbian community. And with all the allegations regarding the homosexual atmosphere in the past, I am surprised they made this theme a central part of the day. SOURCE

I’m at a loss for words over this one.

Faith is important to former President Jimmy Carter, and he writes about it extensively in his new memoir A Full Life: Reflections at Ninety. But his religious beliefs don’t keep him from supporting every American’s right to marry the person they love. MORE

The WBO World Championship Committee has officially stripped Floyd Mayweather of the WBO welterweight title for failure to pay the $200,000 sanction fee, failure to advise the WBO of his position within the WBO welterweight division (despite requesting an extension) and failure to vacate the two 154-pound world titles he holds. MORE & MORE

The day before leaving on his weeklong trip to Latin America, Pope Francis told a large gathering of Catholics on Saturday that “a great temptation” is for leaders to believe themselves “indispensable” and that a “time limit” should be set for those with roles in the church.

Although he didn’t refer to himself directly, the Pope’s comments, given at a gathering of thousands in St Peter’s Square, reignited speculation that the pontiff may follow Benedict XVI and resign rather than serve as Pope for life. MORE