The Vera C. Rubin Observatory dazzles with cosmic treasures in newly released videos.

Sometimes nature just can't decide.

According to the old legend, two mermaids placed an enigmatic curse on the village of Staithes after being captured and kept as prisoner.

It’s an ill fungus that blows nobody any good.

We might have been prioritizing the space side of spacetime for over a century because we can see it.

The assassination of a top Minnesota Democratic lawmaker has taken a bizarre turn, with accused murderer Vance Luther Boelter telling the FBI that Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D) told him to kill U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) so that Walz could run for U.S. Senate, a Minnesota newspaper reported.A handwritten letter Boelter allegedly left in a Buick sedan abandoned hours before his June 15 capture said the Democratic Minnesota governor ordered him to kill Klobuchar and others, the Minnesota Star Tribune reported. The “rambling, conspiratorial,” and “incoherent” letter included a claim that he was trained “off the books” by the U.S. military, the newspaper said.Boelter had ‘on the ground experiences combined with training by both private security firms and by people in the US military.’Alpha News first reported that the letter, addressed to FBI Director Kash Patel, placed the blame for the shootings on Gov. Walz.A spokesman for the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office told the Star Tribune that “we will state only that we have seen no evidence that the allegations regarding Governor Walz are based in fact.”A spokesman for Walz, the failed 2024 Democratic U.S. vice presidential candidate, did not issue a denial, but said the governor is “grateful to law enforcement who apprehended the shooter, and he’s grateful to the prosecutors who will ensure justice is swiftly served,” the Star Tribune reported.In a June 20 statement, Klobuchar said: “Boelter is a very dangerous man, and I am deeply grateful that law enforcement got him behind bars before he killed other people,” the newspaper said.Blaze News contacted Walz’s office and the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Twin Cities, but did not receive a reply before publication time.Boelter, 57, is charged in federal court with murdering Minnesota House Speaker Emerita Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark Hortman, and shooting state Sen. John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette Hoffman. Boelter will also face first-degree murder and attempted murder charges in Hennepin County District Court.On June 15, the Ramsey County Sheriff’s Office shared a photo of Boelter’s arrest and described him as “the face of evil.”Boelter allegedly left behind a handwritten “hit list” with the names of more than 50 Democratic lawmakers from Minnesota, Texas, Iowa, Illinois, and Wisconsin, according to court records and law enforcement sources quoted by local media. The list also included officials from abortion provider Planned Parenthood North Central States, police said.RELATED: The stuff of nightmares: Boelter allegedly sought to kill 4 lawmakers Vance Luther Boelter allegedly wore a silicone mask disguise at the first three homes he visited on June 14, but appears to have ditched the mask before arriving at the home where a key Minnesota lawmaker and her husband were assassinated. FBI A biographical profile for Boelter on his Praetorian Guard Security Services business website states Boelter had “on the ground experiences combined with training by both private security firms and by people in the U.S. military.” The bio said Boelter “has been involved with security situations in Eastern Europe, Africa, North America and the Middle East, including the West Bank, southern Lebanon and the Gaza Strip.”A mobile phone associated with Boelter’s home in Green Isle, Minn., pinged in overseas locations between 2022 and 2025, including Turkey, Dubai, Africa, India, and Nepal, according to the Washington D.C.-based Oversight Project.Boelter was wearing a police-style uniform and tactical vest when he allegedly went on his shooting rampage, the FBI said. He drove a dark Ford SUV with an emergency light bar on the roof. He left the vehicle in the Hortmans’ driveway before allegedly forcing his way into the home and murdering the couple and the family dog, the FBI said.Boelter allegedly intended to shoot at least two other Minnesota legislators in the overnight hours on June 14. He went to the home of state Rep. Kristin Bahner (DFL-Maple Grove) and state Sen. Ann Rest (DFL-New Hope). Bahner was not home. New Hope Police Department officers arriving to check on Sen. Rest scared off Boelter, who was sitting in a parked car a block away.Boelter allegedly donned a “hyper-realistic” silicone mask that covered his head. When he allegedly pounded on the Hoffmans’ door just after 2 a.m., he was wearing the silicone mask. According to the FBI affidavit filed in federal criminal court, Boelter was also wearing the disguise as he sat in his vehicle a block away from Sen. Rest’s home.But by the time he allegedly attacked the Hortmans 90 minutes later, it appears he no longer had the mask on, according to video taken from a Brooklyn Park police vehicle.Who is Vance Boelter?Based on court records, public databases, interviews, and news archives, here is what is known about one of the most infamous criminal suspects in Minnesota history.The son of a small-town hero high school baseball coach, Boelter grew up in Sleepy Eye, a southern Minnesota town of 3,400 souls named for Chief Sleepy Eye, onetime head of the Sisseton Dakota tribe. Vance is the youngest of six children born to Donald Boelter and the former Yvonne Strate. A sister died in infancy. His siblings include two sets of twins.According to a Minnesota newspaper, Mrs. Boelter gave birth to fraternal twins during a March blizzard in 1956. “At Ceylon, Minn., Mrs. Donald Boelter became the mother of twins in her trailer home during the height of the blow Saturday night,” The Minneapolis Star wrote two days later.His father was a high school athletics standout at New Ulm High School and a basketball and baseball star at Luther College in Decorah, Iowa. Don Boelter coached baseball at Ceylon High School and Sleepy Eye Public High School.Don Boelter won nine conference titles, was runner-up for six more, and had 309 career wins and a .620 winning percentage. His Sleepy Eye Indians teams went to the state tournament three times, winning the title in 1981 and finishing second in 1976. He died in 2013.Vance’s brother, Tarry Boelter, 69, joined his father in the Minnesota State High School Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame after a 350-win baseball coaching career.Vance Boelter married the former Jennifer Lynne Doskocil on Oct. 4, 1997, in Winona, Minn. They have four daughters and a son. The daughters are named for Christian virtues and gifts. The son is named after a missionary Boelter knew who was killed in the New Adams Farm Massacre in Zimbabwe in November 1987.Political viewsThe question of what role politics played in the killings took a sudden twist with news that the letter Boelter allegedly left in the Buick blames Gov. Walz.The political finger-pointing began as soon as Blaze News’ Julio Rosas first reported that police named Boelter as the primary suspect in the killings. Early on, Gov. Walz called the crime a “politically motivated assassination,” although he did not say what evidence backed up that contention.As word spread of Boelter’s identity, the sides squared off to argue whether Republican or Democratic politics were to blame for Boelter’s alleged evil rampage.Left-leaning MSNBC blamed the crime on President Donald J. Trump’s alleged rhetoric. Political analyst Anthony Coley tied Trump’s pardon of some 1,500 Jan. 6 defendants into the equation. “Just four months ago, we saw this president pardon violent January 6 offenders, people who were convicted,” Coley said. “Fifteen hundred, he just pardoned. That, to me, normalized political violence.”Others chimed in on social media, including tennis legend Martina Navratilova, who posted, “This is on [T]rump.”The pendulum swung the other way as word got out that Boelter had been appointed to a workforce development board by two successive Democratic governors, Mark Dayton and Walz, in 2016 and 2019. FBI agents stage in a neighborhood in Green Isle, Minn., on June 15, 2025. Law enforcement agencies were searching for Vance Boelter, a suspect in the killing of DFL state Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark Hortman. Photo by Stephen Maturen/Getty Images An appointment proclamation signed by Walz in December 2019 read in part, “Because of the special trust and confidence I have in your integrity, judgment, and ability, I have appointed and commissioned you to have and to hold the office of Business Member, Governor’s Workforce Development Board.”Boelter was named to the county-board-appointed Dakota-Scott Workforce Development Board in Dakota County, Minn., in 2013. He later became its chairman. A LinkedIn post described Boelter as “a true workforce leader” who “walked the walk.”The ties to Democratic governors, along with news that police found fliers in Boelter’s fake police vehicle that said, “No Kings,” brought blowback from the right. Nationwide No Kings protests against President Trump were staged across the nation on June 14.The fact that Boelter allegedly had a hit list loaded with Democrats in his vehicle could be a significant factor in analyzing a motive. Boelter’s childhood friend, David Carlson, said he never saw Boelter take an interest in state or local politics. He told Minneapolis reporters that Boelter was a Trump supporter.There are no records in the Federal Election Commission database or Minnesota Campaign Finance Board records that show Boelter ever donated to a political candidate, political party, or political action committee.The Oklahoman newspaper and the Independent claimed that Boelter was a registered Republican in 2004 when his family lived in Muldrow, Okla. Neither paper cited a source beyond “voting records.” According to the Oklahoma State Elections Board, there are no voter records going back that far. “Voter registration information is only kept for approximately six years following the deletion of a voter; then it is destroyed,” said Misha Mohr, public information officer for the Oklahoma State Elections Board in Oklahoma City. “We do not have voter registration data dating back to the early 2000s.”Ruby Brunk, secretary of the Sequoyah County Elections Board, told Blaze News that Boelter is not listed in that system. She confirmed that records “do not go back that far.” Muldrow is a town of 3,300 residents in Sequoyah County.EmploymentBoelter spent much of his career in the food-processing and convenience-store industries, working for companies including Gold’n Plump chicken, Gerber Products Co., Del Monte Foods, Johnsonville Sausage, Lettieri’s/Greencore Group, and 7-Eleven.At Lettieri’s in Shakopee, Minn., Boelter was a plant manager responsible for production operations, quality, maintenance, safety, and research and development, according to an October 2013 article in the Star Tribune. The company, which was purchased by Ireland-based Greencore Group in 2014, produces food-to-go items for retail outlets such as convenience stores.Boelter moved his family many times with job changes. According to property records, the Boelters owned residential properties in Fort Smith, Ark.; Muldrow, Okla.; Sleepy Eye, Minn.; Shakopee, Minn.; Sheboygan, Wis.; Arcadia, Wis.; Inver Grove Heights, Minn.; and Green Isle, Minn. They also rented apartments or homes in some locations, including Gaylord, Minn. Members of the Minnesota State Patrol block a road as law enforcement officers search in Belle Plaine, Minn., for assassination suspect Vance Boelter.Photo by Stephen Maturen/Getty ImagesBoelter attempted to establish his own companies at least twice. He and his wife founded Praetorian Guard Security Services LLC in September 2018, according to Minnesota Secretary of State records. The business registration with the state of Minnesota lapsed in February 2022, but was reinstated in June 2023. Registration was again terminated, then quickly reinstated in January 2025, records show.Praetorian Guard was founded to provide armed security services to residential and commercial customers. Boelter had the official title of director of security patrols, while his wife was listed as president and CEO. The company drove Ford SUVs, “the same make and model of vehicles that many police departments use,” the website said.Praetorian Guard did not have a website for several years after the business was founded. The domain name pguards.net was registered in March 2021. Domain information was updated in April 2025, according to the WhoIs website. The domain registration is valid until March 2026. The website is no longer connected to the internet.From April 2016 to November 2021, Boelter was working for 7-Eleven as an operations manager, according to his three-page resume posted online by journalist Ken Klippenstein.Boelter left that job to found Red Lion Group, a company that appeared to be just him and his wife. Red Lion’s mission was to establish and develop “farm to fork” food production projects in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Between 2021 and spring 2025, Boelter made several trips to the DRC that lasted up to two months.In one of his online biographies, Boelter said he had worked for Schwan’s Company, based in Marshall, Minn. He did not provide any dates or details. Schwan’s sells food and ice cream in grocery stores and formerly sold directly from freezer trucks that call on residential customers. It was formerly named the Schwan Food Company. Vance and Jennifer Boelter founded Praetorian Guard Security Services in 2018, but it is not clear if the business was ever operational beyond purchase of a police-style SUV.Google Maps/Praetorian Guard website via the Wayback MachineTo try to support his business and charity ventures, Boelter took jobs in the funeral industry from 2023 until mid-2025. According to a video he posted online, Boelter’s duties included body removal and transport for Wulff Funeral Homes and Metro First Call LLC. The work also included body removals from crime scenes for delivery to medical examiners’ offices such as in Hennepin County, Boelter said.Tim Koch, owner of First Call, told Blaze News, “As far as Vance Boelter is concerned, he worked for our company from August 28, 2023, until he voluntarily left on February 20, 2025. To say anything more at this time would be irresponsible, as the investigation continues.”Boelter also left his job with Wulff Funeral Homes prior to June 14, a general manager told several Twin Cities media outlets. Blaze News reached out to Dignity Memorial, the owner of Wulff Funeral Homes, but did not receive a response before publication time.Boelter had also enrolled in mortuary science courses at Des Moines Area Community College in Ankeny, Iowa. The school, which offers online and on-campus courses, told WOI-TV in Ames, Iowa, that Boelter enrolled in mortuary science classes in 2023 and 2024.Charity and faithBoelter and his wife also tried their hands at running tax-exempt charities at the same time that Red Lion Group was operating in the DRC, records show.They founded You Give Them Something to Eat Inc., an anti-hunger charity based on the Gospel story of the miracle of the loaves and fishes. The Internal Revenue Service approved it as a tax-exempt charity under Section 501(c)(3) of the IRS code, effective June 28, 2021. The group only filed one IRS tax return, in 2022, and reported no income or expenses.The Boelters also established a religious nonprofit organization, Revoformation Ministries Inc. According to IRS records, Revoformation filed 13 tax returns between 2007 and 2023. Because the charity’s income was under $50,000, Revoformation was not required to state the amount. Vance Boelter dances with enthusiasm during a sermon at a Christian church in Matadi, Democratic Republic of the Congo, in September 2021.Centre Évangélique Francophone La Borne Matadi/YouTubeOn the Revoformation website, Boelter’s biography states that he was ordained in 1993 and “has enjoyed speaking in different parts of the United States as well as in several international cities such as Jerusalem, Israel.” It said prior to the attacks on America on Sept. 11, 2001, he had made “several trips” to Gaza and the West Bank, where he “sought out militant Islamists in order to share the Gospel and tell them that violence wasn’t the answer.”Robert Spencer, an internationally recognized expert on Islam, told Blaze News that Boelter likely would have been killed or taken hostage for preaching to Islamists with a Christian message.Boelter earned a diploma in 1990 at the Christ for the Nations Institute in Dallas.Boelter delivered sermons on several occasions between 2021 and 2023 at the Centre Évangélique Francophone La Borne Matadi in far Western Democratic Republic of the Congo. He visited the country as part of a missionary group from the Global Impact Center in Columbia Heights, Minn.The Matadi church, the Global Impact Center, and Christ for the Nations issued statements after Boelter was charged with the murders distancing themselves from him and decrying the violence.Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

The unfolding fallout between Elon Musk and the Trump administration over the past month hasn't stopped Musk's companies from breaking new ground in their industries. Tesla's newly launched service may change transportation as we know it. Following years of delays and hype from Elon Musk, Tesla launched the long-awaited, fully autonomous Cybercab in Austin, Texas, on Sunday. The service uses brand-new Tesla Model Y cars with no add-ons, meaning that all Model Y Teslas are capable of fully autonomous driving. RELATED: Jeff Bezos jolts Tesla with $20,000 Cybertruck killer Photo by Stanislav Kogiku/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty ImagesMusk shared his excitement about the announcement on X, calling this achievement a "culmination of a decade of hard work." On top of being fully autonomous, Robotaxi also "automatically syncs your media & streaming settings before picking you up."Tesla invited a small group of users to test out the new service in the capital city for a flat fee of $4.20, Business Insider reported. Tesla's X page reposted several users' first experiences with the fully autonomous ride service. Many of them reported that the ride was smooth and enjoyable. One user posted a screen recording of his attempt to leave a tip, which was met with a humorous error message.While this service is currently only available in Austin, Texas, following the soft launch, Tesla has created a new portal for users to receive updates about Cybercab coming to their area in the future.

Iran began its retaliatory attack against the U.S. in a missile barrage against U.S. bases in Qatar and Iraq, according to CNN, Fox News, and other sources.The reports included firsthand claims of explosions at both bases at about 8 p.m. local time.'They're going to find overwhelming American force from the American military. That is really the choice before the Iranians.'The report initially stated that 10 missiles attacked the facility in Qatar and one missile in Iraq. Further reporting from Fox News puts that number at six.CNN anchor Becky Anderson called the mission "highly symbolic" rather than a substantive strike. A CNN correspondent in Tehran, Iran, said that officials confirmed the attack on television.U.S. officials warned Iran against retaliation on Sunday."If they make smart decisions, I think they're going to find us willing to work with them," said Vice President JD Vance. "If they continue to support terrorism, nuclear weapons programs, then they're going to find overwhelming American force from the American military. That is really the choice before the Iranians. And that's a choice only they can make."U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio threatened Iran if the country tried to shut down the Strait of Hormuz, a key water channel for trade.RELATED: Rubio warns Iran against 'suicidal' closing of Strait of Hormuz; Vance says retaliation will be met with 'overwhelming force' "If they mine the Straits of Hormuz, the Chinese are going to pay a huge price," said Rubio. "And every other country in the world is going to pay a huge price. We will too. It will have some impact on us. It will have a lot more impact on the rest of the world, a lot more impact on the rest of the world. That would be a suicidal move on their part because I think the whole world would come against them if they did that."There are about 40,000 American troops stationed across the Middle East.This is a developing story, and additional information may be added.Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

Multitudes of Syrian Christians gathered for mass Sunday evening inside the Greek Orthodox Church of the Prophet Elias in Damascus — and dozens of them never returned home.Their prayers were interrupted by a jihadist who opened fire on the faithful, then detonated an explosive vest, killing at least 25 Christians and wounding 63 others. The explosion reportedly caused extensive damage to the structure of the church.This terrorist attack — yet another reminder of the unrelenting persecution of Christians worldwide — was supposedly executed by a member of ISIS.Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa — the Islamic terrorist also known as Abu Mohammad al-Julani, who rose through the ranks of the Islamic State of Iraq before founding an Al-Qaeda affiliate in Syria, Jabhat al-Nusra — condemned the attack and expressed condolences, reported the state-owned network Alikhbaria Syria.Al-Sharaa called the attack a "heinous crime" that serves as a reminder of the importance of solidarity and unity of the regime and people in the face of security threats.Christian persecution watchdogs have warned in recent months that the al-Sharaa regime cannot be trusted. After all, the regime is largely composed of and led by elements of Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham, an Al-Qaeda spinoff terrorist organization linked in its formative years to the late leader of ISIS, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, and whose current leader was until recently a specially designated global terrorist who fought against American forces in Iraq.Jeff King of International Christian Concern, for instance, noted after the reported massacre of Syrian Christians by regime-aligned jihadists in March that the government is "Al-Qaeda and ISIS in a new guise."Despite his personal history with ISIS and Al-Qaeda, it is nevertheless in al-Sharaa's interest to respond forcefully to the attack, not only to remain on good terms with President Donald Trump — who vowed to "protect persecuted Christians" ahead of the 2024 election and whose administration lifted U.S. sanctions last month — but to counter the internal threat to his rule. After all, ISIS now regards the Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham-led regime as illegitimate.RELATED: Progressives' Middle East meddling keeps costing innocent lives Photo by Ali Haj Suleiman/Getty ImagesAl Jazeera reported that ISIS has repeatedly attacked government forces in recent months, labeling the government an "apostate regime."Mazhar al-Wais, the Syrian minister of justice, called the bombing a "cowardly crime targeting the unity of Syrians," suggesting that al-Sharaa's regime would not tolerate terrorism.A senior U.S. official told Blaze News, "This is just another reminder that global jihadists see innocent unarmed Christians as legitimate targets.""The new government in Damascus will be measured in large part by its willingness to protect minorities and neutralize groups like ISIS," added the official.Ever distrustful of the regime, the Syrian Network for Human Rights insisted Sunday that "protecting the crime scene at Mar Elias Church is a necessary first step toward establishing the truth and achieving accountability."'People were praying safely under the eyes of God.'The watchdog group suggested that extra to securing the site's perimeter and preventing unauthorized entry and tampering with evidence, it is essential that Syrian authorities "regulate the movement of personnel and media to ensure that only authorized forensic teams are allowed to work on site" and to "implement accurate documentation procedures."The Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch said in the immediate wake of the attack, "The treacherous hand of evil struck this evening claiming our lives, along with the lives of our loved ones who fell today as martyrs during the evening Divine Liturgy at the Church of the Prophet Elias in Dweilaa, Damascus."Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople Bartholomew I asked Patriarch John X, the primate of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch and All the East, to convey his heartfelt condolences and support to the families of the victims, and prayed to "the All-Good God to rest the souls of the innocent victims of the attack."RELATED: Why are Islamists targeting Catholic priests? US President Donald Trump meets with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa (L) along with the Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud (R) on May 14, 2025. Photo by Bandar Al-Jaloud/Saudi Royal Court/Handout/Anadolu via Getty Images)Witnesses indicated that when the suicide bomber entered the church and began firing, parishioners heroically charged him, reported the Associated Press. Once confronted, the masked terrorist detonated his vest."People were praying safely under the eyes of God," said Fr. Fadi Ghattas, who was present when at least 20 Christians were killed by the explosion. "There were 350 people praying at the church."Issam Nasr, a witness who was praying inside the church, said he observed some victims get "blown to bits.""We have never held a knife in our lives," said Nasr, underscoring the defenseless nature of the Christians targeted in Damascus. "All we ever carried were our prayers."According to International Christian Concern, parish priest Fr. Youhanna Shehata assisted in carrying the remains of over 20 victims out of the church in the wake of the attack.Blaze News reached out to the White House for comment but did not immediately receive a response.Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

After the legendary bassist objected to her induction and, once again, critized the name commonly used for the LA studio musicians of the '60s, Denny Tedesco sets the record straight. The post ‘The Wrecking Crew’ Director Responds to Carol Kaye as Bassist Declines Rock Hall Honor appeared first on Best Classic Bands.