عربي English Türkçe اردو فارسى
Logo
Latest News
Varieties

Space Tour in Virgin Galactic's Cabin to Cost $250,000

The interior cabin of space tourism firm Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo is seen in an artist's rendition released July 28, 2020. Virgin Galactic/AP
The interior cabin of space tourism firm Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo is seen in an artist's rendition released July 28, 2020. Virgin Galactic/AP
TT
TT

Space Tour in Virgin Galactic's Cabin to Cost $250,000

The interior cabin of space tourism firm Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo is seen in an artist's rendition released July 28, 2020. Virgin Galactic/AP
The interior cabin of space tourism firm Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo is seen in an artist's rendition released July 28, 2020. Virgin Galactic/AP

Virgin Galactic, which was established to organize space tourism trips, has unveiled the space cabin where passengers will one day gaze at Earth after paying $250,000 (£175,000) for a ticket to space.

Revealed for the first time during an online event on Tuesday, the design features an "unrestricted astronaut float zone" for zero-gravity jaunts, according to The Sun.

Billionaire Sir Richard Branson, the owner of Virgin, said the cabin was designed "to allow thousands of people... to achieve the dream of spaceflight safely."

Branson unveiled the plans, which include individually sized reclining seats and automated mood lighting, during a virtual tour live-streamed to YouTube.

Virgin Galactic also said the cabin included soft surfaces and window edges to allow passengers to float out of their seats unharmed. There are plans for a large circular mirror which would allow customers to view themselves floating in zero gravity. Twelve cameras will provide high-definition footage of the flight, while passengers will soak up views of Earth through the cabin's 17 windows.

After the plans were announced, Sir Richard said: "When we created Virgin Galactic, we started with what we believed would be an optimal customer experience and then built the spaceship around it.”

“We will continue with that ethos as we expand our fleet, build our operations and underpin Virgin Galactic's position as the space center for Earth."

Most Viewed

 
 
Varieties

Putin Gifts 4 Amur Tigers to Kazakhstan Ahead of Visit

In this pool photograph distributed by the Russian state agency Sputnik, Russia's President Vladimir Putin meets with graduates of the "Time of Heroes" program, at the Kremlin in Moscow on May 22, 2026. (Photo by Alexey NIKOLSKY / POOL / AFP)
In this pool photograph distributed by the Russian state agency Sputnik, Russia's President Vladimir Putin meets with graduates of the "Time of Heroes" program, at the Kremlin in Moscow on May 22, 2026. (Photo by Alexey NIKOLSKY / POOL / AFP)
TT
TT

Putin Gifts 4 Amur Tigers to Kazakhstan Ahead of Visit

In this pool photograph distributed by the Russian state agency Sputnik, Russia's President Vladimir Putin meets with graduates of the "Time of Heroes" program, at the Kremlin in Moscow on May 22, 2026. (Photo by Alexey NIKOLSKY / POOL / AFP)
In this pool photograph distributed by the Russian state agency Sputnik, Russia's President Vladimir Putin meets with graduates of the "Time of Heroes" program, at the Kremlin in Moscow on May 22, 2026. (Photo by Alexey NIKOLSKY / POOL / AFP)

Russia has handed Kazakhstan four Amur tigers, two of them cubs, to help the country restore its numbers of the animals, President Vladimir Putin said in an article issued ahead of his visit to the Central Asian nation this week.

Rich in energy resources and critical minerals, Kazakhstan shares a border with Russia and is a close ally of Moscow in a region where China and the ⁠United States are ⁠also expanding their influence.

The four animals captured in Russia's far eastern region of Khabarovsk were flown to Kazakhstan, Putin said on the Kremlin's website on Tuesday, and are soon to be released into the wild.

Putin ⁠is no stranger to using animals to advance diplomatic efforts.

In 2022, Russia sent 30 grey thoroughbred horses to North Korea, as the nations have boosted ties since Ukraine's invasion that year. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is a keen horseman.

Kazakhstan, which is trying to restore the tiger population in Central Asia, sees the Amur tiger as a ⁠close ⁠relative of the extinct Caspian tiger. The Russian gesture boosts the country's tally of the animals previously sent by the Netherlands, Reuters reported.

On his visit, Putin will oversee the signing of a deal for a nuclear power project in Kazakhstan, which has no nuclear power generation now, and will discuss efforts to boost the transit of Russian oil to China through the country, the Kremlin has said.

Varieties

RFK Jr. Snatches Snakes in Viral Video, the Latest of his Many Animal Encounters

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. speaks as Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz, right, and Assistant Attorney General for the Fraud Division Colin McDonald listen during a press conference Thursday, May 21, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Glen Stubbe)
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. speaks as Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz, right, and Assistant Attorney General for the Fraud Division Colin McDonald listen during a press conference Thursday, May 21, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Glen Stubbe)
TT
TT

RFK Jr. Snatches Snakes in Viral Video, the Latest of his Many Animal Encounters

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. speaks as Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz, right, and Assistant Attorney General for the Fraud Division Colin McDonald listen during a press conference Thursday, May 21, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Glen Stubbe)
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. speaks as Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz, right, and Assistant Attorney General for the Fraud Division Colin McDonald listen during a press conference Thursday, May 21, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Glen Stubbe)

A video of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. wrangling two snakes bare-handed captured the internet’s fascination Tuesday, the latest animal encounter the US health secretary has shared publicly that has sparked intrigue and in some cases concern.

Kennedy shared the clip of himself grabbing the tails of the non-venomous black racer snakes on his personal social media accounts, noting in the caption that he was removing them from the patio of Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz.

An avid outdoorsman, Kennedy has posted numerous photos and videos over the years of himself interacting with wild animals, The Associated Press reported. He's also shared tales of such interactions, including admitting once planting a bear carcass in New York's Central Park as a prank.

Internet users reacted with joy, incredulity and outcry at Kennedy's latest clip, which shows the snakes biting in the direction of his fingers as Oz asks questions about the snakes.

Kennedy’s wife, actress Cheryl Hines, can be heard saying “Why?” and telling her husband to let them go.

Herpetologists said the species in the clip is largely harmless to humans, even if it bites. But they said people should be mindful of the stress that handling snakes can put on the creatures, and to avoid grabbing them by the tails as Kennedy does in the video, because it can cause injuries to their spines.

“That is not how I would handle the snakes, but I’m a trained professional,” said Bonnie Keller, a herpetologist and former board member of the Virginia Herpetological Society.

Sean McKnight, director of programs at the nonprofit Rattlesnake Conservancy, said he encourages people to minimize the duration that they’re handling any kind of wildlife, because they are “potentially stressing out the animals more than needed.”

Earlier this month, Kennedy posted a snapshot of himself holding a bird in his enclosed hand in what he wrote was the rescue of a starling at Dulles Airport in northern Virginia.

In 2024, while running for president, he posted a video of himself using a small net and a trowel to capture a rattlesnake in his California driveway. In that video, he cautiously secures the venomous snake in his bare hands and displays its fangs to the camera. McKnight said he doesn’t advise anybody to handle rattlesnakes like that, because there’s no way to restrain them safely with your hands.

Also in 2024, Kennedy generated criticism when he admitted to taking a bear carcass from the side of the road and placing it in Central Park as a prank in 2014. He said at the time that he had been picking up roadkill his “whole life” and once had a “freezer full of it” at home. His campaign spokesperson Stefanie Spear, now a top adviser at the nation's health department, said roadkill was how Kennedy, a longtime falconer, fed his birds.

Varieties

King Charles Visits Grey Squirrel Contraceptive Project

Britain's King Charles III smiles as he visits a conservation initiative to humanely control grey squirrel numbers, at the Animal and Plant Health Agency, in Sand Hutton, North Yorkshire, north-east England, on May 26, 2026. (Photo by Dominic Lipinski / POOL / AFP)
Britain's King Charles III smiles as he visits a conservation initiative to humanely control grey squirrel numbers, at the Animal and Plant Health Agency, in Sand Hutton, North Yorkshire, north-east England, on May 26, 2026. (Photo by Dominic Lipinski / POOL / AFP)
TT
TT

King Charles Visits Grey Squirrel Contraceptive Project

Britain's King Charles III smiles as he visits a conservation initiative to humanely control grey squirrel numbers, at the Animal and Plant Health Agency, in Sand Hutton, North Yorkshire, north-east England, on May 26, 2026. (Photo by Dominic Lipinski / POOL / AFP)
Britain's King Charles III smiles as he visits a conservation initiative to humanely control grey squirrel numbers, at the Animal and Plant Health Agency, in Sand Hutton, North Yorkshire, north-east England, on May 26, 2026. (Photo by Dominic Lipinski / POOL / AFP)

King Charles III on Tuesday met conservationists seeking to reduce Britain's booming population of non-native grey squirrels humanely by feeding them oral contraceptives.

Grey squirrels, introduced from the United States in the 19th century, are considered an invasive species. They are now far more common than native red squirrels, which are endangered in Britain, AFP reported.

The larger grey animals outcompete the reds for food and living space and also carry a virus to which they are immune but that is deadly to reds.

The king met scientists and researchers from The Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) in Yorkshire in northern England, who are working on a new oral contraceptive project aimed at slowing grey squirrels' population growth.

The king "has long supported efforts to restore the red squirrel population," the royal family said on X.

Charles told Country Life magazine in 2018 that he allowed red squirrels to run around his house on the Balmoral estate in Scotland.

(FILES) A grey squirrel climbs on a fence in St James's Park in central London on May 14, 2021. (Photo by Glyn KIRK / AFP)

The monarch is patron of The Red Squirrel Survival Trust and The Times reported in April that he had given the national charity a "very generous" donation.

"You've been championing our red squirrels for decades now, which is why we've been so keen to show you the work we've been doing here," Julie Lane, head of the National Wildlife Management Centre at APHA, told Charles.

"Without you, this work would not be happening at all."

Plans for the squirrel contraception project were first announced in 2022 and the first tests of contraceptives have just begun.

The project involves hiding contraceptives in tasty bait in special feeders in woodland, designed so only grey squirrels can access them.

According to government estimates, the grey squirrel population has grown to around 2.7 million in Great Britain while there are only between 120,000 and 160,0000 red squirrels, most of them in Scotland.