New batch of government documents takes no position on origin of unidentified aerial phenomena (UAPs)

A possible UFO sighting over a busy southern African airport, and yet more mysterious glowing orbs in the sky above the US, feature in the latest batch of previously classified documents released by the Pentagon on Friday in its stated quest for “transparency” amid the irrepressible debate about the chances of extraterrestrial life.

In keeping with the first two document drops of government papers last month, Friday’s tranche of more than 50 files contains no proof that the tantalizing videos and written accounts of possible alien encounters are anything other than perception, vivid imagination or conspiracy theories.

One man died in Iowa after a tree fell on him as nearly 700 severe weather events were recorded over three days

• Sign up for the Breaking News US newsletter email

An Illinois man whose home was destroyed by a tornado on Thursday was pulled from the rubble by a police officer and a photojournalist, who captured the terrifying storm and subsequent rescue in dramatic video footage.

Scott Lasker, who describes himself as a storm chaser, recorded the tornado ripping through the town of Streator and was filming the damage it inflicted when he came across the man trapped in the debris of his house.

Footage shows Elliot Sudal hauling the shark from the surf before releasing it within seconds, sparking online reaction

An angler who reeled in a rare great white shark at a Nantucket beach said he posted extraordinary video of the encounter to social media as an example of how to safely catch and release one of the ocean’s greatest predators.

Elliot Sudal said he was “testing the waters” off the Massachusetts beach he regularly uses when he inadvertently snagged the shark on Sunday.

Robert Dillon was arrested at home in Florida despite living 300 miles away from where a crime was committed

• Sign up for the Breaking News US newsletter email

A Florida man is suing several law enforcement agencies for his arrest and prosecution for allegedly luring a child after he was wrongly identified using faulty AI facial recognition software.

According to the Jacksonville Beach police department, an algorithm returned a 93% probability that Robert Dillon was the man caught on security cameras at a McDonald’s in the town attempting to persuade an unaccompanied girl, aged younger than 12, to leave with him.

Star, 59, of 2000 blockbuster X-Men seeks to raise awareness of condition as he undergoes chemotherapy

The actor and former professional wrestler Tyler Mane has revealed he has been diagnosed with breast cancer, and is undergoing chemotherapy.

Mane, 59, a star of the 2000 superhero blockbuster X-Men, posted the news to Facebook in an attempt to raise awareness of a condition he said was rarely talked about.

Nancy Lacore, ousted by Pete Hegseth last year, heads to a run-off in race for Nancy Mace’s seat

• US politics live – latest updates

A three-star navy rear-admiral fired by Pete Hegseth last year in the defense secretary’s purge of senior US military officials advanced to a Democratic run-off in a closely-watched congressional race in South Carolina.

Nancy Lacore, who served 35 years in the navy, was chief of the navy reserve when she was ousted by Hegseth in August.

Luca Parmitano to pilot all-male crew of four paving way for planned first human landing of Artemis IV in 2028

Jared Isaacman, the Nasa administrator, hailed the creation of “Earth’s first starfleet” on Tuesday as he revealed the Artemis III crew and details of the next stages of the space agency’s project to return humans to the moon.

An Italian astronaut, Luca Parmitano of the European Space Agency (ESA), will be the pilot of the planned two-week mission to lower Earth orbit next year that will test lunar landers from private companies Blue Origin and SpaceX.

A renowned academic, Wood was hit by a car as he was crossing a supermarket’s parking lot and later died of the injuries

Gordon S Wood, a Pulitzer prize-winning author and historian, was killed on Sunday when he was struck by a car in a supermarket parking lot in Rhode Island.

Wood, 92, won the Pulitzer in 1993 in the history category for The Radicalism of the American Revolution, a landmark tome that advanced the theory of the break with Britain being at least as much of an internal social and political transformation as a desire to be rid of colonial masters.

This story was amended on 8 June 2026 to correct the Pulitzer prize-winning book’s title to The Radicalism of the American Revolution.

Search enters third day after 12 people wounded in shooting near festival on Saturday and no arrests have been made

A search for suspects who wounded 12 people in a shooting in Toledo entered a third day on Monday as authorities in the Ohio city continued to piece together a timeline – and a prosecutor promised “justice will be swift and strong”.

All of the victims of Saturday’s attack at a downtown cultural festival, ranging in ages from 14 to 61, were in a stable condition late on Sunday, the Toledo police department said.

Suspect in custody at busy rail hub adjacent to Madison Square Garden one day before game three of NBA finals

Six people were stabbed in a Sunday night attack at New York’s Penn Station, authorities said, with Amtrak police saying a person believed to be homeless was being held in custody as a result.

The stabbings at the US’s busiest railroad hub came one day before thousands of basketball fans were expected at the third game of the NBA finals at the adjacent Madison Square Garden complex, although the events are not believed to be linked.