Newly surfaced videos appear to show Russian military commanders beating and humiliating their own soldiers, a pattern of internal abuse that continues even as Ukrainian forces claim significant territorial gains in the Donetsk region. Three separate clips, reported by The Sun, depict Russian soldiers subjected to physical punishment by their own commanders. In the first, […] The post Videos show Russian troops brutalizing their own soldiers as Ukraine presses forward in Donetsk appeared first on American Almanac .
Newly surfaced videos appear to show Russian military commanders beating and humiliating their own soldiers, a pattern of internal abuse that continues even as Ukrainian forces claim significant territorial gains in the Donetsk region. Three separate clips, reported by The Sun , depict Russian soldiers subjected to physical punishment by their own commanders. In the first, a soldier described as Belarusian hangs upside down from a tree while a commander strikes him with a stick. Reports suggest the soldier may have refused to fight, an act that under Russian military law can be treated as a capital offense. The commander addresses the soldier with a derogatory ethnic slur and warns him directly. "I'll make mashed potatoes of you. You get…Open
A 55-year-old fisherman in Bangladesh waited a full day before seeking help after a live eel entered his body through his rectum, and by the time he reached the emergency room, the animal had torn through his colon wall. The case, published in the International Journal of Surgery Case Reports, details one of the more […] The post Bangladeshi fisherman needed emergency surgery after live eel punctured his colon appeared first on American Almanac .
A 55-year-old fisherman in Bangladesh waited a full day before seeking help after a live eel entered his body through his rectum, and by the time he reached the emergency room, the animal had torn through his colon wall. The case, published in the International Journal of Surgery Case Reports, details one of the more unusual medical emergencies in recent literature: a nearly 2.2-foot-long eel that wriggled into a man's anal canal while he was fishing, perforated his intestine, and ended up alive inside his peritoneal cavity, the space surrounding the abdominal organs. Surgeons had to operate immediately to save his life. The fisherman told doctors the eel had entered through the opening at the bottom of his lungi, a traditional garment…Open
Dead Kennedys guitarist and co-founder East Bay Ray, 67, has been diagnosed with Parkinson's disease, but the punk rock veteran says he intends to keep performing. The band's management broke the news on the Dead Kennedys' official Instagram account, posting a photo of Ray in his younger years alongside a statement confirming the diagnosis. Ray, […] The post Dead Kennedys founding guitarist East Bay Ray diagnosed with Parkinson's disease appeared first on American Almanac .
Dead Kennedys guitarist and co-founder East Bay Ray, 67, has been diagnosed with Parkinson's disease, but the punk rock veteran says he intends to keep performing. The band's management broke the news on the Dead Kennedys' official Instagram account, posting a photo of Ray in his younger years alongside a statement confirming the diagnosis. Ray, whose real name is Raymond John Pepperell, helped launch one of the most influential punk bands in American history when he placed a newspaper ad for musicians in San Francisco in 1978. Now, nearly five decades later, the guitarist faces a degenerative neurological disease that attacks motor function, and he is not stepping off the stage quietly. The Sun reported that Ray plans to continue…Open
Fitness studios and sauna marketers have spent years selling the idea that sweating flushes toxins from your body, but a board-certified dermatologist and the Cleveland Clinic say the liver and kidneys do that job, not your sweat glands. Dr. Mona Foad, a board-certified dermatologist and founder of MONA Dermatology, laid out the real science of […] The post Sweating is good for you, but the fitness industry's 'detox' pitch doesn't hold up appeared first on American Almanac .
Fitness studios and sauna marketers have spent years selling the idea that sweating flushes toxins from your body, but a board-certified dermatologist and the Cleveland Clinic say the liver and kidneys do that job, not your sweat glands. Dr. Mona Foad, a board-certified dermatologist and founder of MONA Dermatology, laid out the real science of perspiration in a USA TODAY feature published July 1. Sweating matters, she said, but not for the reasons most gym-goers think. Foad was direct about the primary function of sweat: "Sweating is a normal and important function of the body. Its primary purpose is to help regulate body temperature and prevent overheating." That is the core takeaway, and it runs against a marketing narrative that…Open
Olympic gold medalist Simone Biles disclosed that three masked men broke into her Chicago home and stole her Porsche GTS, an incident she says prompted her and husband Jonathan Owens to get a guard dog. Biles, 29, dropped the revelation casually in a TikTok video posted Monday while shopping for a new car. She told […] The post Simone Biles reveals masked intruders broke into Chicago home and stole her Porsche appeared first on American Almanac .
Olympic gold medalist Simone Biles disclosed that three masked men broke into her Chicago home and stole her Porsche GTS, an incident she says prompted her and husband Jonathan Owens to get a guard dog. Biles, 29, dropped the revelation casually in a TikTok video posted Monday while shopping for a new car. She told followers she felt she needed a replacement vehicle, then explained why: during her final months living in Chicago, three men wearing masks entered her home and drove off with her Porsche GTS. She offered few details about the break-in itself, no date, no description of how the men got inside, no mention of whether she or Owens were home at the time. The gymnast framed the theft almost as an aside, telling USA TODAY viewers …Open
Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney told reporters Tuesday that Bill Belichick deserves "a little bit of slack" for their brief postgame handshake, chalking the awkward moment up to field-rushing fans and a grueling game. Swinney addressed the moment during his weekly media availability, three days after the Tigers rallied from a 17-3 deficit to beat […] The post Dabo Swinney defends Bill Belichick over brief postgame handshake after Clemson comeback appeared first on American Almanac .
Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney told reporters Tuesday that Bill Belichick deserves "a little bit of slack" for their brief postgame handshake, chalking the awkward moment up to field-rushing fans and a grueling game. Swinney addressed the moment during his weekly media availability, three days after the Tigers rallied from a 17-3 deficit to beat Belichick's North Carolina Tar Heels at Memorial Stadium. The come-from-behind win sent Clemson fans pouring onto the field, and the two coaches managed only what Swinney called a "drive-by" greeting before the crowd swallowed the scene. The handshake, or lack of one, had drawn attention on social media and in sports-media circles. But Swinney went out of his way to defend the Super Bowl-winning…Open
Scientists using a massive radio telescope array in South Africa have picked up radio signals traced directly to a single planet outside our solar system, a first in the history of astronomy that could reshape how researchers study distant worlds. The planet is Beta Pictoris b, a young gas giant roughly ten times the mass […] The post Harvard researchers detect radio signals from a planet beyond our solar system for the first time appeared first on American Almanac .
Scientists using a massive radio telescope array in South Africa have picked up radio signals traced directly to a single planet outside our solar system, a first in the history of astronomy that could reshape how researchers study distant worlds. The planet is Beta Pictoris b, a young gas giant roughly ten times the mass of Jupiter, orbiting a star 63.4 light years from Earth. Researchers from the Harvard-Smithsonian Centre for Astrophysics pointed the MeerKAT radio telescope array at the Beta Pictoris star system on four separate occasions in 2025 and 2026 and captured short, repeating bursts of radio waves. What made the detection historic: they could pin the signals to the planet itself, not to its host star or the surrounding system.…Open
Netflix has turned Roald Dahl's chocolate factory into a real-life competition series, complete with an AI-generated version of the late Gene Wilder's voice guiding contestants through a $3 million game that its creators call a "social experiment." The show, titled "Wonka's The Golden Ticket," debuted on the streaming platform this week and immediately raised a […] The post Netflix resurrects Gene Wilder's voice with AI for a $3 million Wonka reality show appeared first on American Almanac .
Netflix has turned Roald Dahl's chocolate factory into a real-life competition series, complete with an AI-generated version of the late Gene Wilder's voice guiding contestants through a $3 million game that its creators call a "social experiment." The show, titled "Wonka's The Golden Ticket," debuted on the streaming platform this week and immediately raised a question Hollywood has been dodging for years: how far is too far when a dead actor's likeness becomes a production tool? The showrunners say they have their answer. Whether audiences agree is another matter. Co-showrunners Emer Harkin and Alison Holloway built the series around the 1971 film that made Wilder's portrayal of Willy Wonka iconic. Contestants compete inside a physical…Open
Piers Morgan has called in lawyers and demanded the destruction of copies of Earl Spencer's new book about Princess Diana after Spencer admitted one of its central claims about Morgan was untrue, a concession the broadcaster says does not go far enough. The clash erupted on British television as both men took to rival morning […] The post Piers Morgan demands Earl Spencer's Diana memoir be pulled over false claims about him appeared first on American Almanac .
Piers Morgan has called in lawyers and demanded the destruction of copies of Earl Spencer's new book about Princess Diana after Spencer admitted one of its central claims about Morgan was untrue, a concession the broadcaster says does not go far enough. The clash erupted on British television as both men took to rival morning programs to make their cases. Morgan appeared on Good Morning Britain to reject Spencer's apology for the error, while Spencer sat down on the program Lorraine to insist the book stands and that the backlash has not shaken him. The dueling appearances laid bare a widening rift between Diana's brother and the British establishment over what the 367-page memoir actually gets right, and what it fabricates. At the…Open
A 32-year-old surgical resident who held down his pregnant girlfriend and shoved crushed abortion pills into her mouth received only six months behind bars, and now pro-life leaders and an Ohio senator are demanding the Justice Department step in. Hassan-James Abbas, a surgical resident at the University of Toledo, pleaded no contest in May 2026 […] The post Ohio doctor gets just six months for forcing abortion pills on pregnant girlfriend appeared first on American Almanac .
A 32-year-old surgical resident who held down his pregnant girlfriend and shoved crushed abortion pills into her mouth received only six months behind bars, and now pro-life leaders and an Ohio senator are demanding the Justice Department step in. Hassan-James Abbas, a surgical resident at the University of Toledo, pleaded no contest in May 2026 to four felony charges after prosecutors said he illegally obtained abortion drugs, pinned down his girlfriend Jona Affholder in bed, and forced the crushed pills into her mouth on December 18, 2024, at his home in Holland, Ohio, a small community outside Toledo. Affholder miscarried. Abbas got six months in prison. The sentence has drawn sharp criticism from SBA Pro-Life America President…Open