“For to be free is not merely to cast off one's chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others.” Happy Birthday to Nelson Mandela.

Top Syrian defense ministers, including President Bashar al-Assad's brother-in-law, were killed in Damascus by a suicide bomber.

Shrinking Greenland ice sheet birthed a Manhattan-sized iceberg.

Track the extent of countrywide drought conditions.

City cracks down on illegal dog breeding.

Investigation of the Little Bear Fire initiated.

Santa Fe is the "best food town."

Senate Republicans heart secret donors.

"Outsized level of influence": an infographic.

The end of Penn State football is a possibility.

Should we be required to vote?

Sorry, but the Olympic mascots creep me out.

Just embrace the suck.

Ugh, I need some good news.

Life in an undersea space station.

Taliban threatens to ban polio vaccinations for children as long as the U.S. continues drone strike campaign.

China sends first female astronaut into orbit.

Prison worker near Las Cruces accused of bringing drugs to her incarcerated fiance.

Rwandan genocide courts finish their work after 10 years of trials.

Saudi Arabia names new crown prince.

Starchild was an alien?

Little Bear fire 80% contained with newly cooperative weather.

Actor who played an Ewok faces jail time for flashing a student in England.

These GIFs make up what is The Gallery of Pure Awesomeness.

K-9 unit puppy!

Chuck Norris as a child.

Nicholas Cage as a cat.

Man calls 911 because deli workers were "giving him a hard time" over a complicated sandwich order.

Happy Birthday Richard Boone!

Thousands take to the streets of Russia to protest Vladimir Putin a day after authorities raided the homes of protest leaders.

The world-renowned Trevi fountain is slowly crumbling due to cuts to the funding of Rome’s monuments.

Danny Boyle’s £27m opening ceremony for the London Olympics features real animals and rain-producing clouds.

175 structures have been destroyed by the Little Bear fire in Ruidoso.

A pair of lungs is discovered on a Los Angeles-area sidewalk.

The Los Angeles Kings win Lord Stanley’s Cup, the first in the club’s 45-year history.

Bank of America plans to spend $50 billion over the next 10 years to fight climate change.

A group of Japanese astronomers in Hawaii find the oldest galaxy to be discovered.

A man suspected to be high on bath salts strips naked and goes after a three-year-old girl in Miami.

A man gathering material about a book about kindness in America is shot and wounded in West Virginia.

Tokyo reclaims its place as the world’s most expensive city.

23 gravestones vanish at a Civil War cemetery in Washington, D.C.

The town of Middleborough, Mass. can now slap you with a $20 fine for swearing in public.

Happy National Beef Jerky Day! Here’s a portrait of sasquatch made entirely of jerky.