News around the world

(CNN) —  Flying an aircraft to the edge of space usually involves a jet engine, a full tank of fuel, a whole load of noise and a pilot with the kind of Right Stuff needed to reach for the stars. Not any more. This week the experimental Airbus Perlan Mission II pressurized glider got there by silently riding atmospheric pressure waves. And then it kept going -- smashing the record for human flight in a winged aircraft by reaching more than 76,000 feet. This meant the flight crossed the Armstrong Line, the point in the atmosphere beyond which the blood in a human's body will boil unless it's protected. Which means it's probably safe to say chief pilot Jim Payne and co-pilot Morgan Sandercock also have the Right Stuff. The achievement, claimed on Perlan 2's Twitter feed, comes just days after the pair took the experimental glider to 62,000 feet and a year after it hit 52,221 feet over the same region, El Calafate in Argentine Patagonia. "Achieving t...

London (CNN) Forecasters have warned of potentially record-breaking temperatures in Spain and Portugal this week as much of Europe swelters in a heat wave that has left some farmers suffering drought conditions. The UK Met Office said parts of the Iberian peninsula could beat the all-time continental European record of 48 degrees Celsius (118.4 degrees Fahrenheit) this week, with inland areas likely to be hotter than the coast. A child pours water over himself in Braga, northern Portugal, on Wednesday. That record was set in the Greek capital, Athens, in July 1977. According to the World Meteorological Organization, the record for Spain is currently 47.3 Celsius, while for Portugal it's 47.4 Celsius. The Portuguese capital, Lisbon, could see a high of 41 Celsius on Saturday, according to CNN forecasters. Its average temperature is 28 Celsius for this time of year. A heat wave warning was in place across much of southern and eastern France on Thursday. The n...

Singer Ciara, creator of the “Level Up" Challenge, has surprised a  father  who danced to the trend in a now-viral video with his 1-year-old cancer-stricken son. Kenny Thomas, 34, appeared in a video at Children’s Hospital in Philadelphia, dancing to Ciara's song " Level Up " as his son Kristian sat in his hospital crib recovering from his first round of chemotherapy. He was diagnosed with leukemia on June 19. Kristian smiled and clapped as his dad danced the challenge.  Ciara got wind of the video and reposted it to her Instagram. The  Grammy award -winning artist recently surprised the dad and his entire family at Thomas’ dance studio in New Jersey. "It was amazing. It was a total surprise," Thomas told InsideEdition.com. "My wife and Ciara had a mommy moment, which was cool. They got emotional, but it was tears of joy." Ciara created the challenge not just for people to showcase their dance moves, but also to promote the idea of b...

Harare, Zimbabwe (CNN) Zimbabwe's capital city of Harare resembled a ghost town Thursday, less than 24 hours after six people were killed in clashes between opposition protesters and security forces over the results of Monday's elections. Soldiers spent Thursday morning clearing the central business district and warning people to leave by noon. Taxi queues were full of commuters attempting to find a way out. Shop fronts were locked, and riot police surrounded the headquarters of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change and blocked off nearby streets. Police arrested 18 people during a raid at the MDC headquarters, Zimbabwe Republic Police spokeswoman Charity Charamba said. The charges were not immediately clear, but Charamba said, in total, officers have taken into custody 26 people suspected of inciting violence during Wednesday's protests. In announcing the new death toll -- double the three announced Wednesday -- Charamba said the army had been deployed...