Connor Golden, 18, (right being taken into an ambulance) had his left foot 'severely mutilated' when he stepped on something as he was climbing rocks with friends Thomas Hinds, 20, and Matthew Stabile, 18, in the historic New York landmark. Despite fears that the explosive was a terrorist device, cops say it was more likely a pre-Independence Day 'experiment' by someone with a basic knowledge of chemistry. Police also said the device - which was likened to a homemade firework - wasn't supposed to hurt anyone, but cause a flash and a bang instead. They are now carrying out forensic tests to identify the compound. Golden's grandparents are now concerned the University of Miami student doesn't know what has happened. They said the parents of the music and outdoor sports enthusiasts were struggling to come to terms with what had happened. Roberta Golden his grandmother said she felt like she was in a dream.

An American college student was found dead in Italy's Tiber River (top right) on Monday, just four days after he landed in the country and disappeared while he was out at a bar. Beau Solomon (main left with his mother Jodi), who landed in Rome on Thursday and headed out to G-Bar near Piazza Trilussa that night, was reported missing the following day when he failed to show up for orientation. Early reports said the 19-year-old, a rising sophomore at the University of Wisconsin Madison, was found wearing a bloodied shirt with a wound on his head. Solomon's wallet was stolen and $1,500 had been charged to his credit card in Milan, according to his brother Jake. (pictured bottom right, a map showing the 2.5miles between the river where his body was found and the piazza he visited on Thursday)

A puzzle that involves transforming four squares - laid out using toothpicks - into three squares without taking any of the picks away is testing those who've tried to complete it. The puzzle first appeared on social media site Quora and has managed to fox plenty of brainteaser fans.

Ivanka kicked off her Fourth of July celebrations by sharing a photo of her three-month-old son in a set of red, white and blue shorts. On Sunday, the 34-year-old defended her father Donald in a new interview, saying that he is 'a big reason I am the woman I am today'

The pair were sent flying into the turbulent waters when the jet ski crashed at popular surf spot The Wedge in Newport Beach, California and had to be rescued by lifeguards. They had apparently been trying to outrun a large wave behind them when they were swallowed by the water and thrown off. Dramatic footage taken from the Californian beach shows numerous lifeguards rushing to save the pair - who were mercifully saved the worst by their protective life jackets. 'It was the craziest thing I've ever seen,' Newport lifeguard Rob Marienthal told local news source The Orange County Register. 'Everyone who saw it couldn't believe their eyes, it was unbelievable.'

Stephen J. Brumby, 14, was shooting with his dad William 'Clayton' Brumby, 64, against a wall at High Noon Gun's in Sarasota, Florida, when he was hit with a stray bullet on Sunday. Two of the youngster's six siblings - his 24-year-old brother and 12-year-old sister - were also there, and watched as he bled out, according to reports. His father is believed to have been hit by a spent shell-casing that hit the wall. As he tried to remove it, he inadvertently pointed his gun behind him and fired. According to its website , High Noon Guns offers nine air-conditioned shooting lanes, and allows under-14s to shoot for free if accompanied by a parent or guardian.

The International Committee of the Red Cross released the footage of the 'ghost town' of Ramadi in as part of a call to leaders to bring an end to conflict. The city was taken back from the Islamic State group in December after heavy fighting devastated much of the Iraqi city. It shows demolished buildings and a hospital scarred by fire, its ground floor reduced to mangled wire and rubble. An ambulance parked nearby is riddled with bullets. The head of the ICRC, Peter Maurer, also features in the video as he begs leaders in both Syria and Iraq to show vision and courage to end the conflicts in the two countries. His message was timed to coincide with the end of the holy month of Ramadan, a period of charity and celebration

Joey 'Jaws' Chestnut (pictured left, with competitor Matt Stonie during the contest, and right, after his win) set a new record with 70 hot dogs in ten minutes compared to defending champion Matt 'The Megatoad' Stonie at the Nathan's Famous annual contest in New York. Former eight-time Nathan's champion, who led the entire race, averaged a record-breaking 7.1 dogs a minute as he battled to take back his title from Stonie. 'This year was the best year ever,' said Chestnut, who admitted last year's loss was 'rough' but had made him hungry for victory. 'It's amazing.' In the women's competition, defending champion Miki Sudo (inset) won the female division of the annual Fourth of July hot dog eating contest against three-time winner Sonya 'The Black Widow' Thomas and others.

Taylor Swift's ex Conor Kennedy (couple inset in 2012) was pictured out in Hyannis Port on Monday morning (left) as he and his famous family celebrated the Fourth of July by participating in a local parade near their Cape Cod compound. Conor, who attends Harvard University, was joined by father Robert Jr. and stepmom Cheryl Hines, family matriarch Ethel, and many of his siblings and cousins, who were all stacked on top of a car for the big outing (top right). The patriotic festivities took place a little over an hour away from Watch Hill, Rhode Island, where Swift and her squad of A-list gal pals including Karlie Kloss, Gigi Hadid, Blake Lively, Ruby Rose, Cara Delevingne and the Haim sisters celebrated America's independence from the British monarchy by meeting Swift's new boyfriend, English actor Tom Hiddleston (bottom right).

The supermodel and actress sprayed Erica Remkus, 36, with a hose after she saw her squatting on her Sag Harbor Cove private beach at around 10pm on Saturday. Remkus said she went to relieve herself in the same spot where a man had just urinated, when a woman ran at her screaming. In response, she called the 62-year-old star a 'dumb b****' on Facebook, but now Brinkley has fought back. In a scathing Instagram message posted on Monday, she wrote: 'I know it's Independence Day but that does not mean "free to pee" in front of my guests and me at my fireworks gathering.Maybe the trespasser should celebrate "Depends Day" as she apparently thinks she lives in "The Land of the Pee", as I was forced to hose down her mess after she urinated in my yard all the while throwing things at me.'

When he was volunteering at Cheetah Experience in South Africa, Dolph Volker bonded with 10-month-old cheetah cub Gabriel. He spent a lot of time with the cub, feeding him, playing with him and cuddling with him. When he returned to the sanctuary over a year later, Mr Volker was reunited with this big cat, and their embrace is adorable. Gabriel was straight in for some cuddles. The wild animal purrs and plays like a house cat, lavishing cuddles and licks on his best friend.

It has now been 20 years since TWA Flight 800 exploded in mid-air just 12 minutes after taking off from New York's John F. Kennedy Airport en route to Paris, and many are still questioning just what caused the crash (above) that killed all 230 people on board. The National Transportation Safety Board spent four years looking into the cause in what would become the lengthiest and most expensive investigation in the history of American aviation before publishing their findings in 2000, which stated the explosion was likely caused by a short circuit in the plane's fuel tank. That scenario seemed implausible however to many, including numerous eyewitnesses who saw the crash from on the ground in Long Island, and in his new book TWA 800: The Crash, the Cover-Up, and the Conspiracy (inset) author Jack Cashill takes a look at some of the alternate theories. The most common is that some sort of missile or rocket hit the plane, and that there was a government cover-up to keep what really happened a secret.

The most expensive house ever sold in Africa has just changed hands - delighting the sellers so much they threw in a Porsche Cayenne and an Aston Martin DB9 to seal the deal. Party-loving Dirk Ströer, boss of one of Germany's biggest online and public advertising companies, will use the record purchase, in Cape Town, South Africa, as a holiday home for him and his family.

Katie Welnhofer, 30, (circled far left) was one of 18 highly-educated, white collar New Yorkers indicted in a drugs bust last week. The Northwestern graduate was allegedly caught up in an undercover operation by the NYPD and has been accused of having cocaine delivered to her Chelsea apartment by a livery service. Seven days before she was taken into custody, on Wednesday June 22, she mingled with colleagues at a Building Homes For Heroes event to honor Fox News host Sean Hannity. Guests enjoyed a lavish meal at New York's Battery Park restaurant. Also sitting at her table was She was pictured at a table was Greg Kelly (far right), the host of Fox's Good Day New York and the son of former NYPD commissioner Ray Kelly. Fox and Friends co-host Anna Koiman shared the picture of her table on Sunday afternoon, four days after Welnhofer was connected to the cocaine ring. The group of high-flyers were paraded through a New York court on Thursday and Friday following their arrests. Welnhofer was led into court wide-eyed and wearing a jumpsuit, a day before her 30th birthday.

Judge Jeanette Irby of the Circuit Court of Loudoun County, Virginia, has also ordered the ten-year-old (pictured), who has not been named because she is a minor, not to train with a pro and not to play more than a round or five hours of golf a week. Her father Michael Vechery (inset), who bought his daughter plastic golf clubs when she was three, believes the judge thought the girl spent too much time playing golf - but denies this is true and is appealing the decision. The girl's parents, Vechery and mother Florence Cottet-Moine, have battled over her custody for the last seven years. Vechery has also been ordered to take anger management classes. Cottet-Moine currently has sole custody of the girl.

Jay, Kevin and Mick Litherland (main) are 20-year-old triplets who competed in Omaha, Nebraska, over the past week to earn a spot in Rio, however Jay (right) was the only one to qualify. The Litherlands produced one of the most indelible moments at the U.S. Olympic swimming trials when Jay rallied on the freestyle leg of the 400-meter individual medley to stunningly pass defending Olympic champion Ryan Lochte for the second spot on the team behind winner Chase Kalisz. Jay said he was overcome with emotion after the race as his brothers ran over to congratulate him. 'Once I saw them, I just started crying,' Jay recalled at the end of the trials. 'It was amazing to share that experience with them.'

Seddique Mateen won't let his son's June 12 killing of 49 people in an Orlando nightclub spoil a good Fourth of July. He became a US citizen in 1989 and says he has celebrated the holiday since arriving in the United States from Afghanistan in 1980. Mateen had a small U.S. flag planted in a flower bed over the weekend. A smaller version Old Glory sat on the dashboard of the Mercedes Benz SLK 350 parked in the driveway of his $160,000-home. His son Omar Mateen was killed by police in a shootout at Pulse nightclub after the massacreon June 12, was killed by police in a shootout.

The men were fishing off the coast of Point Peron in Western Australia when they spotted the two-meter Mako stalking their boat before taking some bait. Seconds later, the shark jumped out of the water. 'These things launch, man, so stay away from the edge,' one of the men says in a video taken of the incredible scene, just a moment before the fish launches straight into the air. In an interview with Australian TV program Sunrise, one of the teens admitted that they 'packed up and left' after the backflip, fearing that the shark could jump into the boat.

Melanie Varney, from Vancouver, British Columbia, gave birth to a son on March 11, 2013, and twin girls on March 10, 2014. After the pregnancies, the young mother's body confidence was shot as 'the reflection of myself in the mirror was that of a stranger'. In an effort to become more accepting of her changed body, she answered a call for a couple to pose for an intimate photo session in a lake.

Deep in the remote forests of Nepal, a small group of nomadic people, the Raute, still live off the land by trapping wildlife and foraging for the rest. These candid images, taken by photographer Andrew Newey in the Surkhet region of eastern Nepal, shows how they spend their lives living in very basic and rural conditions. Everyone in the tribe, no matter their age, contribute to village life in some way. Now, numbering less than 150, they are truly a disappearing tribe.

These photos look like basic snaps of rocks in the Highlands of Scotland, but the sneaky game bird proves it is one of nature's masters of disguise, standing it in good stead ahead of 'the Glorious Twelfth' which marks the busiest day of the shooting season. The puzzling pictures were taken by Laurence Debailleul, 51, from Belgium while climbing Ben Wyvis in North Inverness.

A football stadium (main) in central China's Hubei province has been left completely swamped after heavy rains battered the region causing mass flooding (inset). Chinese media have nicknamed the outdoor facility in Ezhou city a 'giant bathtub' after pictures of the bizarre scene became popular online. At least 27 people have died and a total of 73 million people have been affected by the bad weather which hit the province on June 30.

The video was shot and posted online under the title 'Kelinka from Kazakhstan carrying a fridge behind the car'. The world 'kelinka' describes a woman who can do many jobs. The bizarre footage shows one end of the fridge in the back of the Russian-made car, but it is clearly much too large and can only rest on the boot. As a result the woman is walking along behind carrying the other end of it, in footage that quickly went viral in the central Asian country.

Beau the golden retriever  - contrary to what the name of his breed suggests -  has a habit of snatching items and then running at full tilt when his owners try to chase him. Siblings Eimear and Sean O'Donnell from Ireland uploaded a video of their pet's antics to Facebook with the caption, 'The world's worst dog...and I still wouldn't change him.' Fortunately Eimear confirmed on Facebook that the phone remained undamaged. 'He just wanted to listen to some tunes I think!' she added, 'Aw it was so funny!!

Hilarious footage has emerged of a one month old panda cub on its back trying its hardest to roll over. The footage was taken at a wildlife park outside of Brussels in Belgium and uploaded on July 2. The cub which is yet to be named was born on June 2 at the Paira Daiza wildlife park to six-year-old Hao Hao and her mate Xing Hui.

Shocking footage shows the little girl and her friend walking down a main road in Hechi, Guangxi Province when she is hit by the speeding bike. The video shows the youngster skipping across the road as bikes speed past, But just as she decides to run back, she is clipped by one speeding in the opposite direction. She falls to the ground, but quickly gets back up again. Her friend dusts her down and they continue their walk.