A series of asteroids bigger than the Great Pyramid of Giza is passing by Earth
CBSN
Multiple asteroids will pass close by Earth in the next few weeks — and one that passed on Friday was around the size of the Great Pyramid of Giza in Egypt, with a diameter of 525 feet.
On Friday, Asteroid 2021 SM3 passed within 3.5 million miles of Earth, according to data from NASA's Center for Near Earth Object Studies. The asteroid was only first observed a few weeks ago.
The asteroids that are expected to pass Earth, along with 2021 SM3, are classified as Near Earth Objects. NASA said that NEOs are "comets and asteroids that have been nudged by the gravitational attraction of nearby planets into orbits that allow them to enter the Earth's neighborhood."
Noumea — France's president held a flurry of meetings with local representatives in the restive Pacific territory of New Caledonia on Thursday, urging calm after deadly rioting, and vowing thousands of military reinforcements will stay in place to quell what he called an "unprecedented insurrection."
Kathmandu — Nepali climber Phunjo Lama on Thursday reached Mount Everest's summit in 14 hours and 31 minutes, smashing the record for the world's fastest ascent of the mountain by a woman. Climbers usually take days to reach the top of the 29,032-foot mountain, spending nights on its different camps to rest and acclimatize.
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Zurich — A woman jogger was killed by a naked man who was screaming and attacking people in a lakeside park in Switzerland, police said Wednesday. The attack happened Tuesday evening in Mannedorf on Lake Zurich, around 12 miles southeast of Switzerland's biggest city, the Zurich cantonal police said.
Norway, Ireland and Spain said Wednesday they are recognizing a Palestinian state in a historic move that drew condemnation from Israel and jubilation from the Palestinians. Israel immediately ordered back its ambassadors from Norway and Ireland and appeared ready to do the same with its ambassador to Spain.