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It hit Earth's atmosphere over the Pacific Ocean, so there weren't any public sightings. After being briefly observed, the ATLAS survey kept a watch as the asteroid impacted the atmosphere causing no harm.
The space rock burst into a bright fireball about 1,000 km off the California coast. It was picked up by NASA's Center for Near Earth Object Studies (CNEOS). It reported that a fireball lit the skies at 3:54 am PT on October 22, 2024.
Best of the Web: Four dead after a Tesla erupts into flames in France: Police say cause unknown, occupants already dead when fire services arrived
Stock image
The blaze occurred outside the city of Niort on Saturday at around 10.45pm local time (9.45pm BST), causing the deaths of the driver and three passengers who were employees at a restaurant in nearby Melle.
According to preliminary reports, the vehicle rammed into several road signs at high speed.
The passengers on board were already dead when rescuers arrived at the scene, police said.
But the cause of the fire remains unknown at the moment and an inquiry has been opened.
A local judge said: 'An inquiry has been opened to determine the causes and circumstances of the deadly accident, a probe during which expertise on the vehicle will be requested.'
© BoeingAn artist's concept of a Boeing-built Intelsat EpicNG satellite
According to an official update, an "anomaly" caused the satellite — dubbed IS-33e — to be destroyed, resulting in what the company calls a "total loss."
"Migration and service restoration plans are well underway across the Intelsat fleet and third-party satellites," the update reads.
It's unclear what exactly caused the satellite to break up. The US Space Force announced it was "tracking around 20 associated pieces" but "observed no immediate threats."
Gaza
Starting with Al-Atatra, a village in the northwestern Gaza Strip, the plan calls to build what the Israeli daily Ynet calls "humanitarian bubbles" - turning the remains of villages and neighborhoods into tiny concentration camps cut off from their environs and surrounded and controlled by mercenaries.
Comment: This would basically be a real-life imitation of the immigration camps depicted in the sci-fi dystopian film Children of Men:
This comes as Israel carries out daily massacres and ethnic cleansing in northern Gaza, enacting the proposal known as The Generals' Plan, originally crafted by former national security chief Giora Eiland to turn Gaza into "a place where no human being can exist."
Best of the Web: Landslides and floods in northern Italy - 8 inches of rain within 18 hours (and 4 inches in just 1)
The Bormida river flooded in the Savona area in the towns of Ferrania, Altare and Cairo Montenotte due to heavy rains.
Train traffic is suspended between Loano and Pietra Ligure (Savona).
Comment: Anadolu Ajansı reports:
Severe storms and heavy rainfall have caused widespread flooding and flash floods in Italy's northern regions, resulting in the death of one person and significant disruption across Liguria and Tuscany regions.
Over recent days, intense downpours in these regions have led to rivers and streams overflowing, with the national media reporting several landslides in higher terrain.
In Liguria alone, more than 200 millimeters (7.9 inches) of rain fell within an 18-hour span on Oct. 16, while parts of Tuscany were inundated after receiving 100 millimeters of rain in just one hour.
The severe weather has left several cities, including Genoa, Rapallo, Savona, and Chiavari in Liguria, and Livorno and Siena in Tuscany, grappling with water damage and transportation chaos.
A red alert was issued for the Entella and Magra rivers in Liguria due to the high risk of flooding. Residents of affected areas were urged to take precautions and stay indoors as local authorities monitored the situation closely.
A 75-year-old hiker was killed after being swept away by the floodwaters in a forested area.
The heavy rains also caused significant structural damage, with footage circulating on social media showing floodwaters surging over Genoa's Sori Bridge, creating a waterfall-like torrent.
In Siena, water inundated the railway station, submerging tracks and disrupting services, while tram lines in Florence were damaged by the torrential downpours.
In response, authorities have shut down primary and secondary schools in the most affected areas to ensure the safety of students.
The Civil Protection Department has issued warnings across both Liguria and Tuscany, advising residents to avoid non-essential travel and remain vigilant as weather conditions continue to pose risks.
But then I listened to Candace Owens's video, "What really happened to Michael Jackson" posted last month, and I learned that MJ had powerful and nasty Jewish enemies which conspired to destroy his reputation, his wealth and his health. That triggered my interest, since Jewish power is one of my fields of research.
Best of the Web: French motorways and train lines closed due to flooding - up to 700 mm (27.6 inches) of rainfall in 48 hours (UPDATE)
On Thursday, heavy rain and flooding in southern France led to road closures, train cancellations and well as school closures.
French national weather service Météo France placed four départements in south-eastern France on the highest (red) weather warning due to heavy rains and flooding. These are; Rhône, Loire, Ardèche, and Haute-Loire.
Meanwhile, 20 other southern départements were placed on orange alert.
Authorities have warned that people should not walk or drive anywhere near a flooded road or waterway.
Be sure to pay attention to signage, particularly if there is a route barrée (road closure) sign.
Comment: Update October 18
Reuters reports:
Major floods in southeast France cause significant damage, power cuts
Massive floods caused serious damage and power outages on Friday in parts of France's mountainous southeast region after days of heavy rain, though there were no immediate reports of any casualties.
France's weather authority Météo France placed six departments south of the city of Lyon on a red flood alert on Thursday. The alert was downgraded to 'orange' on Friday, indicating that water levels would come down again.
"At certain places in the Ardèche region, up to 700 milimetres of water has fallen in 48 hours. That's more than a year's rainfall in Paris, so it's absolutely gigantic," Agnes Pannier-Runacher, the environment minister, told BFM TV.
French news stations showed cars, traffic signs and cattle being swept away by the floods. The A47 highway close to Lyon was temporarily transformed into a giant stream of water.
The French interior ministry said Paris had dispatched 1,500 additional firefighters to the affected areas.
Best of the Web: Comet ATLAS sprouts "seemingly impossible 2nd tail" after closest approach to Earth for 80,000 years
Comment: It's not an optical illusion, you numpties, it's a sunward spike, an electrical-plasma phenomenon!
© Michael JägerComet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS was spotted with a thin streak of light, known as an anti-tail, pointing in the complete opposite direction to its bright streaming tail • Monday, Oct. 14, 2024
The "once-in-a-lifetime" comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS looks like it has grown a physics-defying second tail after reaching its closest point to Earth for more than 80,000 years, new photos reveal. However, in reality, the extra limb is a visual illusion that occurs thanks to the position of our planet relative to the naked-eye object.
C/2023 A3, more commonly known as Tsuchinshan-ATLAS, is an unusually bright comet that likely originates from the Oort Cloud — a reservoir of icy objects in the outer reaches of the solar system. It was first discovered in early 2023 barreling between Saturn and Jupiter as it headed toward the inner planets. Follow-up observations revealed that the comet likely orbits the sun once every 80,660 years — and suggested that it may have been disintegrating, which later turned out to be inaccurate.
© UNIFILUNIFIL peacekeepers in Southern Lebanon in July 2024.
Israel must be expelled from the United Nations: the conditions are ripe
by Fabio Marcelli, international legal expert, research director of the Institute for International Legal Studies of the Italian National Research Council and member of the International Association of Democratic Lawyers
The deliberate and criminal attack on the Italian Sassari Brigade and other UNIFIL (United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon) international contingents marks a new and unprecedented stage in Netanyahu's efforts to devastate the neighbouring peoples of Israel, threaten global peace, and lead his own country to self-destruction, which now seems closer than ever.
[Italian Defense] Minister Crosetto's condemnation of the attack as a war crime is commendable, as is his commitment that UNIFIL will not yield to blackmail or threats and will continue to carry out its mission. His assertion that Italy does not take orders from Israel is also notable.
Comment: Are we still sure we want to ditch the combustion engine?