Home

Large asteroid coming close, but zero chance of hitting us

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:38:37 GMT

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — An asteroid big enough to wipe out a city will zip harmlessly between Earth and the moon’s orbit this weekend, missing both celestial bodies.Saturday’s close encounter will offer astronomers the chance to study a space rock from just over 100,000 miles (168,000 kilometers) away. That’s less than half the distance from here to the moon, making it visible through binoculars and small telescopes.While asteroid flybys are common, NASA said it’s rare for one so big to come so close — about once a decade. Scientists estimate its size somewhere between 130 feet and 300 feet (40 meters and 90 meters).Discovered a month ago, the asteroid known as 2023 DZ2 will pass within 320,000 miles (515,000 kilometers) of the moon on Saturday and, several hours later, buzz the Indian Ocean at about 17,500 mph (28,000 kph).“There is no chance of this ‘city killer’ striking Earth, but its close approach offers a great opportunity for observations,” the European Space Agenc...

Gwyneth Paltrow ski collision trial: Man emails ‘I’m famous’

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:38:37 GMT

PARK CITY, Utah (AP) — A neuropsychologist who treated the man suing Gwyneth Paltrow over a 2016 ski collision cast aspersions on the testimony of medical experts hired by the celebrity’s legal team — and argued that, as his personal doctor, she was better suited to speak about 76-year-old Terry Sanderson’s post-concussion symptoms.“A lot of the experts are opining. I feel like I’m the best judge of what happened to him,” Dr. Alina Fong said.Fong’s videotaped deposition was the first to be shown on the third day of the trial in Park City, the upscale Utah ski resort town where Sanderson accuses Paltrow of skiing so recklessly that she crashed into him, broke his ribs and left him with lasting brain damage.Fong said that when she saw Sanderson less than a year after the accident, he had lost his love for life, and said that he was often dejected and crying. Under her care, she said that Sanderson worked tirelessly to rehabilitate the post-concussion symptoms — inclu...

Peak bloom is here: DC cherry trees reach final bloom stage

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:38:37 GMT

It’s happening, people! The famous D.C. cherry trees have hit peak bloom.The National Park Service said that the blossoms are open and “putting on a gorgeous show.”PEAK BLOOM! PEAK BLOOM! PEAK BLOOM! PEAK BLOOM! PEAK BLOOM! PEAK BLOOM!The blossoms are open & putting on a gorgeous show. We hope to see you soon.!Plan your visit: https://t.co/h04Gu0ksc1 #CherryBlossom #BloomWatch #WashingtonDC pic.twitter.com/qXo2QkCkHI— National Mall NPS (@NationalMallNPS) March 23, 2023The final of six stages could not happen on a better day, with warm temperatures in the 70s and a breeze.The area around the Tidal Basin has already been swarmed with crowds and visitors are urged to take walk, bike or take Metro to cut back on traffic.This story is developing. Check back with WTOP for updates.PHOTOS: Cherry Blossoms 20232023 National Cherry Blossom Festival FAQMore Cherry Blossom NewsSource

Qué es Ramadán, el mes de masivo ayuno de musulmanes en todo el mundo

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:38:37 GMT

La primera jornada de ayuno del mes sagrado del islam, el Ramadán, comenzó este jueves mientras cientos de millones de musulmanes en todo el mundo inician un periodo de devoción de cuatro semanas.La práctica coincide con un momento en el que muchos países y gobiernos de Oriente Medio están dando tímidos pasos para calmar los conflictos y crisis persistentes, agudizadas este año por la costosa guerra en Ucrania y un devastador sismo que mató a más de 52,000 personas en Turquía y Siria.QUÉ ES Y POR QUÉ SE CELEBRA RAMADÁNDurante las próximas cuatro semanas, millones de musulmanes se abstendrán de ingerir alimentos o agua desde la salida a la puesta del sol, cuando se reunirán con familiares y amigos para disfrutar de abundantes comidas nocturnas. Según el islam, el ayuno acerca a los fieles a Dios y les recuerda el sufrimiento de los pobres.El ayuno es obligatorio para todos los musulmanes sanos, con exenciones para los enfermos, las embarazadas o madres lactantes y los niños pequeños....

Denver Public Schools student discipline actions dropped after 2020

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:38:37 GMT

DENVER (KDVR) -- Denver Public Schools has seen a decrease in disciplinary action in recent years, with a noticeable dropoff since students went back to the classroom after the remote learning forced by COVID.In addition to the pandemic, this change coincides with a decision by the DPS Board of Education to remove school resource officers starting with the 2021-22 school year, the first year that in-person learning happened without significant interruption.Denver Public Schools, the year of remote learning also brought a sharp downturn in student disciplinary actions, according to Colorado Department of Education records. East High School shooting suspect found dead near car in Park County Since the 2014-15 academic year, the Colorado Department of Education has grouped student disciplinary actions into a handful of categories, including classroom removals, in-school suspension, out-of-school suspension, expulsion with services, expulsion without services, referrals to law enforc...

Parkland parent Manuel Oliver arrested during House hearing on Biden administration’s gun ruling

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:38:37 GMT

WASHINGTON (WSVN) — Manuel Oliver, the father of Parkland shooting victim Joaquin Oliver, was arrested at the U.S. Capitol after he was forcibly removed from a House committee hearing about a Biden administration’s firearm ruling.Thursday’s arrest happened during a House Judiciary Committee hearing titled “ATF’s Assault on the Second Amendment: When Is Enough Enough?”The hearing yielded a passionate debate over gun deaths and firearm regulations.Capitol Police intervened and arrested Manuel for disrupting a House committee hearing.His son was one of 17 people killed in the Feb. 14, 2018 shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.Cellphone video documenting the arrest captured officers holding Manuel down on the ground, as a small crowd gathered.His wife, Patricia Oliver, demanded officers to release him.“Let my husband go,” she said.“You need to back up,” an officer is heard telling her in the video.The crowd that gathered caused more ...

1st grade teacher who survived eye infection similar to one caused by recalled eyedrops speaks out

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:38:37 GMT

There have been more deaths and infections that were linked to a brand of eyedrops. One woman who contracted the same infection at a spa in Thailand now has a warning. “I saw the name pseudomonas and my heart stopped, and I’m like, ‘Wow, these people are going through this,'” Sigal Konig said. Konig said she survived Pseudomonas Aeruginosa, a bacteria recently found in contaminated eye drops that has sickened, blinded and killed people in 16 states, including Florida.“It was very emotional, emotional time for me,” Konig said.The first grade teacher told her story to encourage anyone with symptoms to get help immediately.   “They have to act fast,” she said.Her infection happened in 2019 in Israel, where she was living at the time, but she took a job as a teacher in Thailand for a few months. “I wanted to just have a fun day, you know, pamper myself, and I found a local spa, and I walked in, and I got a facial done...

Police need help identifying teen shot in head in Miramar

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:38:37 GMT

Police are asking for the public’s help to identify a teenager shot in the head in Miramar.He was found injured but alive Wednesday morning.The teen was rushed to the hospital in critical condition, but police said he had no kind of identification on him.With no leads or witnesses, detectives’ only clue so far is a blue camouflage Bape hoodie the teen was wearing at the time.If you have any information that can help investigators, you’re asked to call the police.

Motorheads crash into EU leaders’ summit

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:38:37 GMT

BRUSSELS — Olaf Scholz arrived Thursday in Brussels proclaiming the EU had made a “promise” and must keep it.Hours later, the EU clapped back, essentially saying the German chancellor was lying. That was how, in half a day, Germany’s behind-the-scenes tussle over the EU’s plan to ban traditional cars became a public war of words — overshadowing an EU leaders’ summit in the process. The gathering was meant to focus on many things — the economy, trade, Ukraine — but not cars. Nevertheless, the future of the traditional combustion engine car dominated the conversation on Day 1. Leaders were pestered about it on the way in. And Germany and the European Commission were quickly trading barbs. The fight, in a nutshell, is this: Germany wants to keep selling some traditional combustion-engine vehicles after 2035, the date the EU has set for their extermination, as long as those cars run on synthetic fuels, or e-fuels — which are, in theory, carbon neutral.The ...

Bacteria from meat could be causing more than half a million UTIs in the US every year, study estimates

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:38:37 GMT

(CNN) — Bacteria from meat could be responsible for more than half a million urinary tract infections in the United States every year, a new study says.E. coli is an often-harmless bacteria that’s “part of the normal bacterial environment in the intestines in humans and animals,” said Dr. Craig Comiter, a professor of urology and obstetrics and gynecology at the Stanford University School of Medicine who was not involved in the new study.Some strains can be dangerous, causing diarrhea, respiratory illness and pneumonia, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Researchers have long known of a link between E. coli and UTIs, an infection in any part of the urinary system, including the kidneys, ureters, bladder and urethra; the bacteria causes 6 million to 8 million UTIs in the US every year.But the new research suggests that more of these infections may be linked to E. coli from meat than previously known.Infections ca...