Author: News Desk

Two relatively medium-sized asteroids will fly safely past Earth overnight Sept. 13-14 (Eastern U.S. time). NASA is tracking the objects, but orbit calculations ruled out any chance that the objects could pose a threat to our planet. “These asteroids have been well observed—once since 2000 and the other since 2010—and their orbits are very well known,” said Lindley Johnson, planetary defense officer, and program executive for the Planetary Defense Coordination Office at NASA Headquarters in Washington, DC. “Both of these asteroids are passing at about 14 lunar distances from the Earth, or about 3.5 million miles away, but small asteroids pass by…

BRAVE Combat Federation, the fastest-rising MMA organization in the world, returns to Abu Dhabi for a special fight night featuring the biggest Arab MMA stars and the best international fighters in the promotion’s roster. BRAVE CF 27 takes place at the Mubadala Arena, on October 4th, and BRAVE CF fans can catch a special early bird offer for tickets. BRAVE Combat Federation and its two ticketing platforms, Virgin Tickets and e-Ticketing, are offering a special discount for early bird tickets, with 20% off the original price. The offer will stand until September 20th, and fans can go to both companies’ websites…

Its size and surface gravity are much larger than Earth’s, and its radiation environment may be hostile, but a distant planet called K2-18b has captured the interest of scientists all over the world. For the first time, researchers have detected water vapor signatures in the atmosphere of a planet beyond our solar system that resides in the “habitable zone,” the region around a star in which liquid water could potentially pool on the surface of a rocky planet. Astronomers at the Center for Space Exochemistry Data at the University College London in the United Kingdom used data from NASA’s Hubble Space…

NASA has selected three proposals for concept studies of missions that could help us better understand the dynamic space weather system driven by the Sun that manifests near Earth. The proposals examine what drives different parts of that system and ultimately could help us predict and mitigate its effects on spacecraft and astronauts, as NASA’s Artemis program looks to send the first woman and the next man to the Moon by 2024. “NASA’s research to understand the space we travel through relies on exploring key details about a vast system from the Sun, to Earth, to the edges of the solar system,”…

The skeletal remains of a man who went missing 22 years ago have been found thanks to one armchair detective who noticed his submerged car in a lake while browsing Google Earth. William Moldt vanished in 1997 at the age of 40, according to the Palm Beach County sheriff’s office. A spokesman for the office said a previous resident of the Grand Isles neighborhood in Wellington, Florida, where Moldt also lived, had been checking the area on Google Earth when he zoomed into the lake and saw what looked like a car. The former resident contacted a current homeowner, who used…

Boris Johnson was confronted by disgruntled members of the public during a visit to Rotherham on Friday. The Prime Minister was approached by an angry resident as he toured a market in Doncaster, who took him to task over his government’s claims that “austerity is over”. “People have died because of austerity,” the woman said, “And you’ve got the cheek to come here and tell us austerity’s over and it’s all good now.” The Prime Minister appeared to struggle to answer the woman, before eventually insisting that he would be ploughing investment into the North. During a speech later in the…

The Council of Ministers has restructured the visa system for Haj and Umrah pilgrims and transit passengers by unifying the visa fee for each person at a rate of SR300. The Cabinet also canceled the for repeating the Umrah pilgrimage. Previously an Umrah pilgrim had to pay SR2,000 ($533) in case of repeating the pilgrimage for three years. In a statement to the Saudi Press Agency, Minister of Haj and Umrah Mohammed Benten, who is also chairman of the Committee of the Guests’ Service Program said: “This also shows kingdom’s readiness to receive the increasing number of Haj and Umrah…

Making healthier food choices is about to get easier, as the UAE is set to roll-out color-coded labels on foods to let people know their nutritional value. The nationwide policy, which will become mandatory by 2022, will see foods labeled in three colors: red (not healthy; avoid frequent consumption), amber (not completely healthy, but moderate consumption is okay), and green (healthy; okay to eat regularly). Calorie counts are also set to be included. News of the food labels comes after the UAE Cabinet announced in August it would expand the list of products subject to an excise tax to include…

Barcelona superstar Lionel Messi admits to not being a close friend of Cristiano Ronaldo but says he would happily accept a dinner invitation from the Juventus forward. The two eternal rivals saw their paths cross once more at the recent UEFA awards gala. Sitting alongside one another on the front row, the pair were asked about their relationship – having spent many years competing for collective and individual prizes. Ronaldo, who left Messi behind in La Liga when leaving Real Madrid for Juve in 2018, again aired his admiration and respect for his fellow five-time Ballon d’Or winner. Those feelings are mutual, with there never any bad blood…

Liberia goalkeeper Ashley Williams has been rewarded $5000 by Jos Travel Agency for his penalty save in the 94th minute of their World Cup qualifier against Sierra Leone on Tuesday. Having defeated the Leone Stars 3-1 in the first-leg at home on September 4, the Lone Stars trailed 1-0 in the reverse fixture in Freetown and risked elimination if their hosts won 2-0. Facing a penalty in second-half stoppage time, the visitors were on the brink of being knocked out. However, the 18-year-old shot-stopper faced Umaru Bangura from 12 yards late on and came out on top to help his country progress…