https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029VaG07sTJENxyeTTfph1G *INTERNATIONAL NEWS* *19 February 2025* *NEWS HEADLINES* *Odds of asteroid 2024 YR4 hitting Earth in 2032 have reached new high* *United Nations judge forced woman to work as slave after tricking her to come to UK, court hears* *M23, Rwandan troops launch fresh attack on DR Congo* *NEWS IN DETAIL* *Odds of asteroid 2024 YR4 hitting Earth in 2032 have reached new high* NASA has upgraded the risk of asteroid 2024 YR4 hitting Earth in 2032 to 3.1 per cent, or about a 1-in-32 chance, the highest odds yet of collision. Astronomers discovered that the asteroid was barrelling towards Earth in December and it has been a focus of the world’s telescopes and space agencies ever since. As they gather more data on the asteroid’s precise orbit, astronomers have been able to calculate the likelihood of it hitting Earth with greater precision. The asteroid is thought to be between 40 and 90 metres wide and has the potential to release energy equivalent to 7.7 megatonnes of TNT should it hit Earth – enough to destroy a city. According to NASA, the odds of collision in 2032 have been edging up from a 1-in-83 chance since it was first spotted. It has since moved to 1-in-67, to 1-in-53, to 1-in-43, to 1-in-38 and now to 1-in-32. The European Space Agency has slightly different odds, currently giving the asteroid a 2.81 per cent chance of collision. This steady increase does not necessarily mean that the asteroid is actually more likely to hit Earth, however, and the odds may yet come down. “Just because it’s gone up in the last week, doesn’t mean that it’s going to continue to do that,” says Hugh Lewis at the University of Southampton, UK. But we are running out of time to forecast the asteroid’s risk. One issue is that 2024 YR4 will fly behind the sun in April, placing it out of the view of most Earth-based telescopes. That limits how much astronomers can refine their predictions, says Lewis. “Any observations we can make between now and when it’s out of view will obviously help us to refine the orbit and to make better predictions. That doesn’t necessarily mean that it will go down before April. It could continue to go up, but still ultimately miss us.” Once the asteroid does fly out of view, it is unlikely that we will gain any more information before it comes into view again in 2028. However, astronomers could comb through past data to uncover previously overlooked observations of the asteroid, which would help refine its trajectory. That process is already being undertaken by the world’s space agencies, says Lewis. If an asteroid were heading towards Earth, could you avert disaster? If an asteroid were heading towards Earth, could you avert disaster? From nuclear strikes to giant spikes, discover the systems in place to prevent a collision and test your decision-making to see if you could avoid a catastrophic impact Crucial information on the asteroid’s size and composition will hopefully be gathered by the James Webb Space Telescope in the coming months, says Lewis. This will help us understand whether the asteroid could make it through Earth’s atmosphere intact and how large an explosion it could cause if it does make impact. “That will help us determine what we need to do about it, because if it’s a stony asteroid, that’s very different from a high proportion of iron-metal asteroid,” says Lewis. An iron-rich asteroid would be worse, as a stony asteroid would potentially break up during impact. “The mass makes a huge difference in terms of the energy and whether or not the atmosphere has an effect on it.” _New Scientist_ *United Nations judge forced woman to work as slave after tricking her to come to UK, court hears* A United Nations criminal tribunal judge deceived a young woman into coming to the UK to work as her slave while she studied for a PhD in law at the University of Oxford, a court has heard. Lydia Mugambe told police officers the young Ugandan woman she allegedly tricked into coming to the UK was "excited about the pound". Mugambe took "advantage of her status" over the woman in the "most egregious way" while she studied for a PhD in law at the University of Oxford, prosecutors say. The 49-year-old, who is also a High Court judge in Uganda, stopped her holding down steady employment and forced her to work as her maid and to provide childcare for free, it is alleged. On Tuesday, jurors at Oxford Crown Court were shown body-worn footage of police officers attending Mugambe's address in Oxfordshire on February 10 2023 after receiving reports that the woman was being held as a slave. The woman, who was found packing in a bedroom, told the officers that Mugambe would not let her leave the house until she paid her money for her travel to the UK, the court heard. She said that she had arrived in the country in July 2022 on a work visa and that she did not want to stay at Mugambe's house, jurors were told. Meanwhile, Mugambe was downstairs telling an officer that the woman was "acting funny" and that she wanted to do more work rather than providing childcare, the court heard. She also said that the woman did not owe her money, was not packing to leave, that she had a key to the property and was free to go. The defendant said she suspected the woman wanted to work for more money. In body-worn footage, she can be heard saying: "I think it's one of two things. She wants to work more. This is what happens exactly when they come, they get excited about the pound and then they want to work much more than the terms they came on, so that's what she wants." Mugambe could also be heard saying: "She doesn't want to go, who wants to go back to Africa when she can work? "For me, I'm a judge, I'm OK but if you didn't have much to do... she would want to stay." The woman said she had worked for Mugambe in Uganda before she was asked to travel to the UK, the court heard. In pre-recorded evidence she said that Mugambe had told her she could find employment outside of her childcare work, jurors were told. Mugambe is accused of engaging in "illegal folly" with Ugandan deputy high commissioner John Leonard Mugerwa in which they conspired to arrange for the young woman to come to the UK. The defendant is also alleged to have attempted to "intimidate" her alleged victim into dropping the case. She denies conspiring to facilitate the commission of a breach of UK immigration law, facilitating travel with a view to exploitation, forcing someone to work and conspiracy to intimidate a witness. The trial continues. _LBC_ *Pope Francis has pneumonia in both lungs, Vatican says* Pope Francis has "bilateral pneumonia" and continues to receive medical care at a hospital in Rome, the Vatican announced on Tuesday. "Laboratory tests, chest X-ray, and the Holy Father's clinical condition continue to present a complex picture," the Vatican said on Tuesday. The pope has a "polymicrobial infection" that arose during a recent bout with bronchitis and complicates the pope's treatment, the Vatican added. The detection of pneumonia after chest x-rays requires "further drug therapy." The 88-year-old Pope is reported to be in "fair" condition, and is said to be eating breakfast, reading the newspapers and even doing some work from the hospital. Francis had part of one lung removed after a pulmonary infection as a young man, and is prone to bouts of bronchitis in winter. Given his condition, some Vatican events have been canceled. There will be no weekly general audience on Wednesday, and it's not clear if Francis will miss his Sunday noon blessing for a second week in a row. The Vatican press office stated that the Pope had, "received the Eucharist and, throughout the day, alternated between rest, prayer, and reading." _NPR_