Our daily King Olaf hike around the world

🇳🇴⛰️ Norway’s Hornelen mountain, aka Europe’s highest sea cliff, recently opened three new climbing routes. The trio of “via ferrata” routes – a term used to describe mountainside paths comprised of strategically-placed steel cables and ladders – take climbers up to 2,820 feet above the Frøysjøen strait. The Hornelen mountain is infamous in Norse mythology as a gathering place for witches, and is also thought to have been scaled by Norway’s King Olaf I around the year 1,000 AD.

🇫🇷 The French government deployed 40,000 police officers yesterday, as major cities experienced a third straight night of protests. French officials said more than 100 protesters were arrested across the country last night, adding to the ~150 demonstrators arrested on Wednesday night. Bystander video footage shows protesters setting fire to police stations, town halls, schools, and cars across multiple cities. The public unrest began on Tuesday after French police fatally shot 17-year-old Nahel M. while he was driving away from a traffic stop.

🇨🇳🎈 The Chinese spy balloon that floated over North America earlier this year reportedly used American tech to spy on the US (*Alanis Morissette plays*). A government analysis of the balloon, which was shot down by an American fighter jet over the Atlantic in February, found it was equipped with commercially available US gear alongside more specialized Chinese equipment and sensors. This info is derived from multiple reports citing US officials familiar with the matter, who say the balloon was designed to collect photos, video, and other information to transmit back to China. However, a Pentagon spokesperson yesterday said the agency’s assessment is that the balloon had not collected any intelligence while flying over the US.