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Pope Francis to miss Way of the Cross event in cold Rome

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:12:59 GMT

The Vatican says Pope Francis, who was recently hospitalized for bronchitis, won’t preside over Good Friday’s Way of the Cross event due to extremely cold weather in Rome.It said that instead of presiding over the torch-led procession at the Colosseum, Francis will watch from the hotel where he lives in the Vatican.He will still attend the Passion celebration at St. Peter’s Basilica, the Vatican added.

NASA, SpaceX launch rocket with Air pollutant instrument from Cape Canaveral

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:12:59 GMT

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (WSVN) – Friday SpaceX had its 23rd launch this year, but what makes this one different is that the Falcon 9 rocket was launched with a NASA instrument called TEMPO. The device is the first space-based device to monitor major air pollutants from above.TEMPO stands for Tropospheric Emissions: Monitoring of Pollution. It can monitor conditions from the Atlantic to the Pacific Oceans.TEMPO’s observations will collect scientific data on air pollution not only from the United States, but also Canada, Mexico, Cuba, the Bahamas, and part of the island of Hispaniola.NASA and SpaceX launched the rocket from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.If you would like to see the launch click here.

China and France call for peace in Ukraine and vow deeper military dialogue

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:12:59 GMT

GUANGZHOU, China — France and China have reached an agreement to work together to deepen military cooperation, as President Emmanuel Macron’s trip to China draws to an end with a joint call for peace in Ukraine. According to a joint statement issued by the governments of Macron and Chinese leader Xi Jinping, the Southern Theater of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army — chiefly responsible for the South China Sea — will “deepen the dialogue” with Asia-Pacific command of the French forces. The pledge comes amid heightened tension between U.S. and Chinese forces in the Pacific. On Ukraine, the statement said: “Both sides support all efforts to restore peace in Ukraine on the basis of international law and the purposes and principles of the United Nations Charter.” It called on Russia to ensure the safety of Ukraine’s nuclear facilities. China and France “oppose armed attacks on nuclear power plants and other peaceful nuclear facilities&#...

Celtics players asked who the most famous people in their contacts are, answers include Obama, Jay-Z, Mark Wahlberg

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:12:59 GMT

Celtics players were asked who the most famous people in their contacts are, and some of their responses were pretty impressive.Players threw out all kinds of names, including Barack Obama, Justin Bieber, and Jay-Z.Grant Williams stole the show when he FaceTimed Dorchester native Mark Walhberg.Wahlberg was happy to answer the call and compliment the team.

New-look Gleyber Torres says World Baseball Classic, Winter League gave him a jump start on new season

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:12:59 GMT

Gleyber Torres is off to a torrid start, and he believes international competition has something to do with that.The Yankees’ second baseman missed a chunk of spring training while suiting up for Venezuela in the World Baseball Classic. While Torres played sparingly in the tournament — he went 1-for-10 — the Caracas native thinks the high-intensity games put him ahead of the curve by the time the regular season began.“It’s a little bit different than a normal spring,” Torres said upon rejoining the Yankees on March 21. “I feel like those kinds of games and situations helped me because it’s like World Series, playoffs every day.”But Torres also played 11 games in the Venezuelan Winter League during the offseason. There, he slashed .289/.365/.378 with two homers, six RBI and five stolen bases for Leones del Caracas. More importantly, he used that time to fix “little things” in his swing while working on his ability to h...

Star sighting: Bucs linebacker Shaquil Barrett at Legoland Florida

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:12:59 GMT

Tampa Bay Buccaneers linebacker Shaquil Barrett recently became the first Buc to board the new Pirate River Quest boat ride at Legoland Florida.The NFL player and his family took the 20-minute experience that travels via canal through the Cypress Gardens area of the Winter Haven theme park amid Lego-themed adventures and floating family activities.“It’s chill, for sure. It’s a nice, relaxing ride. But it’s also participation. You get to enjoy it together as a family,” Barrett said. ”It’s kind of like a competition, too, so there’s a little bit of everything in that ride.”He also noted a punny joke midstream that plays off the word “buccaneer.”Pirate River Quest, a captain-guided journey that also has a stretch onto Lake Eloise, debuted in January.Barrett, who played college football at Colorado State, has played on two Super Bowl champion teams, the Bucs of 2020 and the Denver Broncos in 2015. His 2022 season was abbr...

A similar end game for Heat’s Max Strus, again finishing a season as starter

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:12:59 GMT

The move last season came with seven games to go in the regular season. This time around, it came with five left. But here Max Strus is again, poised to open the postseason as a Miami Heat starter.“A little similar. Yeah, I guess a little similar,” Strus said, with the Heat concluding their regular-season road schedule Friday against the Washington Wizards at Capital One Arena before closing out the season Sunday at home against the Orlando Magic.Strus then paused, before noting, “but not really. It’s definitely different. It’s a little later.”The move is typical of the approach of coach Erik Spoelstra ahead of the postseason. Investigate what works, then find something to coalesce before the season’s biggest games.“It’s a lineup that hasn’t played a lot of minutes during the course of the year, but in the minutes they’ve played together, they’ve been very productive,” Spoelstra said, with the lineup helpi...

Former Boston cop charged with assaulting Capitol police officer on January 6 is arraigned in D.C. court

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:12:59 GMT

The former Boston cop accused of assaulting a U.S. Capitol police officer during the Jan. 6 riot was arraigned in a D.C. court on Thursday after he was arrested last month.Joseph Fisher, 52, of Plymouth, is facing federal charges after he allegedly entered the Capitol on Jan. 6, pushed a chair into a Capitol police officer, and “engaged in a physical altercation” with the officer.Fisher, a former Boston police officer, had his initial appearance in D.C. federal court on Thursday. He was released after agreeing to certain conditions, including participating in a mental health treatment program and undergoing drug testing.He’s not allowed to have a firearm, but that condition does not apply to his wife who’s a Boston cop.Also, he’s required to report any incidents with law enforcement, but the feds said the former cop does not have to report his social interactions with friends who are officers.“I do,” Fisher said about following the release c...

Watch your step: It’s rattlesnake season in San Diego

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:12:59 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- Sunny spring days draw San Diegans outdoors, but they’re not the only ones basking in the sun. While you can see rattlesnakes at any point during the year, officials say sightings are most common in the region from April to September as temperatures rise.If you’re often out and about on the trails like local Lena Clement, you’re bound to spot one eventually. This San Diego beach is considered ‘the most beautiful’ in the US: study "About 10 days ago, walked by and heard this 'woosh' sound and I’m like what could that be," said Clement. "So I turned back and there was this big ol' snake.”The rattlesnake stopped Clement in her tracks."I stopped to take pictures and he did the 'woosh' thing one more time. I would not recommend anyone do this,” she continued.Experts don’t recommend it either. "If you hear some rattling, you’ve either gotten way too close or you’ve come up on a rattlesnake way too fast," said Sgt. Sierra Dockery with the San Diego Humane Society. "It’s sim...

What’s inside Canada’s largest ever protected area?

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:12:59 GMT

A newly designated ‘marine protected area’ located about 100 kilometres off the coast of Vancouver Island, will effectively prevent 133,000 square kilometres of some of the most diverse oceanic ecosystems from being exploited for profit. Jimmy Thomson wrote about the Tang.ɢwan-ḥačxʷiqak-Tsig̱is protected area for The Narwhal. He joins us on today’s Big Story to discuss the new rules and regulations governing the region, and the things within it that they aim to safeguard. “There are sea mounts, there are deep sea hydrothermal vents and, possibly, methane seeps,” he said, “this area encompasses the biggest concentration of those rare and valuable ecosystems under the ocean.”  Far too often we report on parts of Canada’s natural beauty that are vanishing. Today, we’ll do the opposite.You can subscribe to The Big Story podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google and Spotify.You can also find it at thebigstorypodcast.ca.