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new video loaded: Players Tussle in English Town’s Centuries-Old Football Game transcript Back transcript Players Tussle in English Town’s Centuries-Old Football Game The Atherstone Ball Game, a tradition since 1199 in the town of Atherstone, England, is one of a dwindling number of folk football games played across Britain. “Five, four, three, two, one.” [horn … Read more
In England, the Tuesday before lent is traditionally celebrated by eating a stack of pancakes. But in Atherstone, a small town about 100 miles northwest of London, the locals gathered for a more bloody ritual: At 3 p.m. on the town’s main street, a ball was thrown out of the second-story window of a mortgage … Read more
Rome had spent months prepping up for the Roman Catholic Church Jubilee. It built tunnels, opened up squares and scrubbed moldy fountains. Now thousands of pilgrims were flocking from all over the world for the occasion — a year of penance and forgiveness that takes place every quarter century. The only thing missing was the … Read more
Anselm Kiefer’s new installation seems to envelop the grand staircase of the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam. Paintings reach from floor to ceiling in colors of oxidized copper and gold leaf. Army uniforms stiffened with splattered paint hang at eye level. Dried flower petals tumble down the canvases onto the floor. A self-portrait of Kiefer as a … Read more
Traffic ground to a halt at one of France’s busiest train stations on Friday after an unexploded World War II bomb was uncovered just north of Paris, the authorities said. The bomb was discovered overnight in the Saint-Denis suburb near tracks that lead into the Gare du Nord, a major Parisian transit hub that serves … Read more
Some 430 years after the Lombard artist Michelangelo Merisi, better known as Caravaggio, swept into Rome to enchant, and land, well-placed patrons with his bold yet intimate artistry, Caravaggio is again grabbing the spotlight, with a blockbuster exhibition at the National Gallery of Ancient Art at Palazzo Barberini. Chronologically organized, the exhibition, titled “Caravaggio 2025,” … Read more
Senior U.S. and Ukrainian officials are planning to meet next week to discuss the first steps of a deal that could seek an end to the war in Ukraine, after a week of U.S. moves casting doubt on its support for the country. Both President Trump and President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine confirmed the meeting, … Read more
Pope Francis Makes First Public Statement Since Being Hospitalized
For the first time in three weeks, the world heard the voice of a hospitalized Pope Francis on Thursday evening, when an audio recording was played over loudspeakers ahead of the rosary that the faithful have been praying each day in St. Peter’s Square. “I thank you from the bottom of my heart for your … Read more
