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Toronto Sun
5 days ago
- Science
- Toronto Sun
Six planets are hanging out in early morning skies this month. Here's how to spot them
Published Aug 14, 2025 • 1 minute read A girl looks through a telescope in Caracas, Venezuela, on Sunday, May 15, 2022. Photo by Matias Delacroix / AP NEW YORK (AP) — Six planets are hanging out in the sky this month in what's known as a planetary parade. Catch the spectacle while you can because it's the last one of the year. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account These linkups happen when several planets appear to line up in the night sky at once. Such parades are fairly common, happening around every year depending on the number of planets. At least one bright planet can be spotted on most nights, weather permitting, according to NASA. Six planets were visible in January skies and every planet of our solar system was visible in February, but not all could be spotted with the naked eye. Venus, Jupiter, Saturn and a faint Mercury are visible this month without any special equipment, and the best chances to spot them are over the next week. Uranus and Neptune can only be glimpsed through binoculars and telescopes. Jupiter and Venus made a close brush earlier this week and are still near each other in the eastern sky, 'close together like cat's eyes,' said Carolyn Sumners at the Houston Museum of Natural Science. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Mercury will be at its farthest point from the sun on Tuesday morning, making it easier to spot before it disappears into the sun's glare. To catch the planets, go out in the morning shortly before sunrise and look east. Try to find Jupiter and Venus clustered together first. Saturn is off to the side and Mercury will be close to the horizon, trying to rise before the sun. 'You're looking for little tiny pinpoints of light, but they are the brightest ones,' said Justin Bartel with the Science Museum of Virginia. 'They don't really twinkle like the stars do.' Before heading out, make sure it is a clear, cloudless morning and try to get away from tall buildings that could block the view. Mercury will hide behind the sun again toward the end of the month, but a crescent moon will then join the parade. The next big planetary hangout is in February. Sunshine Girls Sunshine Girls World Columnists Toronto & GTA
Japan Today
11-08-2025
- Politics
- Japan Today
China, U.S. clash at U.N. over Panama Canal
A cargo ship navigates through the Panama Canal, seen from the Cerro Ancon in Panama City, Tuesday, July 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix) By EDITH M. LEDERER The United States and China clashed over the Panama Canal at the United Nations on Monday, with the U.S. warning that Beijing's influence over the key waterway could threaten global trade and security and China calling U.S. accusations a pretext to take over the canal. The clash took place at a U.N. Security Council meeting where Panama's President José Raúl Mulino stressed the neutrality of the canal and his country's ownership of the waterway linking the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. Panama holds the council presidency this month, and Mulino was chairing a meeting on challenges to maritime security. Interpol Secretary General Valdecy Urquiza told members these include piracy, armed robbery, transnational crime and cyber criminals weaponizing artificial intelligence to attack ports where there is 'minimal cyber security, maximum exposure.' U.S. President Donald Trump thrust Panama into the spotlight even before winning election last November by suggesting that his country should consider retaking control of the Panama Canal and accusing Panama of ceding influence to China. The U.S. built the canal in the early 1900s as it looked for ways to facilitate the transit of commercial and military vessels between its coasts. Control of the waterway transferred to Panama in 1999 under a treaty signed in 1977 by President Jimmy Carter. China's U.N. Ambassador Fu Cong emphasized to the council that 'Panama has consistently and effectively managed the canal, making significant contributions to global shipping and trade.' 'China has always respected the permanent neutrality of the canal and firmly supports Panama in safeguarding its sovereignty over the canal to ensure its openness and smooth operation,' he said. Acting U.S. Ambassador Dorothy Shea, who spoke afterward, went after China, expressing concern about its 'outsized influence over the Panama Canal area, especially over critical infrastructure and port operations.' Alluding to its claims in the South China Sea, she said, 'China's expansive and unlawful maritime claims and aggressive actions demonstrate its threat to maritime security and commerce.' She said the U.S. rejects these claims and supports countries opposing them. 'China's influence in the canal area is not just a risk to Panama and the United States, but rather a potential threat to global trade and security,' Shea said. The Trump administration has pressured China to have the Hong Kong-based operator of ports at either end of the canal sell those interests to a U.S. consortium that includes BlackRock Inc. Panama has vehemently rejected a takeover of the canal, but in April, U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth visited Panama and agreed with Mulino to step up security coordination. The agreement also gives U.S. troops access to strategic air and naval facilities in the Central American nation, which sparked large protests in Panama's capital. China's Fu asked for the floor to respond to Shea's accusations after all council members spoke, this time lashing out at the Trump administration. 'The United States' fabrication of lies and groundless attacks against China are nothing but a pretext for seeking control of the canal,' he said. The Chinese envoy called the U.S. and its deployment of offensive weapons in the South China Sea area 'the biggest disrupter of peace and stability' in the region, and he accused the administration of exacerbating risks to global maritime security. 'China firmly opposes economic coercion and bullying practices and urges the United States to stop fabricating rumors, lies and creating trouble,' Fu said. Murillo then responded, saying he wanted to stress Panama's sovereignty 'in terms of the ownership of the canal' and the multilateral treaty governing its administration. He called the canal's neutrality 'the only and the best defense' to any specific or global threats. © Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
Toronto Sun
08-05-2025
- Politics
- Toronto Sun
Venezuela denies opposition members left country during rescue operation
Published May 07, 2025 • 2 minute read FILE - A police patrol car sits parked outside Argentina's embassy where some members of Venezuela's opposition are seeking asylum inside, in Caracas, Venezuela, July 31, 2024, three days after the contested presidential election. Photo by Matias Delacroix / AP CARACAS, Venezuela — Venezuela's government on Wednesday acknowledged for the first time that members of the country's opposition left the Argentine diplomatic compound where they had sheltered for over a year, but it denied that their arrival to the United States occurred under an international rescue operation as characterized by the political faction and the U.S. State Department. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account Venezuelan Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello said the group's movements were negotiated with the government and further alleged that one of the six people who entered the Argentine ambassador's residence in March left the compound in August, contradicting earlier statements from the opposition. Cabello's statements came roughly 24 hours after U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced on social media that the opposition members were on U.S. soil after a 'successful rescue.' The government of Argentine President Javier Milei allowed the six people into the ambassador's residence when authorities loyal to Venezuela's ruling party issued warrants for their arrest, accusing them of promoting acts of violence to destabilize the country. The group included the campaign manager and communications director of opposition leader Maria Corina Machado as well as Fernando Martinez, a cabinet minister in the 1990s. Your noon-hour look at what's happening in Toronto and beyond. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. Please try again This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Read More Martinez abandoned the compound in mid-December and, according to Venezuelan authorities, appeared before prosecutors. He died in February. After Rubio's announcement Tuesday, Machado thanked people involved in what she called an 'impeccable and epic operation for the freedom of five heroes of Venezuela.' But Cabello alleged that only four people remained at the embassy after Martinez's departure. Since late November, the group had denounced the constant presence of intelligence service agents and police outside the residence. It had also accused the government of President Nicolas Maduro of cutting electricity and water services to the compound. The government denied the allegations. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. 'They put on their show, and in the end, they ended up negotiating,' Cabello said Wednesday during his weekly show on state television. RECOMMENDED VIDEO Cabello did not offer details of the group's movements to reach the U.S. But he alleged that Machado negotiated with the government to allow her mother to leave the country, which he said she did so Monday via a commercial airplane headed to Colombia's capital, Bogota. Machado, who was last seen in public in January, did not immediately respond to Cabello's allegations. Maduro's government routinely targeted its real or perceived opponents ahead of last year's presidential election, and its crackdown on dissent only increased after the country's National Electoral Council, which is stacked with Maduro loyalists, declared him the winner despite credible evidence to the contrary. The election results announced by the Electoral Council sparked protests across the country to which the government responded with force and ended with more than 20 people dead. They also prompted an end to diplomatic relations between Venezuela and various foreign countries, including Argentina. Television Canada Toronto Maple Leafs Canada Editorial Cartoons
