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Yahoo
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
All the Clues & Easter Eggs You Might Have Missed in the Destination X Premiere
Do you have what it takes to suss out Destination X? In the premiere episode of Destination X, hosted by Jeffrey Dean Morgan, 10 players were tasked with sussing out where the X they were based on a series of hints and challenges — but it's not as simple as it seems. In this bold new travel competition series from NBC, Europe is turned into a real-life gameboard as complete strangers are invited to participate in the trip of a lifetime and the ultimate geo-guessing contest. These adventurous players will traverse Europe in a blacked-out Destination X bus to figure out where the "X" they are each week. In each episode, the players disembark the bus to visit unique and unfamiliar tourist attractions that have been gamified into experiential challenges. They'll rely on their knowledge of pop culture, history, geography, and observational skills to win clues to their current location and earn an all-important advantage. Contestants must tap into their own personal expertise, identify hidden clues that are disguised as artifacts, and discern intentional misdirects from competitors to ultimately determine their whereabouts. RELATED: Read on to learn more about the premiere episode's location, and the many hints and Easter eggs the players saw (or didn't) along the way. The player clues were the most obvious, but there were a lot of them, so let's do a full rundown before we get to the more advanced ones: Mack and Ally were gifted a brief look outside the bus at the Roman ruins at Volterra, an arena that resembled the Colosseum in miniature. While racing through the cobblestone streets of Orvieto, Italy, Mack and Biggy solved a series of riddles, which involved Pinocchio, Olives, and Roman Numerals, all of which could have clued them in on their general locale in Italy. While Mack and Biggy were busy at street-level in Orvieto, their teams were deep in St. Patrick's Well, sussing out riddles that freed their above-ground counterparts from their black-out goggles. The two riddles the teams had to figure out led them to coins depicting Romeo & Juliet (get it? ROME-eo...? Yeah, you get it. Not to mention that the classic Shakespearean tale takes place in Italy) and Wine (a major export of Italy). RELATED: Throughout their challenge, Mack and Biggy earned more coins every time they figured out a riddle first. Mack killed it, earning four gold coins that had images of Ninja Turtle Weapons (all four of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are named after Italian artists: Donatello, Raphael, Leonardo, and Michelangelo), "1492" with an Outline of Christopher Colombus (Christopher Colombus was Italian, and sailed to the Americas in 1492), Thumbs Up/Down (a hint to the famous scene in Gladiator, in which Joaquin Phoenix's ruthless Roman Emperor Commodus determined gladiators' fates with a thumbs up or thumbs down in the Colosseum), and Swords Crossed with Swiss Cheese (a hint at the Swiss Guard, who protect the Pope in Vatican City, which is located within Rome). Meanwhile, Biggy managed to get just one coin, which showed Ballet Slippers (ballet originated in the courts of Italy). Our host Jeffrey provided the audience with a big clue at the end of the episode's second challenge, saying in his voiceover: "The ancient hilltop town of Orvieto, to be exact, renowned for its stunning cathedral, rich olive oil, and of course, St Patrick's Well, built in the 1500s by Pope Clement VII, who fled to Orvieto from a city 90 miles away, a city which also happens to be our first Destination X." Pope Clement VII fled from Rome to Orvieto in the 1500s. Related: Find Out More About Destination X Host Jeffrey Dean Morgan's Many Meaningful Tattoos Hidden among all the sweeping visuals of rolling hillsides and extravagant architecture were images of Vespas (famous Italian scooters; plus, Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck famously rode one during Roman Holiday) and Vineyards & Cyprus Trees (landscape-based hints at the Italian countryside). By episode's end, several players had correctly guessed that the challenges and clues had all hinted at one final location: Rome, Italy — specifically, the famous Roman Colosseum. However, Josh Martinez placed his X in the Map Room in Milan, resulting in his excommunication from Destination X. "Destination X, you got me!" Josh said in his final moments. "Wildest, craziest game I've ever played. This bus was insanity." New episodes of Destination X premiere on Tuesdays at 10 p.m. ET/PT on NBC, and are available to stream the next day on Peacock.
Euronews
12-05-2025
- Politics
- Euronews
'Never give in to mediocrity,' Pope Leo XIV tells the press
There's only a handful of situations where journalists, usually guided by strict rules of the trade, act like anyone else. Meeting the new pope for the first time at the Vatican City's modernist Paul VI Audience Hall became one of those events. Prior to Pope Leo XIV's entrance on Monday morning, the crowd representing the world press — filling out about half of the 6,000-seat aula — was restless in anticipation, dropping all pretence there was in the audience for any other presser. Some were busy tying flags of their nations to the safety railings — a couple of Peru ones, where the pontiff lived and ministered for decades, notably peppered the hall — while others impatiently lifted their phones to record the scene, just to give up moments later as nothing was happening, bar a few priests casually strolling across the immense podium. Several people brought babies, one of whom cried impatiently, picking up on the atmosphere. Then the pontiff appeared, stage right, flanked by members of the Swiss Guard in full regalia, and the crowd rose to its feet and erupted in a long applause. As he sat down, motioning to the audience to do the same, one section started applauding even more fervently. Everyone joined in once more. Someone shouted 'Viva papa,' triggering loud replies of 'Viva'. It was an entrance worthy of God's representative on Earth. 'Good morning, and thank you for this wonderful reception,' Pope Leo XIV began, seemingly surprised at the long, thunderous applause. 'They say when they clap at the beginning, it doesn't matter much.' 'If you're still awake at the end and you still want to applaud, thank you very much,' he quipped in English, before switching to fluent Italian. It didn't take the pontiff long to show he was not there to mince words, however. While he was cordial, the first impression was that he wanted to show he was a staunch champion of 'dignity, justice, and the right to be informed'. Free speech and free press are a 'precious gift,' he said, especially for us 'living in times that are both difficult to navigate and to recount'. And "we are the times," Pope Leo XIV added, quoting St Augustine, from whose order he hails. Interrupted by applause, Pope Leo XIV pressed on with what felt like a proper pep talk. 'Never give in to mediocrity,' he said. Journalistic work was 'a challenge we shouldn't run away from,' he urged. Be responsible with AI, he insisted. He spoke up for imprisoned journalists, much to the approval of those present. But mostly it was his insistence on truth instead of partisan divisions that rang out the loudest in today's world, judging by another thunderous applause. "The way we communicate is of fundamental importance: we must say 'no' to the war of words and images, we must reject the paradigm of war," the pontiff emphasised. The pontiff finished his speech with a short prayer, blessing the journalists instead of opening the floor to questions. The faithful among the press made the sign of the cross, an "amen" echoing as the pontiff proceeded to greet those present in the front rows. Pope Leo XIV walked down the central aisle to shake hands with others, followed by dozens, if not hundreds, of cameras — an exit as impactful as his entrance just half an hour earlier. Was it a sermon? Maybe in part. Others would more likely liken it to the appearance of a rock star. But the pope's debut address to the press mostly showcased why the former Cardinal Robert Prevost was so quickly elected by his peers — and by the Holy Spirit, or acclamation, as the rite says. His words made the journalists in the room feel like their job was more important than his, as the leader of the Church counting 1.3 billion Catholic faithful, ever will be.
New York Times
10-05-2025
- Politics
- New York Times
Pope Leo XIV heads the Catholic church from Vatican City — where a secret tennis court awaits
ROME — When in Rome, head to the corner of the Via Leone IV and the Viale Vaticano and turn west for about 50 yards along the latter, to where the line starts to build for entry to the Vatican Museum. Crane your neck up to the top of the 39-foot-high Vatican City wall, and there it is — one of the few things besides trees and buildings that peek above the fortifications to be visible from street level. Advertisement A high, netted fence juts above the wall, stretching a few meters across. It would not deter anyone who had just overcome 12 meters of vertical brickwork, but it is not there to protect the Pope, the Cardinals, the Swiss Guard and Vatican staff. It is there for the benefit of the people walking below: to stop a bad shank, an over-enthusiastic lob or a spiked smash sending a tennis ball plummeting to earth and onto the heads of passing pedestrians. That fence encircles the campo centrale of the Catholic church: the Vatican City tennis court — now under the dominion of Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost, or rather Pope Leo XIV. After white smoke billowed from the chimney atop the Sistine Chapel on May 8, the new leader of the Roman Catholic church was beamed onto the stadia at Rome's Foro Italico, where the crowds at the Italian Open turned their attention from the tennis to cheer. Then the questions rolled in. Can Pope Leo XIV unite the progressive and conservative wings of the church and its 1.3 billion souls? Can the first pontiff from the United States manage the baggage that comes with hailing from the Western superpower? And does this guy need tickets for the Italian Open finals next weekend, just shy of two miles north of his new domain? To the extent that he had much of a reputation outside of those in the know at the Vatican and his coterie of longtime friends in Chicago and at Villanova University, Penn., Pope Leo XIV had already told the world that tennis is his sport. 'I consider myself quite the amateur tennis player,' the future Pope Leo said in an interview with the website of the Augustinian Order in 2023, when his predecessor, Pope Francis, gave him his red Cardinal's hat on his arrival in Rome. (No, not the St. Louis Cardinals. When it comes to baseball, Pope Leo is a Chicago White Sox fan, meaning temperance and perseverance in adversity are in his wheelhouse.) Advertisement 'Since leaving Peru (where he worked for the previous nine years), I have had few occasions to practice, so I am looking forward to getting back on the court,' he said. At first, he appeared to have said that he was a Carlos Alcaraz fan, which might have perturbed the local denizens of his new home given Jannik Sinner's standing as Italy's sporting pontiff. They need not worry: the claim was fake. Unknown to some longtime close Vatican watchers, devout Catholics, and even several of the higher-ups at Italy's tennis federation, the FITP, there has long been what satellite images show is a lovely red court, tucked into the northern corner of the Vatican City. A security worker on duty outside the museum the morning of May 8 said most people don't know about it because it's not easy to find. People either know it's there, across the road from the building that surrounds the Cortile Ottagono courtyard, or they don't. The gardens and area around the tennis court have been closed to the public since April 28 for the conclave to choose a new Pope. Having a hit was not high on the Cardinals' priority list. A tennis court may not figure highly in Vatican City apocrypha, but what information it has preserved paints a portrait of what was once a lively tennis scene, with Cardinals competing in a tournament that also included members of the Swiss Guard and was eventually opened up to Vatican employees and their children. On May 9, a spokesperson for the Swiss Guard, Cpl. Cinotti Eliah, wrote that as far as he knew, none of the guards now play tennis, which may be both good and bad news for Pope Leo. It could create an easier path to victory in any tournament he might organize, though perhaps it will be a little harder to find a quality young partner to join him in a last-minute hit. Advertisement Any laity who faced the Pope on court would face several moral dilemmas. Is it cool to hit a winner past him if he comes to the net? Tagging the leader of the Holy See during a net duel also sounds like a one-way ticket to excommunication. Messages that included questions about the tennis court sent to the communications office of the Holy See were not returned. The golden era of Vatican tennis was the late 1970s, after the court was renovated. Even the Cardinals got caught up in that first tennis boom of the modern era, according to archival research from the Pontifical Council for the Laity. A 'Tournament of Friendship' began in 1978. Giovanni Battista Re, who would become the Vice-Dean of the College of Cardinals, took the title. At the time, he was a priest who worked for the Secretariat of State, which performs the political and diplomatic functions for the Pope. In the final, Battista Re topped Roberto Tucci, an Italian Jesuit and the director general of Vatican Radio. He became a Cardinal, too. There was a third-place match. Peter Hasler, a Swiss Guard, beat Faustino Sainz Munoz of Spain, who became an archbishop. Priestly tennis benevolence proved their undoing. They stopped winning when they opened up the tournament to the employees of the Holy See's Property Administration, and then children of employees — a bad idea for older guys interested in winning championships. Eventually, participation waned and the tournament ended, before Vatican Museum employees started it again in 2008. Pope Leo won't have to work hard to find support among the sport's current pros if he wants to make tennis a bigger part of his reign. Iga Świątek said in a news conference that she would love to spend some time in St. Peter's Square waiting for the white smoke to emerge from the Sistine Chapel if she could work it out in her schedule. Emma Raducanu predicted a long conclave Wednesday night, a call which did not age well — Pope Leo was elected after a little more than 24 hours. Advertisement Madison Keys said Thursday night that her good friend Desirae Krawczyk, a doubles player, had hustled down to St. Peter's Square to join the excitement. All of it has made this opening week one that the Italian Open will never forget, especially come the announcement of his election appearing on stadium screens during matches Thursday evening. Turns out that was fitting. All these years later, Robert Francis Prevost finally made it in pro tennis. (Top photos: Andrej Isakovic, Alberto Pizzoli / Getty Images; Illustration: Will Tullos / The Athletic; Graphic: John Bradford / The Athletic)
Washington Post
09-05-2025
- Washington Post
Pope Leo, please give the Swiss Guard new uniforms
If you have never seen the uniforms of the Vatican's Swiss Guard — personal bodyguards to the pope — imagine that St. Peter's Basilica was once tented for fumigation and the enterprising guards, Maria von Trapp-like, reasoned: 'Why let this fabric go to waste?' The color-blocked red, blue and canary conjures up a Jesus who said, 'Let the little children come unto the bouncy house,' and the bouncy house deflated, and the guards cut it up into clothes.
Yahoo
09-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
The elite Swiss Guard watching over conclave have a dramatic role as papal bodyguards
Armor like a knight on horseback. A helmet with bright-colored plumes sticking out. Wide blue and gold-striped pants that can seem almost clown-like. The Swiss Guard, the pope's iconic bodyguards, look ceremonial but in the pageantry of the Renaissance-style uniform lies the answer to why they will be protecting the Sistine Chapel on May 7 as cardinals assemble to choose the successor to Pope Francis. Their uniform is an homage to the epic last stand the guards once made to defend the pope. It's a declaration that they are willing to do so again, according to Bry Jensen, a historian and host of a podcast about the papacy. 'The reason is the sack of Rome in 1527,' Jensen, host of the Pontifacts show, told USA TODAY. 'One hundred forty-seven of the 189 Swiss Guards, including their commander, died and were torn apart to give Pope Clement VII time enough to escape.' Renegade soldiers from the Holy Roman Empire decided to attack the city. They were indignant over not being paid and directed their anger against the church, which was seen as corrupt then, according to the Encyclopedia of European History. The attack came amid burgeoning anti-church sentiment in Europe. Questions about the museum-piece-looking guards and their capabilities come as the conclave begins within the Sistine Chapel in Vatican City. The guards have no part in the process. But they are there to ensure it happens uninterrupted. The earliest conclaves in the 1400s predate the founding of the Swiss Guard, but since being established in 1506, they have been expected to protect the pope and, in turn, the college of cardinals during periods between church leaders. Swiss soldiers were originally picked for the position because of their fighting prowess, according to Encyclopedia Britannica. Fighters from the alpine nation were renowned throughout Europe dating back to Roman times, the encyclopedia says, and they proved themselves in 1527. Their level of readiness has risen and fallen over the centuries. At points, the guards were largely ceremonial. They even mutinied in 1913 when one commander of the troops tried to turn them back into a lethal force again, according to a history of the guards titled The Pope's Soldiers: A Military History of the Modern Vatican by David Alvarez. But today, they are a force fit to look after the head of the church with 1.4 billion followers worldwide. Their antique-looking uniforms belie the elite training in counterintelligence, close-quarters combat and bomb disposal that they receive. But for those who know the story, it's a clue to the lengths they are willing to go. 'I swear that I will faithfully, loyally and honorably serve the Supreme Pontiff and his legitimate successors,' the guards say when they are sworn in, 'and dedicate myself to them with all my strength, sacrificing, if necessary, my life to defend them.' Here's what else to know about the elite guards protecting the cardinals throughout the conclave: The last stand of the Swiss Guard happened in 1527 when soldiers from the Holy Roman Empire invaded Rome, looking to sack the city. According to the Encyclopedia Britannica, they "embarked on an orgy of destruction and massacre, terrorizing the population and humiliating Pope Clement VII." "The mercenaries, many of them are protestant, so they're really keen to kill some church men, especially the pope," Jensen said. "They're eager to string him up." Pope Clement VII was saying mass at St. Peter's at that time and had to be whisked away along a special passage connecting the heart of the Vatican to the Castel Sant'Angelo, the longtime fortress of the papacy near St. Peter's, according to the Oxford University Press. Of 189 guards, 42 went with the pope, according to Jensen. The rest stayed protecting the entrance to the passage, the Passetto di Borgo. 'The rest literally know they are standing there to die, but they last long enough to let the pope get out of dodge,' Jensen said. Swiss soldiers had already been picked to guard the pope in 1506 by Pope Julius II, known as the 'Warrior Pope.' He chose them because the Swiss were renowned fighters throughout Europe then. They sealed their place as the pope's official guard for the ages just a few decades later. There will be 25 more Swiss Guards protecting the Sistine Chapel during the conclave than when Pope Francis was elected in 2013. At the time, there were 110 Swiss Guards. Today, there are 135. The change dates back to 2018. Vatican officials cited threats of terrorism during a particularly active year for the papacy. Unofficially, fans of Pope Francis say it's because the church leader who championed the poor had a habit of sneaking out of the Vatican to spend time with people on the streets of Rome, according to Jensen. Jules Repond, a Swiss Guard commander in the early 1900s, was the leader who aimed to turn his troops back into a fighting force after years of serving a more ceremonial role, according to the Historical Dictionary of Switzerland. In 1913, Swiss Guards mutinied for a week in response but eventually received military training as Repond wanted, Alvarez wrote in The Pope's Soldiers: A Military History of the Modern Vatican. Over 50 years later, their readiness was put to the test when Mehmet Ali Ağca shot and wounded Pope John Paul II in Saint Peter's Square in 1981. Swiss Guards failed to stop the Turkish national from hitting the Polish pope, though he survived. The event was a wake-up call for the papal bodyguards. Today, they are all still Swiss citizens. Other requirements are that candidates must be a man between the ages of 19 and 30 and a practicing Catholic, according to the official Swiss Guard website. They must also be single when joining the guard, although they can marry after serving for five years if they are at least 25 years old and commit to serving another three years, the official Swiss Guard website states. Training begins with two months of basic training. For the first month, recruits train with the Ticino Cantonal Police at the Swiss Police and Army Training Center in Isone, Switzerland. There, the recruits learn firefighting, first aid, shooting, personal safety, self-defense, tactical behavior and the notions of law, the official Swiss Guard website states. For the second month, recruits train at the Pontifical Swiss Guard Headquarters in Vatican City. They learn proper saluting, individual and group formations, guard changes and how to handle the halberd, a weapon used throughout the 13th to 16th centuries that combines an axe blade with a spike or hook. Recruits also learn Italian, if they aren't already fluent. Contributing: Greta Cross and Kim Hjelmgaard. (This story has been updated to correct a misspelling/typo.) This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: How the Swiss Guard became the chosen force at the conclave
