Good Friday, Passover and Mega Millions: 5 things to know Friday
Christians and Jews across the globe kick off a holy weekend
Friday is a big day for two of the world’s major religions. Millions of Jews will gather Friday night for the beginning of Passover, the eight-day holiday celebrating the Israelites’ deliverance from slavery in Egypt. Meanwhile, Christians will be celebrating Good Friday, commemorating the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. These two holidays are related — Jesus died during Passover — but they don’t always coincide. Between gourmet seder feasts and Good Friday fish fries, there will also be plenty of festive options for foodies this weekend. Just make sure to save room for Easter candy!
Steven Spielberg's latest film will test your pop-culture knowledge
It's 2045, and in dystopian Columbus, Ohio, everyone’s obsessed with OASIS, a virtual-reality system that allows you to live your best life. That's the setting for Steven Spielberg’s latest flick, Ready Player One, which you can watch Friday. It’s chock-full of retro pop-culture goodness — fun discoveries known as Easter eggs — including the DeLorean from Back to the Future and Freddy Krueger. “I wanted to be greedy about putting in as many Easter eggs and cultural iconic references (as possible),” Spielberg said. In Ready, the Steve Jobs-like founder of the virtual reality company dies but thoughtfully leaves behind his own Easter egg: Whoever finds it inherits control of OASIS.
No joke: Massive space station could hit Earth
A 9.4-ton Chinese space station is hurtling towards Earth and will crash into the atmosphere sometime between March 31 and April 1. Most of the schoolbus-sized station should burn up during reentry, but where exactly any heavy wreckage could land is still mostly a mystery. The European Space Agency estimates debris could conceivably crash over a huge swath of the Earth that includes China, Africa, Australia, South America and a good portion of the U.S. But no one needs to abandon the planet. The odds of the unmanned station crashing into a person is “about 1 million times smaller than the odds of winning the Powerball jackpot,” according to an analysis by the federally-funded Aerospace Corporation. Here's what you should know.
Jury weighs in on Pulse gunman's widow's fate
Jury deliberations in the trial of the Pulse nightclub gunman's widow will stretch into a third day Friday as jurors consider the fate of Noor Salman, 31, whose husband killed 49 people in the bloody Orlando attack. Salman, who prosecutors say helped her husband plan the attack, is charged with providing material support to the Islamic State, a foreign terror organization, and with obstructing justice.On Wednesday, jurors asked for and were given a copy of Salman's statement to the FBI following husband Omar Mateen's attack. The statement has been a crucial piece of evidence in the case and a major point of contention with questions whether the 12-page statement Salman signed was fact or fiction. Salman could face life in prison if convicted.
Who wants to be a (mega) millionaire?
Are you feeling lucky? The next Mega Millions drawing is Friday night and it could be your chance to win big. The jackpot has been rolling over since it was last won on Jan. 5 and it now stands at $502 million, making it the fourth-largest payout in Mega Millions’ 16-year history. Sadly, the odds of winning all that cash is more than 1 in 302 million. You have a better chance achieving sainthood (1 in 20 million) than winning the grand prize. But just in case you're lucky, here are some expert tips on what to do if you win the lottery.
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