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NASA schedules quick return of astronauts in SpaceX capsule

(NYT) — Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore — two NASA astronauts who have remained in space for months longer than planned — could be back on Earth on Tuesday evening.

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That is earlier than NASA had said Friday when a replacement crew of astronauts launched to the International Space Station.

Typically, the two groups of astronauts — the new arrivals and the ones about to go home — overlap on the station for up to a week, but this time, the agency said it was looking at a quicker-than-usual return, as early as Wednesday.

On Sunday night, NASA said it was pushing the return date even earlier, to Tuesday, to take advantage of a good weather forecast along the Gulf Coast of Florida where the astronauts will splash down. The weather is expected to be less favorable later in the week.

Undocking is scheduled for a little after 1 a.m. Eastern time Tuesday.

Vatican releases first photo of Pope Francis since hospitalization

ROME (NYT) — The Vatican on Sunday released the first photo of Pope Francis since he was hospitalized 31 days ago, showing him facing the altar in the small chapel that is part of his private suite at a hospital in Rome.

Francis celebrated Mass with other priests for the first time since he was admitted to the Policlinico A. Gemelli hospital, the Vatican said. He continued his physiotherapy — both motor and respiratory — on Sunday, and he seemed to be “benefiting from it,” the Vatican said.

The pontiff is shown in the photo wearing a purple stole, reflective of this being the season of Lent.

Francis, 88, was admitted to Gemelli hospital on Feb. 14 with respiratory infections and bronchitis that developed into pneumonia in both lungs. He suffered several setbacks, including mild kidney failure and a few respiratory crises. He was in critical condition until last Monday, when doctors said he was no longer in imminent danger of dying from pneumonia.

Facing Trump tariffs, China shares plan to bolster the economy

BEIJING (NYT) — The Chinese government and the Communist Party jointly issued a lengthy list of planned initiatives Sunday to get people to spend more, in yet another move by Beijing to offset potential harm from its escalating economic warfare with Washington.

The road map for economic stimulus included larger pensions, better medical benefits and higher wages — measures that could bolster China’s lagging domestic consumption. But it assigned many of these tasks to the country’s local governments, many of which are struggling under enormous debts and plummeting revenue from the sale of state land.

The action comes as China’s leaders are searching for ways to rebalance the economy away from its current dependence on an ever-rising trade surplus, which reached almost $1 trillion last year. President Donald Trump has imposed 20% tariffs on China’s shipments to the United States. Countries in Europe, Latin America, Africa and the Middle East are also raising tariffs on China’s flood of manufactured-goods exports.