‘Lord, I love you’: Aide recounts Benedict’s last words
VATICAN CITY — Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI’s last words were “Lord, I love you,” his longtime secretary said Sunday, quoting a nurse who helped care for the 95-year-old former pontiff in his final hours. Archbishop Georg Gaenswein, a German prelate who lived in the Vatican monastery where Benedict took up...
Multiple homes in Philadelphia collapse in series of gas explosions early New Year’s Day
PHILADELPHIA — Multiple gas leaks in Port Richmond resulted in an explosion early New Year’s Day that led to the collapse of two homes and multiple people being taken to hospitals, according to city fire officials. None of the injuries appeared to be fatal, but two people were rescued from...
Biden watches sunrise, attends church to open 2023 in USVI
CHRISTIANSTED, U.S. Virgin Islands — President Joe Biden opened the first day of the new year by watching its first sunrise and attending Mass at a Roman Catholic church in the U.S. Virgin Islands. Biden worshipped Sunday at Holy Cross Catholic Church in Christiansted, where he has attended religious services...
Dems, GOP have distinct priorities for 2023, poll says
WASHINGTON (AP) — Eva Guzman’s expenses have swelled, but she feels comfortable financially thanks to the savings she and her late husband stockpiled for a rainy day. Nevertheless, the 80-year-old retired library clerk in San Antonio limits trips to the grocery store, adjusts the thermostat to save on utilities and...
Trump rings in 2023 facing headwinds in his White House run
WASHINGTON — Donald Trump began 2022 on a high. Primary candidates were flocking to Florida to court the former president for a coveted endorsement. His rallies were drawing thousands. A bevy of investigations remained largely under the radar. One year later, Trump is facing a very different reality. He is...
Chief justice: Judges’ safety ‘essential’ to court system
WASHINGTON — With security threats to Supreme Court justices still fresh memories, Chief Justice John Roberts on Saturday praised programs that protect judges, saying that “we must support judges by ensuring their safety.” Roberts and other conservative Supreme Court justices were the subject of protests, some at their homes, after...
Evacuation warnings amid flooding after California storm
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Residents of a Northern California community were ordered to evacuate ahead of imminent flooding, and evacuation warnings were in place elsewhere in rural parts of the region on New Year’s Day after a powerful storm brought drenching rain or heavy snowfall to much of the state, breaching...
NY officers injured, suspect shot near New Year’s Eve event
NEW YORK — A man wielding a machete attacked three police officers at the New Year’s Eve celebration in New York City, authorities said, striking two of them in the head before an officer shot the man in the shoulder. The attack happened a little after 10 p.m. about eight...
Black support for GOP ticked up in this year’s midterms
WASHINGTON — Black voters have been a steady foundation for Democratic candidates for decades, but that support appeared to show a few cracks in this year’s elections. Republican candidates were backed by 14% of Black voters, compared with 8% in the last midterm elections four years ago, according to AP...
In U.S., sharply contrasting views on Benedict XVI’s legacy
NEW YORK — In the United States, admirers of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI remembered him warmly for his theological prowess and devotion to traditional doctrine. However, some U.S. Catholics, on learning of his death Saturday, recalled him as an obstacle to progress in combating clergy sex abuse and expanding the...
New York OKs human composting law; 6th state in U.S. to do so
ALBANY, N.Y. — Howard Fischer, a 63-year old investor living north of New York City, has a wish for when he dies. He wants his remains to be placed in a vessel, broken down by tiny microbes and composted into rich, fertile soil. Maybe his composted remains could be planted...
Suspect in Idaho killings plans to waive extradition hearing
BOISE, Idaho — A suspect arrested in connection with the slayings of four University of Idaho students plans to waive an extradition hearing so he can be quickly brought to Idaho to face murder charges, his defense attorney said Saturday. Bryan Kohberger, a 28-year-old Ph.D. student and teaching assistant in...
Taxes fall, wages rise and jaywalking OK’d by new state laws
Taxes will fall and minimum wages rise for residents in numerous states as a variety of new laws take effect Sunday that could impact people’s finances and, in some cases, their personal liberties. Some new laws could affect access to abortion. Others will ease restrictions on marijuana and concealed guns,...
Revelers throng to New Year’s parties after covid hiatus
MELBOURNE, Australia — With countdowns and fireworks, revelers in major city centers across the Asia-Pacific region ushered in the first new year without covid-19 restrictions since the pandemic began in 2020. While covid-19 continues to cause death and dismay, particularly in China, which is battling a nationwide surge in infections...
Russian strikes intensify as Ukrainians return for holiday
KYIV, Ukraine — Multiple blasts rocked Kyiv and other areas of Ukraine on Saturday, killing at least one person and wounding 14 others, in a sign that the pace of Russia attacks had picked up before New Year’s. Some Ukrainians defied the danger, however, to return to the country to...
Mega Millions jackpot climbs to $785M after no big winner
The first Mega Millions drawing of the new year will be a big one after no one won an estimated $685 million jackpot. No ticket purchased for the lottery matched all six numbers drawn Friday night, Mega Millions said in a statement early Saturday. The top prize increased to $785...
50th anniversary of Roberto Clemente’s death brings ‘mixed emotions’
At some point on New Year’s Eve, Tom Walker and his wife of 48 years, Carolyn, will raise a toast in their Pine Township home to the man who Walker says saved his life a half-century ago: Roberto Clemente. “None of this, none of the blessings I’ve had in life,...
Another woman files sex abuse lawsuit against Cosby, NBC
A woman who alleges Bill Cosby drugged and sexually assaulted her in 1986 sued the comedian-actor, NBCUniversal and other companies Friday in New York, where five other women filed a similar lawsuit earlier this month. Stacey Pinkerton says she was a 21-year-old flight attendant and model that year when she...
Barbara Walters, television news trailblazer, dies at 93
NEW YORK — Barbara Walters, the intrepid interviewer, anchor and program host who led the way as the first woman to become a TV news superstar during a network career remarkable for its duration and variety, has died. She was 93. Walters’ death was announced by ABC on air Friday...
Legendary wrestling announcer, TV pitchman dies after battle with cancer
Maybe you knew Don West for his work as a wrestling announcer or maybe you knew him as the guy who spent a good chunk of the 90s and early 2000s selling “Gem Mint 10″ baseball cards on the Shop at Home Network. He was great and memorable in both...
Venezuelan opposition strips Guaidó of ‘presidential’ role
CARACAS, Venezuela — For three years, Juan Guaidó led the Venezuelan opposition’s efforts to bring about new elections and remove socialist President Nicolás Maduro. But on Friday, dozens of politicians who once backed Guaidó voted in favor of removing the 39-year-old engineer and replacing his U.S.-supported “interim government” with a...
North Korea fires 3 missiles amid tensions over drone flights
SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea fired three short-range ballistic missiles toward its eastern waters on Saturday, the latest in a barrage of weapons tests this year that came days after it increased tensions by allegedly flying drones into South Korean airspace. South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said in...
Queen guitarist, women’s soccer team top U.K. honors list
LONDON — Those at the forefront of the U.K.’s response to Russia’s war in Ukraine joined Queen guitarist Brian May and a fashion designer dubbed “the mother of the miniskirt” on the country’s New Year’s Honors list on Friday. Artists, community leaders and members of England’s award-winning women’s soccer team...
Bucs’ Gabbert, brothers rescue people in Tampa chopper crash
TAMPA, Fla. — Buccaneers backup quarterback Blaine Gabbert became an unexpected hero Thursday when a helicopter crashed into Hillsborough Bay in Tampa. He and his two brothers were cruising nearby on jet skis, checking out from afar some of the sail boats at a yacht club, when they heard a...
Brazil mourns Pelé, who made every part of the country proud
Bocaina de Minas, BRAZIL — Down a dirt road in the mountains of Minas Gerais, Pelé’s home state, Jorge Tavares received the news of the star’s death from a 4 a.m. newscast. As a boy, Tavares and his cousins listened to Pelé’s World Cup games on the radio. His dazzling...
