COLLEGE FOOTBALL HIGHLIGHTS: IOWA Wins Music City Bowl; Alabama Cruises in Sugar Bowl

 But earlier on Saturday, there were two highly anticipated bowl matches. One of them was the Sugar Bowl, where the Big 12 champion Kansas State Wildcats, who shocked CFP participant TCU in the conference title game, were defeated by the Alabama Crimson Tide 45-20.

The Kentucky Wildcats were defeated 21-0 by the Iowa Hawkeyes in the Music City Bowl.

Here are some of Saturday's early bowl games' highlights.

Sugar Bowl: No. 9 Kansas State 20 vs. No. 5 Alabama 45

FG K-State

On their first possession of the game, Kansas State moved the ball into Alabama territory; however, defensive back Jordan Battle later intercepted quarterback Will Howard. After saying that, Alabama went three-and-out. Kansas State then made a field goal after returning to the field.

Kansas State took over at its own 12-yard line after forcing another punt from Alabama. Running back Deuce Vaughn scored an 88-yard touchdown, giving the Wildcats a 10-0 lead, on the first play of the possession.

Bama retaliates

The next play, on third-and-10, Alabama quarterback Bryce Young connected with running back Jahmyr Gibbs, who sprinted for a 60-yard gain. Young connected with wide receiver Isaiah Bond three plays later for a 6-yard score, bringing the Crimson Tide within three.

change in lead

K-State went three-and-out following the touchdown by Alabama, which allowed the former to re-enter the end zone.

Young connected with wide receiver Jermaine Burton for a 47-yard gain on the fourth play of the drive, putting the ball close to the goal line. Alabama led 14-10 after two plays when Young connected with tight end Cameron Latu for a touchdown.

Bama on the rise

On an 18-play Kansas State drive that ended in a goal-line stop, Alabama travelled 98 yards for its third score. Three big plays—a 22-yard run by Gibbs, a 28-yard pass to Burton, and a 22-yard pass to Latu—laid the groundwork for Young and Burton to connect for a 12-yard score.

DIME

Out of the halftime break, Kansas State attempted an onside kick in the style of New Orleans football, but Alabama recovered it. Three plays later, they made the Wildcats pay dearly when Young found wide receiver Ja'Corey Brooks for a 32-yard touchdown throw.

Taking charge

On its subsequent possession, Kansas State turned the ball over to Alabama after defensive back Brian Branch intercepted Howard. With only 13 minutes left in the third quarter, rushing back Jase McClellan scored on the very next play from 17 yards out, giving the Crimson Tide a 35-10 lead.

explosive attack

Young connected with wide receiver Kobe Prentice for a touchdown that was 47 yards in length in the final seconds of the third quarter after he avoided several tackles. With this result, Alabama now leads 42-13.

exits Bryce Young

Young made a memorable exit if the Sugar Bowl was his final contest at the NCAA level. Young received a send-off in the fourth quarter after completing five touchdown passes to five different players. At quarterback, Jalen Milroe entered the contest.

K-State scores late

In the waning minutes, running back Jordan Schippers scored across the goal line to give the Wildcats the lead. That said, Alabama triumphed 45–20.

TD Iowa

A few minutes into the second quarter, Iowa got on the board for the first time after a scoreless first quarter.

Following a punt, Iowa quarterback Joe Labas found tight end Sam Laporta at the Kentucky 42-yard line. Laporta outmuscled the Wildcats defenders for a 27-yard connection. The following play, tight end Luke Lachey and Labas made a 15-yard touchdown pass.

Pick-Six!

Defensive back Xavier Nwankpa intercepted Kentucky quarterback Destin Wade on the first play from scrimmage following the touchdown by Iowa, and he returned the interception 52 yards for a touchdown. Iowa now leads by 14-0.

A NEW PICK SIX!

Wade's second pick-six was thrown just before halftime. Defense back Cooper DeJean intercepted the Kentucky quarterback, who was backed up at his own 7-yard line, and carried it into the end zone. At the half, Iowa was up 21-0.

In the second half, Iowa's defence maintained its superiority, keeping Kentucky scoreless.

Pope Benedict XVI passes away at 95.

 Pope Benedict XVI, the only pope to resign since the fifteenth century, passed away on Saturday at the age of 95 in Vatican City.

According to the Vatican press office, Benedict had been experiencing deteriorating health due to his elderly age for a number of days before Pope Francis made public the news of his deteriorating condition earlier this week.

According to the Vatican, Pope Francis will preside over Benedict's burial on Thursday at St. Peter's Square.

Joseph Ratzinger, who was born in Bavaria, Germany, on April 16, 1927, was trained as a theologian. Ratzinger was chosen as Pope John Paul II's successor in 2005 after working as the Vatican's top orthodoxy enforcer for twenty-five years. Since the eleventh century, he was the first German pope.

Benedict is known for his nearly eight years as pope as one of the most traditional popes in recent memory and as a church leader who, by opting to retire, changed the trajectory of the papacy.

"After constantly examining my conscience before God, I have reached to the assurance that my strengths, due to an advanced age, are no longer suitable to an appropriate practise of the Petrine ministry," Benedict XVI shockingly declared on February 11, 2013.

After a fall in 2012 while on a visit to Mexico, according to Gerard O'Connell, Vatican correspondent for the Jesuit magazine America, Benedict realised he could no longer carry out his papal duties.

O'Connell referred to the interview book Last Testament: In His Own Words and remarked, "Here is a man who in prayer discovered his own boundaries and said, "I can go so far, I do not have the physical strength to go further, and thus I resign." He felt at ease knowing that he had chosen wisely.

But many detractors thought he had made a number of poor choices while pope.

attacks on the papacy

The numerous crises of Benedict's pontificate masked his attempts to restore Christianity in secularised Europe, which he claimed was under threat from a "dictatorship of relativism."

O'Connell referred to the interview book Last Testament: In His Own Words and remarked, "Here is a man who in prayer discovered his own boundaries and said, "I can go so far, I do not have the physical strength to go further, and thus I resign." He felt at ease knowing that he had chosen wisely.

But many detractors thought he had made a number of poor choices while pope.

attacks on the papacy

The numerous crises of Benedict's pontificate masked his attempts to restore Christianity in secularised Europe, which he claimed was under threat from a "dictatorship of relativism."

Since Benedict believed that Islam and Catholicism could not coexist on an equal footing, this belief contributed to one of the darkest crises of his pontificate. Benedict cited a comment made by a 14th-century emperor mocking Islam in a lecture he gave at the University of Regensburg in September 2006: "Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached."

The statement infuriated Muslims all around the world. A few months later, after Benedict visited Istanbul's Blue Mosque and prayed quietly next to a Muslim cleric, tensions started to relax.

enlisted in Hitler's armed forces

The youngest of three children, Ratzinger was born in the Bavarian hamlet of Marktl am Inn in the interwar era.

When Adolf Hitler came to power in 1933, he was 6 years old. According to historian Michael Frassetto, his parents, a police officer and a hotel chef, were devout Catholics who resisted the Nazi dictatorship.

Ratzinger enrolled in a seminary at the age of twelve. He was forced to join the Hitler Youth during the height of World War II while he was a teenager. He was enlisted in the military in 1943 and spent a short time in an anti-aircraft battalion.

He very rarely discussed his experiences with the Third Reich or the Catholic Church in public throughout his lifetime.

Catholic orthodoxy

Ratzinger started his work as a theology professor after being consecrated as a priest in 1951. He was chosen to serve as the Second Vatican Council's theological advisor in 1962, whose reforms brought the Catholic Church into the 20th century.

Ratzinger, however, felt that the spirit of Vatican II had been compromised by the decade's end.

He was named Munich's archbishop by Pope Paul VI in 1977.

He was appointed to lead the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, formerly known as the Roman Inquisition, by Pope John Paul II four years later. He spent 24 years in that position. One of his most contentious writings at the time was "Dominus Jesus," which emphasised the Catholic Church's supremacy and labelled non-Christian religions as "gravely deficient"; this could have undermined the progress made during Vatican II toward dialogue between Catholicism and other denominations and religions.

Ratzinger gained notoriety as the Vatican's watchdog over doctrine when he punished dissenting theologians and defended the church's opposition to same-sex marriage, married priests, and female priests. He described homosexuality as a "objective disease and an intrinsic moral evil" in a document from 1986.

As pope, Benedict maintained his opposition to stem cell research, abortion, contraception, and divorce.

But Benedict occasionally gave ground. His return to the traditional Latin Mass in 2008, complete with its Good Friday prayer urging Jews to convert, attracted vehement protest from Jewish groups, prompting the Vatican to modify the prayer's language.

A few months later, after Benedict released the excommunication of a rebel bishop named Richard Williamson who had openly questioned the Holocaust, ties between Jews and Catholics were once more in jeopardy. Following widespread outcry, Benedict acknowledged it was a "unforeseen mishap" in a letter to his bishops. Despite the bishop's comments being widely shared online, he claimed he had no prior information that Williamson denied the Holocaust. The pope continued by saying he had learned to pay closer attention while searching online for information.

However, Benedict once more incited a great deal of ire when he declared he was placing the pope from World War II on the path to sainthood for what Benedict called his "heroic virtues." Many people believe that Pope Pius XII should have condemned the Holocaust more vehemently. Sainthood is still being considered.

Effects of resignation

Massimo Faggioli, a church historian, claimed that he thinks Benedict's papacy was ultimately unsuccessful because it had a solely intellectual and theological view on the world. "Because the role of pope is that of pastor-in-chief rather than head theologian. The enchantment of the papal position is that, "said Faggioli.

However, the historian claimed that Benedict's papacy's greatest impact was how he ended it. Faggioli stated that Benedict XVI's resignation "was a very radical interpretation of Vatican II." "That was revolutionary—going beyond the letter of Vatican II."

According to O'Connell of America magazine, Benedict mentioned his successor in his final words to the cardinals before departing the Vatican. The correspondent stated that the man "promised he would give devotion and obedience to his successor, and he respected that vow in a whole, absolute way."

In the months following Pope Francis' election at March 2013, Benedict quietly resided in a home on Vatican property.

The pope emeritus infrequently appeared in public or made comments on his successor despite demands from many church conservatives to do so.

However, Benedict refuted allegations made by certain Vatican watchers that he was working covertly to undermine the Francis papacy in an approved biography that was published in May in Germany. According to a comment from him, he was the victim of a "malignant distortion of reality."

A German Catholic Church investigation from 2022 criticised Benedict for how he handled four allegations of sexual abuse in Munich four decades earlier. When he served as the archbishop of Munich, the pope emeritus acknowledged that there had been abuses and mistakes. However, he refuted the wrongdoing accusations.

Many Vatican watchers assert that the response would damage his reputation as a person, a theologian, and the leader of the Catholic Church, especially given that he showed no compassion for the victims.

global leaders recall Benedict

As they remembered Benedict's efforts to advance peace, world leaders voiced their sorrow over his passing.

Benedict's resignation, according to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, was a "powerful signal," and President Biden, the second Catholic president of the United States, expressed sympathy for Benedict's passing on behalf of Catholics everywhere. In a statement on Saturday, Biden urged people to keep in mind Benedict's appeal for international unity.

He prayed that his emphasis on the ministry of kindness would serve as an example for everyone.

In a New Year's Eve vigil, Pope Francis expressed gratitude for Benedict's "testimony of faith and prayer, especially in these closing years of retired life." He said, "Of his sacrifices offered for the good of the church, only God knew."

Despite a history of conflict between the Catholic Church and the Russian Orthodox Church, Vladimir Putin, a supporter of orthodoxy, referred to Benedict as a "defender of fundamental Christian ideals."

Some Important Lessons From Trump's Tax Returns

Donald J. Trump, a former president who fought for years to keep his tax returns secret, gave nothing to charity in 2020, and his own tax code may have cost him. Here is an ongoing list of observations.

Following through on their promise to release six years' worth of former President Donald J. Trump's tax returns, Democrats on the House Ways and Means Committee did so, providing the American public with new information about his business dealings and evoking threats of retaliation from congressional Republicans.

Thousands of pages of tax records, including individual returns for Mr. Trump and his wife, Melania, as well as company returns for several of the hundreds of businesses that make up the real estate mogul's vast commercial empire, were made public on Friday morning.

Top-line information from the returns, which was made public by the committee this month, revealed that Mr. Trump paid $1.1 million in federal income taxes over the course of his first three years in office, with just $750 of that amount coming from his first year in office, 2017. As his income decreased and his business losses grew in 2020, he paid no taxes.

The docs provide fresh information that wasn't made public in those earlier disclosures. Reporters with the New York Times are searching the text for important insights. This is an ongoing list.

Trump didn't give to any causes in 2020.

When running for president in 2015, Mr. Trump pledged that he would not accept "even one dollar" of the position's $400,000 salary. If I'm elected president, I'm entirely giving up my income, he declared.

Mr. Trump said that during his first three years in office, he gave away a fifth of his income. However, the records reveal that Mr. Trump reported no charity contributions for 2020, his final full year in office.

The pandemic recession quickly hit in 2020, and Mr. Trump claimed significant corporate losses but no federal tax burden.

Earlier years, beginning with the National Park Service in 2017, White House officials made a point of highlighting which government departments were getting the funding. According to Mr. Trump's tax returns, which were made public on Friday, he declared charitable contributions of almost $1.9 million in 2017 and just over $500,000 in both 2018 and 2019.

Trump didn't want a complete refund during a difficult business year.

Nearly $16 million in company losses that Mr. Trump recorded in 2020 swamped his other earnings and prevented him from owing any federal income taxes. But according to the tax records, he paid the federal government close to $14 million in taxes during the course of the year.

He may have received a sizable income tax return from the government as a result of those payments, similar to the ones that many individuals discover when they go to submit their taxes each March. In Mr. Trump's situation, he declined to accept the complete refund that was offered to him. He requested a refund of slightly under $5.5 million, after which he told the IRS to add an additional $8 million to his anticipated taxes for 2021.

He may have paid a price for his own tax law.

The tax bill that Mr. Trump signed in late 2017 and that became effective the following year had several features that probably afforded him a financial advantage, such as the lowering of the alternative minimum tax for high incomes.

But one component in particular significantly decreased the amount of state and local tax deductions Mr. Trump could claim in 2018 and beyond: the restrictions Republicans set on these deductions.

In high-tax cities and states like New York, the so-called SALT deduction disproportionately hurt wealthier earners, including Mr. Trump. He claimed to have paid $8.4 million in state and local taxes in 2019. Only $10,000 of those taxes were eligible for a tax deduction on his federal income tax return because of the SALT limitations incorporated into his tax law.

Other provisions of the law that were helpful to richer taxpayers like Mr. Trump could have reduced such losses, at least in part.

The returns feature Fred Trump as a silent actor.

The long-deceased father of Mr. Trump, Fred Trump, still has an impact on his son's financial situation.

The former president reported taxable income of more than $24 million and paid $1 million in federal taxes in 2018, virtually the whole amount he paid as president, after a decade in which he claimed no taxable income.

The sale of an investment Mr. Trump's father made in the 1970s—a Brooklyn housing development called Starrett City—which became a part of his inheritance—appeared to have generated more than $14 million in gains, according to previous reporting by The Times—which appeared to be the source of Mr. Trump's income.

The new records, however, demonstrate that the impact of his inheritance in 2018 was significantly greater: Mr. Trump reported $25.7 million in gains from the sales of commercial properties that he and his siblings either inherited directly or obtained through trusts, including the sale of Starrett City.

The tax itemization reveals that the sales of Mr. Trump's self-owned commercial assets were unsuccessful, which reduced his net proceeds and somewhat decreased his tax liability.

That included a total of $1 million in real estate sold by DJT Holdings LLC and 40 Wall Street, his Lower Manhattan office building, at a loss. He lost another $1 million by saving his son Donald Trump Jr. from a failing prefabricated home company.

According to his tax records, Mr. Trump also got tens of thousands of dollars in dividends from trusts that were created for him when he was a young adult when he was in the White House.

In 2020, a new tax business entered the picture.

For many years, Mr. Trump's taxes and the taxes of his enterprises were prepared by the accounting firm Mazars USA. The former president's taxes had long named Donald Bender, a veteran Mazars employee, as his accountant.

This year, the company officially severed connections with Mr. Trump and his companies, stating that it could no longer stand behind a decade's worth of annual financial statements it had produced for the Trump Organization.

But it turns out that as as early as 2020, Mazars and Mr. Trump had started to distance themselves from one another. According to Mr. Trump's tax returns from that year, his taxes were prepared by the Texas-based accounting company BKM Sowan Horan.

Retaliation is being threatened by Republicans.

The documents' release on Friday sparked a fresh round of attacks on Capitol Hill between Democrats and Republicans, including threats of increasing and politically motivated future leaks of personal tax data.

Democrats justified the action as necessary monitoring of a president who defied decades of tradition by withholding his tax returns.

The recent conviction of Trump's family firm for felony tax fraud, according to Representative Don Beyer, a Democrat from Virginia and member of the Ways and Means Committee, "Trump acted as though he had something to conceal," Beyer stated in a news release. "As the public will now be able to see, Trump used shady or ill-supported deductions and a variety of other tax avoidance techniques as justification to pay little to no federal income tax in some of the years under consideration."

But Republicans, who took control of the House in November, cautioned Democrats that they had taken a risky step and that public pressure might persuade the new majority to reveal returns from President Biden's family or a variety of other private individuals.

According to Representative Kevin Brady of Texas, the top Republican on the Ways and Means Committee, "going forward, all future chairs of both the House Ways and Means Committee and the Senate Finance Committee will have nearly unlimited power to target and make public the tax returns of private citizens, political rivals, business and labour leaders, or even the Supreme Court justices themselves."

Late Friday morning, Mr. Trump added his voice with a statement through email.

Late Friday morning, Mr. Trump added his voice with an email statement that also hinted at possible reprisal.

He stated, "It's going to result in horrific things for so many people. The Democrats should have never done it, the Supreme Court should have never allowed it." "The huge American split is about to get much worse. Everything has been weaponized by the Radical Left Democrats, but keep in mind that this is a hazardous two-way street!

Murders in Idaho: A 28-year-old guy was detained in Pennsylvania

 According to a court complaint, Bryan Kohberger, 28, was detained early on Friday in Pennsylvania's Pocono Mountains in connection with the killings of four University of Idaho students.

According to law enforcement sources who spoke to ABC News, authorities had located Kohberger in Pennsylvania and knew who they were looking for. He was taken into jail after a SWAT squad broke into the residence where he was residing.

According to the complaint, he was apprehended on a first-degree murder warrant issued by Idaho authorities. Kohberger made an early Friday morning court appearance.

The arrest, according to Tyler Palmer, the deputy city supervisor for Moscow, was a "tremendous sigh of relief for a community holding its breath for more than six weeks."

A news conference will be held Friday at 1 p.m. local time with participation from Moscow police officers, Idaho State Police officers, Moscow city officials, and University of Idaho representatives.

More than six weeks have passed since Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle, and Kernodle's boyfriend, Ethan Chapin, were fatally murdered in the early hours of November 13 in the girls' off-campus home.

Officials claim that two additional companions who were not suspected by police survived and probably slept through the killings. The four deaths were on the second and third levels, while the survivors were on the bottom floor.

They don't know Kohberger, and the Goncalves family told ABC News on Friday that they are "glad, pleased, and thankful" that there has been an arrest.

The public has been urged to come forward with information by police.

Kaylee Goncalves' mother, Kristi Goncalves, told ABC News earlier this month, "We just want this person found so bad."

"How are you doing? So who are you? "She spoke.

Police and city representatives haven't held a press conference in weeks; instead, they've been using social media to share brief updates. While University of Idaho students are on winter vacation, this new announcement is being made.

Moscow police announced on Thursday that they will be sending a cleaning crew to the crime scene on Friday. Property managers claim that the anticipated cleaning has now been postponed as a result of the arrest.

During Manchester City's victory over Leeds United, Erling Haaland scored another goal.

 As Manchester City defeated Leeds United 3-1 at Elland Road on Wednesday to climb into second place in the Premier League, Erling Haaland continued his attack on the record books.

Rodri's late first-half goal and Haaland's second-half double—his 19th and 20th goals, making him the first player in league history to reach that milestone before January—helped Pep Guardiola's team to 35 points after 15 games this season, five points behind league-leading Arsenal.

Ogden: Grealish scores as Man City warn Arsenal - Stream on ESPN+: LaLiga, Bundesliga, more (U.S.)

Illan Meslier, the Leeds goalkeeper, tripped up Haaland on the doorstep at the 30 minute mark, and Jack Grealish missed many chances until Rodri redirected a late rebound to give the visitors the lead at halftime despite the fact that Man City were by much the superior team in the first half.

After Grealish stole the ball from midfield, ran into the penalty area, and squared it to his teammate to roll into an empty net, Haaland, who was born in Leeds while his father was a player for the club, increased City's lead early in the second half.

The City duo teamed up once more to score City's third goal. Haaland finished off a superb one-two in front of the Leeds goal with a flawless first-time effort for his 26th goal across all competitions this season.

After the game, Haaland said, "I have a [goal] target but I cannot say it. "I just remarked in the locker room that I had five scoring opportunities, but the most crucial thing is that we prevailed.

"We must pursue Arsenal. I could have scored a few more goals, but that's life, and I need to work harder at the gym.

The hosts, who concluded the day in 15th place with 15 points, managed to get one back through Pascal Struijk in the 73rd minute, but it was too late.

After the game, Marsch observed, "The thing we know about our team is that we never stop." "So, the goals' timing was painful, correct? We might be able to make a few tweaks and find a way to advance the game if we could just make it to the half.

I believed we did a really decent job despite the fact that Man City is, in many aspects, in my opinion, the best team in the world with one of the top managers in the world.

Man City's next encounter is against Everton at home on New Year's Eve, while Leeds travels to St. James' Park to play third-place Newcastle United.

Haaland wasted no time in having a first chance at goal, seeing his effort to loft the ball into the net superbly saved after just 36 seconds in West Yorkshire. City had lost their last league encounter before the World Cup break to Brentford, but they dominated from the start there.

Leeds, who gave up 11 goals to City last season, continued to be in a tough spot when Haaland was given another wonderful opportunity to break the tie, but he once more failed to beat Meslier.

Rodri was there to score the game's first goal with City's 16th shot of the first period alone after numerous opportunities came and went for them.

Alfie Haaland needed 181 Premier League appearances and 18 goals to tie him, but his son only needed 14 and scored six minutes into the second half to double City's advantage.

When Haaland converted another Grealish ball to make it three, he broke the previous record for the most games required to achieve the 20-goal threshold. He did so by seven games faster than the next-fastest player, Kevin Phillips.

Derek Carr is "the reason I'm a Raider," says Davante Adams.

 Davante Adams, a wide receiver with the Las Vegas Raiders, defended quarterback Derek Carr on social media on Thursday, a day after head coach Josh McDaniels announced that Carr wouldn't start the team's final two regular-season contests.

Adams claimed on Instagram that the main reason he wanted the Green Bay Packers to send him to Las Vegas was because of Carr, a former teammate from Fresno State.

"All of this man's resources were given. Why I joined the Raiders "Adams penned. "One of the most kind and disciplined people I know. I managed to get my bruddas back in some way."

The middle finger emoji was an addition made by Adams in response to someone who "can't respect it."

Adams, a two-time All-Pro and six-time Pro Bowler, spent the first eight years of his career with Green Bay before being traded to Las Vegas on March 17. He signed a five-year, $140 million agreement with Las Vegas almost away after being traded to the Raiders for first- and second-round picks in 2022, keeping him with the team through the 2026 campaign.

Adams, 30, has 88 receptions for 1,290 yards and 12 touchdowns this season in 15 games (all starts).

In addition to outlining the Raiders' plans for the remaining two games, which include benching Carr on game day, McDaniels stated on Wednesday that the team is anxious to assess Jarett Stidham. The No. 2 quarterback will be Chase Garbers.

Additionally, Carr has left the team with permission in order to avoid being a distraction, according to numerous publications later on Wednesday. According to NFL Network, Carr won't practise and his absence will be noted as "not injury related."

The long-term contract that Carr, 31, signed prior to the season included $40.5 million in injury guarantees. "Three days after the Super Bowl," as stated in his contract, is when the guarantee expires on February 15.

Carr leads the NFL with 14 interceptions, nine of which came in his previous five contests. In Saturday's 13-10 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers, Las Vegas was intercepted three times.

Carr extended his contract in April for a three-year, $121.5 million deal, keeping him under contract until 2025. However, by dealing or dismissing Carr before the cutoff point at which his roster status secures the subsequent two years of his contract, the Raiders would save $29.25 million. There is a no-trade provision in Carr's contract.

According to the Vatican, retiring Pope Benedict XVI's health is deteriorating.

 

THE VATICAN — The Vatican said on Wednesday that Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI's health has gotten worse as a result of his advanced age and that his condition is being closely watched by medical professionals.

Pope Francis, who earlier on Wednesday requested prayers for Benedict from the faithful, visited the monastery where the retired pontiff has resided since his retirement in February 2013, according to Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni.

"I can affirm that in the previous hours, a worsening owing to advanced age has occurred with regard to the health problems of the emeritus pope, for whom Pope Francis asked for prayers at the conclusion of his general audience this morning," Bruni said in a written statement.

The statement reads, "The situation at this time is under control, continually watched by doctors."

Francis deviated from his scheduled statements at the conclusion of his routine Wednesday encounter with the general public in a Vatican auditorium to announce that Benedict is "extremely unwell" and urged the faithful to pray for the retiring pontiff.

Regarding Benedict's health, Francis made no more comments.

Near the close of an hour-long audience, Francis made the following request: "I'd like to ask all of you for a special prayer for Emeritus Pope Benedict, who, in quiet, is maintaining the church." Francis said, "I remind you that he is really unwell.

"Let's pray to the Lord to give him comfort and endurance till the very end of his witness of love to the church, stated Francis.

after the audience of an hour, "To see Benedict XVI, Pope Francis travelled to the Mater Ecclesiae convent. Bruni urged everyone to join him in prayer for the retired pope.

In recent years, Benedict, the first pope to step down in 600 years, has grown more feeble as he devoted his post-papal life to prayer and meditation.

The retired pontiff was in high spirits when he turned 95 in April, according to his lifelong secretary, Archbishop Georg Gaenswein, who also noted that he was "naturally he is physically relatively frail and feeble, but rather coherent."

Four months ago, Francis visited Benedict at the monastery. The occasion was Francis' most recent ceremony conferring cardinal rank on church members, and the newly appointed "princes of the church" joined him for the quick welcome.

When the picture was taken, the Vatican made it public. It showed a very thin-looking Benedict holding Francis' hand and grinning at him.

In his early years of retirement, Benedict attended a few ceremonies in St. Peter's Basilica to elevate cardinals. However, he had lost his ability to attend the lengthy service in recent years.

Actor and comedian John Bird passes away at age 86.

John Bird, an actor and comedian, passed away at the age of 86, according to his agents.

Bird, who was well known for his numerous appearances opposite John Fortune, was a part of the 1960s TV satire boom.

In the Channel 4 TV series Bremner, Bird, and Fortune, the two had an unforgettable appearance alongside Rory Bremner.

Co-star Bremner took the lead in paying respect to Bird, telling the BBC that his late co-star "had the sharpest of wits" and "had this wonderful instinct for absurdity."

Bremner said of the actor on Radio 4's The World at One, "He was so modest for someone who so often played these characters who were so complacent and self-aggrandizing."

He possessed the most brilliant mind and was the most modest person; he was magnificent. He was at the fore of the satirical explosion.

Bremner, Bird, and Fortune was nominated for multiple Bafta TV Awards and aired for 16 seasons, including one-off specials, between 1999 and 2008.

One of the two Johns—either Bird or Fortune—would play a senior figure from public life, being questioned by the other John, in one of Bird and Fortune's most well-known recurring routines, dubbed The Long Johns.

In the scene, the interviewer would become more and more irate as they mocked the fake businessman, government consultant, or clueless politician who always went by the name of George Parr.

Fortune admitted that it had been "extremely difficult to keep a straight face" throughout his and Bird's numerous, largely impromptu two-handers during an appearance on Desert Island Discs in 2004.

Bremner described seeing Bird and fellow actor John Fortune collaborate as the "highlight" of his life and that he would "marvel at the genius of it all" in a statement that was previously released.

It was "striking," he added. Bird passed away on Christmas Eve, "nine years, nearly to the day" after Fortune, who passed away at the age of 74 on New Year's Eve in 2013.

Bremner added, "Lord knows, satire has missed them this last decade and that loss is now irreparable.

Bird "passed away quietly" at the Pendean care facility, according to a statement announcing his death. A celebration of his life is anticipated to occur after a family funeral in the upcoming year.

Nottingham-born Bird attended a grammar school before enrolling in Cambridge University. He first met Fortune, his comic partner with whom he would go on to act in the popular BBC satire series That Was the Week that Was, at Cambridge.

The BBC ordered The Late Show, where Bird and Barry Humphries featured, after the programme was cancelled just before the 1964 general election in an effort to duplicate the success of the earlier political comedy programme.

The Late Show, however, barely lasted a year before being cancelled after 24 episodes.

If It Moves File It, Dangerous Brothers, A Very Peculiar Practice, My Father Knew Lloyd George, and The Secret Policeman's Other Ball were some of Bird's other TV appearances.

A number of notable TV shows, including as Jonathan Creek, One Foot in the Grave, Inspector Morse, Midsomer Murders, and Yes, Prime Minister, featured him in episodes.

In a "full-blown crisis," Southwest cancels 5,400 flights in less than 48 hours.

 Southwest Airlines has had the most trouble navigating the Christmas holiday rush as a result of the record winter storm that has complicated holiday travel and brought dangerous weather to a significant portion of the United States.

According to flight tracker FlightAware, Southwest cancelled more than 2,900 flights on Monday—at least 70% of its daily program—and more than 2,500 flights on Tuesday—at least 60% of its schedule. The delays worsen the confusion that has left travellers trapped at airports around the nation, many of whom have no idea how long it will be before they can return home or find their luggage.

Southwest had more than ten times as many cancelled flights on Monday as Delta, which had 265 cancelled flights, the second-most cancellations of any U.S. carrier. In the previous week, large-scale cancellations were also requested by other airlines.

Southwest's Chris Perry, a spokeswoman for the company, told NPR that the residual impacts of the winter storm are to blame for the airline's delays, and that the company wants to "stabilise and improve its business" with better weather.

Other challenges with "connecting flight crews to their schedules," Perry added, have made it more difficult for the airline to handle the holiday surge. Employees have found it challenging to use crew scheduling systems and request reassignments as a result of this problem.

Coordinating staffing and scheduling, especially following weather delays, is a very difficult undertaking for an airline with a network as extensive as Southwest's, according to Kyle Potter, executive editor of Thrifty Traveler.

However, with many places experiencing clear skies on Monday, it would seem that the airline had few plainly understandable reasons to cancel so many flights. It is "full-blown meltdown," according to Potter.

As terrible as it gets for an airline, according to Potter. "Over the past year or so, we've seen this time and time again, when airlines really just struggle, especially after a storm, but the skies are generally clear across the nation."

As it continues to recover its operations, the airline stated in a statement on Monday that it will fly around one-third of its scheduled flights over the next days.

The cancellations, delays, and customer service response were deemed "unacceptable" by the U.S. Department of Transportation.

According to a statement from USDOT, "The Department will review whether cancellations were controllable and if Southwest is complying with its customer service plan."

Vacationers have their plans derailed

Before the Christmas holiday, everything started to fall apart for Southwest. Potter asserted that such widespread cancellations on Monday "is a clear, unambiguous indicator something has gone dreadfully wrong."

Passengers are documenting the crowded baggage claim areas and long waits at reservation counters in pictures and videos from Houston, Texas, and Tampa, Florida, to Cleveland, Ohio, and Denver, Colorado. According to Colorado Public Radio, hold times on the customer service phone line at Southwest frequently exceeded two hours and occasionally even reached four hours.

Joshua Caudle, a Southwest passenger who said he wasn't sure when they would be able to leave Denver, said on Denver7 News, "I'm okay with these travel situations and fly on by myself when it's just me, but when my one-year-old has to suffer through it because of ineptitude and mismanagement, that becomes personal." "I'm never doing this with that firm again," she declared.

After numerous delays and cancellations to flights leaving the Kansas City International Airport, a Southwest passenger who claims she was trying to travel from Missouri to Denver claimed she missed celebrating Christmas with her family. She tweeted that even though she was grounded, her stuff was nonetheless delivered to Denver.

Renewing demand has hurt airlines.

After suffering losses of tens of billions of dollars during the worst months of the pandemic, airlines have been battling to recover. Airlines have struggled with staffing issues as they attempt to handle the resurgence of air travel among Americans. And Southwest is not the only airline that has struggled to keep up with demand.

This summer, thousands of Delta pilots protested at busy airports, demanding more compensation and raising issues regarding staffing as passengers experienced flight cancellations amid the Fourth of July holiday rush. After contract negotiations were put on hold last month, Delta pilots decided to authorise a strike.

As traffic plummeted off a cliff at the beginning of the epidemic, "every airline in the country, Southwest included, got incredibly small, and they have struggled as travel has rebounded to build back up to 100% and they're still not there," Potter said.