World

JERUSALEM — The Israel Antiquities Authority, the Israel National Parks Authority and the City of David Foundation announced days before the new year that the Pool of Siloam, a biblical site cherished by Christians and Jews, will be open to the public for the first time in 2,000 years in the near future. …

Members of the public waited for hours to pay their respects to Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI as his body lies in state in St. Peter’s Basilica. As daylight broke, 10 white-gloved Papal Gentlemen — lay assistants to pontiffs and papal households — carried the body on a cloth-covered wooden stretcher …

Gunmen in armored vehicles attacked a state prison just across the border from El Paso early Sunday, killing 10 guards and four inmates, prosecutors said.  Various armed vehicles arrived at the state prison in Ciudad Juarez at about 7 a.m. and opened fire at guards, the Chihuahua state prosecutor’s office …

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg urged members of NATO to stock up on weapons to supply Ukraine as attacks from Russia continue, according to reports. Reuters reported that the NATO chief called for allies to stock up just days after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy asked for weapons and defense systems to …

For the third time, Brazil’s Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva was sworn in as president, taking office amid heightened political tensions after a close race with the far-right incumbent Jair Bolsonaro.  In a speech in Congress’ Lower House, Lula promised to bring his country “hope and reconstruction.”  Brazilian President-elect Luiz …

A bomb exploded near a checkpoint at Kabul’s military airport Sunday morning killing and wounding “several” people, a Taliban official said, the first deadly blast of 2023 in Afghanistan. No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, but the regional affiliate of the Islamic State group — known as the …

The global population will expand more than 7.9 billion people by New Year’s Day – 7,942,645,086 to be exact, the U.S. Census Bureau said in a release this week.  The number is a more than 79 million-person increase from January 2022 worldwide. In January, 4.3 births and two deaths are …

North Korea fired three ballistic missiles into the Sea of Japan on Saturday morning —  a further escalation after previously flying drones into South Korean territory.  South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff reported Saturday morning that they had detected the launch of three missiles from North Korean territory south of …

Police in Scotland have sparked outrage for describing pedophiles as “minor-attracted people” in a report. Officials said the language in the year-end report was based on terminology used by th European Union. In a year-end report, Chief Constable Iain Livingstone said police have worked on a project that’s main agenda …

Pope Francis will celebrate a funeral service for the late Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI next week after the retired pope passed away Saturday. The Vatican announced Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI passed away Saturday at 9:34 a.m. He was 95 years old.   Benedict’s body is currently being held in Mater Ecclesiae Monastery in …