Winter hammers United States
OKLAHOMA CITY, Dec. 25 (UPI) -- Fierce wintry Christmas weather hammered the Eastern half of the United States and dumped 14.1 inches of snow on Oklahoma City, forecasters reported Friday.
The record-shattering snowfall closed Oklahoma City's Will Rogers World Airport and the governor declared a state of emergency, ordering state roads, interstates and turnpikes closed, CNN reported.
Blizzard warnings were issued for central and southwestern Oklahoma, including Oklahoma City, and parts of northwestern Texas.
Paralyzing blizzard conditions also developed in Kansas and Missouri with howling winds and heavy snow.
The Dakotas, western Minnesota, northwestern Iowa and northern Nebraska were due for a new surge of bad weather Friday.
Blizzard warnings were also issued for Nebraska, extreme western Iowa, western Missouri, North Dakota, much of north-central and northeastern South Dakota and the Duluth area in Minnesota.
Meanwhile, winds gusting as high as 60 mph were predicted, which could cause severe blowing and drifting snow, down trees and power lines and make some roads impassable in near-zero visibility.
The roaring winds combined with frigid air over the northern Plains were expected to create dangerously low temperatures, accuweather.com warned.
The harsh winds over the Plains will begin to calm Friday night, but the snow will continue on the northern Plains and the Great Lakes before starting to taper off late, forecasters said.
Pope delivers message of hope after attack
VATICAN CITY, Dec. 25 (UPI) -- Pope Benedict XVI looked unscathed Friday as he delivered his Christmas message in St. Peter's Square, hours after an attack during Christmas Eve mass.
The 82-year-old pontiff delivered the traditional address known as "Urbi et Orbi" -- Latin for "To the City and the World," sending a message of hope to the world's afflicted.
The pope was not injured when an assailant, identified as Susanna Maiolo, lunged at him during the Thursday night mass and pulled him down, Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi said. However, Cardinal Roger Etchegaray, who was nearby, fell and broke a leg. Maiolo, 25, is the same woman who tried to attack Benedict on Christmas Eve last year, Lombardi said.
She was detained by Vatican police and taken to a mental institution, he said.
The pope was quickly helped to his feet by his aides -- prompting cheers from the crowd -- and the service resumed, Lombardi said.
In his address, the pope recognized those who have been affected by the global financial crisis and by war and conflict and said, "May your hearts be filled with hope and joy for the savior has been born for us."
He expressed solidarity with the victims of natural disasters and poverty, especially mentioning those who were forced to flee their homes.
He then sent Christmas greetings in 65 languages with tens of thousands gathered before him.
First family vacationing in Hawaii
KAILUA, Hawaii, Dec. 25 (UPI) -- President Barack Obama and his family settled in Friday for a planned 10-day Hawaii vacation amid intense security, officials said.
Obama brought his family to Kailua, his hometown, on Thursday with little on the immediate docket other than to decorate an 8-foot Noble fir Christmas tree.
Coast Guard personnel in semi-rigid boats patrolled the nearby Kawainui Canal and a pair of gunboats sat behind Kailuana Loop, where the Obamas will be staying in a five-bedroom beachfront home on sale for $8.9 million, the Honolulu Advertiser said.
The vacation home was decorated by two truckloads of poinsettias earlier in the week.
The Coast Guard has declared much of Kailua Bay around the home a security zone.
Sex offender accused of taking girl, 11
SALISBURY, Md., Dec. 25 (UPI) -- Officers and volunteers searched Friday for an 11-year-old Maryland girl allegedly kidnapped from her bedroom by a registered sex offender.
Sarah Haley Foxwell, a sixth grader, disappeared from her aunt's home in Salisbury, Md., Tuesday night, dressed in a pink shirt and red pajamas printed with Christmas trees, police said.
A younger sister told authorities she saw Sarah leave the room with their aunt's former boyfriend, a registered sex offender, The Baltimore Sun said.
Thomas James Leggs Jr., 30, who lived in a building on the grounds of his parents' Salisbury home, was arrested Wednesday and charged with burglary and kidnapping in Sarah's disappearance, police said.
Leggs is reported listed on sex offender registries in Maryland and Delaware.
Beached pilot whale saved in Canada
YARMOUTH, Nova Scotia, Dec. 25 (UPI) -- Fisheries officers helped move a beached pilot whale back into the water in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia, officials said.
Marine Animal Response Society official Andrew Reid said the whale was found beached near Port Maitland this week and rescuers were able to return the large mammal to the water Thursday through the use of an improvised trench, the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. reported.
After digging a trench and moving the whale into the trench with pontoons and a tarp, fisheries officers and volunteers were able to push the animal into the water, Reid said.
"We were out in the water for probably about an hour while it regained its strength. We deflated the pontoons and it initially swam toward the shore, which was a little bit concerning, but gradually turned back out to sea and swam out," he told the CBC.
Howard Blinn of the Department of Fisheries and Oceans said there have been additional reports of beached pilot whales in the area.
