1.2.2023

Idaho Murder Suspect Arrested

Police have arrested a suspect in the November murder of four University of Idaho students, ending a cross-country search more than 2,000 miles away from where the killings occurred. The slaying, and subsequent lack of motive and apparent leads, left residents in the town of Moscow on edge for roughly seven weeks.

Officers took Bryan Christopher Kohberger, 28, into custody Friday at his parents' house in eastern Pennsylvania. The suspect was reportedly enrolled in a criminology doctoral program at Washington State University, across the state border and less than 10 miles from the murder scene. It is not clear how or whether he knew the victims.

The four students were killed in the early morning of Nov. 13; each found stabbed to death at an off-campus home. For weeks, police appealed to the public for tips without revealing whether they had identified any suspects. Upon the arrest, officials said they had tracked the suspect after identifying his car and had DNA evidence linking him to the crime. 

See profiles of the victims here.

Dawgs vs. Frogs

Defending champion and top-ranked University of Georgia will face Texas Christian University for the college football national championship next Monday (7:30 pm ET, ESPN). The matchup comes after both won their respective semifinals, with TCU upsetting Michigan, 51-45, and Georgia overcoming a 14-point deficit in the fourth quarter to beat Ohio State, 42-41. The games were widely hailed as the best semifinal round in the nine-year history of the College Football Playoff. 

Georgia, which has won 28 of its last 29 games, is led by Heisman finalist QB Stetson Bennett, who threw for 398 yards and three touchdowns Saturday. TCU, also led by a Heisman finalist QB, Max Duggan, enters as 13-point underdogs. See highlights from both semifinal games here (TCU-UM) and here (UGA-OSU). 

Separately, four remaining bowl games will be held today, highlighted by Penn State taking on Utah in the Rose Bowl. See the lineup here. 

Barbara Walters Dies

Groundbreaking television journalist and talk show host Barbara Walters passed away Friday at her Manhattan home at the age of 93. A family representative did not disclose the cause of death. 

Walters, whose career spanned seven decades before retiring in 2015, is considered to be the first woman to break into the traditionally male-dominated television news industry. Beginning at a New York City NBC affiliate in 1953, Walters became the first woman to host a major network morning show and, later, the first to coanchor a nightly evening news broadcast. Inducted into the Television Hall of Fame in 1989, the Emmy-winning journalist went on to help create and cohost the popular daytime talk show, "The View."  

Walters was renowned for her persistent questioning style and incisive interviews with celebrities, presidents, world leaders, and others—including a 1999 sit-down with Monica Lewinsky that drew 74 million viewers. 

Watch clips of some of her most famous interviews here.

Science & Technology

Business & Markets

Politics & World Affairs

The world rings in the new year, in photos.  

... and 75 quotes to start 2023 off right. 

... and some predictions for the next 12 months.

The 2022 World Design Rankings.

Breaking down Americans' drinking habits.

The least affordable housing markets in the US. 

Books, music, and movies from 1927 enter the public domain.

Japanese sightseeing train runs on ramen broth.

Clickbait: Tesla autopilot leads a police chase.

Historybook: Spanish Reconquista completed (1492); Viet Cong achieve first major victory of Vietnam War (1963); President Ronald Reagan sworn in as California governor (1967); President Jimmy Carter ends US-Russia detente (1980).