In the news

Angela Merkel, 59, was sworn in for a third term as Germany’s chancellor, at the head of a “grand coalition” of her conservative Union bloc and the center-left Social Democrats, traditional rivals who together have a huge parliamentary majority.

Pope Francis celebrated his 77th birthday Tuesday with three homeless men, one of them carrying a dog, who joined the pontiff for Mass and breakfast and presented him with a bouquet of sunflowers.

Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., said on the Senate floor that he is willing to travel to Iran if it would help find missing CIA contractor Robert Levinson, who disappeared while on a secret intelligence mission there.

James “Whitey” Bulger, 84, the former Boston crime boss, was moved to a federal prison in Oklahoma although a prosecutor there said officials haven’t yet decided whether to try him in a 1981 murder in Tulsa.

Mayor Rob Ford of Toronto said he didn’t intend to suggest during a television interview that Toronto Star reporter Daniel Dale is a pedophile, though the journalist rejected the apology and said he would proceed with a defamation lawsuit.

Cecil Williams, 61, who is blind, and his guide dog were struck by a subway train in Manhattan after the man lost consciousness and they tumbled on to the tracks, but both escaped without serious injury.

Kim Vesely, spokesman for the Rio Rancho school district in New Mexico, confirmed that a suburban Albuquerque teacher who told a black student that Santa Claus is white has been placed on paid administrative leave while the incident is being investigated.

Fernando Aguilera, a Florida man who authorities say caught a live 4-foot alligator and took it to a convenience store near Miami to try to trade it for a 12-pack of beer, received three citations for illegally catching and attempting to sell the reptile.

Rep. Frank Wolf, 74, a Virginia Republican first elected in 1980, and fellow House Appropriations Committee member Rep. Tom Latham, 65, an Iowa Republican in his 10th term, separately announced they won’t seek re-election in 2014.

Caroline Biden, 26, Vice President Joe Biden’s niece, is undergoing treatment after her Sept. 17 arrest on charges she scuffled with New York City police, attorney Ira London said without specifying what sort of treatment she is undergoing or where she’s pursuing it.

Front Section, Pages 1 on 12/18/2013

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