Why a centuries-old Mexica myth became Mexico’s enduring symbol
MEXICO CITY — The almighty eagle perched on a cactus while devouring a serpent on Mexico’s flag hints at the myth behind the foundation of the country’s capital. It’s a divine sign in an ancient legend, according to which the god Huitzilopochtli asked a group called the Mexica — who...
Trump cuts ties with Marjorie Taylor Greene, once among his top MAGA-world defenders
President Donald Trump has publicly called it quits with one of his most stalwart MAGA-world supporters, calling Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene “‘Wacky’ Marjorie” and saying he would endorse a challenger against her in next year’s midterms “if the right person runs.” The dismissal of Greene — once the epitome of...
FAA takes 1st steps to restore flights after shutdown strain; some limits remain
The Federal Aviation Administration on Friday halved the number of flights that U.S. airlines must cut from their schedules at 40 airports as the country’s aviation system recovers from a shortage of air traffic controllers during the record government shutdown. The agency said airlines will only have to cancel 3%...
Sen. John Fetterman’s health issues, explained
Sen. John Fetterman was hospitalized Thursday after suffering injuries to his face in a fall due to a serious heart condition, ventricular fibrillation. This life-threatening condition is the 56-year-old’s latest health issue in recent years, following a 2022 stroke on the campaign trail that nearly killed him. Like atrial fibrillation,...
USDA data casts doubt on China’s soybean purchase promises touted by Trump
OMAHA, Neb. — New data the Agriculture Department released Friday created serious doubts about whether China will really buy millions of bushels of American soybeans like the Trump administration touted last month after a high-stakes meeting between President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping. The USDA report released after...
Trump drops tariffs on beef, coffee, tropical fruit as pressure builds on consumer prices
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump signed an executive order Friday to get rid of tariffs on a broad swath of commodities, including beef, coffee and tropical fruits. It’s part of a response to pressure from consumers who complain prices are too high. The move comes after voters in off-year elections...
U.S. military’s 20th strike on alleged drug-running boat kills 4 in the Caribbean
WASHINGTON — The U.S. military’s 20th strike on a boat accused of transporting drugs has killed four people in the Caribbean Sea, a Pentagon official said Friday, coming as the Trump administration escalates its campaign in South American waters. The latest strike happened Monday, according to the official, who wasn’t...
Russian drone and missile attack on Kyiv kills 6 people and injures at least 35
KYIV, Ukraine — Russia unleashed a major missile and drone barrage on Kyiv early Friday, killing six people, leaving gaping holes in apartment buildings and starting fires as the sound of explosions boomed across the city and lit up the night sky. A pregnant woman was among at least 35...
Protesters arrested after clashing with police outside Chicago-area immigration facility
CHICAGO — Authorities arrested 21 protesters Friday outside a Chicago-area federal immigration facility that activists say functions as a de facto detention center and is plagued by inhumane conditions. The Cook County Sheriff’s Office said the arrests were made by midday, and that it was working on verifying identities and...
Modi’s ruling coalition secures landslide victory in a key state election in India
NEW DELHI — Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ruling coalition won a key state election in a vote seen as a crucial test of the leader’s popularity in one of the country’s poorest yet most politically influential states. Results Friday from the Election Commission of India, the country’s election watchdog,...
Fears over migration and crime push Chile’s presidential race to the right
SANTIAGO, Chile — Fans sported MAGA-style caps. AC/DC blasted from the speakers. Red, white and blue flags flapped in the wind. Crowds whooped and cheered as the man of the hour lamented the surge of migrants across the border. “This country isn’t falling apart,” he bellowed. “It is being shot...
Bus crashes into a stop in Stockholm, killing 3, injuring 3
STOCKHOLM — A double-decker bus crashed into a bus stop in Stockholm on Friday, killing three people and injuring three others, police said. Authorities were alerted to the crash at 3:23 p.m. on Friday. The vehicle rammed into the bus shelter on Valhallavägen, a street in the Swedish capital’s Östermalm...
New prosecutor takes on the Georgia election case against Trump and others
ATLANTA — A longtime prosecutor announced he will take over the Georgia election interference case against President Donald Trump and others, after Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis was removed from the case and no one else wanted the job. The nonpartisan Prosecuting Attorneys’ Council of Georgia was tasked with...
London judge finds global mining company BHP Group liable in Brazil’s worst environmental disaster
LONDON — A London judge ruled Friday that global mining company BHP Group is liable in Brazil’s worst environmental disaster when a dam collapse a decade ago unleashed tons of toxic waste into a major river, killing 19 people and devastating villages downstream. High Court Justice Finola O’Farrell said that...
Opioid settlement with OxyContin maker Purdue and Sackler family could end years of legal battles
NEW YORK — Lawyers representing OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma, branches of the Sackler family that own it, cities, states, counties, Native American tribes, people with addiction and others across the U.S. delivered a nearly unanimous message for a bankruptcy court judge Friday: Approve a plan to settle thousands of opioid-related...
Court blocks new rules limiting which immigrants can get commercial drivers’ licenses
The Transportation Department’s new restrictions that would severely limit which immigrants can get commercial driver’s licenses to drive a semitrailer truck or bus have been put on hold by a federal appeals court. The court in the District of Columbia ruled Thursday that the rules Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced...
Former Greensburg Community Development Corp. leaders reflect on 50 years supporting city
As Greensburg Community Development Corp. celebrates its 50th anniversary, former board president Scott Brown cannot help but reflect on how the nonprofit’s challenges and scope have changed. When the development corporation formed in 1975, its purpose was to maintain the city’s business scene amid the success of Greengate and Westmoreland...
BBC apologizes to Trump over its misleading edit, but says there’s no basis for a defamation claim
LONDON — The BBC apologized Thursday to U.S. President Donald Trump over a misleading edit of his speech on Jan. 6, 2021, but said it had not defamed him, rejecting the basis for his $1 billion lawsuit threat. The BBC said Chair Samir Shah sent a personal letter to the...
Israel says militants have returned remains of 1 of the last 4 hostages in Gaza
JERUSALEM — Israel said Thursday that militants have handed over the body of one of the last four remaining hostages taken during the Oct. 7, 2023, attack that launched the war in Gaza. Israel identified the returned body as that of Meny Godard, who was abducted from Kibbutz Be’eri in...
The body of a coal miner has been found in a flooded West Virginia mine, the governor says
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The body of a coal miner was found early Thursday in a mine that flooded in southern West Virginia, Gov. Patrick Morrisey said. Machines had been pumping water out of Alpha Metallurgical Resources Inc.’s Rolling Thunder Mine near Belva, about 50 miles (80 kilometers) east of the...
Top 1% pay over a third of Pennsylvania’s personal income taxes
The wealthiest households in Pennsylvania are carrying over a third of the state’s personal income tax burden, according to a new study. The top 1% now pay 35.09% of all personal income taxes collected in the Keystone State, the study by finance company SmartAsset found, which examined the latest IRS...
Ammonia gas leak from a tanker truck in Oklahoma sickens dozens and forces evacuations
WEATHERFORD, Okla. — A leaking tanker truck spewed dangerous ammonia gas in a hotel parking lot, forcing hundreds of residents in a small Oklahoma city to evacuate and sending several dozen people to the hospital, authorities said Thursday. Officials lifted a shelter-in-place order Thursday morning, hours after firefighters wearing gas...
Jesse Jackson hospitalized as he battles longstanding neurological illness
Civil rights leader and former presidential candidate the Rev. Jesse Jackson has been hospitalized in Chicago, his organization said Wednesday. Jackson, 84, a protege of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. with deep ties to Atlanta’s civil rights community, is under observation for progressive supranuclear palsy, or PSP, the Rainbow...
What’s next in Congress on the push to release the Epstein files
WASHINGTON — The House is speeding toward a vote next week on releasing files related to the sex trafficking investigation into Jeffrey Epstein, a step that comes after months of resistance from Republican leaders. They have no choice but to allow consideration of the bill after a petition on the...
Former Marine who killed 6-year-old girl more than 4 decades ago set for execution in Florida
STARKE, Fla. — A former Marine convicted of killing a 6-year-old girl more than four decades ago is scheduled Thursday to be executed in Florida, which would be the record 16th death sentence carried out under Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis. Barring a last-minute reprieve, Bryan Frederick Jennings, 66, is set...
