October 21, 2025 5:43 pm
PARIS (AP) — Experts say France’s royal jewels may be gone forever after a daring heist at the Louvre. On Sunday, thieves stole eight pieces, including crowns and necklaces, in just four minutes. These jewels, dating back to the 16th century, were significant symbols of France’s wealth and power. Experts believe the gems are likely being dismantled and sold off. The theft has left the French government scrambling to address security concerns at the museum. The heist is being called “the heist of the decade” and has sparked a race against time for authorities to recover the treasures.
October 21, 2025 1:50 pm
The inaugural group of innovators and celebrities were inducted into Pittsburgh’s Walk of Fame in the Strip District Monday morning. Ten movers and shakers from the region were honored. Industrialist Andrew Carnegie, journalist Nelly Bly, scientists Jonas Salk and Rachel Carson, playwright August Wilson, artist Andy Warhol, Roberto Clemente, Mr. Rogers, and living inductees George Benson and Michael Keaton. Hundreds of people attended the ceremony, which saw library officials, family members and Keaton himself unveil their new “Stars.” George Benson appeared via video clip. Fred Rogers’s son, John, honored his father by asking those in attendance to take a moment to think about loved ones who have helped them in their lives. And Keaton said a taxi cab driver told him that everyone from Pittsburgh says they are proud to be from Pittsburgh. Afterwards, Keaton was swarmed by fans who wanted a chance to get a selfie with Batman.
October 21, 2025 5:00 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump says the federal government owes him “a lot of money” for prior Justice Department investigations into his actions and insists that any decision on a payout would “have to go across my desk.” Trump’s comments Tuesday to reporters at the White House came in response to questions about a New York Times story that said he had filed administrative claims seeking roughly $230 million in damages related to the FBI’s search of his Mar-a-Lago property for classified documents in 2022 and for a separate investigation into potential ties between Russia and his 2016 presidential campaign.
October 21, 2025 4:53 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — As the government shutdown enters its fourth week, President Donald Trump welcomed Senate Republicans for lunch at the White House. It was not for urgent talks on how to end the shutdown, but a celebratory display of unity as they refuse to negotiate on Democratic demands for health care funds. Trump is praising GOP leaders by name. But Senate Democrats are also expressing confidence in their strategy to keep voting against a House-passed bill that would reopen the government until Trump and other Republicans engage them. Democrats want to extend health care subsidies that are expiring. Trump says he’ll discuss health care, but only after the government reopens.
October 21, 2025 4:52 am
LONDON (AP) — A problem at Amazon’s cloud computing service disrupted internet use around the world. The outage on Monday took down a broad range of online services, including social media, gaming, food delivery, streaming and financial platforms. Amazon said the outage was resolved as of Monday evening. The all-day disruption and the ensuing exasperation it caused served as the latest reminder that 21st century society is increasingly dependent on just a handful of companies for much of its internet technology, which seems to work reliably until it suddenly breaks down.
October 21, 2025 4:49 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese have signed a critical-minerals deal at the White House. The United States is eyeing Australia’s rare-earth resources as China imposes stricter export rules on its critical minerals. Monday’s White House meeting comes after Beijing announced this month that foreign companies must get approval to export magnets with rare-earth materials from China. Trump administration officials say this gives China control over the tech supply chain. The two leaders also discussed a security pact among Australia, the U.S. and the United Kingdom that was signed during Joe Biden’s administration. Trump noted that AUKUS was established “a while ago” but that the agreement now is “moving along very rapidly, very well.”
October 21, 2025 4:46 am
Gas prices are down eight cents this week in Western Pennsylvania. AAA says the average stands at $3.31 per gallon. Here in Washington our average remains a little higher at $3.35. The national average has dropped more than five cents over the past week to $3.03. Several factors are behind the drop, including falling crude oil prices, lower gasoline demand and cheaper winter-blend gasoline at the pump. Today’s national average is 16 cents less than one month ago and 15 cents lower than one year ago.
October 21, 2025 4:42 am
Emergency crews were called to a one-vehicle, rollover crash early Tuesday morning in the City of Washington. Washington County 9-1-1 says it happened just after 3:30 a.m. in the 300-block of Locust Avenue. Dispatchers say no one was transported from the scene by ambulance. The roadway was briefly closed but has since reopened. No other details are available.
October 20, 2025 8:17 am
LONDON (AP) — Amazon’s cloud computing service experienced a major outage on Monday, disrupting many online services like Snapchat, Roblox, and Signal. The issue began around 3 a.m. Eastern Time, affecting Amazon’s own services like Ring and Alexa. Amazon blamed the problem on its domain name system, which translates web addresses into IP addresses. By around 6 a.m., Amazon reported recovery across most services. This isn’t the first time AWS has faced such issues, with previous outages in 2023 and 2021. Experts say these disruptions highlight the internet’s reliance on a few major cloud providers.
October 20, 2025 5:00 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — Americans are growing increasingly concerned about their ability to find a good job under President Donald Trump, an Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll finds, in what is a potential warning sign for Republicans as a promised economic boom has given way to hiring freezes and elevated inflation. High prices for groceries, housing and health care persist as a fear for many households, while rising electricity bills and the cost of gas at the pump are also sources of anxiety, according to the survey. Some 47% of U.S. adults are “not very” or “not at all confident” they could find a good job if they wanted to, an increase from 37% when the question was last asked in October 2023. Electricity bills are a “major” source of stress for 36% of U.S. adults at a time when the expected build-out of data centers for artificial intelligence could further tax the power grid. Just more than one-half said the cost of groceries are a “major” source of financial stress, about 4 in 10 said the cost of housing and health care were a serious strain and about one-third said they were feeling high stress about gasoline prices.
