October 10, 2025 3:38 pm
WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House budget office says mass firings of federal workers have started in an attempt to exert more pressure on Democratic lawmakers as the government shutdown continues. The director of the Office of Management and Budget said Friday on the social media site X the reduction-in-force plans aimed at reducing the size of the federal government have begun. A spokesperson for the budget office says the reductions are “substantial” but hasn’t offered more immediate details. Federal health workers were also being fired Friday.
October 10, 2025 7:56 am
OSLO, Norway (AP) — Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado has won the Nobel Peace Prize. The Norwegian Nobel committee praised her as a key unifying figure in the opposition, advocating for free elections and representative government. Machado has faced serious threats and lives in hiding, inspiring many with her courage. President Nicolás Maduro’s government disqualified her from running in last year’s presidential election. Machado’s ally, Edmundo González, replaced her but later sought asylum in Spain. Machado becomes the 20th woman to receive the Nobel Peace Prize, joining a distinguished group of laureates.
October 10, 2025 4:57 am
CAIRO (AP) — Israel’s Cabinet has approved President Donald Trump’s plan for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and the release of all the remaining hostages held by Hamas, a key step toward ending a ruinous two-year war that has destabilized the Middle East. A brief statement issued early Friday by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said the Cabinet approved the “outline” of a deal to release the hostages, without mentioning other aspects of the plan that are more controversial. The broader ceasefire plan included many unanswered questions, such as whether and how Hamas will disarm and who will govern Gaza. But the sides appeared closer than they have been in months to ending the war.
October 10, 2025 4:56 am
National Guard troops are expected to begin patrolling in Memphis. The patrols are expected Friday after a federal judge in Illinois ruled Thursday to block a deployment in the Chicago-area for at least two weeks. President Donald Trump is pushing to deploy the National Guard to several U.S. cities. His administration claims crime in those cities is rampant, despite statistics not always backing that up. Tennessee Republican Gov. Bill Lee supports the deployment. A president can dispatch active duty military in states that fail to put down an insurrection or defy federal law. The judge in Illinois says she found no substantial evidence of rebellion.
October 10, 2025 4:47 am
CANONSBURG, Pa. — A woman was hit by a vehicle in Canonsburg. Washington County dispatchers say crews were called to the intersection of North Central Avenue and West Pike Street at 6:06 p.m. on Thursday. She was transported to Canonsburg Hospital but there is no word on her identity or condition.
October 9, 2025 5:49 pm
WASHINGTON (AP) — New York Attorney General Letitia James was charged Thursday as part of a mortgage fraud investigation aggressively pushed by the Trump administration. She becomes the latest foe of the president to be prosecuted by his Justice Department. James, who infuriated President Donald Trump by suing him and his company for fraud in a case that played out as he was running for office, was indicted on charges of bank fraud and false statements to a financial institution. In a lengthy statement, James decried the indictment as “nothing more than a continuation of the president’s desperate weaponization of our justice system.”
October 9, 2025 5:30 am
Washington & Jefferson College celebrated the beginning of a new chapter for its baseball program with the ceremonial kickoff of the James David Ross Family Training Center, a $2.5 million investment dedicated to supporting student-athlete development. The Ross family is fully funding the project, continuing their long history of support for the college, including the Ross Memorial Park in 2004 and the James David Ross Family Recreation Center in 2017. The new 25,000-square-foot indoor facility will be built next to the W&J Facilities Services building, providing year-round training space for student-athletes. At the ceremony, W&J officials and the Ross family took part in the symbolic first dig, with helmets on shovels before placing them on their heads and turning over a mound of dirt to signify the launch of the project. David Ross, a 1978 alumnus, trustee since 2004, and W&J Athletic Hall of Fame inductee, shared remarks about the project’s importance. “The indoor training center is needed because the weather is not always so great here and often limits practice opportunities for student-athletes. When players have nowhere to train during cold months, they lose motivation and sometimes stop playing,” Ross said. The facility will be managed by campus officials and reserved for student-athletes, though community access may be allowed during special events. Named in honor of Ross’s father, the James David Ross Family Training Center will serve as a lasting tribute to his family’s commitment to W&J athletics. Construction is anticipated to begin within weeks, with completion expected by Spring 2026.
October 9, 2025 5:09 am
TORONTO (AP) — A Canadian government official familiar with the matter says Prime Minister Mark Carney raised the prospect of reviving the contentious Keystone XL pipeline project during his White House meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump this week. A Canadian company pulled the plug on it four years ago after the Canadian government failed to persuade then-President Joe Biden to reverse his cancellation of its permit on the day he took office. It was to transport crude from the oil sand fields of western Canada to Steele City, Nebraska. President Donald Trump previously revived the long-delayed project during his first term after it had stalled under the Obama administration. The Canadian government official says Trump was receptive to the idea.
October 9, 2025 5:07 am
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Authorities have charged a 29-year-old man with igniting the January fire that destroyed Los Angeles’ Pacific Palisades neighborhood. Acting U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli says Jonathan Rinderknecht was arrested in Florida on Tuesday. He faces charges including malicious destruction by means of a fire in the New Year’s Day fire that burned down much of the Pacific Palisades a week later. Rinderknecht appeared briefly in court Wednesday. His public defender did not respond to requests for comment. The Palisades Fire killed 12 people and destroyed more than 6,800 homes and buildings in the wealthy coastal neighborhood of LA.
October 9, 2025 5:05 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — Senators are laboring to find a way to reopen the government but found themselves struggling to overcome a fundamental lack of trust between the two parties. Senate Majority Leader John Thune has floated an “off ramp” to the government funding impasse. He suggests that he could pledge to hold a later vote on expiring health care subsidies if Democrats would first support a stopgap spending bill to reopen the government. But Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer seemed to dismiss the idea.
