The U.S. Mint estimates that there are 300 billion pennies in circulation-which, if true, means that the Milky Way galaxy contains about three times more American pennies than stars. How, you ask, could the plan for 300,000,000,000 coins be "nothing"? The Mint, you say, issued a formal press release about striking the final cents. Surely, you insist, that implies some sort of strategy, or at least is evidence of logical human thought and action?
CARBONDALE, Kan. -- Four law enforcement officers were shot Saturday morning while responding to a residence in a rural area south of Topeka, Kansas. The shooting was around 10:30 a.m. Three Osage County sheriff's deputies and one Kansas Highway Patrol trooper were shot, Kansas Bureau of Investigation spokesperson Melissa Underwood said. Their conditions are "still very fluid," Underwood said. A male suspect died from gunshot wounds, leaders from the Kansas Bureau of Investigation and state Highway Patrol said. One other male was injured and taken to a hospital and is in stable condition, officials said.
Oklahoma, its playoff hopes on the brink, rode into Tuscaloosa and exposed the flaws in Alabama's seemingly impenetrable armor with a relentless defense that tormented Ty Simpson and nabbed a trio of takeaways. Florida, having shed the weight of a coach forever on the hot seat, went to Oxford with sights set on an upset, pushing Ole Miss well into the fourth quarter.
South Carolina guard Ta'Niya Latson drove into the paint in the third quarter. As she went up for the layup, she was met by USC guard Kennedy Smith, who rose up and swatted the ball so hard into the stands that it knocked the hat off a fan sitting a couple rows deep in the Crypto.com Arena crowd. That ended up being the highlight of the Trojans' second half.
Kip Lewis had seven tackles, including two sacks, and No. 11 Oklahoma stunned fourth-ranked Alabama 23-21 on Saturday to send shock waves through the Southeastern Conference. The Sooners (7-2, 4-2 SEC) had three takeaways -- scoring 17 points off those turnovers -- and got a key stop late to end Alabama's winning streaks of eight games overall and 17 at home.
He opted for Dylan Darling, who had missed the Red Storm's last game due to a calf injury, instead and it paid massive dividends as the No. 13 Johnnies used a second half surge to cruise to a 93-60 victory. "We were throwing the ball away way too much," Pitino explained of what he saw during practice. Playing Darling next to Oziyah Sellers in the backcourt allowed the Stanford transfer to get free and hunt his shot instead of worrying about orchestrating the offense, and it worked resulting in 13 points on three made 3-pointers.
VATICAN CITY The Vatican on Saturday returned 62 artifacts to Indigenous peoples from Canada, a historic restitution that is part of the Catholic Church's reckoning with its role in helping suppress Indigenous culture in the Americas. Pope Leo XIV gave the artifacts, including an iconic Inuit kayak, and supporting documentation to a delegation of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops, which is expected to return them to individual Indigenous communities.
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
Phagnasay, Salazar, and Travis pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud conspiracy for knowingly allowing IT workers located outside of the U.S. to use their U.S. identities between about September 2019 and November 2022 and secure jobs at American firms. The three defendants also served as facilitators, hosting the company-issued laptops at their residences and installing remote desktop software on those machines without authorization.
BI's travel reporter, Joey Hadden, has spent more than 75 hours on Amtrak's trains, including short- and long-distance routes and overnight trains, reviewing them for comfort, amenities, and even food. With different rail lines crossing the country - whether you're traveling north to south or east to west - you don't have to compromise comfort (albeit a few bumps!) to avoid airport headaches. In fact, one of Hadden's favorite ways to travel is by overnight train in an Amtrak roomette or bedroom.
An army veteran and Purple Heart recipient who served two tours in Iraq was deported on Friday morning from an immigration detention facility in Florence, Arizona. Arizona state representative Raquel Teran told Fox 10 Phoenix that Jose Barco, a Venezuelan-born veteran whose family fled Cuba as refugees, was deported at 4am from Arizona. Anna Stout, a volunteer on Barco's defense team, told Denver 7 his team was not notified of plans for his deportation and his family was initially not told of where they would be taking him. Jose was not able to reach out to his family before any of this initiated, she told the news outlet, adding that the process has been frustrating.
"Life update - I've had some nagging hip pain for a handful of months," Thomas said in a statement posted on social media. "After some time off and worsening symptoms, an MRI showed I had a disc problem that needed to be treated." Thomas said he had a successful microdisectomy at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York Thursday and has already been released from the hospital. The 32-year-old, who is ranked 8th in the Official World Golf Rankings, won the RBC Heritage this past season (his 18th career Tour win), and had eight top-10 finishes in 2025.
A man found guilty in the 1979 rape and murder of a six-year-old girl was executed in Florida on Thursday. Bryan Frederick Jennings was pronounced dead at 6.20pm local time after being administered a three-drug lethal injection. Jennings was sentenced to death for the killing of Rebecca Kunash, whom he drowned in a canal, according to reports. Jennings said no after being asked whether he had a final statement. Kunash's relatives did not comment publicly following Jennings' execution. The execution took place without incident.
One of Henriques' victims was a 17-year-old prospective student, to whom he gave a tour of the college April 25, the U.S. Attorney's office said. After reviewing her tour registration form, which listed her date of birth, he asked her what grade she was in, and she told him what local high school she attended. Hours after finishing the tour, Henriques texted the victim using the phone number included on her admissions form and offered to pay her $400 for "some fun."
Armstrong, who joined Cityside in 2022, is responsible for ensuring that the journalism from Cityside's four newsrooms - The Oaklandside, Berkeleyside, Richmondside, and East Bay Nosh - is published with readers front of mind. Long before a reporter begins reporting, Armstrong makes sure they have addressed the fundamental questions: Why are we doing this? Who is it for? How will it help them? What is the best way to convey this information?
LOS ANGELES A former U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer was sentenced to 15 years in prison after he pleaded guilty to working with Mexican traffickers to bring drugs into the U.S., officials said Thursday. Diego Bonillo, 30, pleaded guilty in July to multiple charges, including conspiracy to import controlled substances such as cocaine, methamphetamine and heroin. As part of his plea deal, he admitted to using his position to allow drug-filled cars into the U.S. from Mexico without inspection.
"Earning the distinction of being the first Accessibility Verified state reflects Oregon's deep and ongoing commitment to welcoming all travelers," Kevin Wright, the VP of brand stewardship at Travel Oregon, said in a statement shared with Travel + Leisure. "Through this designation, we're building a tourism landscape where inclusion is meaningful and central to the visitor experience."
The financial services company, in a note to investors this week, said that it believes the AI story is just getting started - and the investments that seem huge today will be dwarfed by the benefits AI will deliver. Long term, the investment bank says that AI adoption could add $20 trillion to the U.S. economy. AI, according to Goldman Sachs, is already delivering those gains in productivity when deployed right.
