Here's a look at trending topics for today, Friday, March 10.

Americans abducted

A Mexican police investigator inspects the minivan where four Americans where shot and taken from the previous week, at the Tamaulipas State Prosecutor headquarters in Matamoros, Mexico, Wednesday, March 8, 2023. Their minivan crashed and was fired on shortly after they crossed into the border city of Matamoros on Friday as drug cartel factions tore through the streets, the region's governor said. A stray bullet also killed a Mexican woman about a block and a half away. (AP Photo)

The anonymous tip that led Mexican authorities to a remote shack where four abducted Americans were held described armed men, people wearing blindfolds and plenty of activity around a ranch.

Authorities headed for the rural area east of Matamoros on Tuesday morning, leaving the highway and driving remote dirt roads looking for the described location, according to Mexican investigative documents viewed Friday by The Associated Press.

Finally, they saw the wooden shack far from any homes or businesses, surrounded by brush, and a white pickup parked outside that matched the one the Americans had been loaded into last Friday. Then they began to hear someone shouting, "Help!"

Inside the shack, the documents said, Latavia "Tay" McGee and Eric Williams were blindfolded. Beside them were the bodies of Shaeed Woodard and Zindell Brown, wrapped in blankets and plastic bags. When authorities arrived, McGee and Williams shouted desperately to them in English.

A guard who tried to escape out a back door was quickly apprehended, the documents said. He was wearing a tactical vest but there is no mention of him being armed.

Read more:

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Florida's abortion ban

Less than a year after Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, an expected GOP presidential contender, signed a ban on abortions after the 15-week mark of pregnancy, he’s showing support for an even stricter ban introduced this week by state lawmakers. His position could have implications on the availability of abortion not only in Florida but across the South – and also figure into the 2024 presidential race.

Here's a closer look:

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Silicon Valley Bank seized

U.S. regulators rushed to seize the assets of Silicon Valley Bank on Friday after a run on the bank, marking the largest failure of a financial institution since Washington Mutual collapsed at the height of the financial crisis more than a decade ago.

Silicon Valley Bank, the nation's 16th largest bank failed after its depositors — mostly technology workers and venture capital-backed companies — hurried to withdraw money this week as anxiety over the bank's health spread. It is the second biggest bank failure in U.S. history.

The bank had deep ties to Silicon Valley industries and startups. Y Combinator, an incubator startup that has launched companies such as Airbnb, DoorDash and Dropbox, has referred hundreds of entrepreneurs to the bank.

More of today's top stories:

The parents of a ninth grade student who said she was accosted by a teacher for walking to class instead of stopping and reciting the Pledge of Allegiance are suing the teacher, principal, school district and state education officials.

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Six-year-old boy knocks himself out with his own snowball, and more of today's top videos

This hilarious video shows a kid knocking himself out with his own snowball, and more of today's top videos.


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