Mississippi takes step toward dropping rebel image from flag

Jackson, Miss. • Spectators at the Mississippi Capitol broke into applause Saturday as lawmakers took the first steps toward erasing the Confederate battle emblem from the state flag, a symbol that has come under intensifying criticism in recent weeks amid nationwide protests against racial injustice.“The eyes of the state, the nation and indeed the world are on this House,” the second-ranking office in the Mississippi House, Jason White, told his colleagues.The House voted by m