National News - The Morning Sun

Parking attendant Andy Tinto uses laundry clips to put a blue towel over his cap to protect himself from the sun in Manila, Philippines on Monday, April 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)

AP PHOTOS: South and Southeast Asian countries cope with a weekslong heat wave

South and Southeast Asian countries have been coping with a weekslong heat wave rendering record high temperatures that have posed a severe health risk. Umbrellas to shield against blazing … more

By The Associated Press | 5/4/24

Minnesota Twins players celebrate after the Twins defeated the Chicago White Sox 10-5 in a baseball game in Chicago, Wednesday, May 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)

The Twins and their lucky home run sausage are home safely with the winning streak still intact

The Minnesota Twins are no stranger to unique home-run celebrations. They introduced a fishing vest and toy fishing pole to the dugout last season. This year, a summer sausage has become the object … more

By DAVE CAMPBELL | 5/3/24

USAID Administrator Samantha Power talks with Mana operations director Harry Broughton during a tour of its factory in Fitzgerald, Ga., that produces emergency nutritional aid for starving children, on Friday, May 3, 2024. Power announced USAID is investing $200 million to increase nutritional aid for starving children in Gaza, Sudan and other places where conflict has increased needs. (AP Photo/Russ Bynum)

A new sea route for Gaza aid is on track, USAID says. Treating starving children is a priority

The U.S. expects to have arrangements in Gaza ready for humanitarian workers to start delivering aid this month through a new sea route. It’s timed to when the U.S. military expects to finish … more

By RUSS BYNUM and ELLEN KNICKMEYER | 5/3/24

The Rev. David Meredith, left, and the Rev. Austin Adkinson sing during a gathering of those in the LGBTQ community and their allies outside the Charlotte Convention Center, in Charlotte, N.C., Thursday, May 2, 2024. They were celebrating after the General Conference of the United Methodist Church voted to remove the denomination's 52-year-old social teaching that deemed homosexuality "incompatible with Christian teaching." (AP Photo/Peter Smith)

United Methodist delegates repeal their church’s ban on its clergy celebrating same-sex marriages

United Methodist delegates have repealed their church’s longstanding ban on the celebrations of same-sex marriages or unions by its clergy. The action marked the final major repeal of a … more

By PETER SMITH | 5/3/24

Officials at Pier 39 in San Francisco have counted more than 1,000 sea lions lounging on barges in Fisherman's Wharf. Biologists say a spike in anchovies has attracted the record number, as they pass through the area to refuel before heading south for mating season. (AP Video: Haven Daley)

An anchovy feast draws a crush of sea lions to one of San Francisco's piers, the most in 15 years

San Francisco’s famed Fisherman’s Wharf district is seeing a surge in sea lions. First appearing at Pier 39 after the 1989 earthquake, the sea lions have become a well known tourist attraction. … more

By HAVEN DALEY | 5/3/24

Rabbi Levi Cunin, with Chabad on Campus, speaks during a pro-Israel rally at Indiana University in Bloomington, Ind., Thursday, May 2, 2024. (AP Photo/AJ Mast)

Jewish students grapple with how to respond to pro-Palestinian campus protests

As pro-Palestinian student protests dominated college campuses across the country in recent weeks, Jewish students had fervent debates over how to respond. Like many Americans, Jewish students’ … more

By JESSE BEDAYN | 5/3/24

Riot police use a water cannon during an opposition protest against "the Russian law" near the Parliament building in Tbilisi, Georgia, on Wednesday, May 1, 2024. Clashes erupted between police and opposition demonstrators protesting a new bill intended to track foreign influence that the opposition denounced as Russia-inspired. (AP Photo/Zurab Tsertsvadze)

Why did bill to stem ‘foreign influence’ trigger protests in Georgia over country's media freedom?

Georgia has been engulfed by huge protests triggered by a proposed law that critics see as a threat to media freedom and the country’s aspirations to join the European Union. The bill would require … more

5/3/24

Police advance on pro-Palestinian demonstrators after defying orders to leave at an encampment on the UCLA campus, in Los Angeles, May 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

AP Week in Pictures: Global

April 26 - May 2, 2024 Tent encampments of protesters calling on universities to stop doing business with Israel or companies they say support the war in Gaza have spread to multiple U.S. … more

By The Associated Press | 5/3/24

FILE - This file photo shows a portrait of Bolshevik revolutionary Leon Trotsky, founder of the Red Army, taken on Aug. 9, 1940, shortly before he was fatally attacked, Aug. 20, 1940, at his home in Mexico City. Once seen as the most likely successor to Vladimir Lenin as the leader of the Soviet Union, Trotsky lost a power struggle with Josef Stalin and fled abroad. A Soviet agent attacked Trotsky in 1940 with an ice axe, mortally wounding him. (AP Photo/File)

For decades, Moscow has sought to silence its critics abroad

From its earliest days, the Soviet Union’s intelligence services — whether known as the Cheka or the names of any of its successor agencies like the KGB — kept the government in power by … more

By EMMA BURROWS | 5/3/24

FILE – Russian defector Alexander Litvinenko, a former operative for the KGB and FSB, is seen at his home in London, on Friday, May 10, 2002. Litvinenko was viewed as a traitor by the Kremlin after fleeing to Britain in 2000. He died after drinking tea laced with radioactive polonium-210 at a hotel in London. On his deathbed, Litvinenko claimed that Russian President Vladimir Putin directly ordered his assassination. A British inquiry later found that Russian agents had killed Litvinenko, probably with Putin's approval. (AP Photo/Alistair Fuller, File)

Kremlin critics say Russia is targeting its foes abroad with killings, poisonings and harassment

Since President Vladimir Putin launched his invasion of Ukraine, attacks and harassment of Russians abroad have been blamed on Moscow’s intelligence operatives across Europe and elsewhere. Despite … more

By EMMA BURROWS | 5/3/24

Thirteen people have died, and 21 are missing, according to Brazil's Civil Defense, after heavy rains hit south of the country since Monday. Rio Grande do Sul state Governor Eduardo Leite said Thursday the death toll was expected to rise in the state due to the difficult access to the landslide sites.

Death toll from heavy rains in southern Brazil jumps to 29, with 60 more still mising

The death toll from heavy rains in Brazil’s southern Rio Grande do Sul state has jumped to 29, with another 60 people missing, according to the state’s civil defense agency. Brazil’s President … more

Associated Press | 5/2/24

FILE - This artist sketch depicts Salah Al-Ejaili, foreground right with glasses, a former Al-Jazeera journalist, before the U.S. District Court in Alexandria, Va., April 16, 2024. Al-Ejaili, a former detainee at the infamous Abu Ghraib Prison, described to jurors the type of abuse that is reminiscent of the scandal that erupted there 20 years ago: beatings, being stripped naked and threatened with dogs, stress positions meant to induce exhaustion and pain. A judge declared a mistrial Thursday, May 2, after a jury said it was deadlocked and could not reach a verdict in the trial of a military contractor accused of contributing to the abuse of detainees at the Abu Ghraib Prison in Iraq two decades ago. (Dana Verkouteren via AP, File)

Judge declares mistrial after jury deadlocks in lawsuit filed by former Abu Ghraib prisoners

A judge declared a mistrial after a jury said it was deadlocked and couldn't reach a verdict in the trial of a military contractor accused of contributing to the abuse of detainees at the Abu Ghraib … more

By MATTHEW BARAKAT | 5/2/24

A convention goer wears a button supporting LGBTQ clergy at the United Methodist Church General Conference Wednesday, May 1, 2024, in Charlotte, N.C. United Methodist delegates repealed their church’s longstanding ban on LGBTQ clergy with no debate on Wednesday, removing a rule forbidding “self-avowed practicing homosexuals” from being ordained or appointed as ministers. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)

United Methodists remove anti-gay language from their official teachings on societal issues

For the past 52 years, the United Methodist Church had officially declared “the practice of homosexuality ... incompatible with Christian teaching.” But that has ended now that church delegates … more

By PETER SMITH | 5/2/24

Dana Pope, with her husband John by her side, holds a photo of her son, Ethan, as she speaks at a news conference at the Georgia Capitol on May 2, 2024, after Gov. Brian Kemp signed a bill to regulate kratom. Extracted from the leaves of a tropical tree native to Southeast Asia, kratom is used to make capsules, powders and liquids. It's often sold in gas stations or smoke shops, marketed as an aid for pain, anxiety and drug dependence.The Popes say their son died after using kratom and that they hope the newly signed legislation will prevent other families from having to go through what they did. (AP Photo/Kate Brumback)

Georgia governor signs law adding regulations for production and sale of herbal supplement kratom

Georgia’s governor has signed a bill putting new regulations on the production and sale of products containing kratom, a plant-based supplement. The law was signed Thursday. It takes effect Jan. 1 … more

By KATE BRUMBACK | 5/2/24

FILE - A pedestrian crosses a street in a shopping district Tuesday, Dec. 26, 2023, in Kansas City, Mo. Pedestrians who are not white ended up in the emergency room for traffic-related injuries at higher proportions than white people, according to a new federal report published Thursday, May 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel, File)

Non-white pedestrians more often end up in the ER for vehicle-related injuries, report shows

Pedestrians who are not white ended up in the emergency room for traffic-related injuries at higher rates than white people. That's according to a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and … more

By KENYA HUNTER | 5/2/24

This image provided by the Pennsylvania Attorney General's Office shows Heather Pressdee. The Pennsylvania nurse who administered lethal or potentially lethal doses of insulin to numerous patients pleaded guilty to three counts of murder and other charges Thursday, May 2, 2024 and sentenced to life in prison. (Pennsylvania Attorney General's Office via AP)

Pennsylvania nurse who gave patients lethal or possibly lethal insulin doses gets life in prison

A Pennsylvania nurse who administered lethal or potentially lethal doses of insulin to numerous patients has pleaded guilty to three counts of murder and other charges and been sentenced to life in … more

By BRUCE SHIPKOWSKI | 5/2/24

This image provided by the Norwalk Police Department shows the scene of a tanker fire on I-95 in Norwalk, Conn., Thursday, May 2, 2024. Both sides of I-95, the East Coast's main north-south highway, were shut down — causing “horrendous” traffic jams — following the early morning crash involving a passenger car, a tractor-trailer and a tanker truck carrying 8,500 gallons (about 32,000 liters) of gasoline. (Norwalk Police Department via AP)

A fiery crash involving tanker carrying gas closes I-95 in Connecticut in both directions

Both sides of I-95, the East Coast’s main north-south highway, have been shut down in southwestern Connecticut. It follows an early morning crash Thursday involving a passenger car, tractor trailer … more

5/2/24

Workers remove wreckage of the collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge, Thursday, April 25, 2024, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

Body of 5th missing worker found more than a month after Baltimore bridge collapse, officials say

Authorities say they've recovered the body of a fifth person who was missing after the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge more than a month ago. The Key Bridge Response Unified Command … more

5/2/24

Demonstrators wave a Georgian national flag standing in front of police block during an opposition protest against a bill near the Parliament building in Tbilisi, Georgia, on Thursday, May 2, 2024. Protesters denounce the bill as "the Russian law" because Moscow uses similar legislation to stigmatize independent news media and organizations critical of the Kremlin. (AP Photo/Zurab Tsertsvadze)

Georgia parliament cancels session after building damaged during huge protests

The parliament of Georgia has cancelled its plenary session following massive protests against a proposed law that critics fear will stifle media freedom and endanger the country’s bid for … more

5/2/24

FILE - Police block streets around the Vladislav Ribnikar school in Belgrade, Serbia, Wednesday, May 3, 2023. A teenage boy opened fire at the school on the morning of May 3, 2023. Eight children and a school guard died, and seven people were wounded. One of the wounded, a child, died from injuries later. A total of 10 people were killed. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic, File)

Serbia prepares to mark school shooting anniversary. A mother says 'everyone rushed to forget'

Serbia is preparing to mark the anniversary of a school shooting last year that killed 10 people. Mother Ninela Radicevic lost her 11-year-old daughter in the tragedy on May 3, 2023. Radicevic told … more

By MARKO DROBNJAKOVIC and JOVANA GEC | 5/2/24