National Business - The Morning Sun

A haze of wildfire smoke hangs over the Upper Rio Grande valley and the mesa-top city of Los Alamos, N.M., on Thursday, May 12, 2022. Public schools and many businesses were closed as a wildfire crept closer to the city and companion national security laboratory. Scientists at Los Alamos National Laboratory are using supercomputers and ingenuity to improve wildfire forecasting and forest management amid drought and climate change in the American West. (AP Photo/Morgan Lee)

Menaced by flames, nuclear lab peers into future of wildfire

Public schools were closed and evacuation bags packed this week as a stubborn wildfire crept toward the city of Los Alamos and its companion U.S. national security lab – where assessing apocalyptic … more

By MORGAN LEE | 5/13/22

FILE -Officers on horseback guard the entrance to designated demonstrator areas near Riverbend Maximum Security Institution as people wait to enter before the scheduled execution of inmate Oscar Smith, Thursday, April 21, 2022, in Nashville, Tenn. Newly released records show at two least two people connected to a planned Tennessee execution that was abruptly put on hold April 21 knew the night before that the lethal injection drugs the state planned to use hadn’t undergone certain required testing. Last month, Gov. Bill Lee abruptly halted inmate Oscar Smith’s execution, citing an “oversight” in the execution process. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey, File)

Records: 2 people in execution knew drugs hadn’t been tested

Newly released records show at two least two people connected to a planned Tennessee execution that was abruptly put on hold April 21 knew the night before that the lethal injection drugs the state … more

By KIMBERLEE KRUESI | 5/13/22

President Joe Biden speaks in the South Court Auditorium on the White House complex in Washington, on May 10, 2022. The Biden administration is taking first steps to release $45 billion to ensure that every American has access to high-speed internet by roughly 2028, inviting governors and other leaders on Friday to start the application process. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

White House releases financial disclosures for Biden, Harris

New reports detail the personal finances of President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris. The disclosures are released annually by the White House for top officials. Biden’s report, which … more

By CHRIS MEGERIAN | 5/13/22

In this courtroom sketch, Frank James, left, the man accused in a mass shooting on a subway train in the Brooklyn borough of New York, is sworn-in during his arraignment in federal court, Friday, May 13, 2022, in New York. His defense attorney Mia Eisner-Grynberg is at center. James, 62, is facing charges of committing a terrorist attack or other violence against a mass transportation system and discharging a firearm during a violent crime. Both counts carry a maximum sentence of life in prison. (AP Photo/Elizabeth Williams)

Man pleads not guilty to NYC subway train shooting

A man charged with shooting up a New York City subway train last month in an attack that wounded 10 people has pleaded not guilty to terrorism and other charges. Frank James entered the plea Friday … more

By TOM HAYS | 5/13/22

RaDonda Vaught listens to proceedings during her sentencing in Nashville, Tenn., on Friday, May 13, 2022. Vaught was found guilty in March of criminally negligent homicide and gross neglect of an impaired adult after she accidentally administered the wrong medication. (Nicole Hester/The Tennessean via AP, Pool)

Nurses to protest sentencing in Tennessee patient-death case

Nurses were traveling from around the country to protest outside the courtroom where a former Tennessee nurse will be sentenced for causing the death of a patient. RaDonda Vaught was found guilty in … more

5/13/22

FILE — Former President Donald Trump speaks from the podium during a campaign rally, May 1, 2022, in Greenwood, Neb. A lawyer for the New York attorney general's office said Friday, May 13, 2022, that the office is "nearing the end" of its three-year investigation into Trump and his business practices. (Kenneth Ferriera/Lincoln Journal Star via AP, File)

New York AG's office says it's nearing end of Trump probe

A lawyer for the New York attorney general’s office said Friday that the office is “nearing the end” of its three-year investigation into former President Donald Trump and his business … more

By MICHAEL R. SISAK | 5/13/22

FILE - Former Vice President Mike Pence speaks at a fundraiser for Carolina Pregnancy Center on Thursday, May 5, 2022, in Spartanburg, S.C. Pence will campaign with Georgia's incumbent Republican Gov. Brian Kemp the day before this month's GOP primary in his most significant political beak with former President Donald Trump to date. (AP Photo/Meg Kinnard, File)

Pence to rally with Kemp in Georgia in break with Trump

Former Vice President Mike Pence will campaign with Georgia’s incumbent Republican Gov. Brian Kemp the day before this month’s GOP primary in his most significant political break with former … more

By JILL COLVIN | 5/13/22

Bitcoin tumbles, a stablecoin plunges in wild week in crypto

It’s been a wild week in crypto, even by crypto standards. Bitcoin tumbled, stablecoins were anything but stable and one of the crypto industry’s highest-profile companies lost a third of its … more

By MATT OTT and KEN SWEET | 5/13/22

Dmytro Kuleba, Foreign Minister of Ukraine, addresses the media during a statement in front of Weissenhaus Castle during the G7 Group of leading democratic economic powers at the Weissenhaus resort in Weissenhaeuser Strand, Germany, Friday, May 13, 2022. In addition to the United States and Germany, the G7 also includes Great Britain, France, Italy, Canada and Japan. The main topic of the meeting is the war in Ukraine. (Marcus Brandt/DPA via AP, Pool)

G7 invoke 'unity' against Russia; EU pledges Ukraine funds

The European Union's foreign affairs chief says the EU is giving Ukraine another $520 million to buy heavy weapons to fend off the Russian invasion. Josep Borrell said the funds would take the … more

By FRANK JORDANS | 5/13/22

Spain signs off on plans to temper volatile energy prices

The Spanish government has approved a new plan aimed at reining in soaring energy prices. It signed off Friday on a temporary cap on natural gas prices that it said would immediately reduce the cost … more

5/13/22

FILE - Part of the Didion Milling Plant in Cambria, Wis., lies in ruins following an explosion in this June 1, 2017 photo,. A federal grand jury has charged a milling company with fraud and conspiracy in connection with the explosion that killed five workers in 2017. Court records indicate the grand jury indictment was announced Thursday, May 12, 2022, against Didion Milling Inc. and company leaders. (John Hart/Wisconsin State Journal via AP, File)

Company charged in deadly 2017 Wisconsin plant explosion

The Justice Department says a federal grand jury has charged a milling company with fraud and conspiracy in connection with an explosion at a Wisconsin corn plant that killed five workers in 2017. … more

By TODD RICHMOND | 5/13/22

Kalush Orchestra from Ukraine singing 'Stefania' performs during the final dress rehearsal at the Eurovision Song Contest in Turin, Italy, Friday, May 13, 2022. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

Ukraine band favored in Eurovision Song Contest final

Ukrainian band Kalush Orchestra and its members' folk-hip hop anthem to their war-torn nation is the oddsmaker’s favorite to win the Eurovision Song Contest. Twenty-five bands are set to compete … more

By COLLEEN BARRY | 5/13/22

This May 2, 2022, photo shows the AES Huntington Beach Energy Center in Huntington Beach, Calif. The AES facility, the proposed site of the Poseidon Huntington Beach Seawater Desalination Plant will face a critical vote by the California Coastal Commission (CCC) on Thursday, May 12. The highly contested project has been debated for more than two decades. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

Amid drought, California desalination project at crossroads

For more than two decades, California’s Orange County has debated whether to build a seaside plant to convert ocean water into drinking water in the hopes of buffering against ever-drier weather … more

By AMY TAXIN | 5/13/22

FILE - A worker sits on his water tank truck next to the business tower Lakhta Centre, the headquarters of Russian gas monopoly Gazprom in St. Petersburg, Russia, Wednesday, April 27, 2022. European gas prices have risen Friday, May 13, 2022 after Russian state-owned exporter Gazprom said it would no longer send supplies to Europe via a pipeline in Poland, citing new sanctions that Moscow imposed on European energy companies. (AP Photo/Dmitri Lovetsky, File)

Russian pipeline sanctions raise fears of gas interruption

European gas prices have risen after Russian state-owned exporter Gazprom said it would no longer send supplies to Europe via a pipeline in Poland, citing new sanctions that Moscow imposed on … more

5/13/22

FILE - Democratic Unionist Party leader Jeffrey Donaldson pauses as he speaks to the media at Parliament Buildings, Stormont, Belfast, Monday, May 9, 2022. Britain and the European Union are once again at loggerheads over Brexit on Wednesday, May 11, 2022. The U.K. government has ramped up threats to scrap parts of its trade treaty with the bloc, saying the rules are preventing the formation of a new government in Northern Ireland. (AP Photo/Peter Morrison, File)

Unionists set to block N Ireland govt over Brexit trade spat

Northern Ireland’s second-biggest political party says it will block the formation of a working Belfast legislature, deepening political deadlock over post-Brexit trade rules. The Democratic … more

By JILL LAWLESS | 5/13/22

Biden administration to release $45B for nationwide internet

The Biden administration is taking the first steps to release $45 billion to ensure every U.S. resident has access to high-speed internet by roughly 2028. The administration is inviting governors and … more

By JOSH BOAK | 5/13/22

FILE - Sri Lanka's former president Mahinda Rajapaksa, left, along with his brothers former defense secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa, center, and former economics development minister Basil Rajapaksa, attend a meeting at their party office with local politicians in Colombo, Sri Lanka, July 4, 2018. With one brother president, another prime minister and three more family members cabinet ministers, it appeared that the Rajapaksa clan had consolidated its grip on power in Sri Lanka after decades in and out of government. With a national debt crisis spiraling out of control, it looks like the dynasty is nearing its end with Prime Minister Mahinda stepping down on Monday, May 9, 2022, and the three Rajapaksas resigning their cabinet posts in April, but the family is not going down without a fight. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena, File)

Sri Lankan power family falls from grace as economy tanks

With one brother president, another prime minister and three more family members cabinet ministers, it appeared that the Rajapaksa clan had consolidated its grip on power in Sri Lanka after decades … more

By DAVID RISING and KRUTIKA PATHI | 5/13/22

A vendor sells take away food near barriers set up to keep customers spread out on Friday, May 13, 2022, in Beijing. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)

Shanghai will try to ease 7-week virus lockdown in few days

An official says Shanghai will try again to reopen in a few days after it has eliminated COVID-19 transmission among the population at large. An outbreak is waning in the city that is now in the … more

5/13/22

FILE— A sign directing where patients can park is displayed outside a medical facility in Sacramento, Calif., Wednesday, April 27, 2022. California lawmakers approved a bill, Thursday, May, 12, 2022, that would increase the amount of money people in California could receive who get hurt because of a doctor's negligence. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli, File)

California lawmakers raise awards for malpractice lawsuits

The California Legislature has voted to increase how much money people can win in medical malpractice lawsuits. Since 1975, the that Californians could win for pain and suffering in a medical … more

By ADAM BEAM | 5/12/22

Starting wages are advertised on a sign in the window of a Taco Bell in Sacramento, Calif., Monday, May 9, 2022. Gov. Gavin Newsom's administration announced on Thursday May 12, 2022, that soaring inflation will trigger an automatic increase in California's minimum wage to $15.50 per hour next year. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)

Inflation triggers California minimum wage increase in 2023

California's minimum wage will increase to $15.50 per hour next year. That increases the minimum wage from $15 per hour for companies with 25 or more workers and $14 per hour for companies with 25 … more

By ADAM BEAM | 5/12/22