National News - The Morning Sun

In this photo released by Uzbekistan's Emergency Ministry Press Service on Thursday, Sept. 28, 2023, firefighters work to extinguish a fire at a site of a warehouse in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. A massive explosion followed by a large blaze occurred early Thursday morning at a warehouse in the Uzbekistan capital Tashkent. (Uzbekistan's Emergency Ministry Press Service via AP)

An explosion following a lightning strike in the Uzbek capital kills 1 person and injures 162

An explosion in the Uzbek capital, Tashkent, has killed a teenage boy and injured at least 162 people. Uzbekistan’s Ministry of Health said a fire broke out after a lightning strike. The Ministry … more

9/28/23

The Capitol is seen late Tuesday night, Sept. 26, in Washington, as lawmakers work to advance appropriations bills on the House floor. The Republican-controlled House and the Democrat-controlled Senate are starkly divided over very different paths to preventing a federal shutdown.

What would a government shutdown mean for me?

NEW YORK (AP) — With gridlock persisting in Washington, a government shutdown is looking more and more likely ahead of Saturday night’s deadline. As the Senate marches ahead with a … more

By Wyatte Grantham-Philips / AP News Writer | 9/28/23

Nebraska’s Republican Gov. Jim Pillen delivers his State of the State, Jan. 25, at the the state Capitol in Lincoln, Neb. Lower-income new mothers will get a full year of Medicaid health-care coverage in Nebraska under an order issued on Wednesday, Sept. 27.

Nebraska to expand Medicaid to cover postpartum care for low-income mothers

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Lower-income new mothers will get a full year of Medicaid health care coverage in Nebraska under an order issued Wednesday by Republican Gov. Jim Pillen. The move … more

by Jim Pillen. Kenneth Ferriera / Lincoln Journal Star | 9/28/23

FILE - Education Secretary Miguel Cardona speaks during an interview with The Associated Press in his office at the Department of Education, Sept. 20, in Washington. A new federal rule threatens to cut federal money to college programs that consistently leave graduates with low pay or unaffordable debt. The gainful employment rule finalized by the Biden administrations on Wednesday applies mostly to for-profit colleges, along with certificate programs at traditional universities.

New rule will cut federal money to college programs that leave grads with high debt, low pay

WASHINGTON (AP) — College programs that consistently leave graduates with low pay or unaffordable loans will lose access to federal money under a new rule being finalized by the Biden … more

By Collin Binkley | AP News Writer | 9/28/23

Timothy Kinyua unloads sacks of onions from Ethiopia at an open market in Nairobi, Kenya Tuesday, Sept. 12, 2023. Restrictions on the export of the vegetable by neighboring Tanzania has led prices to triple. The prices for onions from Tanzania were the highest in seven years, Kinyua said. Some traders have adjusted by getting produce from Ethiopia. (AP Photo/Brian Inganga)

Food prices are rising as countries limit exports. Blame climate change, El Nino and Russia's war

Restrictions on food exports are spilling over from rice and wheat to other essentials. This ranges from Tanzania's limits on shipping onions to its neighbors and Morocco's restrictions on tomatoes … more

By ANIRUDDHA GHOSAL, EVELYNE MUSAMBI and JOEAL CALUPITAN | 9/28/23

FILE - Police and other first responders work the scene where officials say dozens of people have been found dead and multiple others were taken to hospitals with heat-related illnesses after a tractor-trailer containing suspected migrants was found on June 27, 2022, in San Antonio. One of six men charged in Texas over 53 migrants who died last year in the sweltering tractor-trailer has pleaded guilty for his role in the nation's deadliest human smuggling attempt from Mexico, federal prosecutors said Wednesday, Sept. 27, 2023. (AP Photo/Eric Gay, File)

Man pleads guilty to smuggling-related charges over Texas deaths of 53 migrants in tractor-trailer

One of six men charged in Texas over 53 migrants who died last year in a sweltering tractor-trailer has pleaded guilty to smuggling-related charges. Prosecutors said Monday that Christian Martinez … more

9/27/23

FILE - This undated file photo provided by the Chaffee County Sheriff's Office shows Barry Morphew in Salida, Colo. Agents with the Colorado Bureau of Investigation found the remains of Suzanne Morphew, 49, during an unrelated search near the small southern Colorado town of Moffat on Friday, and she was positively identified Wednesday, Sept. 27, 2023. Morphew's husband, Barry Morphew, was charged in her presumed death, but prosecutors dropped charges against him last year just as he was about to go on trial. (Chaffee County Sheriff's Office via AP, File)

Remains found of Colorado woman Suzanne Morphew, who went missing on Mother's Day 2020

Searchers have found the remains of a woman who was reported missing on Mother’s Day in 2020 after she did not return from a bike ride near her home in southern Colorado. Agents with the Colorado … more

9/27/23

Actor and SAG-AFTRA negotiator Frances Fisher, middle, raises her sign on a picket line outside Netflix studios on Tuesday, Sep. 26, 2023, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

In Hollywood writers' battle against AI, humans win (for now)

After a 148-day strike, Hollywood screenwriters secured significant guardrails against the use of artificial intelligence in one of the first major labor battles over generative AI in the workplace. … more

By JAKE COYLE | 9/27/23

FILE - Residents, landowners and supporters of the Hogg Hummock community on Sapelo Island fill a courtroom, Sept. 12, 2023, in Darien, Ga. Two weeks after local officials weakened restrictions that for decades protected the tiny Georgia island community populated by the descendants of enslaved people, its Black residents hope to force a vote that would give them a chance to override the zoning changes at the ballot box. Hogg Hummock residents and their supporters launched a petition drive Tuesday, Sept. 26, aimed at forcing a referendum on the zoning changes. (AP Photo/Russ Bynum, File)

Slaves' descendants seek a referendum to veto zoning changes they say threaten their Georgia island

Lifelong residents of a tiny Georgia island who are descended from slaves are pushing to give voters a chance to override local zoning changes that they say threaten one of the last Gullah-Geechee … more

By RUSS BYNUM | 9/27/23

Rex Heuermann appears with his lawyer Michael J. Brown, left, at Suffolk County Court in Riverhead, N.Y., on Wednesday, Sept. 27, 2023. Heuermann was charged last month in the deaths of three women and is the prime suspect in a fourth. (James Carbone /Newsday via AP)

Prosecutors say cheek swab from Gilgo Beach murder suspect adds to evidence of guilt

Prosecutors say DNA from Gilgo Beach serial killing suspect Rex Heuermann’s cheek swab matches the DNA that authorities had previously collected from a pizza crust and used to link Heuermann to one … more

9/27/23

FILE - Union Pacific's Englewood rail yard is seen, Aug. 12, 2022, in Houston. On Wednesday, Sept. 27, 2023, Houston officials approved $5 million for a fund to help relocate residents from neighborhoods located near the rail yard polluted by a cancer-linked wood preservative that has been blamed for an increase in cancer cases. Creosote, which has been associated with an increased risk of contracting cancer, was used for more than 80 years at the site until the 1980s. City officials say the contamination has reached the groundwater in the neighborhoods. (Jon Shapley/Houston Chronicle via AP, File)

Houston approves $5M to relocate residents living near polluted Union Pacific rail yard

Houston officials have approved $5 million for a fund to help relocate residents from neighborhoods located near a rail yard polluted by a cancer-linked wood preservative that has been blamed for an … more

By JUAN A. LOZANO | 9/27/23

Jai Paul performs at the Mayan Theatre, Tuesday, Sept. 26, 2023, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)

At Jai Paul's kickoff show, an elusive pop phenomenon proves his stardom in a live arena

On Tuesday night, the elusive pop producer Jai Paul opened his tour leg at the Los Angeles' Mayan Theater. He’d only performed a handful of times before, and never before this year. Paul’s been … more

By MARIA SHERMAN | 9/27/23

FILE - Protesters rally at the Ohio Statehouse in support of abortion rights after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe vs. Wade, June 24, 2022, in Columbus, Ohio. Ohio Supreme Court justices vigorously questioned the state's lawyer Wednesday, Sept. 27, 2023, about a legal strategy that Ohio is attempting in hopes of resuming enforcement of a ban on abortion except in the earliest weeks of pregnancy. (Barbara J. Perenic/The Columbus Dispatch via AP, File)

Ohio wants to resume enforcing its abortion law. Justices are weighing the legal arguments

Ohio Supreme Court justices have questioned the state’s lawyer about a legal strategy that Ohio is attempting in hopes of resuming enforcement of a ban on abortion except in the earliest weeks of … more

By JULIE CARR SMYTH | 9/27/23

FILE - Senate committee on Human Rights committee member Sen. Yvonne Boyer responds to a question from the media during a news conference, Thursday, July 14, 2022 in Ottawa. Boyer, who has proposed law that would make forced sterilization itself a crime, said the long history of mistrust between Indigenous people and the police made it difficult for many victims to pursue criminal prosecution. “If a police officer becomes aware of a crime being committed, they have an obligation to investigate,” Boyer said. “Why would it be any different for an Indigenous woman being sterilized without consent?” (Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press via AP, File)

Canadian police won't investigate doctor for sterilizing Indigenous woman

Police in Canada say they will not pursue a criminal investigation into a recent case in which a doctor sterilized an Inuit woman without her consent. The Canadian government says anyone who commits … more

By MARIA CHENG | 9/27/23

In this photo taken from video released by Roscosmos space corporation, a Russian Soyuz MS-23 space capsule descends about 150 km (90 miles) south-east of the Kazakh town of Zhezkazgan, Kazakhstan, Wednesday, Sept. 27, 2023. The Soyuz capsule carrying NASA astronaut Frank Rubio, Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergey Prokopyev, and Dmitri Petelin, touched down on Wednesday on the steppes of Kazakhstan. (Roscosmos space corporation via AP)

Three astronauts return to Earth after a year in space. NASA's Frank Rubio sets US space record

A NASA astronaut and two Russians are back on Earth after being stuck in space for just over a year. The trio landed in Kazakhstan on Wednesday, descending in a Soyuz capsule that was rushed up as a … more

By MARCIA DUNN | 9/27/23

Groups of teenagers swarmed into stores in Philadelphia's Center City on Tuesday, stuffing plastic bags with merchandise and fleeing, although police made arrests, authorities and witnesses said. (Sept. 27)

Over 100 masked teens ransack Philadelphia stores and arrests are made, police say

Police and witnesses say groups of teenagers swarmed into stores in Philadelphia’s Center City, stuffing plastic bags with merchandise and fleeing. Police made several arrests. Police say an Apple … more

9/27/23

Sen. Bob Menendez speaks during a press conference on Monday, Sept. 25, 2023, in Union City, N.J. Menendez and his wife have been indicted on charges of bribery. (AP Photo/Andres Kudacki)

Sen. Bob Menendez will appear in court in his bribery case as he rejects calls to resign

New Jersey Sen. Bob Menendez is due in court to answer to federal charges alleging the Democrat used his powerful post to secretly advance Egyptian interests and carry out other favors for New Jersey … more

By LARRY NEUMEISTER and ALANNA DURKIN RICHER | 9/27/23

CORRECTS SPELLING OF LAST NAME TO VIERRA INSTEAD OF VERA - Leola Vierra looks at the remnants of her home for the first time, Tuesday, Sept. 26, 2023, in Lahaina, Hawaii. The Vierras are among the couple dozen residents who are able to return to their property in Zone 1-C following August's deadly wildfire. Authorities in Maui strongly encouraged homeowners to wear protective gear provided by nonprofit groups when visiting their properties to protect against asbestos, lead and other toxic remains of the wildfire. (AP Photo/Mengshin Lin)

Lahaina family finds heirloom in rubble of their home on first visit after deadly wildfire

Among the first families to return to the burn zone in Lahaina is that of Leola Vierra, who spent nearly 50 years living in a home she designed before it burned down Aug. 8 in the deadliest U.S. … more

By AUDREY McAVOY and GENE JOHNSON | 9/26/23

This photo provided by the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum shows an ambrotype image of President Abraham Lincoln circa 1858. During his U.S. Senate campaign against Stephen A. Douglas, Lincoln sat for a photograph after politicking in western Illinois and presented one of the copies to a man severely injured while testing a campaign-rally cannon whose life was spared by flesh-eating maggots. That is the unlikely, ghastly background of this original 1858 ambrotype of the future nation-saving Civil War president which the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum has added to its collection, officials said Monday, Sept. 25, 2023. (Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum via AP)

An Abe Lincoln photo made during his 1858 ascendancy has been donated to his museum in Illinois

The Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum has obtained an original 1858 photograph of the future president with an interesting backstory. Abraham Lincoln gave the image as a memento to a … more

By JOHN O'CONNOR | 9/26/23

FILE - Baimadajie Angwang is interviewed at the Law Office of John F. Carman, Esq., Wednesday, Feb. 1, 2023, in Garden City, N.Y. Angwang, a suspended New York City police officer who had been accused -- then later cleared -- of spying for China is fighting to be reinstated, but the department wants him fired for refusing to be interrogated by the bureau of internal affairs exploring possible disciplinary action. (AP Photo/John Minchillo, File)

With spying charges behind him, NYPD officer now fighting to be reinstated

A suspended New York City police officer who had been accused of spying for China — and later cleared — is fighting to be reinstated. But the police department wants him fired for refusing to be … more

By BOBBY CAINA CALVAN | 9/26/23