National News - The Morning Sun

FILE - Picketers demonstrate outside Paramount Pictures studio on Wednesday, Sept. 27, 2023, in Los Angeles. Unions commanded big headlines last year, but that didn’t translate into higher membership numbers, according to government data released Tuesday, Jan. 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello, File)

US unions flexed their muscles last year, but membership rates failed to grow

Unions commanded big headlines last year, but that didn’t translate into higher membership numbers, according to government data released Tuesday. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics said 10% of … more

By DEE-ANN DURBIN | 1/23/24

Microsoft and others are making new tools to help small businesses capitalize on A.I.

The influx of generative artificial intelligence software is transforming small businesses. Small business owners are using A.I. tools like OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Google’s Bard and others to check … more

By MAE ANDERSON | 1/23/24

This image taken from video provided by WTVG shows Pastor of Dad's Place Chris Avell, right, sitting inside Bryan Municipal Court on Thursday, Jan. 11, 2024, in Bryan, Ohio. The Christian church filed a federal lawsuit Monday, Jan. 22, after being charged with violating the zoning laws in the northwestern Ohio city by opening up the church around-the-clock for homeless residents and others to find shelter. (WTVG via AP)

A pastor and a small Ohio city tussle over the legality of his 24/7 homeless ministry

A Christian church in Ohio is suing after its pastor was charged with violating city ordinances when he opened up the sanctuary around the clock for homeless people and others to find shelter. Police … more

By PATRICK ORSAGOS and MARK SCOLFORO | 1/23/24

FILE - Photographer Evgeniy Maloletka, from left, "Frontline" producer/editor Michelle Mizner, director Mstyslav Chernov, and field producer Vasilisa Stepanenko pose for a portrait to promote the film "20 Days in Mariupol" at the Latinx House during the Sundance Film Festival on Sunday, Jan. 22, 2023, in Park City, Utah. The film is a joint project between The Associated Press and PBS "Frontline." (Photo by Taylor Jewell/Invision/AP, File)

Oscar nomination for '20 Days in Mariupol' is a first for the 178-year-old Associated Press

“20 Days in Mariupol,” Mstyslav Chernov’s harrowing chronicle of the besieged Ukrainian city and the international journalists who remained there after Russia invaded, has been nominated for … more

By JAKE COYLE | 1/23/24

FILE. - This photo provided by Missouri Department of Corrections shows Brian Dorsey. Sixty corrections officers and other staffers at the Missouri Department of Corrections are urging Gov. Mike Parson to spare the life of Brian Dorsey, a death row inmate scheduled to be executed in April for killing two people in 2006. A letter to Parson from the group says Dorsey has been a well-behaved inmate who deserves clemency. (Missouri Department of Corrections via AP, file)

60 Missouri corrections officers, staffers urging governor to halt execution of 'model inmate'

Dozens of Missouri Department of Corrections staff members are urging Gov. Mike Parson to grant clemency to a man scheduled to die in April for killing his cousin and her husband, with a former … more

1/23/24

Palestinians who flee from Khan Younis from Israeli ground and air offensive on the Gaza Strip arrive in Rafah, southern Gaza, Monday, Jan. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Fatima Shbair)

Live updates | 21 Israeli soldiers are killed in Gaza as criticism of war's handling rises at home

The Israeli army says 21 soldiers were killed in the Gaza Strip in the deadliest attack on its troops since the war began three months ago. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to press ahead … more

By The Associated Press | 1/23/24

FILE _ "I Voted" stickers are ready to be distributed to each person who filled out a ballot, Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2022, in Brandon, Miss. The New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals was scheduled to hear arguments Tuesday, Jan. 23, 2024, over whether Mississippi can continue to permanently strip voting rights from people convicted of certain felonies. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis, File)

Can Mississippi permanently strip felons of voting rights? 19 federal judges will hear the case

More than a dozen federal appellate judges are scheduled to hear arguments on whether Mississippi can continue to permanently strip voting rights from people convicted of certain felonies. The … more

By KEVIN McGILL | 1/23/24

A "Lewiston Strong" sign, which is archived with other memorial items from the Lewiston shooting sites, is displayed at the Maine Museum of Innovation, Learning and Labor, Wednesday, Dec. 27, 2023, in Lewiston, Maine. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

Business owners thought they would never reopen after Maine's deadliest shooting. Then support grew

Immediately after Maine’s deadliest mass shooting, the owners of the bowling alley and the bar in Lewiston where the gunman killed a total of 18 people were certain their doors were closed for … more

By NICK PERRY | 1/23/24

FILE - District Attorney for Fulton County, Fani Willis speaks during an interview with The Associated Press on Dec. 12, 2023, in Atlanta. Accusations that Willis had an inappropriate relationship with a special prosecutor she hired to seek convictions of Donald Trump and others for interfering in Georgia's 2020 election have led to renewed calls to remove Willis from the case.(AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)

Could Georgia's Fani Willis be removed from prosecuting Donald Trump?

Accusations that Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis had an affair with a special prosecutor she hired to seek convictions of Donald Trump and others for interfering in Georgia’s 2020 … more

By JEFF AMY and KATE BRUMBACK | 1/23/24

FILE - In this Feb. 8, 2022, photo, Jennifer and James Crumbley, the parents of Ethan Crumbley, appear in court in Rochester Hills, Mich. The mother of the Michigan school shooter is headed to trial on involuntary manslaughter charges. Prosecutors are trying to pin criminal responsibility on Ethan Crumbley's parents in the deaths of four students at Oxford High School in 2021. Jennifer and James Crumbley are not accused of knowing their son planned to kill fellow students. But prosecutors say they were grossly negligent by making a gun accessible to Ethan Crumbley and ignoring his mental health needs. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya, file)

Michigan school shooter's mother to stand trial for manslaughter in 4 student deaths

The mother of a Michigan school shooter is headed to trial on involuntary manslaughter charges. Prosecutors are trying to pin criminal responsibility on Ethan Crumbley's parents in the deaths of four … more

By ED WHITE | 1/23/24

A woman walks by cars damaged by floods during a rainstorm in San Diego on Monday, Jan. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Denis Poroy)

Flash floods inundate homes and overturn cars in San Diego as heavy rains sweep through much of US

Flash floods inundated homes and overturned cars in Southern California as torrential rain swept through a large swath of the U.S. Over a three-hour period on Monday, a whopping 3 inches of rain fell … more

By DENIS POROY and CHRISTOPHER WEBER | 1/22/24

FILE - This Oct. 9, 2014, file photo shows the gurney in the the execution chamber at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester, Okla. An execution scheduled Thursday, Jan. 24, 2024 in Alabama would be the first in the nation in which an inmate is put to death using nitrogen gas. It follows a long history of problems with lethal injection since Texas first used the method in 1982. Numerous other states that use lethal injection have encountered various problems. These include difficulty finding usable veins, needles becoming disengaged or problems obtaining or using the lethal chemicals. Alabama, Oklahoma and Mississippi all have authorized the untested use of nitrogen gas to execute prisoners, although none has actually used it. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki, File)

Why are states like Alabama, which is planning to use nitrogen gas, exploring new execution methods?

An Alabama execution this week would be the first in the nation to use nitrogen gas. It follows a long history of problems with lethal injection since Texas first used the method in 1982. Numerous … more

By SEAN MURPHY | 1/22/24

Snowmobile riders stop on a trail in Danville, Vt., Sunday, Jan. 21, 2024. In Vermont, temperatures in the single digits to low teens didn’t stop ice anglers and snowmobilers from their sport, and young ski jumpers braved the cold as they competed in northern New Hampshire. (AP Photo/Lisa Rathke)

Memphis residents are on day 4 of a boil water notice while ice hits Arkansas and Missouri

The 600,000 residents of Memphis, Tennessee, are on their fourth day of living under a boil water notice. On Monday, repair crews were working to fix broken pipes that caused low water pressure … more

By ADRIAN SAINZ | 1/22/24

A Palestinian woman cries as she sits next to her girl wounded in the Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip while receiving treatment at the Nasser hospital in Khan Younis, Southern Gaza Strip, Monday, Jan. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Mohammed Dahman)

Live updates | Gaza loses phone and internet, and Israeli families push for hostage release deal

Relatives of more than 100 Israeli hostages still held in Gaza stepped up their protests by disrupting a parliament committee meeting, yelling “You won’t sit here while they are dying there!” … more

By The Associated Press | 1/22/24

FILE - Members of the California Faculty Association rally and picket during a strike at California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, on Monday, Dec. 4, 2023, in Pomona, Calif. More than 30,000 professors, librarians, plumbers, electricians, and other workers at California State University, the largest public university system in the U.S., are set to start a weeklong strike on Monday, Jan. 22, 2024, the beginning of the spring semester. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis, File)

California State University faculty launch weeklong strike across 23 campuses

More than 30,000 professors, librarians, plumbers, electricians and other workers in the California State University system have launched a weeklong strike. They’re demanding higher wages, more … more

By OLGA R. RODRIGUEZ | 1/22/24

Russian President Vladimir Putin listens to Ruslan Baysarov, Chairman of the Board of Group of companies Bamtonnelstroy-Most, back to a camera, during their meeting at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, Thursday, Jan. 18, 2024. Baikal-Amur Railway Group of companies Bamtonnelstroy-Most is the largest construction enterprise in Russia with a half-century history that implements federal-scale infrastructure projects throughout the country from Kaliningrad to Vladivostok. (Gavriil Grigorov, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)

Pro-Putin campaign amasses 95 cardboard boxes filled with petitions backing his presidential run

Vladimir Putin’s campaign has presented scores of boxes filled with signed petitions supporting his run in Russia's March presidential election, which he's almost certain to win. Putin is closely … more

By The Associated Press | 1/22/24

Health officials prepare to vaccinate residents of the Malawi village of Migowi, Tuesday, Dec. 10, 2019 where young children become test subjects for the world's first vaccine against malaria. Cameroon is beginning the world's first routine immunization program against malaria for children, a move that experts hope will mark the start of a campaign across Africa to dampen the impact of the parasitic disease. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay)

Cameroon starts world's first malaria vaccine program for children

Cameroon will be the first country to routinely give children a new malaria vaccine as the shots are rolled out in Africa. The campaign is due to begin Monday in the Central African nation. It's … more

By The Associated Press | 1/22/24

FILE - In this undated photo released by the U.S Department of Justice is a sign used by a 13-year-old girl kidnapped in Texas. On Friday, Jan. 19, 2024, a statement received from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Central District of California said Steven Robert Sablan, 62, of Cleburne, Texas, admitted in a plea agreement that he sexually assaulted the victim while driving her from Texas to California. (U.S. Department of Justice via AP, File)

Texas man pleads guilty to kidnapping teen whose 'Help Me!' sign led to Southern California rescue

A Texas man has pleaded guilty to kidnapping a 13-year-old girl who was rescued in California last year when a passerby saw her hold up a “Help Me!” sign in a parked car. The U.S. Attorney’s … more

1/21/24

FILE - Alabama's lethal injection chamber at Holman Correctional Facility in Atmore, Ala., is pictured in this Oct. 7, 2002 file photo. Kenneth Smith, 58, is scheduled to be executed Jan. 25, 2024, at a south Alabama prison by nitrogen gas, a method that has never been used to put a person to death. The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals will hear arguments Friday, Jan. 19, in Smith's bid to stop the execution from going forward. (AP Photo/File)

Alabama plans to carry out first nitrogen gas execution. How will it work and what are the risks?

Alabama is preparing to attempt the nation’s first execution using nitrogen gas. Kenneth Eugene Smith, 58, is scheduled to be put to death Thursday by nitrogen hypoxia. The state plans to use a … more

By KIM CHANDLER | 1/21/24

FILE - The embalmed body of Vladimir Lenin, the founder of the Soviet Union, is seen on display in his mausoleum on Moscow's Red Square, Russia, on Wednesday, April 16, 1997. This year marks the 100th anniversary of his death. While he remains lauded by Communists with his body still on view, he is more of a curiosity than a leading force in Russia. (AP Photo/Sergei Karpukhin, File)

A century after Lenin's death, the USSR's founder seems to be an afterthought in modern Russia

A century after the death of Vladimir Lenin, the founder of the Soviet Union is largely an afterthought in modern Russia. The once-omnipresent face with the goatee and the intense gaze glares only … more

By JIM HEINTZ | 1/21/24