National News - The Morning Sun

Bishop John Wesley Yohanna of the United Methodist Church delivers a message to church members Dec. 10, 2023, at the church's headquarters in Jalingo, Nigeria, during a celebration of 100 years of Methodism in the country. The bishop invited the congregation to remember the early missionaries and the sacrifices they made. But separately, he has said the Nigeria church may split from the denomination over differences on ordination of LGBTQ people and same-sex marriage. (Ezekiel Ibrahim Maisamari/UM News via AP)

As a landmark United Methodist gathering approaches, African churches weigh their future.

The United Methodist Church lost one-fourth of its U.S. churches in a recent schism, with conservatives departing over disputes on sexuality and theology. Now the question is whether the church can … more

By PETER SMITH | 4/13/24

Demonstrators at the University of Michigan Diag protest the university's draft Disruptive Activity Policy on Thursday, April 4, 2024, in Ann Arbor. A University of Michigan proposal aimed at deterring disruptions on its Ann Arbor campus after anti-Israel protesters interrupted an honors convocation is sparking backlash from free speech advocates. (Zena Issa/Michigan Public Radio via AP)

Some fear University of Michigan proposed policy on protests could quell free speech efforts

A University of Michigan proposal aimed at deterring disruptions on its Ann Arbor campus after anti-Israel protesters interrupted an honors convocation is sparking backlash from free speech … more

By COREY WILLIAMS | 4/13/24

FILE - Towers view over the High Desert State Prison in Indian Springs, Nev., April 15, 2015. The mother of a Nevada prisoner who died in custody in April 2023 alleges in a new lawsuit filed late Thursday, April 11, 2024, that her son, Christian Walker, was violently beaten by prison guards and left to die at High Desert State Prison near Las Vegas. (AP Photo/John Locher, File)

Mother of Nevada prisoner claims in lawsuit that prison staff covered up her son's fatal beating

The mother of a Nevada prisoner who died in custody has filed a wrongful death lawsuit calling into question the coroner's narrative that her son died of heart problems. The lawsuit filed late … more

By GABE STERN and RIO YAMAT | 4/12/24

FILE - Manuel Rocha stands for a portrait at Steel Hector & Davis in Miami in January 2003, joining the firm to help open doors in Latin America. Former career U.S. diplomat Rocha was sentenced Friday, April 12, 2024, to 15 years in federal prison after admitting he worked for decades as a secret agent for communist Cuba, a plea agreement that leaves many unanswered questions about a betrayal that stunned the U.S. foreign service. (Raul Rubiera/Miami Herald via AP, File)

Former US ambassador sentenced to 15 years in prison for serving as secret agent for Cuba

A former career U.S. diplomat has been sentenced to 15 years in federal prison after admitting he worked for decades as a secret agent for communist Cuba. Manuel Rocha was sentenced Friday after … more

By GISELA SALOMON and JIM MUSTIAN | 4/12/24

Buildings associated with Memorial Hermann Hospital and medical complex are visible Friday, April 12, 2024 in the Medical Center district of Houston. Memorial Hermann-Texas Medical Center has halted its liver transplant and kidney transplant programs. The Houston Chronicle reported Thursday that the hospital discovered a doctor manipulated records for liver transplant candidates. (Kirk Sides/Houston Chronicle via AP)

Houston hospital halts liver and kidney transplants after learning a doctor manipulated some records

A Houston hospital says it has halted its liver and kidney transplant programs after discovering a doctor manipulated records for liver transplant candidates. Memorial Hermann-Texas Medical Center … more

4/12/24

This photo provided by U.S. Coast Guard shows HELP" spelled out with palm fronds by three stranded mariners on Pikelot Atoll, Yap State, Federated States of Micronesia, Monday, April 8, 2024. The three mariners are safe after the coordination of U.S. Coast Guard Forces Micronesia/Sector Guam and the U.S. Navy, after being stranded for more than a week. (U.S. Coast Guard photo)

'HELP' sign on beach points rescuers to men stuck nine days on remote Pacific atoll

The U.S. Coast Guard says three men stranded on an uninhabited Pacific atoll survived for over a week before being rescued. The fishermen got in trouble after their boat hit a coral reef and took on … more

By MEAD GRUVER | 4/12/24

FILE - Walt Nauta, center, valet to former president Donald Trump, his attorney Stanley Woodward, rear, and Carlos De Oliveira, foreground, the property manager of Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate, leave the Alto Lee Adams Sr. U.S. Courthouse, Aug. 10, 2023, in Fort Pierce, Fla. Lawyers for Nauta and De Oliveira are set to ask U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon during a Friday, April 12, 2024, hearing to throw out charges of conspiring with Trump to obstruct an FBI investigation into the hoarding of classified documents at the former president's Palm Beach estate. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee, File)

Trump's co-defendants in classified documents case are asking judge to dismiss charges against them

Lawyers for two co-defendants of former President Donald Trump in the Florida classified documents case are asking a judge to dismiss charges against them. Trump valet Walt Nauta and Mar-a-Lago … more

By STEPHANY MATAT and ERIC TUCKER | 4/12/24

FILE - Children's Defense Fund Program Director Graciela Camarena assists Lucia Salazar with filling out Medicaid and SNAP application forms for her family in Pharr, Texas, Nov. 13, 2023. Almost a quarter of people who were dropped from Medicaid during the post-pandemic eligibility reviews are still uninsured and high costs are preventing them from getting on another plan, a new survey showed Friday, April 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Michael Gonzalez, File)

One-fourth of people dropped from Medicaid still aren't insured, survey shows

A new survey shows that almost a quarter of people who have been dropped from Medicaid during post-pandemic eligibility reviews are still uninsured. High costs also are preventing many from getting … more

By DEVNA BOSE | 4/12/24

A woman views the solar eclipse in Times Square, Monday, April 8, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Peter K. Afriyie)

AP Week in Pictures: North America

April 5 - 11, 2024 People across North America watch a total solar eclipse, members of the Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square perform during a conference in Salt Lake City, and a rainbow forms … more

By The Associated Press | 4/11/24

Morgan Geyser is led out Waukesha County Circuit Court after day 1 of a motion hearing on Wednesday, April 10, 2024, in Waukesha, Wis. Two psychologists testified Wednesday that Geyser, who at age 12 stabbed a sixth-grade classmate nearly to death to please the online horror character Slender Man, should not be released yet from a psychiatric hospital. (Scott Ash/Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel via AP)

Wisconsin woman who at 12 nearly killed girl won't be released yet from psychiatric hospital

A judge has turned down a request to release a Wisconsin woman from a psychiatric hospital, a decade after she nearly killed a girl at age 12. Morgan Geyser is now 21 and no longer takes … more

By ED WHITE | 4/11/24

This booking photo provided by the Austin, Texas, Police Department shows Raul Meza Jr. The convicted murderer released from a Texas prison in 1993 and now facing two new murder charges, offered a plea deal Thursday, April 11, 2024 of 50 years back in prison to avoid a new trial and the possibility of the death penalty. (Austin Police Department via AP)

Convicted murderer charged in two new Texas killings offers to return to prison in plea

A convicted murderer who was released early from a Texas prison in 1993 and now faces two new murder charges has offered to enter a plea and to return to prison for 50 years in exchange for avoiding … more

By JIM VERTUNO | 4/11/24

Witness Wayne Eigabroadt, a former police officer who also worked in the Youth Detention Services Unit, gets questioned by attorney David Vicinanzo during David Meehan's trial at Rockingham Superior Court in Brentwood, N.H., Wednesday, April 10, 2024. (David Lane/Union Leader via AP, Pool)

Lawyers defending youth center against abuse allegations highlight former resident's misbehavior

Attorneys defending the state of New Hampshire have begun highlighting the past misdeeds of man who says he suffered horrific physical and sexual abuse as a teenager at the state’s youth detention … more

By HOLLY RAMER | 4/11/24

Massive attack destroys one of Ukraine's largest power plants

Officials say a massive missile and drone attack has destroyed one of Ukraine’s largest power plants and damaged others. It was part of a renewed Russian campaign targeting energy infrastructure. … more

By HANNA ARHIROVA | 4/11/24

FILE - A general view of National Stadium during an athletics test event for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics Games in Tokyo, on May 9, 2021. Track and field is set to become the first sport to introduce prize money at the Olympics, with World Athletics saying Wednesday, April 10, 2024, it would pay $50,000 to gold medalists in Paris. The modern Olympics originated as an amateur sports event and the IOC does not award prize money, though many medalists receive payments from their countries' governments, national sports bodies or from sponsors. The United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee awarded $37,500 for gold medalists at the last Summer Games in Tokyo in 2021. (AP Photo/Shuji Kajiyama, File)

$50K Olympic track prize the latest in a long, conflicted relationship between athletes and money

Since the day they were founded, the Olympics have had a confusing relationship with money. The games were supposed to celebrate sport for sport’s sake. But the price athletes paid to be any good … more

By EDDIE PELLS | 4/11/24

FILE - Georgia Lt. Gov. candidate Burt Jones participates in a Republican primary debate, May 3, 2022, in Atlanta. A special prosecutor has been assigned to look into whether Georgia Lt. Gov. Jones should face criminal charges over efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election in the state. The Prosecuting Attorneys' Council of Georgia announced Thursday, April 11, 2024, that its executive director, Pete Skandalakis, will handle the matter. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson, Pool, File)

Prosecutor to decide if Georgia lieutenant governor should be charged in election meddling case

A special prosecutor has been assigned to look into whether Georgia Lt. Gov. Burt Jones should face criminal charges over efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election. The Prosecuting … more

By KATE BRUMBACK | 4/11/24

FILE - Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny gestures as he stands in a cage in the Babuskinsky District Court in Moscow, Russia, Saturday, Feb. 20, 2021. A memoir Alexei Navalny began working on in 2020 will be published this fall. "Patriot," which publisher Alfred A. Knopf is calling the late Russian opposition leader's "final letter to the world," will come out Oct. 22. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko, File)

Posthumous memoir by Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny to be published Oct. 22

A memoir Alexei Navalny began working on in 2020 will be published this fall. “Patriot,” which publisher Alfred A. Knopf is calling the late Russian opposition leader’s “final letter to the … more

4/11/24

FILE - Waters flows by, June 3, 2016, after a portion of Texas State Highway 6, west of Cisco, Texas, got completely washed away the previous day by flowing water going over the spillway of Lake Cisco. The Biden administration on Thursday, April 11, 2024, awarded $830 million in grants to fund 80 projects aimed at toughening the nation's aging infrastructure against the harmful impacts of climate change. (Tommy Metthe/The Abilene Reporter-News via AP, File)

Biden awards $830 million to toughen nation's infrastructure against climate change

The Biden administration is handing out almost $830 million in grants for 80 projects around the country aimed at toughening infrastructure against the extreme weather of climate change. The money … more

By ALEXA ST. JOHN | 4/11/24

Dusty Farr talks with his transgender daughter at a park near Smithville, Mo., Sunday, Feb. 25, 2024. Farr is suing the Platt County School District after his daughter was suspended for using the girl's bathroom at the Missouri high school she attended. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

As his trans daughter struggles, a father pushes past his prejudice. ‘It was like a wake-up’

Dusty Farr used to be someone else. Before his transgender daughter was suspended after using the girls’ bathroom at her Missouri high school. Before the bullying and the suicide attempts. Before … more

By HEATHER HOLLINGSWORTH | 4/11/24

Russian officials scrambled to help people displaced by floods as water levels rose in the Ural River, authorities said Wednesday.

Water levels rise and homes flood in Russia after a dam bursts near the Kazakhstan border

Russian officials are scrambling to help homeowners displaced by floods, as water levels have risen in the Ural River. Floods in the Orenburg region near Russia’s border with Kazakhstan sparked the … more

By The Associated Press | 4/10/24

The exterior of the Montecito Apartments complex is pictured in Los Angeles, Wednesday, April 10, 2024. A woman who authorities say fatally stabbed her partner inside their home in the complex Monday, then threw her two children from a moving SUV onto the freeway, killing her infant daughter, appeared to be agitated by the impending eclipse. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

Mom who threw 2 kids onto LA freeway, killing her infant, appeared agitated by impending eclipse

A woman who authorities say fatally stabbed her partner at their Los Angeles apartment Monday then threw her two children from a moving SUV onto the freeway, killing her infant daughter, appeared to … more

By STEFANIE DAZIO and CHRISTOPHER WEBER | 4/10/24