National News - The Morning Sun

Civil defense workers search for survivors inside an apartment following a massive explosion in the southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, Jan. 2, 2024. The TV station of Lebanon's Hezbollah group says top Hamas official Saleh Arouri was killed Tuesday in an explosion in a southern Beirut suburb.(AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

With every strike and counterstrike, Israel, the US and Iran's allies inch closer to all-out war

In the last week alone, Israel has killed a senior Hamas militant in an airstrike in Beirut, Hezbollah has fired barrages of rockets into Israel, the U.S. has killed a militia commander in Baghdad … more

By JOSEPH KRAUSS | 1/8/24

FILE - The exterior of the Georgia State Building seen from Liberty Plaza in downtown Atlanta, April 6, 2020. Georgia lawmakers are beginning their 2024 session on Monday, Jan. 8, 2024. (Alyssa Pointer/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP, File)

Lawsuit limits and antisemitism are among topics Georgia lawmakers plan to take on in 2024

Georgia’s General Assembly begins its 2024 regular session Monday and the top intrigue is whether Republicans may agree to a further expansion of health care under the state’s Medicaid program. … more

By JEFF AMY | 1/8/24

FILE - South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem takes part in a panel discussion, Nov. 15, 2022, in Orlando, Fla. South Dakota Republican Gov. Kristi Noem has outlined her budget proposal for the Legislature, emphasizing tighter spending amid rising inflation. (AP Photo/Phelan M. Ebenhack, File)

South Dakota lawmakers see alignment with Noem as session begins

South Dakota’s Republican-controlled Legislature convenes Tuesday in Pierre for its annual session, expected to last into early March. Second-term GOP Gov. Kristi Noem gave her budget address in … more

By JACK DURA | 1/8/24

FILE - People hold signs during a news conference discussing the death of Tyre Nichols, Tuesday, Jan. 31, 2023, in Memphis, Tenn. Nichols' loved ones will gather Jan. 7, 2024, near the site of his fatal beating to remember his life one year after he was beaten by police. Police cameras captured the beating of Nichols after a traffic stop on Jan. 7, 2022. The 29-year-old skateboarder and amateur photographer died three days later in a hospital. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson, File)

Tyre Nichols' family to gather for vigil 1 year after police brutally beat him

Tyre Nichols' loved ones are set to gather in remembrance at the site where police fatally beat the Black man one year ago. They will meet Sunday night at the place where police cameras captured … more

By ADRIAN SAINZ | 1/7/24

FILE - Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., a member of the House Freedom Caucus, speaks during a news conference, July 14, 2023, on Capitol Hill in Washington. There is an ongoing investigation into an apparent altercation between Rep. Lauren Boebert and her ex-husband Jayson Boebert at a restaurant, police in Silt, Colo., confirmed on Sunday, Jan. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, File)

Officers in Colorado are investigating an apparent altercation between Rep. Boebert and ex-husband

Law enforcement officers in Colorado say an investigation is being conducted into an apparent altercation between U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert and ex-husband Jayson Boebert at a restaurant in Silt, … more

The Associated Press | 1/7/24

Al Jazeera journalist Wael Dahdouh holds the hand of his son Hamza, who also worked for Al Jazeera and who was killed in an Israeli airstrike in Rafah, Gaza Strip, Sunday, Jan. 7, 2024. Dahdouh lost his wife, two other children and a grandson earlier in the war and was nearly killed himself. (AP Photo/Hatem Ali)

The son of veteran correspondent is the fifth member of his family killed by Israeli strikes on Gaza

An apparent Israeli airstrike has killed two Palestinian journalists in southern Gaza. One was the son of veteran Al Jazeera correspondent Wael Dahdouh, who lost his wife, two other children and a … more

By NAJIB JOBAIN and SAMY MAGDY | 1/7/24

FILE - Shelby Ruch-Teegarden, center, of Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary, joins other protestors during the United Methodist Church's special session of the general conference in St. Louis, Tuesday, Feb. 26, 2019. United Methodist rules forbid same-sex marriage rites and the ordination of “self-avowed practicing homosexuals,” but progressive Methodist churches in the U.S. have increasingly been defying these rules. (AP Photo/Sid Hastings, File)

How to deal with same-sex unions? It's a question fracturing major Christian denominations

Reaction among Catholics around the world is sharply divided over the Vatican's recent declaration giving priests more leeway to bless same-sex couples. Catholic supporters of greater LGBTQ inclusion … more

By DAVID CRARY | 1/7/24

Crews set up a ballroom during the Golden Globe Awards Press Preview at the Beverly Hilton on Thursday, Jan. 4, 2024, in Beverly Hills, Calif. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)

How to watch the Golden Globes, including the red carpet and backstage interviews

Hollywood is ready to party as the Golden Globes return for its annual boozy celebration of film and television’s biggest names. The show begins at 8 p.m. Eastern and will air live on both coasts … more

1/7/24

Russian Orthodox Archbishop of Odintsovo and Krasnogorsk Foma (Nikolay Mosolov), foreground, kisses an icon as Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, stands near after attending an Orthodox Christmas service with the families of military personnel who died during the special military operation in Ukraine in the Church of Our Savior Not Made by Hands at the Novo-Ogaryovo state residence outside Moscow, Russia, on Sunday, Jan. 7, 2024. (Gavriil Grigorov, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)

Over 100 evacuate Russia’s Belgorod while soldiers celebrate Orthodox Christmas on the front line

More than 100 residents of the Russian border city of Belgorod have evacuated to an area further from the Ukrainian border, local officials said. Ukrainian attacks on Dec. 30 in Belgorod killed 25 … more

1/7/24

In this image provided by Coleman Fredricks, coal miners unearthed a mammoth tusk in May 2023 at the Freedom Mine near Beulah, N.D. The large scoop of an electric shovel dug the tusk out of the earth and dropped it into a truck, which later dumped the load, revealing the tusk. The North Dakota Geologic Survey subsequently visited the mine and dug for more bones at the site, finding more than 20 mammoth bones, now wrapped in plastic for their protection as paleontologists work to preserve them. (Coleman Fredricks via AP)

Coal miners in North Dakota unearth a mammoth tusk buried for thousands of years

Fossil hunters are celebrating the discovery of a mammoth tusk and other bones unearthed at a coal mine in North Dakota. A shovel operator was the first person to spot the collection of bones while … more

By JACK DURA | 1/7/24

An election official walks past ballot boxes and election material laid out for distribution at an auditorium of a school in Dhaka, Bangladesh,Saturday, Jan. 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)

Fear of violence looms over a contentious Bangladesh election as polls open

Polls have opened in Bangladesh as voters began casting their ballots in an election fraught with violence and a boycott from the main opposition party. At least 18 arson attacks have been reported … more

1/6/24

A Russian Orthodox Church priest makes the sign of the cross during an Orthodox Christmas service at the Church of the Holy Martyr Tatiana near the Kremlin Wall in Moscow, Russia, late Saturday, Jan. 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko)

Orthodox mark Christmas, but the celebration is overshadowed for many by conflict

Orthodox Christians packed churches on Saturday night for Christmas Eve services, a holiday overshadowed for many believers by conflict. Patriarch Kirill is the leader of the Russian Orthodox Church, … more

By The Associated Press | 1/6/24

Duke Divinity School celebrate its 90th Baccalaureate service, May 14, 2016, in Duke Chapel with Eboni Marshall Turman, then a professor at Duke and now a professor at Yale Divinity School, preaching. Marshall Turman filed a lawsuit in December 2023 accusing Abyssinian Baptist Church in New York of sex discrimination for rejecting her application to become Abyssinian's senior pastor. (Duke Divinity School via AP)

Prominent Black church in New York sued for gender bias by woman who sought to be its senior pastor

A Yale professor has filed a federal gender discrimination lawsuit against a prominent Harlem church after it did not hire her for its senior pastor job. The suit brought by Eboni Marshall Turman … more

By DARREN SANDS | 1/6/24

Hazera Khatun, 70, holds a portrait of her son Sajedul Islam Sumon, a BNP local politician who has been missing for over 10 years, in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Thursday, Jan. 4, 2024. Khatun founded Mayer Daak, or Mother's Call, a platform for family members of victims of enforced disappearances in Bangladesh after the disappearance of her son. In August, Human Rights Watch said Bangladesh's security forces have committed over 600 enforced disappearances since 2009, when prime minister Sheikh Hasina came to power for the second time. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)

Thousands of opposition activists languish in prison as Bangladesh gears up for national election

In the months leading to Bangladesh’s national election on Sunday, thousands of opposition supporters and politicians have been arrested. The main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party claims 10 … more

By KRUTIKA PATHI | 1/6/24

FILE - A Japan Airlines plane is on fire on the runway of Haneda airport in Tokyo, on Jan. 2, 2024. The 379 passengers of Japan Airlines Flight JAL-516 didn't expect their plane to burst into flames just as it was about to touchdown at Tokyo’s Haneda airport Tuesday evening. A smaller coast guard Bombardier Dash-8 aircraft, preparing to take off to deliver urgent aid to quake-hit central Japan, was using the same runway when the two collided. The Associated Press collected accounts from witnesses, officials and transcripts of the traffic controls communication. (Kyodo News via AP, File)

A timeline of key moments leading to Japan planes colliding. Human error is seen as a possible cause

It has only taken 18 minutes to evacuate the 379 passengers of Japan Airlines Flight 516 after their plane burst into flames just after touchdown at Tokyo’s Haneda airport Tuesday evening. A … more

By MARI YAMAGUCHI | 1/6/24

FILE - A girl prays for Stephen Perkins during a vigil outside Decatur, Ala., City Hall/Police Department, Oct. 5, 2023. The Alabama Law Enforcement Agency said Tuesday, Dec. 26, that it has completed an investigation into a fatal police shooting where Perkins was killed in his front yard during a dispute with a tow truck driver. (Jeronimo Nisa/The Decatur Daily via AP, File)

Former Alabama police officer charged with murder in shooting of Black man

A former Alabama police officer has been charged with murder in the fatal shooting of a Black man in front of his own home during a dispute with a tow truck driver. Morgan County District Attorney … more

By KIM CHANDLER | 1/5/24

FILE - Fighters from the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah carry out a training exercise in Aaramta village in the Jezzine District, southern Lebanon, Sunday, May 21, 2023. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar, File)

From Houthis to Hezbollah, a look at the Iran-allied groups rallying to arms around Middle East

Missiles, rockets and drones struck targets around the Middle East this week as the United States, Israel and others clashed with Iran-allied militant groups. Attacks hit in vital Red Sea shipping … more

By ELLEN KNICKMEYER | 1/5/24

The "Inverness Shipwreck" sits in disarray on the shores of Tomales Bay in Inverness, Calif. Wednesday, Jan. 3, 2024. Time is apparently running out for the old wooden boat that became an Instagram star as it rotted on a shoreline north of San Francisco. Recent storms have made a shambles of the forlorn vessel Point Reyes, a landmark that was already deteriorated from the over-attention of visitors to the Marin County coast. (Jessica Christian/San Francisco Chronicle via AP)

Time running out for landmark old boat that became a California social media star

Time is apparently running out for California’s “Inverness Shipwreck,” an old wooden boat that became an Instagram star as it rotted on a shoreline north of San Francisco. Recent storms have … more

1/5/24

Abigail Zwerner, center, a teacher who was shot at Richneck Elementary School in Newport News, Va., by her 6-year-old student last year, listens as one of her attorneys talks to reporter Peter Dujardin, Wednesday, Jan. 3, 2024, in Virginia Beach, Va. (Stephen M. Katz /The Virginian-Pilot via AP)

The teacher shot by a 6-year-old still worries, a year later, about the other students in the room

The former teacher who was shot by her 6-year-old student in a Virginia classroom said she still worries about the other children who saw it happen. She said she hopes their happiness “wasn’t … more

1/5/24

FILE - A sign for flu and covid vaccinations is displayed at a pharmacy store in Palatine, Ill., Wednesday, Sept. 13, 2023. The flu season in the U.S. is getting worse but it's too soon to tell how much holiday gatherings contributed to a likely spike in illnesses. New government data posted Friday, Jan. 5, 2024 for the previous week _ the holiday week between Christmas and New Year's _ show 38 states with high or very high levels for respiratory illnesses with fever, cough and other symptoms. That's up from 31 states the week before. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)

Flu and COVID infections got worse over the holidays, with more misery expected, CDC says

The flu season in the U.S. is getting worse with 38 states reporting high or very high levels for respiratory illnesses. That’s up from 31 states the week before. But it’s too soon to tell how … more

By MIKE STOBBE | 1/5/24