National News - The Morning Sun

These images released by the Los Angeles County Animal Care and Control and posted via Instagram, shows a created a unicorn license tag, right, and a plush toy unicorn, after a young girl requested permission to have a unicorn in her backyard, if she could find one. Animal Care and Control Department officials said this week that they granted the unusual permit to Madeline, whose last name was redacted. (Los Angeles County Animal Care and Control via AP)

California girl licensed to own unicorn — if she finds one

Los Angeles authorities have given a little girl a license to own a unicorn — if she can find one. Animal Care and Control Department officials said this week that they granted the unusual permit … more

12/8/22

This aerial photo taken with a drone shows rescuers inspecting the damage at a village affected by the eruption of Mount Semeru in Sumberwuluh, Lumajang, East Java, Indonesia, Monday, Dec. 5, 2022. Improved weather conditions Monday allowed rescuers to resume evacuation efforts and a search for possible victims after the highest volcano on Indonesia's most densely populated island erupted, triggered by monsoon rains. (AP Photo/Trisnadi)

AP Week in Pictures: Asia

Dec. 2-8, 2022 This photo gallery highlights some of the most compelling images made or published by Associated Press photographers in Asia and the Pacific. The gallery was curated by AP … more

By The Associated Press | 12/8/22

Lauren Mathers, director of Sandhills Pride, left, comforts drag queen Naomi Dix as she tears up while recounting the threats she received leading up to a recent drag performance while speaking on a panel with LGBTQ community leaders in Durham, N.C., on Thursday, Dec. 8, 2022. (AP Photo/Hannah Schoenbaum)

NC power grid attack stokes fear in rural LGBTQ community

North Carolina drag performers and LGBTQ community members fear for their safety after an attack on the electrical grid in Moore County left tens of thousands without power for several days. … more

By HANNAH SCHOENBAUM | 12/8/22

Maitlyn Gandy, mother of 7-year-old Athena Strand, looks at the package that was delivered by a FedEx delivery man authorities say allegedly abducted her daughter last week during a press conference on Thursday, Dec. 8, 2022, outside of the Wise County Courthouse in Decatur, Texas. The package, a You Can be Anything Barbie set, was supposed to be Athena's Christmas present, Gandy said. (Juan Figueroa/The Dallas Morning News via AP)

FedEx driver accused in girl's slaying dropped off her gift

The mother of a 7-year-old girl who authorities say was abducted and killed in Texas by a FedEx delivery driver says she wants everyone to know about her “amazing little girl.” At a news … more

By JAMIE STENGLE | 12/8/22

FILE - People watch and record images of lava from the Mauna Loa volcano Thursday, Dec. 1, 2022, near Hilo, Hawaii. Officials monitoring the Mauna Loa eruption on Hawaii's Big island said Wednesday, Dec. 7, the lava flow moving toward state Route 200 has slowed. They said they could not predict when, where or if the lava flow would cross the highway. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull, File)

Mauna Loa lava no longer imminent threat to Hawaii highway

Lava from Hawaii’s Mauna Loa volcano is no longer feeding a flow that’s been creeping toward a crucial highway, scientists said Thursday, even as the world’s largest volcano keeps on erupting. … more

By JENNIFER SINCO KELLEHER | 12/8/22

Ray J. Garcia leaves the Federal Courthouse in Oakland, Calif., Monday, Nov. 28, 2022. Garcia, the former warden of an abuse-plagued federal women's prison known as the "rape club," went on trial Monday, accused of molesting inmates and forcing them to pose naked in their cells. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

Ex-prison warden convicted of sexually abusing inmates

The former warden of a federal women’s prison in California where inmates said they were subjected to rampant sexual abuse was convicted of molesting inmates and forcing them to pose naked in their … more

By MICHAEL R. SISAK and MICHAEL BALSAMO | 12/8/22

Perci Ami, left, of Laveen, Ariz., and Patty Talahongva show support for Brittney Griner, Thursday, Dec. 8, 2022, in Phoenix. Griner was released from a Russian prison in a prisoner swap earlier in the day. (AP Photo/Rick Scuteri)

Brittney Griner's release celebrated by basketball world

Brittney Griner’s loved ones and extended basketball family were ecstatic when news broke about her release from a Russian prison and that she was on her way back to the United States. It has been … more

By DOUG FEINBERG | 12/8/22

Will Smith, right, hits presenter Chris Rock on stage while presenting the award for best documentary feature at the Oscars on Sunday, March 27, 2022, at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)

The Year of the Slap: Pop culture moments in 2022

Taylor Swift was up. Elon Musk was in, out, and in. Tom Cruise was back. BTS stepped aside, and so did Serena Williams, and Tom Brady too — oops, scratch that. But the slap? The slap was everywhere … more

By JOCELYN NOVECK | 12/8/22

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., grins as he emerges from the closed-door Senate Democratic Caucus leadership election at the Capitol in Washington, Thursday, Dec. 8, 2022. Sen. Schumer will remain as Senate Democratic leader and chair of the Democratic Conference in the new Congress beginning Jan. 3, 2023.

Schumer reelected Senate leader after Dems expand majority

Sen. Chuck Schumer was unanimously elected Thursday for another term as Senate Democratic leader, helming a bolstered 51-seat majority for a new era of divided government in Congress. more

By LISA MASCARO / Associated Press | 12/8/22

FILE - Paul Whelan, a former U.S. marine who was arrested for alleged spying, listens to the verdict in a courtroom at the Moscow City Court in Moscow, Russia, June 15, 2020. The family of Whelan, an American detained in Russia for nearly four years, said Thursday, Dec. 8, 2022, that the Biden administration “made the right decision” to agree to a prisoner exchange that freed WNBA star Brittney Griner but they are “devastated” that Whelan remains behind. (Sofia Sandurskaya, Moscow News Agency photo via AP, File)

'Devastated' family of American prisoner backs Griner deal

The brother of an American detained in Russia for nearly four years says the Biden administration “made the right decision” to agree to a prisoner exchange that freed WNBA star Brittney Griner. … more

By MIKE HOUSEHOLDER and KATHLEEN FOODY | 12/8/22

FILE - Singer Celine Dion performs during her Courage tour in Quebec City on Sept. 18, 2019. Dion has put a halt on all performing after being diagnosed with a rare neurological disorder. In video messages posted in French and English on Thursday on Instagram, Dion said Stiff-Person Syndrome was causing spasms that affect her ability to walk and sing. (Jacques Boissinot/The Canadian Press via AP, File)

Celine Dion diagnosed with rare neurological disorder

Celine Dion has put a halt on all performing after being diagnosed with a rare neurological disorder. In video messages posted in French and English on Thursday on Instagram, Dion said stiff person … more

The Associated Press | 12/8/22

FILE - Surgeon and doctor-turned-refugee, Dr. Tewodros Tefera, prepares a malaria test for 23-year-old Tigrayan refugee Hareg from Mekele, Ethiopia, at the Sudanese Red Crescent clinic in Hamdayet, eastern Sudan, near the border with Ethiopia, on March 17, 2021. The coronavirus pandemic interrupted efforts to control malaria, resulting in 63,000 more deaths and 13 million more infections. That's according to a World Health Organization report released Thursday Dec. 8, 2022. (AP Photo/Nariman El-Mofty, File)

WHO: COVID disruption resulted in 63,000 more malaria deaths

The coronavirus pandemic interrupted efforts to control malaria, resulting in 63,000 additional deaths and 13 million more infections. That's according to a World Health Organization report released … more

By MARIA CHENG | 12/8/22

The marker of the grave of a small boy whose battered body body was found abandoned in a cardboard box decades ago in Philadelphia is seen Wednesday, Dec. 7, 2022. Nearly 66 years after the boy was found Philadelphia police are set to reveal the identity of the victim in the city's most notorious cold case. Police say detective work and DNA analysis helped them learn the name of a youngster who'd been known to generations of Philadelphians as the "Boy in the Box." Authorities are set to publicly release the victim's name Thursday. His naked, badly bruised body was found in a wooded area on Feb. 25, 1957. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

Police to reveal identity of Philly's slain 'Boy in the Box'

Nearly 66 years after the battered body of a young boy was found stuffed inside a cardboard box, Philadelphia police are set to reveal the identity of the victim in the city’s most notorious cold … more

By MICHAEL RUBINKAM | 12/8/22

Former U.S. Border Patrol supervisor Juan David Ortiz reacts as recorder jail phone calls to his wife, Daniella, are played outside the presence of the jury during his capital murder trial at the Cadena-Reeves Justice Center in San Antonio, Texas, Tuesday, Dec. 6, 2022. (Jerry Lara/The San Antonio Express-News via AP)

Ex-Border Patrol agent convicted of killing 4 women in Texas

A former Border Patrol agent who confessed to killing four sex workers in 2018 has been convicted of capital murder. Juan David Ortiz receives an automatic sentence of life in prison without the … more

12/7/22

Dozens of candles are laid on the sidewalk, along with bouquets of flowers and stuffed animals outside of a charred home in Riverside, Calif., Wednesday, Nov. 30, 2022. Authorities believe a suspect parked his vehicle in a neighbor's driveway, walked to the home and killed the family members before leaving with a a teenage girl on Friday. Officials have not yet determined how the victims were killed or how the fire was set. The teenager was unharmed. (AP Photo/Amy Taxin)

Deputy who killed teen's family was on psych hold in 2016

A Virginia sheriff’s deputy who killed the family members of a 15-year-old California girl he tried to sexually extort online had been detained in 2016 for a psychiatric evaluation over threats to … more

By DENISE LAVOIE | 12/7/22

Peter Lyoya wipes his eyes after looking at video of his son's shooting during a news conference, Wednesday, Dec. 7, 2022, in Detroit. The family of Patrick Lyoya, a Black motorist fatally shot by a white police officer in Grand Rapids, Mich., filed a lawsuit Wednesday in federal court against the now-former officer and the city of Grand Rapids. The civil rights suit on behalf of Lyoya's family alleges unnecessary, illegal and excessive force and gross negligence by then-Officer Christopher Schurr. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)

Family sues over police killing of Black Michigan motorist

Attorneys for the family of a Black motorist who was shot and killed by a white police officer during a traffic stop in Michigan's second-largest city, Grand Rapids, say the officer had no reason to … more

By COREY WILLIAMS | 12/7/22

Michelle Williams, a cast member in the film "The Fablemans," poses for a portrait at the Four Seasons Hotel, Monday, Nov. 7, 2022, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)

How Michelle Williams found the music of Mitzi Fabelman

“The Fabelmans” centers on Steven Spielberg’s coming of age as a filmmaker. But it's the mother, as played by Michelle Williams, who provides the film’s aching soul. At turns despondent, … more

By JAKE COYLE | 12/7/22

This image released by the Sundance Institute shows Brooke Shields appears in a scene from the documentary "Pretty Baby: Brooke Shields" by Lana Wilson, an official selection of the Premiers Program at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival. (Courtesy of Sundance Institute via AP)

Sundance Film Festival unveils lineup for 2023 edition

Documentaries about Brooke Shields, Judy Blume and Michael J. Fox are among the world premieres set for the Sundance Film Festival in January. The upcoming festival in Park City, Utah, will also … more

By LINDSEY BAHR | 12/7/22

This illustration provided by researchers depicts Kap Kobenhavn, Greenland, two million years ago, when the temperature was significantly warmer than northernmost Greenland today. Scientists have analyzed 2-million-year-old DNA extracted from dirt samples in the area, revealing an ancient ecosystem unlike anything seen on Earth today, including traces of mastodons and horseshoe crabs roaming the Arctic. (Beth Zaiken via AP)

Oldest DNA reveals life in Greenland 2 million years ago

Scientists have discovered the oldest known DNA and used it to reveal what life was like 2 million years ago in the northern tip of Greenland. Today, it’s a barren Arctic desert. But back then it … more

By MADDIE BURAKOFF | 12/7/22

FILE - Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, front row, centre right poses for a photo with bishops from around the world at the University of Kent, during the 15th Lambeth Conference, in Canterbury, England, Friday, July 29, 2022. Friction has been simmering within the global Anglican Communion for many years over its 42 provinces’ sharp differences on whether to recognize same-sex marriage and ordain LGBTQ clergy. In 2022, the divisions have widened, as conservative bishops – notably from Africa and Asia – affirmed their opposition to LGBTQ inclusion and demanded “repentance” by the more liberal provinces with inclusive policies. (Gareth Fuller/PA via AP, File)

Friction over LGBTQ issues worsens in global Anglican church

Friction has been simmering within the global Anglican Communion for many years over its 42 provinces’ sharp differences on whether to recognize same-sex marriage and ordain LGBTQ clergy. This … more

By CHINEDU ASADU and DAVID CRARY of The Associated Press and CATHERINE PEPINSTER of Religion News Service | 12/7/22