National News - The Morning Sun

This May 2, 2022, photo provided by Xingu + Network shows an illegal road inside a protected area called Terra do Meio (Middle Earth) Ecological Station in Para state, in the Brazilian Amazon. The dirt road is now just a few miles shy of connecting two of the worst areas of deforestation in the region. (Xingu + Network via AP)

Crucial illegal road threatens Amazon rainforest

An illegal dirt road ripping through protected areas in Brazil is only a few miles shy of connecting two of the worst areas of deforestation in the Amazon basin. If the road is completed it will turn … more

By FABIANO MAISONNAVE | 8/24/22

FILE - Ukrainian soldiers take positions in downtown Kyiv, Ukraine, Feb. 25, 2022. Six months ago, Russian President Vladimir Putin sent troops into Ukraine in an unprovoked act of aggression, starting the largest military conflict in Europe since World War II. Putin expected a quick victory but it has turned into a grinding war of attrition. Russian offensive are largely stuck as Ukrainian forces increasingly target key facilities far behind the front lines. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti, File)

EXPLAINER: Where Ukraine war stands after 6 months

Six months ago, Russian President Vladimir Putin sent troops into Ukraine in an unprovoked act of aggression, starting the largest military conflict in Europe since World War II. Putin expected a … more

By The Associated Press | 8/24/22

FILE - A forest along NM518 in Mora County, N.M, is scorched by the Calf Canyon Hermits Peak Fire, May 23, 2022. More than four grueling months and $300 million later, the federal government has declared the largest wildfire in New Mexico's recorded history 100% contained, a notable milestone but just another step in what local residents and officials say will be a long journey toward recovery. (Eddie Moore/The Albuquerque Journal via AP, File)

Record-setting wildfire in New Mexico declared contained

More than four months and $300 million later, the federal government has declared the largest wildfire in New Mexico’s recorded history 100% contained. The blaze was sparked in the spring by two … more

By SUSAN MONTOYA BRYAN | 8/23/22

Randal Worcester walks out of the Crawford County Justice Center in Van Buren, Ark., Monday, Aug. 22, 2022. Three Arkansas law enforcement officers were suspended after a video of Worcester's arrest showed two of them beating the suspect while a third officer held him on the ground outside a convenience store. (AP Photo/Andrew DeMillo)

Experts: Police appear excessive in Arkansas beating video

A bystander’s video of Randal Worcester’s arrest on Sunday in the small town of Mulberry, Arkansas, sparked outrage after it was posted online. It shows a sheriff's deputy repeatedly punching and … more

By JAKE BLEIBERG | 8/23/22

FILE - Clem Burke, from left, Deborah Harry and Chris Stein, members of the rock group Blondie, pose for a photo in New York, on April 8, 2004. The band is releasing a box set “Blondie: Against the Odds, 1974-1982,” with 124 tracks and 36 previously unissued recordings, demos, outtakes and Blondie’s initial six studio albums. (AP Photo/Justin Walters, File)

Blondie opens vaults for a hefty box set celebrating cool

For decades, a New Wave treasure trove sat in a converted barn. For Blondie fans, it was the equivalent of the Ark of the Covenant housed in a rickety storage space. In the building just outside … more

By MARK KENNEDY | 8/23/22

Patricia "Trish" Devaney Westerlind becomes emotional as she testifies during the penalty phase of the trial of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooter Nikolas Cruz at the Broward County Courthouse in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., Tuesday, Aug. 23, 2022. Devaney Westerlind lived in Parkland from 1998 to 2008 and was a neighbor of the Cruz family. Cruz previously plead guilty to all 17 counts of premeditated murder and 17 counts of attempted murder in the 2018 shootings. (Amy Beth Bennett/South Florida Sun Sentinel via AP, Pool)

Testimony: Florida school shooter was intellectually slow

A preschool administrator and a neighbor both say that as a toddler, Florida school shooter Nikolas Cruz was intellectually and physically behind other children. The women testified at his penalty … more

By TERRY SPENCER and FREIDA FRISARO | 8/23/22

In this undated photo, volunteers unload supplies at a shelter in Zakarpattia, Ukraine. . The shelter was built in an abandoned schoolhouse, in part with funds from Razom for Ukraine. (Courtesy of Kateryna Terekhova via AP)

How tiny, volunteer nonprofit raised $57 million for Ukraine

For most of its eight-year history, Razom for Ukraine, a U.S.-based charity run by Ukrainian and Ukrainian American volunteers, has raised about $150,000 a year to help promote a free and prosperous … more

By JIM RENDON of The Chronicle of Philanthropy | 8/23/22

FILE - Members of the Balch Springs Fire Department bring a family of four by boat to higher ground after rescuing them from their home along Forest Glen Lane in Batch Springs, Texas, Aug. 22, 2022. This summer the weather has not only been extreme, but it has whiplashed from one extreme to another. Dallas, St. Louis, Kentucky, Yellowstone, Death Valley all lurched from drought to flood. (Elías Valverde II/The Dallas Morning News via AP, File)/The Dallas Morning News via AP)

Weather whiplash: Summer lurches from drought to flood

This summer the weather has not only been extreme, but it has whiplashed from one extreme to another. Dallas, St. Louis, Kentucky, Yellowstone, Death Valley all lurched from drought to flood. And … more

BY SETH BORENSTEIN | 8/23/22

FILE - LaShell Eikerenkoetter chants, on a megaphone protesting the recent acquittal of a white former police officer, Jason Stockley, in the killing of a black man, Anthony Lamar Smith, on Friday, Sept. 22, 2017 in St. Charles, Mo. On Aug. 3, Mayor Tishaura Jones signed into law an ordinance establishing a Division of Civilian Oversight. But three police officer associations are suing to stop the measure that they claim hinders due process for officers and conflicts with state law. (David Carson/St. Louis Post-Dispatch via AP)

New oversight plan means closer scrutiny of St. Louis police

Eight years after Michael Brown’s death pushed the St. Louis region front and center into the national debate over police accountability, the city’s elected officials and its police associations … more

By JIM SALTER | 8/23/22

FILE - A man shops at a supermarket on Wednesday, July 27, 2022, in New York. U.S. demand for grocery delivery is cooling as food prices rise. Some shoppers are shifting to less expensive grocery pickup, while others are returning to the store. (AP Photo/Andres Kudacki)

5 tips for creating a budget to support your financial goals

Whether you want to pay off debt, start a rainy day fund or save for a family trip, budgeting is the first step toward reaching your financial goals. Colleen McCreary of Credit Karma says creating a … more

By ADRIANA MORGA | 8/23/22

FILE - Ukrainian emergency employees and volunteers carry an injured pregnant woman from the maternity hospital that was damaged by shelling in Mariupol, Ukraine, Wednesday, March 9, 2022. A Russian attack has severely damaged the maternity hospital in the besieged port city of Mariupol, Ukrainian officials say. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka, File)

AP PHOTOS: 6 months of war told in shutter clicks

During six months of war in Ukraine, Associated Press photographers have captured images that are both succinct and eloquent. The click of a shutter is brief, but the stories they tell are deep. … more

The Associated Press | 8/23/22

FILE - Argentina's Vice President Cristina Fernandez, speaks during a ceremony celebrating the 100th anniversary of the state-run oil company YPF, in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Friday, June 3, 2022. Prosecutors asked a judge on Monday, Aug. 22, 2022, to sentence Argentine Vice President Cristina Fernández to 12 years in prison and bar her from holding public office for life for allegedly leading a criminal conspiracy that irregularly awarded public works contracts to a friend and ally. (AP Photo/Gustavo Garello, File)

Argentine prosecutors request 12-year sentence for VP

Prosecutors are asking a judge to sentence Argentine Vice President Cristina Fernández to 12 years in prison and bar her from holding public office for life for allegedly leading a criminal … more

8/22/22

Police block 14th Street between Peachtree and Juniper in Atlanta on Monday, Aug. 22, 2022 following reports of an active shooting in the area. (Arvin Temkar/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP)

Atlanta police: 2 killed, 1 shot in Midtown neighborhood

Atlanta police say a woman shot three people, two of them fatally, at two different locations in Atlanta’s Midtown neighborhood and was later taken into custody at the city's airport. Investigators … more

8/22/22

FILE - The sun sets over water lilies and cypress trees along the remote Red Trail wilderness water trail of Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge, Wednesday, April 6, 2022, in Fargo, Ga. Twin Pines Minerals, a company seeking to mine minerals near the edge of the Okefenokee Swamp's vast wildlife refuge, said Monday, Aug. 22, 2022, that its project is back on track after a federal agency reversed a June decision that had posed a big setback. (AP Photo/Stephen B. Morton, File)

Company: Legal settlement puts Okefenokee mine back on track

A company seeking to mine in southeast Georgia near the edge of the Okefenokee Swamp says the project is back on track after a federal agency reversed a June decision that had temporarily blocked it. … more

By RUSS BYNUM | 8/22/22

FILE - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy speaks during an interview with The Associated Press in his office in Kyiv, Ukraine, Saturday, April 9, 2022. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says he's committed to pressing for peace despite Russian attacks on civilians that have stunned the world. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka, File)

Ukraine soccer league defies Russian war to begin season

A new Ukrainian soccer league season starts Tuesday under threat of more Russian attacks in a war that stopped all games being played since February. The elegant Olympic Stadium staged the biggest … more

By GRAHAM DUNBAR | 8/22/22

Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooter Nikolas Cruz watches as Assistant Public Defender Melisa McNeill gives the defense's opening statement during the penalty phase of his trial at the Broward County Courthouse in Fort Lauderdale on Monday, Aug. 22, 2022. Cruz previously plead guilty to all 17 counts of premeditated murder and 17 counts of attempted murder in the 2018 shootings. (Amy Beth Bennett/South Florida Sun Sentinel via AP, Pool)

Attorney: Florida school shooter was a 'damaged person'

The lead attorney for Florida school shooter Nikolas Cruz told the jury in his penalty trial Monday they have witnessed “things that will haunt them for the rest of their lives,” but they now … more

By TERRY SPENCER | 8/22/22

Lindsey Rodni-Nieman, center, mother of missing 16-year-old Kiely Rodni, listens to law enforcement during a news conference, Tuesday, August 9, 2022, in Truckee, Calif. (Paul Kitagaki Jr./The Sacramento Bee via AP)

Divers find body in search for missing California teen girl

Volunteer divers say they found a car with a body inside it in the search for a missing 16-year-old girl in Northern California. The group called Adventures with Purpose said they found a car with a … more

8/22/22

Ford cutting 3,000 white-collar jobs in bid to lower costs

Ford Motor Co. is cutting about 3,000 white-collar workers as it moves reduce costs and make the transition from internal combustion to electric vehicles.Leaders of the Dearborn, Michigan, automaker … more

By TOM KRISHER | 8/22/22

FILE - An operating room technician performs an ultrasound on a patient at an abortion clinic in Shreveport, La., Wednesday, July 6, 2022. Serious pregnancy complications are rare in the United States but they still affect thousands of women each year. (AP Photo/Ted Jackson, File)

EXPLAINER: Pregnancy complications under abortion spotlight

Serious pregnancy complications are rare in the U.S., but they still affect thousands of women each year. They may endanger the health of the mother, fetus or both. Many are more common in Black … more

By LINDSEY TANNER | 8/22/22

This image provided by NASA shows a false color composite image of Jupiter obtained by the James Webb Space Telescope on July 27, 2022. The planet’s rings and some of its small satellites are visible along with background galaxies. (NASA via AP)

New space telescope shows Jupiter's auroras, tiny moons

The world's newest and most powerful space telescope is showing Jupiter as never before, auroras and all. Scientists released new images of the solar system’s biggest planet Monday. The Webb Space … more

By MARCIA DUNN | 8/22/22