National News - The Morning Sun

Republican presidential candidate businessman Vivek Ramaswamy talks with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis as Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., listens during a Republican presidential primary debate hosted by NBC News, Wednesday, Nov. 8, 2023, at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts of Miami-Dade County in Miami. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)

Who's running for president? See a rundown of the 2024 candidates

The 2024 Republican presidential primary field has narrowed. North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum dropped out of the race on Monday. The remaining GOP candidates are former President Donald Trump, Florida … more

By MEG KINNARD | 12/4/23

FILE - This undated file photo provided by the Ohio Governor's office shows Sam Randazzo, the former Public Utilities Commissioner of Ohio. Randazzo, Ohio’s former top utility regulator, surrendered Monday, Dec. 4, 2023, in connection with a $60 million bribery scheme related to a legislative bailout for two Ohio nuclear power plants that has already resulted in a 20-year prison sentence for a former state House speaker. (AP Photo/Ohio Governor's office via AP, File)

Former top Ohio utility regulator surrenders in $60 million bribery scheme linked to energy bill

Ohio’s former top utility regulator has surrendered in connection with a $60 million bribery scheme. Former Ohio public utilities chair Sam Randazzo was indicted in federal court in Cincinnati. The … more

By JULIE CARR SMYTH | 12/4/23

Women look at photos of Israelis missing and held captive in Gaza, in downtown Jerusalem, Sunday, Dec. 3, 2023. Hamas militants kidnapped about 240 people in an Oct. 7 attack and released over 100 of them during a weeklong cease-fire that ended on Friday. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

Live updates | Israel’s military calls for more evacuations in southern Gaza as it widens offensive

Israel’s military has called for more evacuations in southern Gaza as it widens its offensive aimed at eliminating the territory’s Hamas rulers. The war has already killed thousands of … more

By The Associated Press | 12/4/23

FILE - The Maine State House is seen at sunrise, March 16, 2023, in Augusta, Maine. Teachers and science advocates are voicing skepticism about a Maine proposal to update science education standards to incorporate teaching about genocide, eugenics and the Holocaust because of concerns about adequate teacher training and the nuanced nature of the material. The Maine Department of Education is performing the update as part of a review of standards that is required every five years. The proposed updates would have to ultimately be approved by a committee of the Maine Legislature. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty, File)

Plan to add teaching of Holocaust, genocide to science education draws questions from Maine teachers

Teachers are voicing skepticism about a Maine proposal to update science education standards to incorporate teaching about genocide, eugenics and the Holocaust. They say they have concerns about … more

By PATRICK WHITTLE | 12/4/23

FILE - Alabama Gov. George C. Wallace gestures as he makes an election campaign speech for his wife, Lurleen, Nov. 8, 1966, in Wetumpka, Ala. Republican presidential candidates will debate Wednesday, Dec. 6, 2023, within walking distance of where Wallace staged his “stand in the schoolhouse door” to oppose the enrollment of Black students at the University of Alabama during the Civil Rights Movement. (AP Photo/LG, File)

The next Republican debate is in Alabama, the state that gave the GOP a road map to Donald Trump

Republican presidential candidates will gather in Alabama for the fourth GOP debate of the 2024 presidential campaign. Former President Donald Trump will skip Wednesday's debate as he maintains his … more

By BILL BARROW | 12/4/23

FILE - People walk through the COP28 U.N. Climate Summit as the sun sets, Dec. 2, 2023, in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool, File)

At UN climate talks, fossil fuel interests have hundreds of employees on hand

At least 1,300 employees of organizations representing fossil fuel interests registered to attend this year’s United Nations climate talks in Dubai. That's more than three times the number found in … more

By MARY KATHERINE WILDEMAN and MICHAEL PHILLIS | 12/3/23

FILE - An Hawaiian Airlines plane taxis for position at Kahalui, Hawaii, on the island of Maui, March 24, 2005. Alaska Air Group said Sunday, Dec. 3, 2023, that it agreed to buy Hawaiian Airlines in a $1 billion deal. (AP Photo/Lucy Pemoni, File)

Alaska Air to buy Hawaiian Airlines in a $1.9 billion deal with debt

Alaska Air Group has agreed to buy Hawaiian Airlines in a $1.9 billion deal including debt. The airlines announced the agreement Sunday. Alaska will pay $18 in cash for each share of Hawaiian, whose … more

12/3/23

Republican Party of Florida chairman Christian Ziegler, left, greets former president Donald Trump at the RPOF Freedom Summit on Nov. 4, 2023, in Kissimmee, Fla. Ziegler is the subject of a rape investigation, though no charges have been filed and police are providing little information on the accusation. (Joe Burbank/Orlando Sentinel via AP)

Florida Republican chairman won't resign over rape allegation, saying he is innocent

The chair of Florida’s Republican Party says he will not resign over a woman’s allegation that he raped her. Christian Ziegler said in a Saturday email to supporters that he is innocent and “we … more

By TERRY SPENCER | 12/3/23

Two women hug as Muslim and Jewish women gather at an interfaith workshop on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict at Rutgers University on Sunday, Nov. 19, 2023, in New Brunswick, N.J. The latest violence, triggered by the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel, is prompting some to question such dialogue, its role, impact -- or how to even have it-- while steeling the resolve of others to connect and wrestle together with the challenges. (AP Photo/Andres Kudacki)

In US, some Muslim-Jewish interfaith initiatives are strained by Israel-Hamas war

The Israel-Hamas war and its polarizing reverberations in America are straining some Muslim-Jewish interfaith relationships in the U.S. more than ever. For many, the losses are too personal, the … more

By LUIS ANDRES HENAO and MARIAM FAM | 12/3/23

FILE - An Army Kiowa helicopter flies over a convoy of U.S. soldiers at the Makua Military Reservation in Hawaii, Dec. 8, 2003. In December 2023, the U.S. military confirmed that it will permanently end live-fire training in Makua Valley on Oahu, in a major win for Native Hawaiian groups and environmentalists after decades of activism. (AP Photo/Carol Cunningham, File)

US military affirms it will end live-fire training in Hawaii's Makua Valley

The U.S. military has confirmed that it will permanently end live-fire training in Makua Valley on Oahu. Hawaii News Now reported it's a major win for Native Hawaiian groups and environmentalists … more

12/2/23

Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin makes remarks at a virtual Ukraine Defense Contact Group (UDCG) meeting, Wednesday, Nov. 22, 2023, at the Pentagon in Washington. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen)

Defense head calls out those who advocate isolationism and 'an American retreat from responsibility'

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin is denouncing those advocate what he says is “an American retreat from responsibility.” The Pentagon chief says sustained U.S. leadership is needed to help keep the … more

By LOLITA C. BALDOR | 12/2/23

FILE - A gay rights activist stands with a rainbow flag, in front of journalists, during a protesting picket at Dvortsovaya (Palace) Square in St.Petersburg, Russia, Sunday, Aug. 2, 2015. Russia’s Supreme Court on Thursday, Nov. 30, 2023, effectively outlawed LGBTQ+ activism, in the most drastic step against advocates of gay, lesbian and transgender rights in the increasingly conservative country. (AP Photo, File)

Police raid Moscow gay bars after a Supreme Court ruling labeled LGBTQ+ movement 'extremist'

Russian security forces have raided gay clubs and bars across Moscow less than 48 hours after the country’s top court banned what it called the “global LGBTQ+ movement” as an extremist … more

By The Associated Press | 12/2/23

FILE - Bishop Carlton Pearson speaks at a news conference accompanied by several other clergy members, April 4, 2013, in Chicago. Before his peers would label him a heretic, the late Bishop Carlton D. Pearson was once one of the best known preachers in the nation. In the 2000s. Pearson underwent a cataclysmic theological shift that altered the course of his life – and his legacy among the canon of American Christian leaders. (AP Photo/M. Spencer Green, file)

Send-offs show Carlton Pearson's split legacy spurred by his inclusive beliefs, rejection of hell

Before his peers would label him a heretic, the late Bishop Carlton D. Pearson was once one of the best known preachers in the United States. His skilled biblical oration helped swell the membership … more

By DARREN SANDS | 12/2/23

World leaders were gathering for discussions on tackling climate change on Friday in Dubai at the COP28 summit. The AP explains the importance of the talks over the next two weeks. (Dec. 1)

Takeaways from Friday's events at UN climate conference known as COP28

Friday was a day for speechmaking at the United Nations annual climate conference known as COP28, as heads of state each gave short speeches to deliver their views on the planet’s climate crisis, … more

By MICHAEL PHILLIS | 12/1/23

FILE - A migrant from Columbia stands at a floating buoy barrier as he looks to cross the Rio Grande from Mexico into the U.S., Monday, Aug. 21, 2023, in Eagle Pass, Texas. Texas must move a floating barrier on the Rio Grande that drew backlash from Mexico, a federal appeals court ruled Friday, Dec. 1, 2023, dealing a blow to one of Republican Gov. Greg Abbott's aggressive measures aimed at stopping migrants from entering the U.S. illegally. (AP Photo/Eric Gay, File)

Court orders Texas to move floating buoy barrier that drew backlash from Mexico

A federal appeals court has ruled that Texas must move a floating barrier on the Rio Grande that drew backlash from Mexico. The decision Friday comes months after the Biden administration sued Texas … more

By VALERIE GONZALEZ | 12/1/23

Palestinians evacuate wounded in Israeli bombardment Rafah, Gaza Strip, Friday, Dec. 1, 2023. (AP Photo/Hatem Ali)

Live updates | Israeli strikes kill over 175 people in Gaza after cease-fire ends, officials say

Health officials in Gaza say Israeli strikes have killed dozens of people after fighting in the Gaza Strip resumed. Israel bombarded houses and buildings on Friday, just minutes after a temporary … more

By The Associated Press | 12/1/23

FILE - People gather in the parking lot of the Hamilton County Board of Elections as people arrive for early in-person voting in Cincinnati, Nov. 2, 2023. A federal appeals court ruled Nov. 30 that a regulation allowing federal family planning grants for organizations that provide abortions will be paused, but only for Ohio. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, File)

Court pauses federal policy allowing abortion clinic operators to get grants -- but only in Ohio

An appeals court has paused enforcement of a federal government regulation that allows abortion providers to receive family planning grants — but only in Ohio. Since the 1980s, Republican … more

By GEOFF MULVIHILL | 12/1/23

FILE - Eddie Terrell Parker, right, and Michael Corey Jenkins, center, listen as one of six former Mississippi law officers pleads guilty to state charges at the Rankin County Circuit Court in Brandon, Miss., Monday, Aug. 14, 2023. Information unveiled in a justice department investigation and media reports show that a Mississippi sheriff who leads a department where former deputies tortured the two Black men in a racially motivated assault failed to train his deputies properly, the men's attorneys say in an amended civil complaint. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis, File)

Mississippi sheriff changes policies after violent abuse. Victims say it's to escape accountability

Attorneys for the victims of a racist episode of police torture say new policies unveiled by a Mississippi sheriff’s department this week were introduced so the sheriff can escape liability in a … more

By MICHAEL GOLDBERG | 12/1/23

FILE - A sign advertises free pregnancy tests and abortion information outside the Woman's Choice Pregnancy Resource Center in Charleston, W.Va., on June 17, 2022. A West Virginia coalition that helps support a network of anti-abortion pregnancy centers in the state is receiving $1 million in taxpayer dollars to distribute to organizations committed to encouraging people not to end their pregnancies. (AP Photo/Leah M. Willingham, File)

West Virginia places anti-abortion pregnancy center coalition at the helm of $1M grant program

A West Virginia coalition that helps support a network of anti-abortion pregnancy centers in the state is receiving $1 million to distribute to organizations committed to encouraging people not to … more

By LEAH WILLINGHAM | 12/1/23

FILE - Sandra Day O'Connor waves as she arrives at the Capitol in this Sept. 10, 1981 black-and-white file photo, shortly after her nomination to the Supreme Court was confirmed by the Senate. From left, Sen. Barry Goldwater, R-Ariz., Attorney General William French Smith, O'Connor, Sen. Strom Thurmond, R-S.C., and Sen. Dennis DeConcini, D-Ariz. O'Connor, who joined the Supreme Court in 1981 as the nation's first female justice, has died at age 93. (AP Photo/Scott Applewhite, File)

Excerpts of Supreme Court opinions by Sandra Day O’Connor

Sandra Day O’Connor's influence could best be seen in the Supreme Court's court’s rulings on abortion. In one such decision, she balked at letting states outlaw most abortions, refusing in 1989 … more

By The Associated Press | 12/1/23