National News - The Morning Sun

FILE - Angus Cloud, a cast member in the HBO drama series "Euphoria," poses at the premiere of the series at the ArcLight Hollywood, Tuesday, June 4, 2019, in Los Angeles. Cloud, the actor who starred as the drug dealer Fezco "Fez" O'Neill on the HBO series "Euphoria," has died. He was 25. Cloud's publicist, Cait Bailey, said McCloud died Monday at his family home in Oakland, California. No cause of death was given. (Photo by Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP, File)

Angus Cloud, breakout star of 'Euphoria,' is dead at 25

Angus Cloud, the actor who starred as the drug dealer Fezco “Fez” O’Neill on the HBO series “Euphoria,” has died. He was 25. Cloud’s publicist, Cait Bailey, said Cloud died Monday at his … more

7/31/23

Memphis Police officers at the scene of a shooting at Margolin Hebrew School on Monday, July 31, 2023 in Memphis, Tenn. (Mark Weber/Daily Memphian via AP)

Memphis, Tennessee, police shoot suspect after he fired shots outside Jewish school

Memphis, Tennessee, police say officers shot a suspect after he attempted to enter a Jewish school with a gun and fired shots after he couldn’t get into the building. Assistant Police Chief Don … more

By ADRIAN SAINZ | 7/31/23

FILE - In this Aug. 4, 1977, photo provided by NASA, the "Sounds of Earth" record is mounted on the Voyager 2 spacecraft in the Safe-1 Building at the Kennedy Space Center, Fla., prior to encapsulation in the protective shroud. NASA is listening for any peep from Voyager 2 after losing contact with the spacecraft billions of miles away. (AP Photo/NASA, File)

NASA listens for Voyager 2 spacecraft after wrong command cuts contact

NASA is listening for any peep from Voyager 2 after losing contact with the spacecraft billions of miles away. Voyager 2 has been out of touch since flight controllers accidentally sent a wrong … more

By MARCIA DUNN | 7/31/23

Missouri governor rejects mercy plea from man set to be executed for killing 6-year-old girl

Missouri Gov. Mike Parson has denied a clemency request from a man scheduled to be executed for the 2002 death of a 6-year-old girl in St. Louis County. Johnny Johnson is scheduled to receive a … more

By DAVID A. LIEB | 7/31/23

A man overlooks downtown Phoenix at sunset atop South Mountain, Sunday, July 30, 2023. Phoenix hit its 31st consecutive day of at least 110 degrees Fahrenheit (43.3 Celsius). The National Weather Service says the temperature climbed to a high of 111 degrees Fahrenheit before the day was through. Some slight relief may be on the way as seasonal thunderstorms could drop temperatures in Phoenix on Monday and Tuesday. (AP Photo/Matt York)

Forecast calls for 108? Phoenix will take it, as record-breaking heat expected to end

A hellish and historic 31-day run of temperatures cracking 110 degrees (43 degrees Celsius) in Phoenix appears headed for a welcome end as monsoon rains move through the region from Mexico. The … more

BY DREW COSTLEY and ANITA SNOW | 7/31/23

People walk outside the dormant landmark Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh's Squirrel Hill neighborhood on Thursday, July 13, 2023, the day a federal jury announced they had found Robert Bowers, who in 2018 killed 11 people at the synagogue, eligible for the death penalty. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar/File)

Jury poised to deliberate death penalty or life sentence for gunman in Pittsburgh synagogue massacre

A jury is set to deliberate whether to impose the death penalty or a sentence of life in prison without parole on a truck driver who fatally shot 11 worshippers at a synagogue in the heart of … more

By PETER SMITH and MICHAEL RUBINKAM | 7/31/23

FILE -Nima Momeni, the man charged in the fatal stabbing of Cash App founder Bob Lee, makes his way into the courtroom for his arraignment in San Francisco on May 2, 2023. The San Francisco prosecutor's office starts laying out its murder case against a tech consultant charged in the stabbing death of Cash App founder Bob Lee. The preliminary hearing started Monday, July 31, 2023, before a judge who will decide if there's enough evidence to go to trial. (Gabrielle Lurie/San Francisco Chronicle via AP, Pool, File)

San Francisco prosecutors to lay out murder case against consultant in death of Cash App's Bob Lee

The San Francisco prosecutor’s office has started laying out its murder case against a tech consultant charged in the stabbing death of Cash App founder Bob Lee. The preliminary hearing began … more

By JANIE HAR | 7/31/23

FILE - A pedestrian uses an umbrella to shield against the sun while passing through Times Square as temperatures rise, July 27, 2023, in New York. At about summer's halfway point, the record-breaking heat and weather extremes are both unprecedented and unsurprising, hellish yet boring in some ways, scientists say. (AP Photo/John Minchillo, File)

Here's how hot and extreme the summer has been, and it's only halfway over

At about its halfway point, the record-breaking hot and extreme summer of 2023 is both unprecedented and unsurprising. Killer heat. Deadly floods. Smoke from wildfires that chokes. Scientists say … more

By SETH BORENSTEIN | 7/31/23

FILE - In this image from video posted on the Children’s Health Defense website on Sunday, Dec. 12, 2021, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., talks about anti-vaccine stickers he’s urging supporters to use, including one that reads “IF YOU’RE NOT AN ANTI-VAXXER YOU AREN’T PAYING ATTENTION.” Kennedy, now running for president, insists he’s not anti-vaccine, though his record shows he has made his opposition to vaccines clear. (AP Photo, File)

RFK Jr. says he’s not anti-vaccine. His record shows the opposite. It’s one of many inconsistencies

As Democratic presidential primary candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. challenges President Joe Biden, the stories he tells on the campaign trail about himself, his life’s work and what he stands for … more

By MICHELLE R. SMITH and ALI SWENSON | 7/31/23

FILE - Former President Donald Trump arrives to speak at the Moms for Liberty meeting in Philadelphia, Friday, June 30, 2023. A Georgia prosecutor is expected to seek a grand jury indictment in the coming weeks in her investigation into efforts by Donald Trump and his allies to overturn the former president’s 2020 election loss. Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis began investigating more than two years ago, shortly after a recording was released of a January 2021 phone call Trump made to Georgia’s secretary of state. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)

Trump could be indicted soon in Georgia. Here's a look at that investigation

A Georgia prosecutor is expected to seek a grand jury indictment in the coming weeks in her investigation into efforts by Donald Trump and his allies to overturn the former president’s 2020 … more

By KATE BRUMBACK | 7/31/23

FILE - Boys are silhouetted against the sky at sunset as they run along a ridge at Papago Park, April 1, 2022, in Phoenix. President Joe Biden plans to announce new steps to address the extreme heat that has threatened millions of Americans, most recently in the Southwest. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel, File)

July keeps sizzling as Phoenix hits another 110-degree day and wildfires spread in California

Parts of the U.S. are continuing to sizzle as July creeps toward setting a record for the hottest month ever recorded. Phoenix led the way Sunday, hitting its 31st consecutive day of at least 110 … more

By WALTER BERRY | 7/30/23

This photo provided by the National Park Service Mojave National Preserve shows a tanker making a fire retardant drop over the York fire in Mojave National Preserve on Saturday, July 29, 2023. A massive wildfire burning out of control in California's Mojave National Preserve is spreading rapidly amid erratic winds. Meanwhile, firefighters reported some progress Sunday against another major blaze to the southwest that prompted evacuations. (Park Ranger R. Almendinger/ InciWeb /National Park Service Mojave National Preserve via AP)

Erratic winds challenge firefighters battling two major California blazes

A massive wildfire burning out of control in California’s Mojave National Preserve is spreading rapidly amid erratic winds. Meanwhile, firefighters reported progress Sunday against another major … more

7/30/23

Palestinian demonstrators chant slogans during a protest against the territory's chronic power outages and difficult living conditions along the streets of Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, Sunday, July 30, 2023. Several thousand people briefly took to the streets across the Gaza Strip chanting "what a shame" and in one place burning Hamas flags, before police moved in and broke up the protests. (AP Photo)

Thousands take to streets in Gaza in rare public display of discontent with Hamas

Several thousand people briefly took to the streets across the Gaza Strip to protest the territory’s chronic power outages and difficult living conditions. Sunday's rallies were a rare public show … more

7/30/23

US mother, daughter, reported kidnapped in Haiti, people warned not to travel there

A woman from New Hampshire who works for a nonprofit organization in Haiti and her young daughter have been reported as kidnapped as the U.S. State Department issued a “do not travel advisory” in … more

The Associated Press | 7/30/23

A map of a GOP proposal to redraw Alabama's congressional districts is displayed at the Alabama Statehouse in Montgomery, Ala., Tuesday, July 18, 2023. Alabama lawmakers are meeting in special session to draw new congressional districts after the U.S. Supreme Court upheld a ruling blocking the current map. (AP Photo/Kim Chandler)

Plaintiffs in voting rights case urge judges to toss Alabama's new congressional map

Civil rights groups urged three federal judges to reject Alabama’s newly drawn congressional districts, saying state Republicans prioritized partisan concerns over compliance with a court order to … more

By KIM CHANDLER | 7/30/23

FILE - President Joe Biden poses for a photo with the Students Demand Action group after speaking at the National Safer Communities Summit at the University of Hartford in West Hartford, Conn., June 16, 2023. The oldest president in American history, Joe Biden would be 86 by the end of his second term, should he win one. He’ll nonetheless need young voters to back him next year as solidly as those under 30 did in 2020, when they supported Biden over his predecessor, Donald Trump, by a 61% to 36% margin, according to AP VoteCast. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File)

Joe Biden, America's oldest sitting president, needs young voters to win again. Will his age matter?

Joe Biden is already the oldest sitting president in American history at age 80. If he were to win reelection, he'd be 86 by the end of his second term. To win in 2024, he'll need young voters to … more

By WILL WEISSERT | 7/30/23

FILE - A car drives past a vacant lot, Wednesday, July 27, 2023, in Egg Harbor Township, N.J., where a string of seedy motels used to stand. The discovery of four dead women in a drainage ditch behind the motels just outside Atlantic City was shocking news in 2006. But as the years passed, the public’s attention and fear faded, and the case of the “Eastbound Strangler” – so named for the direction the victims’ heads were facing – remained unsolved. (AP Photo/Wayne Parry, File)

Breakthrough in Long Island serial killings shines light on the many unsolved murders of sex workers

Two women out for an afternoon walk outside Atlantic City found a body in a ditch and called police, who quickly found three more. That was 17 years before police arrested Rex Heuermann in New York … more

By WAYNE PARRY | 7/30/23

Dairy farmer Megan McAllister works in the milking parlor on her farm, Monday, July 24, 2023, in New Vienna, Iowa. More intense summer heat resulting from emissions-driven climate change means animal heat stress that can result in billions of dollars in lost revenue for farmers and ranchers if not properly managed. The McAllister family installed new fans above the beds where their cows lie. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

Pig cooling pads and weather forecasts for cows are high-tech ways to make meat in a warming world

More than a third of the heat-trapping gases cooking the planet come from growing and raising food, but millions of cattle, pigs and other animals get to stay cool in the United States and the rest … more

By MELINA WALLING | 7/30/23

Investigators examine a damaged skyscraper in the "Moscow City" business district after a reported drone attack in Moscow, Russia, early Sunday, July 30, 2023. (AP Photo)

Overnight drone attack on Moscow injures 1, prompts temporary airport closure

Russian authorities say three Ukrainian drones attacked Moscow in the early hours on Sunday, injuring one person and prompting a temporary closure of one of four airports around the Russian capital. … more

By The Associated Press | 7/29/23

FILE - This undated photo provided by the Missouri Department of Corrections shows Johnny Johnson. Johnson, 45, was convicted of first-degree murder in in the 2002 death of Casey Williamson in suburban St. Louis. (Missouri Department of Corrections via AP)

Appellate court rules that Missouri man with schizophrenia can be executed after all

The planned execution of a 45-year-old Missouri man with schizophrenia is back on after an appellate court reversed course Saturday. Johnny Johnson is scheduled to receive a lethal injection Tuesday … more

By HEATHER HOLLINGSWORTH | 7/29/23