National News - The Morning Sun

FILE - The Supreme Court on Wednesday afternoon, April 19, 2023, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File)

Legitimacy of 'customer' in Supreme Court gay rights case raises ethical, legal flags

A Christian graphic artist who the Supreme Court said can refuse to make wedding websites for gay couples pointed during her lawsuit to a request from a man named “Stewart” and his husband-to-be. … more

By ALANNA DURKIN RICHER and COLLEEN SLEVIN | 7/3/23

Emaciated and imprisoned, ex-president Saakashvili tells Georgian court he is spiritually fit

Georgia’s imprisoned former president Mikheil Saakashvili appeared severely emaciated on Monday in videolink testimony to a court considering an abuse-of-power case against him. He and his … more

7/3/23

This June 2023, photo provided by the Tell City, Indiana police department shows Sgt. Heather Glenn, who died July 3, 2023, during a confrontation at a southern Indiana hospital. Authorities say police confronted a man at the Perry County Memorial Hospital in Tell City, Ind., leading to gunfire that killed the officer and the man. (Tell City Police Department via AP)

Police officer killed in confrontation with domestic violence suspect in Indiana hospital

Authorities say an Indiana police officer was fatally shot at a hospital while trying to arrest a man suspected of domestic violence. The shooting occurred early Monday at Perry County Memorial … more

7/3/23

In this photo provided ny Yellowstone River Research Center, Rocky Mountain College Environmental Science summer research student Josephine Eccher examines a mat of petroleum products more than 10 feet long and several inches thick along the Yellowstone River, June 30, 2023, near Columbus, Mont. The petroleum products spilled into the river when a railroad bridge over the river collapsed on June 24 and part of a freight train plunged into the water. (Kayhan Ostovar/Yellowstone River Research Center at Rocky Mountain College via AP)

Cleanup begins after asphalt binder spill into Montana's Yellowstone River after train derailment

Witnesses report seeing globs of asphalt binder that spilled into Montana's Yellowstone River during a bridge collapse and train derailment on islands and the riverbanks a week after the spill. … more

By AMY BETH HANSON | 7/2/23

Emergency personnel respond to a single-engine plane crash in the area of Barefoot Landing, in North Myrtle Beach, S.C., Sunday, July 2, 2023. (Terri Richardson/The Sun News via AP)

At least 1 person is dead in a fiery small plane crash in South Carolina beach resort

Authorities say a single-engine plane carrying five people has crashed in the South Carolina coastal resort community of North Myrtle Beach, killing at least one person. The Federal Aviation … more

7/2/23

In this image taken from video provided by ABC7 Chicago, several vehicles are stranded in the flooded viaduct at Fifth and Cicero avenues, in Chicago, Sunday, July 2, 2023. (ABC7 Chicago via AP)

Heavy rains flood Chicago roads and force NASCAR to cut short a downtown street race

Heavy rains have flooded Chicago streets and forced the cancellation of a NASCAR race set to run through the city's downtown. The National Weather Service issued a flash flood warning for multiple … more

7/2/23

In this photo provided by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection is an interior view of the soft-sided migrant processing facility in Laredo, Texas, on Sept. 23, 2021. As the Biden administration prepared to launch speedy asylum screenings at the border in April, authorities pledged a key difference from a Trump-era version of the policy: Migrants would be guaranteed access to legal representation. Nearly three months and thousands of screenings later, the promise of attorney access appears unfulfilled. (Greg L. Davis/U.S. Customs and Border Protection via AP)

The Biden administration guaranteed attorney access for all migrant screenings. Most don’t have it

As the Biden administration prepared to launch speedy asylum screenings at the border this spring, authorities pledged a key difference from a Trump-era version of the policy: Migrants would be … more

By ELLIOT SPAGAT | 7/2/23

Former President Donald Trump speaks during a rally, Saturday, July 1, 2023, in Pickens, S.C. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)

Trump's South Carolina rally attracted crowd in range of 50,000 to 55,000, police chief estimates

South Carolina's heavily Republican Upstate is a popular stop for presidential candidates trying to attract support for the first-in-the-South primary in 2024. But no candidate has drawn the kind of … more

By MEG KINNARD | 7/2/23

Medical charges sent to David White, who after kidney surgery got hit with a lot of extra charges, are seen at his home in Temple Hills, Md., Monday, June 26, 2023. A startling invoice that arrived in the mail may not be what you wind up paying. Errors or slow insurance payments may have inflated the total. Even if it’s accurate, financial aid or other assistance might help pare it. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

Are you confronting a big medical bill? Attack it with a plan — and these tips

An enormous medical bill can trigger a wave of panic, but experts say patients should attack the problem with a plan. That startling invoice that arrived in the mail may not be what you wind up … more

By TOM MURPHY | 7/2/23

FILE - Members of the ultra-Orthodox and Hasidic Jewish communities protest before a Board of Regents meeting to vote on new requirements that private schools teach English, math science and history to high school students, Sept. 12, 2022, outside the New York State Education Department Building in Albany, N.Y. Eighteen private Jewish schools run by New York City's politically powerful Hasidic community deprived thousands of students the required secular education in English, math, science and social studies that they need to function successfully outside their religious enclaves, according to findings from an eight-year investigation by New York City school officials, Friday, June 30 2023. (Will Waldron/The Albany Times Union via AP, File)

NYC school officials say yeshivas run by Hasidic community fail to teach students in core subjects

Eighteen private Jewish schools run by New York City’s politically powerful Hasidic community deprived thousands of students the required secular education in English, math, science and social … more

By BOBBY CAINA CALVAN | 7/1/23

This satellite image provided by Planet Labs PBC and taken on Friday, June 30, 2023, shows apparent recent construction of tents at a former military base outside the Belarusian town of Osipovichi. As part of a deal to end a rebellion in Russia by Wagner Group mercenaries, Belarus’s president says he offered the fighters an abandoned military unit to set up camp and the leader of an exiled Belarusian guerrilla organization told The AP it is near Osipovichi. (Planet Labs PBC via AP)

Satellite photos, reports suggest Belarus is building an army camp for Wagner fighters

Satellite images analyzed by The Associated Press show what appeared to be a newly built military-style camp in Belarus. A Belarusian guerrilla group has suggested it might be used to house fighters … more

By The Associated Press | 7/1/23

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, with the European Space Agency Euclid space telescope, lifts off from pad 40 at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Cape Canaveral, Fla., Saturday, July 1, 2023. The Euclid mission is designed to explore the evolution of the dark universe. (AP Photo/John Raoux)

European telescope launched to hunt for clues to universe's darkest secrets

A European space telescope has blasted off to explore the mysterious and invisible realm known as the dark universe. SpaceX launched the European Space Agency's Euclid observatory on Saturday from … more

By MARCIA DUNN | 7/1/23

FILE - Advocates gather for a rally at the state Capitol complex in Nashville, Tenn., to oppose a series of bills that target the LGBTQ community, Tuesday, Feb. 14, 2023. Bans on gender-affirming care for minors are to take effect Saturday in Georgia and Tennessee. (AP Photo/Jonathan Mattise, File)

New state laws target contentious topics of gender, guns and abortion

New state laws are tackling some of the most divisive issues in the U.S., including abortion, gender and guns. Laws taking effect Saturday will limit abortion in North Carolina and gender-affirming … more

By GEOFF MULVIHILL and DAVID A. LIEB | 7/1/23

Police patrol as youths gather on Concorde square during a protest in Paris, France, Friday, June 30, 2023. French President Emmanuel Macron urged parents Friday to keep teenagers at home and proposed restrictions on social media to quell rioting spreading across France over the fatal police shooting of a 17-year-old driver. (AP Photo/Lewis Joly)

Shooting in France shows US is not alone in struggles with racism, police brutality

The events in France following the death of a 17-year-old shot by police in a Paris suburb are drawing parallels to the racial reckoning in the U.S. that began in 2020 with the killing of George … more

By CLAUDIA LAUER and ALANNA DURKIN RICHER | 7/1/23

This photo provided by researcher Sam England in June 2023 shows a tick sitting on a flower. Hungry ticks have some slick tricks. They can zoom through the air using static electricity to latch onto people, pets and other animals, according to a study published Friday, June 30, 2023, in the journal Current Biology. (Sam England via AP)

Hungry ticks can use this static trick to land on you and your pets

Static electricity might help ticks zoom through the air to grab onto people and animals. A study published Friday found that the static charges we pick up from the environment may be giving the … more

By MADDIE BURAKOFF | 7/1/23

In this photo provided by Andrew Jensen, an aphid feeds on a native flowering plant called "prairie smoke" (Geum triflorum) in Idaho near Slate Creek in the Nez-Perce National Forest on May 25, 2013. The species name is Macrosiphum euphorbiae, also known as "potato aphid," which is native to the U.S. and Canada. As if the smoke and haze sweeping in from fires in Canada weren’t enough, some parts of New York City are swarming with aphids. (Andrew Jensen via AP)

First smoky air, now clouds of bugs. Winged aphids invade New York City

As if the smoke and haze sweeping in from fires in Canada weren’t enough, some parts of New York City are swarming with flying insects. The explosion of winged aphids is both a nuisance and a … more

By BOBBY CAINA CALVAN | 6/30/23

FILE - Francisco Oropeza, center, is escorted from the San Jacinto County courthouse by San Jacinto County Sheriff Greg Capers, second from right, after a hearing, May 18, 2023, in Coldspring, Texas. Oropeza, accused of killing five neighbors in Texas after some of them complained that gunfire was keeping a baby awake, was indicted Friday, June 30, on a capital murder charge that could carry the death penalty. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip, File)

Suspected gunman in Texas shooting that killed 5 neighbors indicted on capital murder charge

A Texas grand jury has handed up a capital murder charge against a man accused of fatally shooting five neighbors in April outside Houston. Prosecutors said Wednesday they do not know whether they … more

By JAKE BLEIBERG | 6/30/23

FILE - This photo shows the United States Coast Guard Academy, Sept. 14, 2020, in New London, Conn. A previously undisclosed investigation reveals the U.S. Coast Guard failed to appropriately review and prosecute cases of sexual assault at the service's Connecticut academy for years while some of the accused rose up the ranks. Two U.S. Senators on Friday, June 23, 2023, demanded documents and records concerning the probe. (AP Photo/Jessica Hill, File)

Coast Guard apologizes for mishandling of sexual assaults at academy following revelation of probe

The U.S. Coast Guard is apologizing for not taking “appropriate action” years ago when it failed to adequately handle cases of sexual assault and harassment at the service’s Connecticut … more

By SUSAN HAIGH | 6/30/23

This June 2023 image provided by the Space Telescope Science Institute shows the planet Saturn and three of its moons, from left, Enceladus, Tethys and Dione, captured by the James Webb Space Telescope. In infrared, the planet appears dark because sunlight is absorbed by methane in the atmosphere. (NASA, ESA, CSA, JWST Saturn Team via AP)

Saturn's rings are glowing in Webb Space Telescope's latest cosmic shot

Saturn has a fresh new look thanks to NASA's Webb Space Telescope. The gas giant is dark in the latest photo by Webb, but its rings are aglow. Webb snapped the picture in the infrared. At this … more

By MARCIA DUNN | 6/30/23

FILE - Demonstrators gather on the steps to the State Capitol to speak against transgender-related legislation bills being considered in the Texas Senate and House, May 20, 2021, in Austin, Texas. The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday, June 30, 2023, said it will not review a first-of-its-kind ruling from a federal appeals court that found people with gender dysphoria are entitled to the protections of the Americans With Disabilities Act. (AP Photo/Eric Gay, File)

Supreme Court lets stand ruling that protects people with gender dysphoria under disability law

The U.S. Supreme Court has declined to review a first-of-its-kind ruling from a federal appeals court that found people with gender dysphoria are entitled to the protections of the Americans With … more

By DENISE LAVOIE | 6/30/23