National News - The Morning Sun

A tree stands in a lake in Usingen near Frankfurt, Germany, Wednesday, March 22, 2023, the World Water Day. World Water Day was established in 1992 by the United Nations to spread awareness about the water condition all over the world. (AP Photo/Michael Probst)

MARCH 17-23, 2023 From Cyclone Freddy’s devastating impact in Malawi and protests in France against raising the retirement age, to fans celebrating with flares at a Premier League match in … more

By The Associated Press | 3/24/23

'Scream as loud as you can': 5 boys rescued from NYC tunnel

Five mischievous boys had to be rescued after they crawled through a storm drain tunnel in New York City and got lost. It happened Tuesday on Staten Island. In audio released by the fire department, … more

3/23/23

Teaches and supporters picket outside Cesar Chavez Learning Academy in San Fernando, Calif., Thursday, March 23, 2023, on the third day of a strike by SEIU and supported by UTLA for higher wages for Angeles Unified School District support staff. The 3-day strike left thousands of students out of class. (David Crane/The Orange County Register via AP)

Los Angeles school strike set to end, but no deal announced

A three-day strike by workers in the Los Angeles Unified School District is scheduled to wrap up. But it's not immediately clear Thursday if any progress has been made in negotiations for higher pay … more

By CHRISTOPHER WEBER | 3/23/23

People break their fast after dusk on the first day of Ramadan backdropped by the iconic Byzantine-era Hagia Sophia mosque in Istanbul, Turkey, Thursday, March 23, 2023. Abstaining from all food and drink -- not even a sip of water is allowed-- and sexual intercourse from dawn to sunset during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan is regarded as an act of piety and devotion to God and an exercise in self-restraint. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)

Why the religious fast for Ramadan, Lent and other holy days

Fasting across religions is practiced for a wide range of reasons that include spiritual purification and self-discipline. Muslims are welcoming the start of Ramadan, a month of fasting, increased … more

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

This photo provided by Gianluca Masi shows asteroid 2023 DZ2, indicated by arrow at center, about 1.8 million kilometers (1.1 million miles) away from the Earth on March 22, 2023. On Saturday, March 25, 2023, the asteroid, big enough to wipe out a city, will harmlessly zip between Earth and the moon. While asteroid flybys are common, NASA said it’s rare for one so big to come so close _ about once a decade. Scientists estimate its size somewhere between 140 feet and 310 feet. (42 meters and 94 meters). (Gianluca Masi/Virtual Telescope Project via AP)

Large asteroid coming close, but zero chance of hitting us

An asteroid big enough to wipe out a city will zip harmlessly between Earth and the moon's orbit this weekend. Saturday’s close encounter will offer astronomers the chance to study a space rock … more

By MARCIA DUNN | 3/23/23

FILE - The Los Angeles Police Department headquarters building is seen downtown Los Angeles, Friday, July 8, 2022. The Los Angeles police chief and the department's constitutional policing director are under investigation after the names and photographs of undercover officers were released to a technology watchdog group that posted them online, the Los Angeles Times reported. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes,File)

Names, photos of Los Angeles undercover police posted online

The Los Angeles police chief and the department’s constitutional policing director are under investigation after the names and photographs of undercover officers were released to a technology … more

LOS ANGELES | 3/23/23

FILE - Emergency personnel cleanup after a massive pileup on Interstate 35 on Feb. 11, 2021, near downtown Fort Worth, Texas. The company responsible for the Texas interstate where 130 vehicles crashed in icy conditions two years ago, killing six, failed to address the deteriorating road conditions, federal officials said Thursday, March 23, 2023. (Yffy Yossifor/Star-Telegram via AP, File)

NTSB: Crews failed to de-ice road before massive Texas crash

Federal officials say that the company responsible for maintaining a Texas interstate where 130 vehicles crashed in icy conditions two years ago, killing six, failed to address the deteriorating road … more

By JAMIE STENGLE | 3/23/23

Emergency personnel work at the scene of a fatal crash along Interstate 695 on Wednesday, March 22, 2023, near Woodlawn, Md. Multiple people were killed when a passenger vehicle pulled into a work zone along the Baltimore beltway and struck construction workers there, Maryland State Police said Wednesday. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

Police: Driver veered into highway work zone, killing 6

Maryland State Police have released more details about a crash along the Baltimore beltway that left six construction workers dead after a driver lost control of her vehicle Wednesday. Police said … more

Associated Press | 3/23/23

FILE - South Africa's Caster Semenya is shown at the Diamond League athletics event in Doha, Qatar, May 3, 2019. Track and field banned transgender athletes from international competition Thursday, March 23, 2013, while adopting new regulations that could keep Caster Semenya and other athletes with differences in sex development from competing. (AP Photo/Kamran Jebreili, File)

Track bans transgender athletes, tightens rules for Semenya

Track and field has banned transgender athletes from international competition while adopting new regulations that could keep Caster Semenya and other athletes with differences in sex development … more

By EDDIE PELLS | 3/23/23

FILE - The fire-damaged Wellspring Health Access clinic is cordoned by tape on May 25, 2022, in in Casper, Wyo. A woman was arrested for setting fire to the building in Wyoming that was being renovated to house the state’s only full-service abortion clinic, authorities said Wednesday, March 22, 2023. (AP Photo/Mead Gruver, File)

Feds: Woman charged in Wyoming clinic fire opposes abortion

Authorities say a woman accused of setting fire last year to a Wyoming abortion clinic that was under construction told investigators that she opposes abortion and was experiencing anxiety and … more

By MEAD GRUVER and AMY BETH HANSON | 3/23/23

Leroy Chapman Jr., the new editor of The Atlanta-Journal Constitution, is shown in this undated photo. The newspaper named Chapman its new top editor Thursday, March 29, 2023, making him the first Black editor to lead the Journal-Constitution in its 155-year history. (Tyson Horne/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP)

1st Black editor named to lead Atlanta Journal-Constitution

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution has chosen a Black editor to lead its newsroom for the first time in its 155-year history. Leroy Chapman Jr. was named the newspaper's editor-in-chief Thursday after … more

By RUSS BYNUM | 3/23/23

FILE - Jennifer Crumbley, left, and James Crumbley, right, the parents of Ethan Crumbley, a teenager accused of killing four students in a shooting at Oxford High School in Oxford, Mich., appear in court for a preliminary examination on involuntary manslaughter charges in Rochester Hills, Mich., Feb. 8, 2022. Jennifer and James Crumbley can face trial for involuntary manslaughter, the state appeals court said Thursday, March 23, 2023, in a groundbreaking case of criminal responsibility for the acts of a child. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya, File)

Oxford school shooter's parents can face manslaughter trial

The Michigan Court of Appeals says the parents of a teenager who killed four students at a high school can face trial for involuntary manslaughter. The groundbreaking case involves criminal … more

By ED WHITE | 3/23/23

A worker passes the roller coaster at Belmont Park as rain engulfs the area, Tuesday, March 21, 2023, in San Diego. Californians are tired. Tired of the rain, tired of the snow, tired of stormy weather and the cold, relentlessly gray skies that have clouded the Golden State nearly nonstop since late December. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)

Californians eager for sunnier days after relentless winter

With spring now underway, California's 39 million residents are hopeful for sunnier days ahead. But this week’s atmospheric river had other plans. It's the 12th such storm here since late December. … more

By STEFANIE DAZIO and GREGORY BULL | 3/23/23

A hiring sign is displayed at a restaurant in Mount Prospect, Ill., Sunday, March 19, 2023. On Thursday, the Labor Department reports on the number of people who applied for unemployment benefits last week. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)

US jobless claims inch down as labor market remains tight

The labor market continues to defy the Federal Reserve’s attempts at loosening it, with U.S. applications for unemployment benefits down again last week and remaining at healthy, historically low … more

By MATT OTT | 3/23/23

A demolished bike path is shown in the South River Forest near the site of a planned police training center in DeKalb County, Ga., on March 9, 2023. Activists have been protesting the center's planned construction for more than a year, derisively calling it "Cop City." (AP Photo/R.J. Rico)

Muddy clothes? 'Cop City' activists question police evidence

Civil liberties groups and defense attorneys are outraged at the domestic terrorism charges that have been levied against 23 people who were arrested after a masked group attacked an Atlanta-area … more

By R.J. RICO | 3/23/23

FILE - This undated photo provided by Ben Crump Law shows Irvo Otieno. Hours after a video was released publicly showing seven sheriff's deputies and three employees of a Virginia mental hospital pinning Otieno to the floor, attorneys for several of the defendants offered a possible glimpse at how they may defend them against second-degree murder charges. But Otieno's family and their lawyers, including prominent civil rights attorney Ben Crump, immediately pushed back against any attempt to minimize the role any of the defendants may have played in Otieno's death. (Courtesy of Ben Crump Law via AP, File)

Otieno family attorneys push back against officers' defense

Attorneys for several of the defendants charged with second-degree murder in the death of Irvo Otieno have begun to offer defenses of their clients in court or public statements. Some have said their … more

By DENISE LAVOIE and SARAH RANKIN | 3/22/23

Police: 6 dead after work-zone crash on Baltimore Beltway

Maryland State Police say six people were killed when a passenger vehicle pulled into a work zone along the Baltimore beltway and struck construction workers there. Troopers responded to the work … more

3/22/23

FILE - This July 23, 2018 file photo shows packets of buprenorphine, a drug used to control heroin and opioid cravings, in Greenfield, Mass. Doctors often use urine tests to make sure patients taking medication for opioid addiction are sticking with treatment, but a study published Wednesday, March 22, 2023, by JAMA Psychiatry suggests doctors may be missing some cheaters. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola)

Doctors may miss how addiction patients cheat drug tests

Doctors may be missing patients who are trying to cheat on tests that check if they are taking medication for opioid addiction. That's according to a study published Wednesday by JAMA Psychiatry. The … more

By CARLA K. JOHNSON | 3/22/23

FILE - This booking photo provided by the Illinois Department of Corrections shows Larry Earvin, a former inmate at Western Illinois Correctional Center in Mount Sterling, Ill. A contrite Willie Hedden, the last of three ex-correctional officers convicted in the beating death of Earvin, was sentenced Wednesday, March 22, 2023, to six years in federal prison after pleading guilty to civil rights violations and obstruction and testifying against his codefendants. (Illinois Department of Corrections via AP, File)

Cooperating guard gets 6 years in Illinois inmate's death

The last of three ex-correctional officers convicted in the beating death of an Illinois prison inmate has been sentenced to six years in federal prison. U.S. District Judge Sue Myerscough handed the … more

By JOHN O'CONNOR | 3/22/23

FILE - Demonstrators protest about abortion outside the Supreme Court in Washington, June 24, 2022.Since the Supreme Court overturned Roe just nine months ago, 24 states have banned abortion outright or are likely to do so, according to the Guttmacher Institute. Other states with Republican-controlled legislatures, including Florida, are moving toward restrictive laws that would ban abortion as soon as six weeks of pregnancy. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File)

Abortion debate churns with legislation and lawsuits

The U.S. abortion landscape is far from settled nine months after the U.S. Supreme Court ended the nationwide right to terminate a pregnancy. With states now in control, advocates on both sides await … more

By GEOFF MULVIHILL | 3/22/23