National News - The Morning Sun

Sean Fisher, one of the student coordinators for QPLUS, the LGBTQ student organization for the College of Saint Benedict and Saint John's University, stands in the organization's dedicated lounge on the college's campus in St. Joseph, Minn., on Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2022. To Fisher, a senior in environmental studies who identifies as non-binary, the Catholic colleges' recognition and funding of the organization represents a new era. (AP Photo/Giovanna Dell'Orto)

LGBTQ students wrestle with tensions at Christian colleges

Tensions over gender identity and sexual orientation pervade the campuses of hundreds of U.S. Catholic and Protestant universities. The Christian teachings they ascribe to hold that God created … more

By GIOVANNA DELL'ORTO of The Associated Press and YONAT SHIMRON of Religion News Service | 12/5/22

This photos shows the gate to the Duke Energy West End substation in Moore County, N.C. on Sunday, Dec. 4, 2022. Tens of thousands were without power in the county after what authorities say was an act of criminal vandalism at multiple substations. The Pilot newspaper in Southern Pines reported that infrastructure at the West End substation was damaged. (John Nagy/The Pilot via AP)

Power outages could last days after shootings at substations

Two power substations in a North Carolina county were damaged by gunfire in what is being investigated as a criminal act. A spokesman for Duke Energy said at a news conference with local officials … more

By HANNAH SCHOENBAUM | 12/5/22

FILE - This undated photo provided by the Tarrant County, Texas, Jail shows Aaron Dean. The former Forth Worth police officer is set to go on trial Monday, Dec. 5, 2022, for shooting Atatiana Jefferson, a Black woman, through a rear window of her home while responding to a call about an open front door in 2019. (Tarrant County Jail via AP, File)

Trial to start for Texas cop who shot Black woman in home

A white former police officer is set to go on trial Monday for fatally shooting a Black woman through a rear window of her Texas home as the officer responded to a call about an open front door in … more

By JAKE BLEIBERG | 12/5/22

FILE - Bob McGrath, right, looks at the Cookie Monster as they accept the Lifetime Achievement Award for '"Sesame Street" at the Daytime Emmy Awards on Aug. 30, 2009, in Los Angeles. McGrath, an actor, musician and children’s author widely known for his portrayal of one of the first regular characters on the children’s show “Sesame Street” has died at the age of 90. McGrath’s passing was confirmed by his family who posted on his Facebook page on Sunday, Dec. 4, 2022. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello, File)

Bob McGrath, 'Sesame Street' legend, dies at 90

Actor, musician and children’s author widely known for his portrayal of one of the first regular characters on the children’s show “Sesame Street,” Bob McGrath, has died at the age of 90. … more

12/4/22

FILE - Capital murder defendant and former U.S. Border Patrol Juan David Ortiz looks around the courtroom before the start of the first day of the trial before Webb County State District Court Judge Oscar J. Hale, on Nov. 28, 2022. Jurors in Ortiz's capital murder trial have heard him confess in a taped interview in early December 2022 to killing four sex workers in South Texas. (Jerry Lara/The San Antonio Express-News via AP, File)

Jurors hear ex-Border Patrol agent's confession in killings

Jurors in the capital murder trial of a former U.S. Border Patrol agent have heard him confess in a taped interview to killing four sex workers in South Texas. If convicted of capital murder, … more

12/4/22

As Musk is learning, content moderation is a messy job

As Elon Musk is finding out, running a global social media platform requires more than a few good algorithms. It also presents tough decisions about what kind of content to allow, and how to handle … more

By DAVID KLEPPER and MATT O'BRIEN | 12/4/22

Georgia Sen. Raphael Warnock campaigns on Sept. 2, 2022, in Atlanta with other members of historically Black fraternities and sororities. Warnock faced Republican Herschel Walker, a former University of Georgia football star, in a Tuesday runoff. Sports and college loyalties have figure prominently in the contest and in other midterm campaigns in this closely divided Deep South battleground. (AP Photo/Bill Barrow)

In Georgia, how sports explain a political battleground

Georgia's U.S. Senate race between Republican Herschel Walker and Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock highlights how sports and college loyalties explain a political battleground. It goes beyond just the … more

By BILL BARROW | 12/4/22

A soccer fan supporting Denmark waits for the start of the World Cup group D soccer match between France and Denmark, at the Stadium 974 in Doha, Qatar, Saturday, Nov. 26, 2022. (AP Photo/Frank Augstein)

AP-Week in Pictures: Global / Nov. 26-Dec. 2, 2022

Nov. 26-Dec. 2, 2022 From the excitement of crowds greeting Britain's Prince William, and Kate, Princess of Wales, as they visit the United States, looking for new ways to address climate change; … more

12/3/22

A Palestinian flag and a poster showing Ammar Adili, 22, who was shot and killed by an Israeli border police officer on Friday, mark the location of the incident, on the main thoroughfare where shops are closed in a general strike, in the West Bank town of Hawara, south of Nablus, Saturday, Dec. 3, 2022. Palestinians pushed back Saturday against Israeli police claims that Ammar Adili had attacked Israelis, including a border policeman, in the area and that he was shot in self-defense. They said the officer killed Adili without cause, and that Palestinian medics were kept from trying to save him as he lay gravely wounded on the side of a busy throughfare in the occupied West Bank town of Hawara.(AP Photo/Nasser Nasser)

Palestinians say killing caught on video was unjustified

Palestinians have pushed back against Israeli police claims that an Israeli border police officer who shot to death a 22-year-old Palestinian at close range acted in self-defense. The shooting had … more

By AREF TUFFAHA and FARES AKRAM | 12/3/22

FILE - Nick Fuentes, right-wing podcaster, speaks at a pro-Trump march, Nov. 14, 2020, in Washington. A surge of anti-Jewish vitriol, spread by a world-famous rapper, an NBA star and other prominent people, including Fuentes, is stoking fears that public figures are normalizing hate and ramping up the risk of violence in a country already experiencing a sharp increase in antisemitism. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File)

Antisemitic celebrities stoke fears of normalizing hate

A surge of anti-Jewish vitriol spread by celebrities is stoking fears that public figures are normalizing hate and ramping up the risk of violence. Former President Donald Trump hosted a … more

By MICHAEL KUNZELMAN | 12/3/22

FILE - Flowers and candles are placed around crosses on May 28, 2022, at a memorial outside Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, to honor the victims killed in the school shooting a few days prior. Victims of the Uvalde school shooting that left 21 people dead have filed a lawsuit seeking $27 billion against local and state police, the city and other school and law enforcement officials for failing to follow active shooter protocol because authorities waited more than an hour to confront the attacker inside a fourth-grade classroom, according to court documents. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File)

Uvalde shooting victims seek $27B, class action in lawsuit

Victims of a Texas elementary school shooting are seeking a $27 billion class action lawsuit against city and state police, the city of Uvalde and other school and law enforcement officials for … more

12/2/22

Rev. Paula Stecker of the Christ the King Lutheran Church tidies up a memorial outside Club Q following last week's mass shooting at the gay nightclub, in Colorado Springs, Colo., Tuesday, Nov. 29, 2022. (AP Photo/ Thomas Peipert)

EXPLAINER: What do we know about the Colorado bomb threat?

More than a year before police say Anderson Lee Aldrich killed five people and wounded 17 others at a gay night club in Colorado Springs, Aldrich was arrested on allegations of making a bomb threat … more

By COLLEEN SLEVIN | 12/2/22

Man pleads guilty to federal hate crime for cross burning

A Mississippi man who burned a cross in his front yard to intimidate his Black neighbors has pleaded guilty in federal court to a hate crime. The Justice Department announced Friday that Axel Cox of … more

By MICHAEL GOLDBERG | 12/2/22

FILE - This booking photo provided by Volusia County, Fla., Jail shows Joe Kennedy. According to an affidavit unsealed Thursday, Dec. 1, 2022, Kennedy, a man described as a “person of interest” in the killing and dismemberment of four men in eastern Oklahoma, admitted to a woman that he killed the men and “cut them up.” (Volusia County Jail via AP, File)

Affidavit: Oklahoma man said he killed 4 men, 'cut them up'

Prosecutors say a man described as a “person of interest” in the killing and dismemberment of four men in eastern Oklahoma admitted to a woman that he killed the men and “cut them up.” … more

12/2/22

Supporters of the Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr sign a pledge to stand against homosexuality or LGBTQ, outside a mosque in Kufa, Iraq, Friday, Dec. 2, 2022. Al-Sadr who announced his withdrawal from politics four months ago has broken a period of relative silence to launch an anti-LGBTQ campaign. (AP Photo/Anmar Khalil)

Influential Iraqi cleric launches anti-LGBTQ campaign

An influential Iraqi cleric who announced his withdrawal from politics four months ago has broken a period of relative silence to launch an anti-LGBTQ campaign. Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr posted a … more

By ABBY SEWELL and ANMAR KHALIL | 12/2/22

FILE - The national championship trophy is seen before a new conference for the NCAA college football playoff championship game between Clemson and Alabama, Sunday, Jan. 10, 2016, in Glendale, Ariz. The College Football Playoff announced Thursday, Dec. 1, 2022, it will expand to a 12-team event, starting in 2024, finally completing an 18-month process that was fraught with delays and disagreements.The announcement comes a day after the Rose Bowl agreed to amend its contract for the 2024 and '25 seasons, the last hurdle CFP officials needed cleared to triple the size of what is now a four-team format.(AP Photo/David J. Phillip, File)

EXPLAINER: How will College Football Playoff expansion work?

The College Football Playoff will include 12 teams, starting with the 2024 season. An expansion plan that was crafted for two years and haggled over for another 18 months finally cleared all the … more

By RALPH D. RUSSO | 12/1/22

10 Los Angeles students appear to OD on cannabis edibles

Ten Los Angeles students appear to have overdosed on edible cannabis products at their middle school in the San Fernando Valley. The Los Angeles Fire Department says the students between 13 and 14 … more

12/1/22

FILE - Investigators search for evidence outside Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, May 25, 2022, after an 18-year-old gunman killed 19 students and two teachers. The city of Uvalde sued the local prosecutor's office Thursday, Dec. 1, 2022 seeking access to records and other investigative materials on the May shooting at the elementary school, highlighting ongoing tensions over the slow police response and resulting flow of information about the rampage. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File)

Uvalde sues local prosecutor over school shooting records

The city of Uvalde has sued the local prosecutor’s office seeking access to records and other investigative materials on the May shooting at Robb Elementary School that left 19 children and two … more

By ACACIA CORONADO | 12/1/22

A civilian wears a Vladimir Putin mask as a spoof, while a Ukrainian soldier stands atop a destroyed Russian tank in Bucha, Ukraine, outside of Kyiv, on April 7, 2022. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)

AP's top 2022 photos capture a planet bursting at the seams

Taken together, they can convey the feeling of a world convulsing — 150 Associated Press images from across 2022, showing the fragments that make up our lives and freezing in time the moments that … more

By The Associated Press | 12/1/22

FILE - Chinese President Xi Jinping, left, chats with former President Jiang Zemin during the closing ceremony for the 19th Party Congress at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, on Oct. 24, 2017. With his death, Jiang leaves behind a very different China than the one he tried to shape. Now it’s Xi Jinping’s nation. (AP Photo/Andy Wong, File)

Analysis: Under Jiang, China projected a more open image

With his death, former Chinese leader Jiang Zemin leaves behind a very different China than the one he tried to shape. Now it’s Xi Jinping’s nation. It’s also a country in the throes of … more

By TED ANTHONY | 12/1/22