National News - The Morning Sun

FILE - A worker pulls an oil boom that a current pinned against a pier in Caminada Pass in Grand Isle, La., May 22, 2010. When a deadly explosion destroyed BP's Deepwater Horizon drilling rig in the Gulf of Mexico, tens of thousands of ordinary people were hired to help clean up the environmental devastation. These workers were exposed to crude oil and the chemical dispersant Corexit while picking up tar balls along the shoreline, laying booms from fishing boats to soak up slicks and rescuing oil-covered birds. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, File)

Takeaways from AP's story on the BP oil spill medical settlement's shortcomings

Thousands of ordinary people who helped clean up after the 2010 BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico say they got sick. A court settlement was supposed to help compensate them, but it hasn’t turned … more

By TRAVIS LOLLER and MICHAEL PHILLIS | 4/18/24

A hiring sign is displayed in Riverwoods, Ill., Tuesday, April 16, 2024. On Thursday, April 18, 2024, the Labor Department reports on the number of people who applied for unemployment benefits last week. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)

The number of Americans applying for jobless benefits holds steady as labor market remains strong

The number of Americans filing for jobless benefits didn’t change last week as the labor market continues to defy efforts by the Federal Reserve to cool it off. The Labor Department reported … more

By MATT OTT | 4/18/24

Firefighters work on a building that was partially destroyed after a Russian bombardment in Chernihiv, Ukraine, Wednesday, April 17, 2024. Three Russian missiles slammed into a downtown area of the northern Ukrainian city of Chernihiv on Wednesday, hitting an eight-floor apartment building and killing at least 17 people, authorities said. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)

Russia reports downing 5 Ukrainian military balloons in Kyiv's latest apparent war innovation

Russia’s defense ministry says air defenses have downed what authorities describe as five Ukrainian balloons. The sides have kept up long-range strikes that have featured heavily in what has … more

By Associated Press | 4/18/24

A new report released by the Hawaii Attorney General's Office shows that an emergency manager delayed his return, communications broke down and forecasts weren't heeded during the Maui wildfire that became the deadliest in U.S. history. Attorney General Anne Lopez said this phase of the report is not to place blame on anyone. (Apr. 17)

Takeaways from this week's reports on the deadly 2023 Maui fire that destroyed Lahaina

Officials are still trying to determine exactly what went wrong when the deadliest U.S. wildfire in more than a century burned through a historic Hawaii town, more than a half-year after the … more

By JENNIFER SINCO KELLEHER, REBECCA BOONE, CLAUDIA LAUER and CHRISTOPHER L. KELLER | 4/18/24

Climate change concerns grow, but few think Biden's climate law will help, AP-NORC poll finds

A poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research shows that 45% of U.S. adults say they have become more concerned about climate change over the past year. That includes … more

By ALEXA ST. JOHN and LINLEY SANDERS | 4/18/24

Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump walks with Poland's President Andrzej Duda at Trump Tower in midtown Manhattan in New York on Wednesday, April 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Stefan Jeremiah)

Poland's president becomes the latest leader to visit Donald Trump as allies eye a possible return

Former President Donald Trump has met in New York with Polish President Andrzej Duda. It's the latest in a series of meetings with foreign leaders as Europe braces for the possibility of a second … more

By JILL COLVIN and MONIKA SCISLOWSKA | 4/17/24

NCAA allows transfers to be immediately eligible, no matter how many times they've switched schools

NCAA athletes will be immediately eligible to play no matter how many times they transfer — as long as they meet academic requirements. The NCAA Division I Council’s move fast tracks legislation … more

By RALPH D. RUSSO | 4/17/24

Covenant School parents and their attorneys huddle in prayer outside a courtroom before a hearing to decide whether documents and journals of a Nashville school shooter can be released to the public Wednesday, April 17, 2024, in Nashville, Tenn. A Tennessee judge will soon decide whether the journals of a Nashville school shooter can be released to the public, after nearly a year of legal wrangling over who can participate in the case. (AP Photo/Travis Loller)

Tennessee judge wants more information on copyright before ruling on school shooter's writings

A Tennessee judge is weighing whether to allow the release of a Nashville school shooter's writings after a two-day hearing concluded Wednesday. The judge seemed ready to agree with an attorney for … more

By TRAVIS LOLLER | 4/17/24

Vehicles sit abandoned in floodwaters covering a road in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, April 17, 2024. With cloud seeding, it may rain, but it doesn’t really pour or flood — at least nothing like what drenched the United Arab Emirates and paralyzed Dubai. (AP Photo/Jon Gambrell)

Here's why experts don't think cloud seeding played a role in Dubai's downpour

With cloud seeding, it may rain, but it doesn’t really pour or flood — at least nothing like what drenched the United Arab Emirates and paralyzed Dubai. Meteorologists say cloud seeding, although … more

By SETH BORENSTEIN and BRITTANY PETERSON | 4/17/24

FILE - The Fifth Ward Elementary School and residential neighborhoods sit near the Denka Performance Elastomer Plant, back, in Reserve, La., Sept. 23, 2022. More than 20 Republican attorneys general on Tuesday, April 16, 2024, asked the EPA to stop investigating environmental policies that disproportionately harm Black people but aren't intentionally discriminatory. The petition is unlikely to convince the Biden administration to back away from an issue EPA Administrator Michael Regan has taken pains to highlight, like visiting the industrial stretch of Louisiana typically called Cancer Alley. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert, File)

Republican AGs attack Biden's EPA for pursuing environmental discrimination cases

Twenty-three Republican attorneys general are attacking the Biden administration's stated goal of pursuing environmental justice. They officials call it a form of “racial engineering.” They are … more

By MICHAEL PHILLIS | 4/17/24

FILE - Craig N. Ross Jr. is arraigned before Judge James A. Murphy III on charges related to the kidnapping of a 9-year-old from Moreau Lake State Park, Nov. 17, 2023, at Saratoga County Court in Ballston Spa, N.Y. Ross was sentenced Wednesday, April 17, 2024, to 47 years to life in prison for kidnapping and sexually assaulting a 9-year-old girl who went missing from a state park in upstate New York last year. (Will Waldron/The Albany Times Union via AP, File)

Man sentenced to 47 years to life for kidnapping 9-year-old girl from upstate New York park

A man was sentenced Wednesday to 47 years to life in prison for kidnapping and sexually assaulting a 9-year-old girl who went missing from a state park in upstate New York last year. Craig N. Ross … more

By MAYSOON KHAN | 4/17/24

FILE - In this June 16, 2020, image released by the North American Aerospace Defense Command, a Russian Tu-95 bomber, top, is intercepted by a U.S. F-22 Raptor fighter off the coast of Alaska. Personnel changes proposed to take effect Oct. 1, 2024, at the national level may hinder the Alaska Air National Guard's ability to refuel U.S. and Canadian fighter jets when they scramble to escort Russian bombers nearing North American air space. (North American Aerospace Defense Command via AP)

Air National Guard changes in Alaska could affect national security, civilian rescues, staffers say

The Alaska Air National Guard flew 159 civilian search-and-rescue missions last year in the nation's largest state, often during vicious storms that prevented air ambulances from taking off. It also … more

By MARK THIESSEN | 4/17/24

This image provided by Matayah Utrayle-Shaylene Smith shows an escaped elephant crossing the road in Butte, Mont., on Tuesday, April 17, 2024. The sound of a vehicle backfiring spooked a circus elephant while she was getting a pre-show bath leading the pachyderm to break through a fence and take a brief walk, stopping noontime traffic on the city's busiest street before before being loaded back into a trailer. (Matayah Utrayle-Shaylene Smith via AP)

A vehicle backfiring startled a circus elephant into a Montana street. She still performed Monday

The sound of a vehicle backfiring spooked a circus elephant while she was getting a pre-show bath in Butte, Montana. The pachyderm broke through a fence and stopped noontime traffic on the city's … more

By AMY BETH HANSON | 4/17/24

Ian Cramer listens to state District Judge Bobbi Weiler during his court appearance on Wednesday, April 17, 2024, at the McLean County Courthouse in Washburn, N.D. Cramer waived his preliminary hearing and pleaded not guilty to homicide while fleeing a peace officer and other felony and misdemeanor charges in connection with the pursuit and crash that resulted in the death of Mercer County Sheriff's Deputy Paul Martin, 53, on Dec. 6, 2023, near Hazen, N.D. (AP Photo/Jack Dura)

Senator's son pleads not guilty to charges from crash that killed North Dakota sheriff's deputy

The adult son of U.S. Sen. Kevin Cramer has pleaded not guilty to homicide and other charges in connection with a Dec. 6 crash that killed a North Dakota sheriff's deputy. Forty-three-year-old Ian … more

By JACK DURA | 4/17/24

Fire officials in Maui County discuss an external agency review of their performance during the 2023 Hawaii wildfires that destroyed more than 3,900 buildings and displaced thousands of people

Maui Fire Department report on deadly wildfire details need for more equipment and mutual aid plans

When wildfires broke out across the Hawaiian island of Maui last August, some firefighters carried victims piggyback over downed power lines to safety and sheltered survivors inside their fire … more

By JENNIFER SINCO KELLEHER, REBECCA BOONE and CLAUDIA LAUER | 4/17/24

FILE - The sun shines through clouds over wildfire wreckage in Lahaina, Hawaii, Aug. 10, 2023. A dangerous mix of conditions appear to have combined to make the wildfires blazing a path of destruction in Hawaii particularly damaging, including flash drought, high winds, low humidity and dry vegetation. According to a new poll, Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders in the United States are slightly more likely than the overall adult population to believe in human-caused climate change. The recent poll from AAPI Data and The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research finds 84% of AAPI adults agree climate change exists. In comparison, 74% of all U.S. adults hold the same sentiment. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer, File)

Asian Americans, Pacific Islanders in the US more likely to believe in climate change: AP-NORC poll

Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders in the United States are slightly more likely than the overall adult population to believe in human-caused climate change. That's according to … more

By TERRY TANG and LINLEY SANDERS | 4/17/24

FILE - The Rev. Frederick D. Haynes III sits before speaking, Feb. 1, 2024, in Dallas. The Dallas pastor who took over leadership of the Rev. Jesse Jackson’s longtime civil rights organization resigned Tuesday, April 16, after less than three months on the job. (AP Photo/LM Otero, File)

New leader of Jesse Jackson's civil rights organization steps down just months on the job

A Dallas pastor who took over leadership of the Rev. Jesse Jackson’s longtime civil rights organization has resigned after just months on the job. The Rev. Frederick Haynes III tells The Associated … more

By SOPHIA TAREEN | 4/16/24

FILE - The Federal Correctional Institution stands in Dublin, Calif., Dec. 5, 2022. The federal Bureau of Prisons says it is planning to close a women’s prison in California known as the “rape club” despite attempts to reform the troubled facility after an Associated Press investigation exposed rampant staff-on-inmate sexual abuse. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu, File)

Closure of troubled California prison won't happen before each inmate's status is reviewed

Officails say the planned closure of a federal women’s prison in California notorious for staff-on-inmate sexual abuse won’t happen before each inmate’s status is reviewed. The Bureau of … more

By CHRISTOPHER WEBER | 4/16/24

FILE - Poland's President Andrej Duda addresses a media conference at the Palace of the Grand Dukes of Lithuania during the Three Seas Initiative Summit and Business Forum in Vilnius, April 11, 2024. Presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump is scheduled to meet with Polish President Andrzej Duda on Wednesday in New York. (AP Photo/Mindaugas Kulbis, File)

Trump to meet with Polish president Duda as NATO leaders call for additional support for Ukraine

Presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump is scheduled to meet with Polish President Andrzej Duda on Wednesday in New York. The planned dinner comes as European leaders prepare for the … more

By STEVE PEOPLES | 4/16/24

FILE - This booking photo provided by the Chicago Police Department on May 16, 2019, shows Clarisa Figueroa, who is charged in the death of 19-year-old expectant mother Marlen Ochoa-Lopez. Figueroa, a Chicago woman accused of luring the pregnant teenager to her home and cutting her baby from her womb with a butcher knife nearly five years ago, pleaded guilty to murder Tuesday, April 16, 2024, and was sentenced to 50 years in prison. (Chicago Police Department via AP, File)

Chicago woman pleads guilty, gets 50 years for cutting child from victim's womb

A Chicago woman accused of luring a pregnant teenager to her home and cutting her baby from her womb with a butcher knife nearly five years ago has been sentenced to 50 years in prison after pleading … more

4/16/24