National News - The Morning Sun

Participants compete during the Pride Week annual high heels race in the Chueca district, a popular area for the gay community in Madrid, Spain, Thursday, July 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Paul White)

AP PHOTOS: Madrid hosts high heels race to celebrate Pride Week

Participants delighted the crowds as they raced in high heels through Madrid’s Chueca neighborhood during Pride Week. In the heart of the city’s gay district, competitors in vibrant footwear … more

By The Associated Press | 7/4/24

A Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) firefighting helicopter releases water over a hot spot while battling the Thompson Fire, in Oroville, Calif., Wednesday, July 3, 2024. (Stephen Lam/San Francisco Chronicle via AP)

Northern California wildfire does not grow but winds and hot weather could whip up flames

Crews have made steady progress overnight against a Northern California wildfire that has thousands of people under evacuation orders. But officials are worried about winds and hot temperatures … more

7/4/24

FILE - President Ronald Reagan, left, and his Democratic challenger Walter Mondale, shake hands before debating in Kansas City, Mo., Oct. 22, 1984. The age question for presidential candidates is more than four decades old. (AP Photo/Ron Edmonds, File)

The questions about Biden's age and fitness are reminiscent of another campaign: Reagan's in 1984

In 1984, President Ronald Reagan answered the age question with a clever joke that reset his campaign from a stumbling debate performance to a 49-state landslide and a second term. The wobbles came … more

By LAURIE KELLMAN | 7/4/24

FILE - Surgeons perform a bilateral mastectomy on a transgender patient at a hospital in Boston on Friday, July 15, 2016. On Wednesday, July 3, 2024, a U.S. federal district court judge temporarily halted parts of a nondiscrimination rule that would have kept insurers and medical professionals from denying hormone therapy, gender transition surgeries and similar medical care for transgender people. (Christine Hochkeppel/Worcester Telegram & Gazette via AP, File)

Judge temporarily blocks Biden administration's restoration of transgender health protections

A federal district court judge has temporarily halted parts of a nondiscrimination rule that would have kept insurers and medical professionals from denying hormone therapy, gender transition … more

By DEVNA BOSE | 7/3/24

FILE - This photo supplied by the U.S. Attorney's Office for Minnesota shows cash from a bag that was left at the home of a juror in a massive fraud case, June 2, 2024, outside Minneapolis, Minn. Two of five people charged with conspiring to bribe the juror with a bag of $120,000 in cash in exchange for the acquittal of defendants in one of the country’s largest COVID-19-related fraud cases pleaded not guilty Wednesday, July 3, 2024. (U.S. Attorney's Office for Minnesota via AP, File)

2 more people charged with conspiring to bribe Minnesota juror with a bag of cash plead not guilty

Two more people charged with conspiring to bribe a Minnesota juror with a bag of $120,000 in cash in exchange for the acquittal of defendants in one of the country’s largest COVID-19-related fraud … more

By MICHAEL GOLDBERG | 7/3/24

FILE - President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris stand on stage at the Democratic National Committee winter meeting, Feb. 3, 2023, in Philadelphia. Harris has been the White House's first line of defense after President Joe Biden's faltering performance in last week's debate with Donald Trump. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, File)

Here's how Harris could take over Biden's campaign cash if he drops out and she runs for president

Vice President Kamala Harris has been one of President Joe Biden’s staunchest defenders following his shaky performance in last week’s debate, but she’s also emerged as a potential option to … more

By MEG KINNARD | 7/3/24

FILE - President Donald Trump speaks during a rally protesting the Elector College certification of Joe Biden's win in the 2020 presidential race, in Washington, Jan. 6, 2021. Trump on July 2, 2024, misrepresented in a social media post what the U.S. Supreme Court's Monday ruling on presidential immunity means for his civil and criminal cases. But none of Trump's pending cases have been dismissed as a result of the ruling, nor have the verdicts already reached against him been overturned. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)

FACT FOCUS: Trump wasn’t exonerated by the presidential immunity ruling, even though he says he was

Former President Donald Trump is turning to his social media platform to declare “total exoneration” after the Supreme Court ruled presidents have broad immunity when it comes to their actions … more

By MELISSA GOLDIN | 7/3/24

FILE - Flora the Komodo dragon walks around her enclosure at Chester Zoo in Chester, England, Monday Dec. 18, 2006. Flora's virginal conception, and that of another Komodo dragon earlier in the year at the London Zoo, are the first time it had been documented in Komodo dragons. (AP Photo/Dave Thompson, File)

Yes, some animals can have babies without a mate. Here's how

A snake in the U.K. has drawn attention to the ability of some female species to reproduce without a mate. The boa constrictor gave birth to 14 babies last week at a school in the city of Portsmouth … more

By The Associated Press | 7/3/24

Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally in Chesapeake, Va., Friday, June 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Steve Helber)

A conservative leading the pro-Trump Project 2025 suggests there will be a new American Revolution

The leader of a conservative think tank planning for a massive overhaul of the federal government says we are in the midst of “a second American Revolution” that will be bloodless “if the left … more

By ALI SWENSON | 7/3/24

This undated photo provided by Jasculca Terman Strategic Communications shows twin brothers Cooper and Luke Roberts playing basketball. Cooper was a victim of the 2022 Fourth of July parade shooting in Highland Park, Ill., and remains paralyzed from the waist down. Keely Roberts, the mother of the youngest victims of the Fourth of July parade shooting, which left one of her twin sons — now 10 — paralyzed from the waist down, will talk to the media Wednesday, July 3, 2024, about what it means to survive the horror two years later. (The Roberts Family/Jasculca Terman Strategic Communications via AP)

The July Fourth parade shooting paralyzed a boy. His life remains shattered 2 years later, mom says

Suburban Chicago mom Keely Roberts counts the days, not years, since a deadly shooting at an Independence Day parade in 2022 injured her and left one of her twin boys paralyzed from the waist down. … more

By SOPHIA TAREEN | 7/3/24

Jackson, left, and Owen Pezalla, both 4, appear on balance bicycles in Seattle on July 1, 2017. Experts recommend starting with those so-called balance bikes at a younger-than-expected age, possibly even less than a year old. (Annie Pezalla via AP)

When should a kid start riding a bike? If it's a balance bike, you might be surprised how young

Those miniature bikes with no pedals seem to be everywhere these days, and the kids riding them are getting younger and younger. So it begs the question, at what age should children learn to ride a … more

By ALBERT STUMM | 7/3/24

Flames consume a garage as the Thompson Fire burns in Oroville, Calif., Tuesday, July 2, 2024. An extended heatwave blanketing Northern California has resulted in red flag fire warnings and power shutoffs. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)

Northern California wildfire spreads, with more hot weather expected. Thousands evacuate

Firefighters are battling a growing wildfire in northern California that has forced at least 13,000 people to evacuate with another day of extreme heat expected. The Thompson fire sent up a huge … more

7/3/24

FILE - Jimmy Carter, left, and Gerald Ford, right, shake hands before the third presidential debate, Oct. 22, 1976, in Williamsburg, Va. (AP Photo/File)

Ominous history for Biden: Incumbents trying to win over their parties often struggle to win again

Democratic Party leaders are publicly standing by President Joe Biden after a disjointed debate performance. But there’s plenty of private worry about whether the 81-year-old president is up to the … more

By BILL BARROW | 7/3/24

FILE - Chinese President Xi Jinping, right, and Russian President Vladimir Putin look toward each other as they shake hands prior to their talks in Beijing, China, Thursday, May 16, 2024. Putin and Xi will meet Thursday for the second time in as many months as they attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit in Astana, Kazakhstan. (Sergei Bobylev, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP, File)

Leaders of Russia and China to meet in Central Asian summit in a show of deepening cooperation

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping will meet Thursday for the second time in as many months as they travel to Kazakhstan for a session of an international group founded … more

By EMMA BURROWS | 7/3/24

An injured arrives in an ambulance at the Sikandrarao hospital in Hathras district about 350 kilometers (217 miles) southwest of Lucknow, India, Tuesday, July 2, 2024. At least 60 people are dead and scores are injured after a stampede at a religious gathering of thousands of people in northern India, officials said Tuesday.(AP Photo/Manoj Aligadi)

A look at stampedes and crowd disasters in India over the years

More than 100 people have been killed in a stampede in northern India following a Hindu religious gathering. Thousands had gathered Tuesday at a makeshift tent for an event in Hathras district in … more

By The Associated Press | 7/2/24

President Joe Biden speaks during a visit to the D.C. Emergency Operations Center, Tuesday, July 2, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Biden to give extended interview to ABC News' George Stephanopoulos on Friday

ABC News says George Stephanopoulos will conduct the first extended interview with President Biden since his alarming debate performance against Donald Trump last week. Stephanopoulos will speak to … more

7/2/24

FILE - Lessie Benningfield Randle, a Tulsa Race Massacre survivor, is pictured during the House General Government Committee meeting at the Oklahoma Capitol, Oct. 5, 2023. Attorneys for Randle and Viola Ford Fletcher, the last two remaining survivors of the massacre, asked the Oklahoma Supreme court Tuesday, July 2, 2024, to reconsider the case they dismissed last month and called on the Biden administration to help the two women seek justice. (Doug Hoke/The Oklahoman via AP, File)

Last known survivors of Tulsa Race Massacre challenge Oklahoma high court decision

The last two remaining survivors of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre are asking the Oklahoma Supreme Court to reconsider the case they dismissed last month. Attorney Damario Solomon Simmons on Tuesday … more

By SEAN MURPHY | 7/2/24

FILE - Migrant parents socialize outside the Annunciation House, June 26, 2018, in El Paso, Texas. A Texas judge ruled against the state attorney general on Tuesday, July 2, 2024, in his effort to shut down a migrant shelter in El Paso that he claimed encourages illegal migration. (AP Photo/Matt York, File)

Judge issues ruling that protects a migrant shelter that Texas sought to close

A Texas judge has ruled against the state attorney general in his effort to shut down a migrant shelter in El Paso that he claimed encourages illegal migration. Judge Francisco X. Dominguez ruled … more

By VALERIE GONZALEZ | 7/2/24

FILE - A group of people take in the views of the Mendenhall Glacier on June 8, 2023, in Juneau, Alaska. A new study says the melting of Alaska’s Juneau icefield, home to more than 1,000 glaciers, is accelerating. (AP Photo/Becky Bohrer, File)

Melting of Alaska's Juneau icefield accelerates, losing snow nearly 5 times faster than in the 1980s

A new study says the melting of Alaska’s Juneau icefield, home to more than 1,000 glaciers, is accelerating. The snow covered area is now shrinking 4.6 times faster than it was in the 1980s. … more

By SETH BORENSTEIN | 7/2/24

Stage winner Eritrea's Biniam Girmay celebrates on the podium after the third stage of the Tour de France cycling race over 230.8 kilometers (143.4 miles) with start in Piacenza and finish in Turin, Italy, Monday, July 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Daniel Cole)

'It's our moment.' Girmay's Tour de France breakthrough comes as the cycling worlds head to Africa

Biniam Girmay grew up in Eritrea watching the Tour de France on TV each July with his father. He idolized three-time world champion Peter Sagan but never even dared to dream of matching the Slovakian … more

By ANDREW DAMPF | 7/2/24