National News - The Morning Sun

FILE - A sailor with the St. Joseph Junior Foundation Summer Sailling School cruises past fishermen along the St. Joseph River in St. Joseph, Mich., Wednesday, June 15, 2022. The fast-changing coronavirus has kicked off summer in the U.S. with lots of infections but relatively few deaths compared to its prior incarnations. COVID-19 is still killing hundreds of Americans each day, but for many people the virus is not nearly as dangerous as it was. (Don Campbell/The Herald-Palladium via AP)

For now, wary US treads water with transformed COVID-19

The fast-changing coronavirus has kicked off summer in the U.S. with lots of infections but relatively few deaths compared to its prior incarnations. COVID-19 is still killing hundreds of Americans … more

By CARLA K. JOHNSON | 7/2/22

Victor Rosenberg, 81, looks out of a broken window in his home destroyed by the Russian rocket attack in the city centre of Bakhmut, Donetsk region, Ukraine, Friday, July 1, 2022. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)

Russians press assault on eastern Ukrainian city

Russian forces are pounding the city of Lysychansk and its surroundings in an all-out attempt to seize the last stronghold of resistance in eastern Ukraine’s Luhansk province. The regional governor … more

By MARIA GRAZIA MURRU | 7/2/22

FILE - The Flint water plant tower is seen, Thursday, Jan. 6, 2022, in Flint, Mich. A Michigan Supreme Court order that charges related to the Flint water scandal against former Gov. Rick Snyder, his health director and seven other people must be dismissed is the latest development in the crisis that started in 2014. That was when the city began taking water from the Flint River without treating it properly, resulting in lead contamination. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio, File)

Prosecutors seek to keep charges alive in Flint water crisis

Prosecutors are signaling that they want to pursue the same charges against former Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder and eight others in the Flint crisis over lead-contaminated water. The move comes just a … more

By ED WHITE | 7/1/22

Roberto Guillermo Bravo, a former Argentine navy officer, leaves federal court Monday, June 27, 2022, in Miami, where he is on trial for his alleged role in a 1972 massacre of political prisoners in his homeland. The civil trial that began Monday seeks economic compensation for the damage that Bravo's alleged role in the killings caused. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)

US jury finds ex-Argentine officer responsible for massacre

A jury in Miami has found a former Argentine naval officer responsible for a 1972 massacre of political prisoners in his homeland. It ordered him to pay more than $20 million in damages to relatives … more

7/1/22

This photo combination, provided by the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection - Wildlife Division, shows a bear cub with a plastic container stuck on its head, in Harwinton, Conn., Thursday, June 23, 2022. After waiting for the cub to come down from the tree, it was successfully tranquilized, and the container removed. Once freed, the cub and its mother were reunited, state wildlife officials said. (Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection - Wildlife Division via AP)

Bear cub rescued after getting head stuck in plastic jug

Wildlife biologists in Connecticut had to rescue a bear cub that got its head stuck in a plastic container. The misadventure happened June 23 when a mother bear with three cubs knocked over a garbage … more

7/1/22

A member of Team Ukraine competes during the final of highlights of the artistic swimming at the 19th FINA World Championships in Budapest, Hungary, Saturday, June 25, 2022. (AP Photo/Anna Szilagyi)

AP Week in Pictures: Europe and Africa

JUNE 23– JUNE 30, 2022 From Greek wildfires and the aquatic world championships in Budapest to the beginning of the Tour de France in Copenhagen, this photo gallery highlights some of the most … more

By The Associated Press | 7/1/22

Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a joint news conference with Indonesian President Joko Widodo after their meeting in the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, Thursday, June 30, 2022. It has not been an easy week for Russian President Vladimir Putin. He took his first foreign trip since the invasion of Ukraine to shore up relations with troublesome Central Asian allies. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko, Pool)

Putin's week: Facing NATO expansion, West's unity on Ukraine

It hasn't been an easy week for Russian President Vladimir Putin. He took his first foreign trip since the invasion of Ukraine to shore up relations with troublesome Central Asian allies. He watched … more

7/1/22

An Indigenous woman sits on a sidewalk in Izucar de Matamoros in the Mexican state of Puebla, Wednesday, June 29, 2022. (AP Photo/Marco Ugarte)

AP Week in Pictures: Latin America and Caribbean

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7/1/22

California Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon, D-Lakewood, center, speaks in support of health care for all low-income immigrants living in the country illegally during a rally at the Capitol Sacramento, Calif., on Wednesday, June 29, 2022. Gov. Gavin Newsom is expected to sign a $307.9 billion operating budget on Thursday June 30, 2022, that makes all low-income adults eligible for the state's medicaid program regardless of their immigration status. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)

California first to cover health care for all immigrants

California will be the first state to guarantee free health care for all low-income immigrants who are living in the country illegally. Gov. Gavin Newsom is expected to sign a $307.9 billion … more

By ADAM BEAM and DON THOMPSON | 6/30/22

FILE - Members of the Supreme Court pose for a group photo at the Supreme Court in Washington, April 23, 2021. Seated from left are Associate Justice Samuel Alito, Associate Justice Clarence Thomas, Chief Justice John Roberts, Associate Justice Stephen Breyer and Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor, Standing from left are Associate Justice Brett Kavanaugh, Associate Justice Elena Kagan, Associate Justice Neil Gorsuch and Associate Justice Amy Coney Barrett. (Erin Schaff/The New York Times via AP, Pool)

Anti-Roe justices a part of Catholicism's conservative wing

The Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade at a time when it has an unprecedented Catholic supermajority. That’s not a coincidence. Nor is it the whole story. U.S. Catholics are more ambivalent on … more

By PETER SMITH | 6/30/22

FILE - A Northwell Health registered nurse fills a syringe with a COVID-19 vaccine at a pop up vaccination site the Albanian Islamic Cultural Center, April 8, 2021, in the Staten Island borough of New York. The Food and Drug Administration on Thursday, June 30, 2022 recommended that COVID-19 booster shots be modified to better match more recent variants of the coronavirus. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer, file)

Tweaked COVID boosters in US must target newer omicron types

U.S. regulators are telling COVID-19 vaccine makers to tweak any booster doses intended for fall so they protect against the newest omicron relatives. There's no way to know what coronavirus variant … more

By LAURAN NEERGAARD and MATTHEW PERRONE | 6/30/22

Mary J. Blige arrives at the BET Awards on Sunday, June 26, 2022, at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles. (Photo by Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP)

Mary J. Blige is next artist in Apple Music concert series

Mary J. Blige’s 2022 is going pretty well. Her new album landed in the top 10 of Billboard’s R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart, and she was featured at the Super Bowl halftime show. Now she’s been … more

By MARK KENNEDY | 6/30/22

A leopard is seen walking across a ridge in Aarey colony near Sanjay Gandhi National Park overlooking Mumbai city, India, May, 12, 2018. Los Angeles and Mumbai, India are the world’s only megacities of 10 million-plus where large felines breed, hunt and maintain territory within urban boundaries. Long-term studies in both cities have examined how the big cats prowl through their urban jungles, and how people can best live alongside them. ( Nikit Surve, Wildlife Conservation Society – India/ Sanjay Gandhi National Park via AP)

Big cats in urban jungle: LA mountain lions, Mumbai leopards

Los Angeles and Mumbai, India, are the world’s only megacities of 10 million-plus people where large felines breed, hunt and maintain territory within urban boundaries. Long-term studies in both … more

By CHRISTINA LARSON and ANIRUDDHA GHOSAL | 6/30/22

FILE - Jonathan Annicks poses for a portrait with his wheelchair in front of his home in Chicago on Oct. 13, 2016, just a few feet from where a lone gunman shot him, leaving him paralyzed sitting in his brother's parked car. Six years later Annicks has received a bachelor's degree in communications and media and has become a part-time peer advisor for patients at the same rehabilitation hospital where he was a patient. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast, File)

Resilience Story: A bullet, a wheelchair, then perseverance

Jonathan Annicks was 18 when a gunman shot him outside his Chicago home, leaving him paralyzed and in a wheelchair. His shooter was never caught. The Associated Press first reported on his story a … more

By MARTHA IRVINE | 6/30/22

Police and other first responders work the scene where officials say dozens of people have been found dead and multiple others were taken to hospitals with heat-related illnesses after a semitrailer containing suspected migrants was found, Monday, June 27, 2022, in San Antonio. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

EXPLAINER: Heat, humidity a perilous mix in immigrant deaths

An expert says the combination of heat and humidity would have quickly created life-threatening conditions inside the packed, un-airconditioned tractor-trailer where dozens of immigrants were found … more

By TAMMY WEBBER | 6/29/22

FILE - Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry talks to reporters outside the Supreme Court on Jan. 7, 2022, in Washington. Landry on Wednesday, June 29, 2022, warned doctors against performing abortions, despite a judge’s order blocking the state from enforcing its ban on the procedure. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)

Louisiana AG warns doctors against performing abortions

Louisiana's attorney general is warning doctors against performing abortions, despite a judge’s order blocking the state from enforcing its ban on the procedure. Attorney General Jeff Landry said … more

By KEVIN McGILL | 6/29/22

FILE - This Jan. 24, 2011, photo shows "Sesame Street" muppet Elmo posing for a portrait with the assistance of puppeteer Kevin Clash in the Fender Music Lodge during the 2011 Sundance Film Festival to promote the documentary "Being Elmo" in Park City, Utah. Elmo got a COVID-19 vaccine Tuesday, June 28, 2022, according to Sesame Workshop, the nonprofit educational organization behind “Sesame Street." (AP Photo/Victoria Will, File)

Elmo, 3, joins youngest Americans in getting vaccinated

Elmo got a COVID-19 vaccine. Sesame Workshop, the nonprofit educational organization behind Sesame Street, announced that Elmo had gotten vaccinated in public service announcement posted to YouTube. … more

By The Associated Press | 6/29/22

Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooter Nikolas Cruz is shown at the defense table during jury selection in the penalty phase of his trial at the Broward County Courthouse in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., on Tuesday, June 28, 2022. The jury that is seated will decide whether Cruz is sentenced to death or receives life without parole for murdering 17 people at the school on Feb. 14, 2018. (Amy Beth Bennett/South Florida Sun-Sentinel via AP, Pool)

Florida jury sworn in to determine school shooter's penalty

A jury of seven men and five women have been sworn in for the penalty trial of Florida school shooter Nikolas Cruz. The final selections were made Wednesday with the defense using its final strikes … more

By TERRY SPENCER | 6/29/22

Quincey Johnson, left, outreach director Upper Missouri Waterkeeper in Bozeman, Mont., and Martin Lizely, Grand Riverkeeper with LEAD Agency in Miami, Okla., fly their drones during a training session, Tuesday, June 7, 2022, in Poolesville, Md. They work to protect rivers and waterways and are training to use drones to catch polluters in places where wrongdoing is difficult to see or expensive to find. The Waterkeeper alliance has already used drone images to formally accuse companies of wrongdoing. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

Enviros train drone pilots to find and pursue pollution

People who work to protect rivers and waterways have begun using drones to catch polluters in places where wrongdoing is difficult to see or expensive to find. The images they capture have already … more

By MICHAEL PHILLIS and JULIO CORTEZ | 6/29/22

FLE - A line of Spirit Airlines jets sit on the tarmac at the Orlando International Airport on May 20, 2020, in Orlando, Fla. Shareholders of Spirit Airlines will vote Thursday, June 29, 2022, on a proposed merger with Frontier Airlines, and the outcome could affect fares for millions of air travelers who depend on the budget airlines. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara, File)

Merger vote at Spirit could reshape discount airline market

Shareholders of Spirit Airlines will vote Thursday on a proposed merger with Frontier Airlines, and the outcome could affect fares for millions of air travelers who depend on the budget airlines. The … more

By DAVID KOENIG | 6/29/22