National News - The Morning Sun

FILE - A U.S. Park Police officer inspects a security barrier for damage in Lafayette Square park near the White House, May 23, 2023, in Washington. A Missouri man pleaded guilty Monday, May 13, 2024, to crashing a rented truck into White House barriers last year. Sai Varshith Kandula drove a large U-Haul truck onto a sidewalk, sending pedestrians running for safety, before ramming it into metal bollard barriers that prevent vehicles from entering Lafayette Square. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)

Nazi flag-bearing man who crashed a truck into barriers near the White House pleads guilty to felony

A Missouri man who crashed a rental truck into White House barriers and showed a Nazi flag before his arrest last year has pleaded guilty to damaging government property. Court records show that … more

By MICHAEL KUNZELMAN | 5/13/24

The collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge rests on the container ship Dali, Sunday, May 12, 2024, in Baltimore, as seen from Riviera Beach, Md. An effort to remove sections of the collapsed bridge resting on the Dali was postponed on Sunday. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

Controlled demolition at Baltimore bridge collapse site on track

Crews are on track to conduct a controlled demolition of the largest remaining steel span of the collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore. The demolition was postponed Sunday afternoon because … more

By LEA SKENE | 5/13/24

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu is driven along Red Square in an Aurus car during the Victory Day military parade in Moscow, Russia, Thursday, May 9, 2024, marking the 79th anniversary of the end of World War II. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko)

A Kremlin shake-up of Russia's Defense Ministry comes at a key moment in the Ukraine war

Over the weekend, President Vladimir Putin replaced Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu — the longest serving member of his Cabinet at 11 1/2 years — in a rare Kremlin shake-up that came even as a … more

By The Associated Press | 5/13/24

FILE - Groundhog Club handler A.J. Dereume holds Punxsutawney Phil, the weather prognosticating groundhog, during the 138th celebration of Groundhog Day on Gobbler's Knob in Punxsutawney, Pa., Friday, Feb. 2, 2024. Phil's human handlers took the occasion of Mother's Day, Sunday, May 12, 2024, to announce that the two kids born earlier this spring to Phil and his partner, Phyllis, are named Sunny and Shadow. Sunny is a female, Shadow a male. (AP Photo/Barry Reeger, File)

Punxsutawney Phil's babies are named Shadow and Sunny. Just don't call them the heirs apparent

Punxsutawney Phil’s offspring have names that just might help the famed weather-forecasting groundhog to predict when spring will begin. Phil’s human handlers chose Mother’s Day to announce … more

5/13/24

Former President Donald Trump and attorney Susan Necheles attend his trial at the Manhattan Criminal court, Tuesday, May 7, 2024, in New York. (Win McNamee/Pool Photo via AP)

Trump hush money trial: A timeline of key events in the case

The events at the center of former President Donald Trump’s hush money case date back almost two decades, with new dates coming to light as the trial plays out in a Manhattan courtroom. Key moments … more

5/13/24

An Israeli soldier knees next to the national flag during the celebrations of the Israel's annual Memorial Day for the fallen soldiers at the site where revelers were killed and kidnapped on Oct. 7 cross-border attack by Hamas militants at the Nova music festival near the kibbutz Reim, southern Israel, Monday, May 13, 2024. Israel marks the annual Memorial Day for fallen soldiers and victims of nationalistic attacks. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

The Latest | Israel marks memorial day, as hundreds of thousands flee Rafah assault

Israel’s leaders commemorated Memorial Day on Monday, a usually somber holiday that this year was almost entirely absorbed by the ongoing war in Gaza. At 11:00 A.M., sirens announced two minutes of … more

By The Associated Press | 5/13/24

Demonstrators waving Georgian national flags gather in front of the Parliament building during an opposition protest against "the Russian law" in the center of Tbilisi, Georgia, early Monday, May 13, 2024. Daily protests are continuing against a proposed bill that critics say would stifle media freedom and obstruct the country's bid to join the European Union. (AP Photo/Zurab Tsertsvadze)

Thousands protest in Georgia over the weekend against 'Russia-style' law on foreign influence

Georgia’s parliament green-lit a final vote on a proposed law that critics see as a threat to media freedom and the country’s aspirations to join the European Union, after police dispersed the … more

5/13/24

A suspect is being sought in shooting death of an Ohio police officer, officials say

Authorities say an Ohio police officer was shot and killed while answering a disturbance call over the weekend. Police in the Cleveland suburb of Euclid said officers were dispatched just before 10 … more

Associated Press | 5/12/24

This image released by 20th Century Studios shows Noa, played by Owen Teague, in a scene from "Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes." (20th Century Studios via AP)

'Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes' reigns at box office with $56.5 million opening

“Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes” has reigned over the weekend box office. Studio estimates Sunday said the latest installment in the “Apes” franchise brought in $56.5 million in North … more

By ANDREW DALTON | 5/12/24

Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks during at a Memorandum of Understanding Signing Ceremony with Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares on Friday, May 10, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Kevin Wolf)

Blinken delivers some of the strongest US public criticism of Israel's conduct of the war in Gaza

Secretary of State Antony Blinken has delivered some of the Biden administration’s strongest public criticism yet of Israel’s conduct of the war in Gaza. America's top diplomat said in two … more

By JOSH BOAK | 5/12/24

Gordana Siljanovska Davkova, the new President of North Macedonia poses for the cameras at the entrance of the presidential palace in Skopje, North Macedonia, on Sunday, May 12, 2024. Siljanovska Davkova was sworn as first female president in North Macedonia on Sunday after her triumph in a presidential runoff earlier this week over the leftist incumbent president. (AP Photo/Boris Grdanoski)

North Macedonia's new president reignites a spat with Greece at her inauguration ceremony

Gordana Siljanovska-Davkova has been sworn as the first female president of North Macedonia and has immediately reignited a diplomatic spat with neighboring Greece. At the ceremony in the country’s … more

By KONSTANTIN TESTORIDES | 5/12/24

In this photo taken from video released by Belgorod regional governor Vyacheslav Gladkov’s Telegram channel on Sunday, May 12, 2024, Russian emergency services work at the scene of a partially collapsed block of flats authorities said was hit during an attack by Ukrainian shelling, in Belgorod, Russia. (Belgorod Region Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov Telegram channel via AP)

An apartment block collapses in a Russian border city after heavy shelling, with deaths reported

An apartment block has partially collapsed in the Russian border city of Belgorod. Officials on Sunday blamed Ukrainian shelling and said there were deaths. Online footage showed rescuers searching … more

By The Associated Press | 5/12/24

This image released by Warner Bros. Pictures shows Anya Taylor-Joy in a scene from "Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga." The film will world premiere at the 77th Cannes Film Festival. (Warner Bros. Pictures via AP)

A combustible Cannes is set to unfurl with 'Furiosa,' 'Megalopolis' and a #MeToo reckoning

The Cannes Film Festival rarely passes without cacophony but this year’s edition may be more raucous and uneasy than any edition in recent memory. When the red carpet is rolled out Tuesday, the … more

By JAKE COYLE | 5/12/24

Suzanne Harrison, who runs King's Crusade in honor of her brother who died of an overdose in 2016 poses for a photograph in Evesham, N.J., Tuesday, April 2, 2024. Harrison says the charity could use funding from national opioid settlements to help people if local governments made it available to groups like hers. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

Local governments struggle to distribute their share of billions from opioid settlements

Local governments across the country are receiving money from opioid settlements, but not all of them know how to use it. Most towns and cities with populations over 10,000 are getting pieces of the … more

By GEOFF MULVIHILL | 5/12/24

In this photo provided by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, salvors with the Unified Command prepare charges for upcoming precision cuts to remove Section 4 from the port side of the bow of the Dali container ship, May 7, 2024, during the Key Bridge Response, in Baltimore. Debris and wreckage removal is ongoing in support of safely and efficiently opening the Fort McHenry Channel, following the Francis Scott Key Bridge’s March 26 collapse. (Christopher Rosario/U.S. Army Corps of Engineers via AP)

Crews prepare for controlled demolition as cleanup continues at bridge collapse site

Crews are preparing to conduct a controlled demolition to break down the largest remaining span of the collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge in Maryland. The explosives are expected to be detonated … more

By LEA SKENE | 5/12/24

West Virginia University Muslim Student Association President Omar Ibraheem leads a chant during a pro-Palestinian protest at Woodburn Hall in Morgantown, W.Va., Saturday, May 11, 2024. (William Wotring/The Dominion-Post via AP)

Small pro-Palestinian protests held Saturday as college commencements are held

Small pro-Palestinian protests are popping up sporadically as colleges and universities hold commencement services. Among the demonstrations on Saturday were dozens of graduating students at Virginia … more

By SUSAN HAIGH | 5/11/24

FILE - Melissa Mattola-Kiatos, RN, nursing practice specialist, removes the pig kidney from its box to prepare for transplantation at Massachusetts General Hospital, March 16, 2024, in Boston. Richard “Rick” Slayman, the first recipient of a genetically modified pig kidney transplant, has died nearly two months after he underwent the procedure, his family and the hospital that performed the surgery said Saturday, May 11. (Massachusetts General Hospital via AP, File)

First person to receive a genetically modified pig kidney transplant dies nearly 2 months later

The first recipient of a genetically modified pig kidney transplant has died nearly two months after he underwent the procedure. Rick Slayman underwent the procedure at Massachusetts General Hospital … more

5/11/24

FILE – David DePape is seen, Dec. 13, 2013, in Berkeley, Calif. Federal prosecutors are asking a judge to impose a 40-year prison sentence for DePape, the man who broke into former U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s San Francisco home seeking to hold her hostage and attacked her husband with a hammer. (Michael Short/San Francisco Chronicle via AP, File)

Federal prosecutors request 40-year sentence for man who attacked Pelosi's husband with hammer

Federal prosecutors are asking a judge for a 40-year prison sentence for the man who broke into former U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s San Francisco home seeking to hold her hostage and attacked … more

5/11/24

CORRECTS SERVICE BRANCH TO U.S. AIR FORCE INSTEAD OF U.S. NAVY - Chantemekki Fortson, mother of Roger Fortson, a U.S. Air Force senior airman, holds a photo of her son during a news conference regarding his death, along with family and attorney Ben Crump, right, and Brian Bar, left, Thursday, May 9, 2024, in Fort Walton Beach, Fla. Fortson was shot and killed by police in his apartment, May 3, 2024. Far right is attorney Natalie Jackson. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

Experts say gun alone doesn't justify deadly force in fatal shooting of Florida airman

The killing of a Black U.S. Air Force senior airman by a Florida sheriff's deputy responding to a phoned-in complaint about an argument has the airman's family calling for charges, saying the … more

By JEFF MARTIN and CLAUDIA LAUER | 5/11/24

FILE - First lady Jill Biden speaks at a women's health summit in New York, May 1, 2024. Biden is telling graduates of an Arizona community college to tune out the people who tell them what they can't do. Biden is delivering the commencement address Saturday, May 11, at Mesa Community College. The first lady is sharing how her high school guidance counselor told her she wasn't college material. She says she didn't listen and got her college degree. Then she got three more, including two master's degrees and, at age 55, a doctorate. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File)

Jill Biden tells Arizona college graduates to tune out people who tell them what they 'can't' do

First lady Jill Biden is telling graduates of an Arizona community college to tune out the people who tell them what they can't do. Biden is delivering the commencement address Saturday at Mesa … more

By DARLENE SUPERVILLE | 5/11/24