World News - The Morning Sun

In this photo released by Xinhua News Agency, firefighters work at the site of an explosion at a restaurant in Yinchuan, northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region Wednesday, June 21, 2023. Cooking gas caused a massive explosion at a barbecue restaurant in northwestern China killed dozens and injured some, Chinese authorities said Thursday. (Wang Peng/Xinhua via AP)

Building collapses, gas blasts, mine cave-ins and more. Deadly accidents are commonplace in China

At least 31 people have been killed and seven injured when cooking gas exploded at a restaurant in Yinchuan in northwestern China. It is the latest in China’s long history of deadly industrial … more

6/22/23

A soldier secures the are as firemen fight a blaze Wednesday, June 21, 2023 in Paris. Firefighters fought a blaze on Paris' Left Bank that is sent smoke soaring over the domed Pantheon monument and prompted evacuation of buildings in the neighborhood, police said. Local media cited witnesses describing a large explosion preceding the fire, and saying that part of a building collapsed. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)

After Paris blast crumples building in Left Bank, rescue workers searching for 1 person

French rescue workers are searching for a person feared missing after a powerful blast brought down a building in Paris’ Left Bank. The explosion injured more than 30 people, four of them … more

6/22/23

FILE - US soldiers, part of the peacekeeping mission in Kosovo KFOR guard a municipal building in the town of Leposavic, northern Kosovo, on May 29, 2023. The European Union has summoned the leaders of Serbia and Kosovo for emergency talks on Thursday June 22, 2023 to try to bring an end to a series of violent clashes near their border that is fueling fears of a return to open conflict. (AP Photo/Marjan Vucetic, File)

EU summons Kosovo and Serbia leaders for emergency talks amid fears of a return to open conflict

The European Union has summoned the leaders of Serbia and Kosovo for emergency talks to try to bring an end to a series of violent clashes near their border. The renewed tensions are fueling fears of … more

By LORNE COOK | 6/22/23

Adalah, the mother of Palestinian prisoner Kamal Jouri, inspects the ruins of the house belonging to the family which was demolished by Israeli troops in the West Bank city of Nablus, Thursday, June 22, 2023. Jouri is accused of shooting and killing an IDF soldier last year near Nablus. (AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed)

Israel demolishes alleged Palestinian attacker's home in volatile occupied West Bank

Israeli troops have demolished the home of a Palestinian who is suspected of killing an Israeli soldier last year, in the latest military operation in the increasingly volatile occupied West Bank, … more

6/22/23

Confessional booths are stacked into a corner at the Sacred Heart church in Mechelen, Beligum, Monday, June 19, 2023. Across Europe, the continent that nurtured Christianity for most of two millennia, many churches, convents, beguinages and chapels stand empty as faith and church attendance have dwindled over the past half century. Many are now been repurposed to preserve their historical and architectural relevance, while others have opened up to non-religious activities to expand their use. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)

In Europe's empty churches, prayer and confessions make way for drinking and dancing

Across Europe, churches, convents and chapels stand empty and increasingly derelict after faith and church attendance shriveled over the past half century. More of the once-sacred structures are … more

By RAF CASERT | 6/22/23

Pilgrims walk at the Hajj terminal of King Abdulaziz International Airport in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Tuesday, June 20, 2023. Saudi Arabia has ambitious plans to welcome millions more pilgrims to Islam's holiest sites. But as climate change heats an already scorching region, the annual Hajj pilgrimage could prove even more daunting. (AP Photo/Amr Nabil)

Ambitious Saudi plans to ramp up Hajj could face challenges from climate change

Saudi Arabia has ambitous plans to welcome millions more pilgrims to Islam’s holiest sites. But as climate change heats up an already scorching region, the annual Hajj pilgrimage could prove even … more

By RIAZAT BUTT | 6/22/23

People place a coffin containing the remains of a female inmate into a hearse in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, Wednesday, June 21, 2023. A riot on Tuesday at a women's prison northwest of the Honduran capital left at least 46 inmates dead, many of them burned, shot or stabbed to death, a Honduran police official said. (AP Photo/Elmer Martinez)

Hondurans see little hope for nation's prisons as details of cold-blooded massacre emerge

Authorities in Honduras are beginning to hand over to relatives the hacked, burned corpses of 46 women killed in the worst riot at a women’s prison in recent memory. The emerging picture of … more

By MARLON GONZÁLEZ | 6/22/23

Signs are posted on the Exterior of Auckland City Hospital, May 13, 2017. New Zealand, Thursday, June 22, 2023, has been debating a thorny healthcare issue — whether ethnicity should be considered in deciding when patients get surgery. (Doug Sherring/New Zealand Herald via AP)

New Zealand debates whether ethnicity should be a factor for surgery waitlists

New Zealanders this week have been debating a thorny health care issue — whether ethnicity should be a factor in determining when patients get surgery. In the country's largest city, Auckland, … more

By NICK PERRY | 6/22/23

FILE - Army troops evacuate people from a flood-hit area in Rajanpur, district of Punjab, Pakistan, Aug. 27, 2022. The flooding in Pakistan killed at least 1,700 people, destroyed millions of homes, wiped out swathes of farmland, and caused billions of dollars in economic losses. (AP Photo/Asim Tanveer, File)

A year after Pakistan's devastating floods, challenges drag on for most, but signs of hope for some

A year on from the floods in Pakistan that killed at least 1,700 people, destroyed millions of homes, wiped out swathes of farmland, and caused billions of dollars in economic losses, the country … more

By RIAZAT BUTT | 6/21/23

Men play volleyball in Wardak province, Afghanistan, Sunday, June 18, 2023. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)

UN warns Taliban that restrictions on Afghan women and girls make recognition `nearly impossible'

The U.N. envoy for Afghanistan is warning the country’s Taliban rulers that international recognition as the country’s legitimate government will remain “nearly impossible” unless they lift … more

By EDITH M. LEDERER | 6/21/23

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva arrives at the St. Damaso courtyard for a private audience with Pope Francis, at the Vatican, Wednesday, June 21, 2023. (Alessandro Di Meo, Pool via AP)

Brazil's Lula sees Pope Francis in 'very friendly' encounter on busy day in Rome

Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has given Pope Francis a warm hug as he arrived for a meeting. The Vatican termed the meeting a “very friendly” reunion of two old friends. The … more

6/21/23

A vendor sits beside a copy of a morning newspaper which reports missing Titanic submersible and onboard five people, including Pakistani nationals Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleman, at a stall, in Karachi, Pakistan, Wednesday, June 21, 2023. A Canadian military surveillance aircraft detected underwater noises as a massive operation searched early Wednesday in a remote part of the North Atlantic for a submersible that vanished while taking five people down including Dawood, a well-known Pakistani businessman and his 19-year-old son to the wreck of the Titanic. (AP Photo/Fareed Khan)

While sub disappearance transfixes some, many say their focus is on other calamities

The search for a submersible that disappeared while taking wealthy tourists to see the wreck of the Titanic has gripped many with its grim cinematic element. A ticking clock, passengers running out … more

By MUNIR AHMED and CARA RUBINSKY | 6/21/23

Greenpeace activists hold a news conference in Warsaw, Poland, on Wednesday June 21, 2023 outside the office of the Polish prime minister asking him to act to reduce logging in the Carpathian Mountains. Greenpeace said in a recent report that a forested area the size of five soccer fields disappears every hour from the Carpathians, which runs through parts of Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania and Ukraine. (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski)

Greenpeace protests mass logging of old-growth forests in Carpathian Mountains

Greenpeace activists are calling on the Polish prime minister to take action to protect Poland’s forests, asking in particular that this government limit the harvesting of timber in the old-growth … more

By VANESSA GERA | 6/21/23

FILE - People board a truck as they leave Khartoum, Sudan, on June 19, 2023. Clashes resumed between Sudan's military and a powerful paramilitary force after a three-day cease-fire expired Wednesday morning, June 21, 2023, a protest group and residents reported. (AP Photo, File)

Fighting resumes after Sudan cease-fire as number of people displaced passes 2.5 million

Residents are reporting that clashes between warring factions resumed in Sudan’s capital and a neighboring city after a three-day cease-fire expired. Sudan descended into conflict in mid-April … more

6/21/23

Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban arrives for the European Political Community Summit at the Mimi Castle in Bulboaca, Moldova, Thursday, June 1, 2023. Leaders are meeting in Moldova Thursday for a summit aiming to show a united front in the face of Russia's war in Ukraine and underscore support for the Eastern European country's ambitions to draw closer to the West and keep Moscow at bay. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)

What was Hungary’s role in freeing Ukrainian POWs from Russia? The European Commission wants to know

The European Union's executive arm says it will ask Hungary to provide explanations and details about the country's role in the transfer to Hungary of 11 Ukrainian prisoners of war freed by Russia. … more

By SAMUEL PETREQUIN | 6/21/23

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida speaks during a news conference at the prime minister's office in Tokyo, Wednesday, June 21, 2023. (AP Photo/Hiro Komae, Pool)

Japan's Kishida says he will attend NATO leaders' summit, stresses need for dialogue with China

Japan's prime minister says he plans to visit Lithuania in July to attend a NATO leaders’ summit as his country steps up cooperation with the Western organization. Fumio Kishida's announcement … more

By MARI YAMAGUCHI | 6/21/23

FILE - Dr. Paolo Macchiarini attends a press conference announcing what he called the successful transplant of windpipes using innovative stem cell tissue regeneration, in Florence, Italy, Friday, July 30, 2010. A Swedish appeals court on Wednesday, June 21, 2023, upped a prison sentenced to the Italian surgeon for causing bodily harm during experimental stem-cell windpipe transplants on three patients who died. Macchiarini, who made headlines in 2011 for carrying out the world’s first stem-cell windpipe transplants at Sweden’s leading hospital, was given 2.5 years in jail by the Svea Court of Appeal for causing "bodily harm" of three people between 2011 and 2014. (AP Photo/Lorenzo Galassi, File)

Swedish appeals court ups surgeon's sentence for 'harm' during experimental windpipe transplants

A Swedish appeals court has upped a prison sentence for an Italian surgeon for causing bodily harm during experimental stem cell windpipe transplants on three patients who eventually died. Dr. Paolo … more

6/21/23

An employee of the Hong Kong Opinion Research Institute (PORI) enters the office in Hong Kong, Wednesday, June 21, 2023. A Hong Kong pollster is planning to cancel part of its regular survey questions weeks after the release of its report about the anniversary of China’s crackdown 1989 pro-democracy protests was canceled due to the government’s risk assessment.(AP Photo/Louise Delmotte)

Hong Kong pollster plans to limit questions on sensitive topics, including Tiananmen crackdown

One of Hong Kong’s most reputable sources for public opinion data is limiting its survey scope, including on sensitive topics such as the Tiananmen crackdown. The change comes on the heels of a … more

By KANIS LEUNG | 6/21/23

Mourners carry the body of Nachman Mordoff, 17, during his funeral in the West Bank Israeli settlement of Shilo, Wednesday, June 21, 2023. Mordoff was among four Israelis killed by two Palestinian attackers that opened fire at a restaurant and gas station near the Israeli settlement of Eli in the West Bank on Tuesday. The attackers were killed by Israeli fire as violence continued to roil the West Bank. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

Israel beefs up troop presence in West Bank after Palestinian attack that killed 4 civilians

The Israeli army has beefed up its forces across the occupied West Bank and prepared to demolish the homes of two Palestinian gunmen who killed four Israelis in one of the worst attacks in the past … more

6/21/23

British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly, left, and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken hold a joint news conference with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken in London, Tuesday, June 20, 2023. (Leah Millis/Pool Photo via AP)

Allies seek big-business investment to rebuild Ukraine at London conference

Diplomats from dozens of countries are meeting in London to drum up funds to rebuild Ukraine. That's a mammoth task whose cost is estimated by the World Bank at more than $400 billion – a figure … more

By JILL LAWLESS | 6/21/23