World News - The Morning Sun

FILE - Russian Presidential Commissioner for Children's Rights Maria Lvova-Belova speaks to Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Novo-Ogaryovo state residence, outside Moscow, Russia, on Feb. 16, 2023. Virginia Gamba, the U.N. envoy charged with trying to protect children caught in conflicts, is in Moscow where she is reported to be meeting Lvova-Belova who is being sought by the International Criminal Court for war crimes for deporting children from Ukraine.(Mikhail Metzel, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP, File)

UN envoy reportedly meeting Russian official accused of war crimes for deporting Ukrainian children

The U.N. envoy charged with trying to protect children caught in conflicts is in Moscow, where she is reported to be meeting Russia’s children’s rights commissioner, who is charged with war … more

By EDITH M. LEDERER | 5/19/23

FILE - Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin attends his meeting with Kyrgyzstan President Sadyr Japarov during the 78th anniversary of the end of World War II celebrations in Moscow, Russia, May 9, 2023. Mishustin will visit Beijing next week for talks, China's Foreign Ministry said Friday, May 19, 2023, marking the latest exchange in a relationship in which Russia is becoming increasingly reliant on China for economic and diplomatic support. (Dmitry Astakhov, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP, File)

Russian PM to visit Beijing as China renews criticism of Western arms sales to Ukraine

China says Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin will visit Beijing next week for talks, marking the latest exchange in a relationship in which Russia is becoming increasingly reliant on China for … more

5/19/23

FILE - Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin speaks during a regular press conference in Beijing, on May 9, 2023. China on Friday May 19, 2023 warned against the introduction of "geopolitical games" in the South Pacific following the announcement that U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken will visit Papua New Guinea next week. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, File)

China warns against 'geopolitical games' as US announces Blinken trip to Papua New Guinea

China is warning against the introduction of “geopolitical games” in the South Pacific following the announcement that U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken will visit Papua New Guinea next … more

5/19/23

Leaders of the Group of Seven nations' meetings walk before the Atomic Bomb Dome during a visit to the Peace Memorial Park as part of the G7 Leaders' Summit in Hiroshima, western Japan Friday, May 19, 2023. (Brendan Smialowski/Pool Photo via AP)

Atomic bomb survivors look to G7 summit in Hiroshima as a 'sliver of hope' for nuclear disarmament

Holding this week’s Group of Seven summit in Hiroshima, the site of the world’s first atomic bomb attack, is an attempt by Prime Minister Fumio Kishida to promote an anti-nuclear message. For … more

By MARI YAMAGUCHI | 5/19/23

FILE - Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai, who founded local newspaper Apple Daily, is about to wear a face mask before entering a court in Hong Kong on May 5, 2020. A Hong Kong court on Friday, May 19, 2023 dismissed the jailed pro-democracy publisher's legal bid in his fight to use a British lawyer in his landmark national security trial. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung, File)

Hong Kong court dismisses pro-democracy publisher Jimmy Lai's legal bid to fight for UK lawyer

A Hong Kong court has dismissed a jailed pro-democracy publisher’s legal bid in his fight to use a British lawyer in his landmark national security trial. Jimmy Lai, the 75-year-old founder of the … more

BY KANIS LEUNG | 5/19/23

FILE - A plume of ash and steam rises from the Popocatepetl volcano, as seen from Mexico City, Wednesday, June 19, 2019. Popocatepetl rumbled to life again this third week of May 2023, spewing out towering clouds of ash that forced 11 villages to cancel school sessions. (AP Photo/Marco Ugarte, File)

Threatening 22 million people, Mexico's Popocatepetl is a very closely watched volcano

Mexico’s Popocatepetl volcano rumbled to life again this week, spewing out towering clouds of ash that forced 11 villages to cancel school sessions. Because it looms so close to the Mexico City … more

By MARÍA VERZA | 5/19/23

Soldiers stand guard outside the National Assembly the day after the body was disolved by President Guillermo Lasso in Quito, Ecuador, Thursday, May 18, 2023. Lawmakers were moving forward with impeachment proceedings against the president on embezzlement charges when he disolved it, and now residents are expected to elect a new president and a new lawmakers in no more than 90 days. (AP Photo/Dolores Ochoa)

Ecuador court rejects lawmakers' challenges to president's disbanding of National Assembly

Ecuador's Constitutional Court has rejected multiple challenges that sought to invalidate President Guillermo Lasso decree dissolving the opposition-led National Assembly as it tried to oust him in … more

5/18/23

FILE - Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong listens beside Philippine Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo during a joint press conference at a hotel in Makati City, Philippines on Thursday May 18, 2023. An 88-year-old Australian doctor held captive in West Africa for more than seven years has been released, the Australian government said on Friday, May 19.(Lisa Marie David/Pool Photo via AP, File)

88-year-old Australian doctor free 7 years after kidnapping in West Africa

Australia says an 88-year-old doctor held captive in West Africa for more than seven years has been released. Foreign Minister Penny Wong said Friday that Kenneth Elliott was safe and well and had … more

By ROD McGUIRK | 5/18/23

FILE - The sword of the Royal House of Avis on a stylised cross decorates the 56-meter high Monument to the Discoveries by the Tagus river in Lisbon, on March 30, 2023. The Vatican has recalled a postage stamp promoting this year’s World Youth Day in Portugal following complaints that it celebrated Portugal’s colonial empire and the nationalist dictatorship of Antonio Salazar. The stamp features Pope Francis leading a group of children up Lisbon’s Monument to the Discoveries. (AP Photo/Armando Franca, File)

Vatican recalls stamp celebrating Portugal's colonial empire after complaints

The Vatican has recalled a postage stamp promoting this year’s World Youth Day in Portugal following complaints that it celebrated Portugal’s colonial empire and the nationalist dictatorship of … more

By NICOLE WINFIELD | 5/18/23

Lebanon's caretaker Deputy Prime Minister Saade Chami speaks during an interview with The Associated Press at his office in Beirut, Lebanon, Thursday, May 18, 2023. Chami, who is heading negotiations with the International Monetary Fund for a bailout package for the small, crisis-ridden country, called Thursday for Lebanon's embattled central bank governor to resign in light of allegations of corruption and an international arrest warrant issued against him. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)

Top Lebanese official in IMF talks calls for central bank head to resign amid corruption allegations

The Lebanese official heading talks with the International Monetary Fund to bailout Lebanon’s tanking economy has called for the country’s embattled central bank chief to resign. Lebanon’s … more

By ABBY SEWELL | 5/18/23

Fire and police investigators form a guard of honour as the first body is removed from the the Loafers Hostel by a hearse in Wellington, New Zealand, Thursday, May 18, 2023, following a fire that left several people dead in the early hours of Tuesday May 16. New Zealand police started removing bodies from the Wellington hostel where multiple people were killed in Tuesday's fire. (George Heard/New Zealand Herald via AP)

New Zealand police arrest, charge man in connection with hostel fire that killed at least 6

New Zealand police have arrested a man and charged him with two counts of arson in connection with the fire at a Wellington hostel that killed at least six people. Police said Thursday that the … more

By NICK PERRY | 5/18/23

Leader of Move Forward Party Pita Limjaroenrat, center, waves during a press conference with other party leaders, in Bangkok, Thailand, Thursday, May 18, 2023. Thailand's election winner Move Forward Party on Thursday announced an 8-party coalition that its leader declared will become a "democratic government of the people. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)

Leader of Thai opposition party that won election announces 8-party coalition plan to take power

The leader of the progressive opposition party that won a stunning victory in Thailand’s national election says eight parties have agreed to form a coalition government with him as prime minister. … more

By JINTAMAS SAKSORNCHAI | 5/18/23

People are rescued in Faenza, Italy, Thursday, May 18, 2023. Exceptional rains Wednesday in a drought-struck region of northern Italy swelled rivers over their banks, killing at least nine people, forcing the evacuation of thousands and prompting officials to warn that Italy needs a national plan to combat climate change-induced flooding. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

Crews work to reach Italian towns isolated by floods as cleanup begins

Rescue crews are working to reach towns and villages in northern Italy that were cut off from highways, electricity and cell phone service following heavy rains and flooding. Farmers are warning of … more

By LUCA BRUNO | 5/18/23

In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry Press Office, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, center left, and Li Hui, Chinese envoy, center right, during their talks in Kyiv, Ukraine, Wednesday, May 17, 2023. (Ukrainian Foreign Ministry Press Office via AP)

China says Ukraine envoy met with Zelenskyy during talks in Kyiv

China says its special envoy met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy during talks in Kyiv earlier this week. Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said at a daily briefing on Thursday … more

5/18/23

FILE- Hong Kong's Chief Executive John Lee gives a speech following a swearing-in ceremony to inaugurate the city's new government in Hong Kong on July 1, 2022. Hong Kong's leader said Thursday, May 18, 2023 the city's public libraries would not recommend books featuring “bad ideologies" to residents after they pulled titles related to the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown and certain political figures, further shrinking the city's freedoms. (Selim Chtayti/Pool Photo via AP, File)

Hong Kong leader defends removal of politically sensitive books in public libraries

Hong Kong's leader says the city’s public libraries would not recommend books featuring “bad ideologies” to residents after they pulled titles related to the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown and … more

By KANIS LEUNG | 5/18/23

Zenabou S, a Comoros woman married to a French man in Mayotte and with French children, looks at her belongings as she prepares to move, in the Talus 2 district of Koungou, in the French Indian Ocean island of Mayotte Saturday, April 22, 2023. France is facing a migration quagmire on the island territory of Mayotte off Africa’s east coast. The government sent in 2,000 troops and police to carry out mass expulsions, destroy slums and eradicate violent gangs. But the operation has become bogged down and raised concerns of abuse, aggravating tensions between local residents and immigrants from the neighboring country of Comoros. (AP Photo/Gregoire Merot)

Anti-migration operation on French African island of Mayotte stirs tensions, exposes inequalities

France is facing a migration quagmire on the island territory of Mayotte off Africa’s east coast. The government sent in 2,000 troops and police to carry out mass expulsions, destroy slums and … more

By GREGOIRE MEROT | 5/18/23

FILE-Afghan women chant during a protest in Kabul, Afghanistan, Thursday, Oct. 21, 2021. A U.K.-based rights group on Thursday, May 18, 2023 launched an interactive map documenting human rights abuses and violence against civilians since the Taliban seized power in Afghanistan nearly two years ago. (AP Photo/Ahmad Halabisaz, File)

UK-based group documents rights abuses since Taliban takeover of Afghanistan with 'witness map'

A U.K.-based rights group is launching an interactive map documenting human rights abuses and violence against civilians since the Taliban seized power in Afghanistan nearly two years ago. The … more

By RAHIM FAIEZ | 5/18/23

China's Ambassador to Australia Xiao Qian speaks to media at the Embassy of China in Canberra, Thursday, May 18, 2023. Xiao asked Australian authorities Thursday to increase efforts to find survivors in an Indian Ocean search for 39 missing from a capsized Chinese fishing boat. (Lukas CochAAP Image via AP)

Chinese envoy asks Australia to increase search for 39 aboard capsized fishing boat in Indian Ocean

A Chinese envoy has asked Australian authorities to increase efforts to find survivors of a capsizing in the Indian Ocean. There were 39 crew members on board the Chinese fishing boat when it … more

By ROD McGUIRK | 5/18/23

FILE - Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida speaks during an interview with foreign media members at the Prime Minister's official residence Thursday, April 20, 2023, in Tokyo. Leaders of seven of the world’s most powerful democracies will gather this weekend for the Group of Seven summit in Hiroshima, the location of the world’s first atomic attack at the end of World War II. The leaders are expected to strongly condemn Russia’s war on Ukraine while pledging their continuing support for Ukraine. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko, File)

G-7 Hiroshima summit: Who's attending, what will be discussed?

Leaders of seven of the world’s most powerful democracies will gather this weekend for the Group of Seven summit in Hiroshima, the location of the world’s first atomic attack at the end of World … more

By MARI YAMAGUCHI | 5/17/23

FILE - Myanmar military officers leave the venue during a parade to commemorate Myanmar's 78th Armed Forces Day in Naypyitaw, Myanmar, Monday, March 27, 2023. Myanmar’s military government is urging people fighting against its rule to surrender their weapons, offering a cash reward if they do so along with the possibility of reduced sentences if they broke the law. The official announcement was made in the edition of the Global New Light of Myanmar newspaper Wednesday, May 10. (AP Photo/Aung Shine Oo, File)

UN expert: Myanmar military imported $1 billion in weapons since 2021 coup

A new U.N. report says Myanmar’s military has imported at least $1 billion worth of weapons and related material from Russia, China and other countries since its February 2021 coup, which it has … more

By EDITH M. LEDERER | 5/17/23