World News - The Morning Sun

French government spokesperson Prisca Thevenot leaves the weekly cabinet meeting, Wednesday, July 3, 2024 at the Elysee Palace in Paris. French President Emmanuel Macron dissolved the National Assembly and called the snap election on June 9 after a stinging defeat at the hands of the National Rally in French voting for the European Parliament. The unpopular president gambled that the far right would not repeat that success when France's own fate was in the balance. (AP Photo/Thomas Padilla)

France's government spokesperson is attacked on the campaign trail, days before decisive election

Several candidates have reported being attacked on the campaign trail in the final stretch before a high-stakes French legislative election. They include French government spokesperson Prisca … more

By DIANE JEANTET | 7/4/24

FILE - A man dressed as an independence fighter attends a political event with Venezuelan opposition presidential candidate Edmundo Gonzalez in Caracas, Venezuela, Thursday, June 13, 2024. No decision in Venezuela over the past 25 years has been as consequential as the choice voters will make on July 28. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos, File)

What to know about Venezuela's election as Maduro faces the toughest race of his decade in power

For the first time in decades, Venezuela’s self-described socialist government is facing a serious electoral challenge in a presidential election set for July 28. President Nicolás Maduro, now in … more

By REGINA GARCIA CANO | 7/4/24

FILE - Zaniar Matapour appears in court in Oslo, Norway, March 12, 2024. A verdict is expected Thursday, July 4, in case of the Iranian-born Norwegian man who is charged with terrorism for the 2022 deadly shooting at an Oslo LGBTQ Pride festival. (Lise Åserud/NTB Scanpix via AP, File)

Iranian-born Norwegian man found guilty in 2022 Oslo LGBT+ festival attack, sentenced to 30 years

An Iranian-born Norwegian man has been found guilty of terrorism in a 2022 attack on an LGBTQ+ festival in Oslo and sentenced to 30 years in prison. Two people were killed and nine were seriously … more

By JAN M. OLSEN | 7/4/24

FILE -Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi pose for a photo shaking hands prior to their talks on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, Sept. 16, 2022. The Kremlin on Thursday said Modi will visit Russia on July 8-9 and hold talks with Putin. The visit was first announced by the Russian officials last month, but the dates have not been previously disclosed. (Alexandr Demyanchuk, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP, File)

The Kremlin says India's Modi will visit Russia on July 8-9, hold talks with Putin

The Kremlin says Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Russia on July 8-9 and hold talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin. The visit was first announced by Russian officials last month, … more

By VLADIMIR ISACHENKOV and ASHOK SHARMA | 7/4/24

Schoolgirl Aleshanee Westhoff shows a "Swiftkirchen" town sign in honor of musician Taylor Swift in Gelsenkirchen, Germany, Tuesday, July 2, 2024. The Swifties are about to take over the German city of Gelsenkirchen, where American superstar Taylor Swift is set to give three concerts of her Eras Tour later this month. In honor of the singer, the city renamed itself “Swiftkirchen" — at least temporarily to welcome the tens of thousands of fans who are expected to come for the Eras Tour shows on July 17, 18 and 19, German news agency dpa reported. (Bernd Thissen/dpa via AP)

With Taylor Swift heading to Germany, one city has taken her name — at least for a few weeks

The Swifties are about to take over the German city formerly known as Gelsenkirchen, where American superstar Taylor Swift is set to give three Eras Tour concerts later this month. In honor of the … more

7/4/24

In this photo taken from video released by Russian Defense Ministry Press Service on Wednesday, July 3, 2024, Russian soldiers fire from their 152-mm «Giatsint-B» howitzer from their position at Ukrainian troops at an undisclosed location in Ukraine. (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP)

Ukraine’s army retreats from positions as Russia gets closer to seizing strategically important town

A spokesperson for Ukraine’s military said its army has retreated from a neighborhood in the outskirts of Chasiv Yar, a strategically important town in the eastern Donetsk region which has been … more

By HANNA ARHIROVA | 7/4/24

FILE - Bodyguards take Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico in a car from the scene after he was shot and injured following the cabinet's away-from-home session in the town of Handlova, Slovakia, on May 15, 2024. Slovakia’s authorities started to investigate a suspect in an attempted assassination on populist Prime Minister Robert Fico as a terror attack, the country’s prosecutor general said on Thursday, July 4, 2024. (Radovan Stoklasa/TASR via AP)

The suspect in the attempted assassination of Slovakia's prime minister now faces terror charges

Slovakia’s prosecutor general says the suspect in the attempted assassination on populist Prime Minister Robert Fico is now facing terror charges. The prosecutor said Thursday that the change is … more

7/4/24

This image made from video provided by AuBC shows a part of an area in Palumpa, Australia, Thursday, July 4, 2024, where a girl was reported missing Tuesday after she went swimming. Police on Thursday found the remains of the 12-year-old girl, two days after she was snatched by a crocodile while swimming in the creek in remote northern Australia. (AuBC via AP)

Police find remains of girl snatched by a crocodile while swimming in northern Australia

Police have found remains of a 12-year-old girl two days after she was snatched by a crocodile while swimming in a creek in remote northern Australia. Police say the remains were found on Thursday in … more

7/4/24

Hezbollah fires over 200 rockets into Israel after killing of senior commander

The Lebanese Hezbollah group says it has launched over 200 rockets at several military bases in Israel in retaliation for a strike that killed one of its senior commanders. The attack by the … more

By KAREEM CHEHAYEB | 7/4/24

Pro-Palestinian protesters hang banners from the top of Parliament House in Canberra, Australia, Thursday, July 4, 2024. Pro-Palestinian protesters breached security at Australia’s Parliament House to unfurl banners from the roof on Thursday as a senator quit the government over its direction on the Gaza war. (Lukas Coch/AAP Image via AP)

Pro-Palestinian protesters breach security at Australia's Parliament House to unfurl banners

Pro-Palestinian protesters have breached security at Australia’s Parliament House to unfurl banners from the roof as a senator quit the government over its direction on the Gaza war. Tensions over … more

By ROD McGUIRK | 7/4/24

FILE - A plane uses a fire retardant to extinguish a fire burning in an area near the border with Lebanon, in Safed, northern Israel, Wednesday, June 12, 2024. Scores of rockets were fired from Lebanon toward northern Israel on Wednesday morning, hours after Israeli airstrikes killed four officials from the militant Hezbollah group including a senior military commander. (AP Photo/Leo Correa, File)

Fires have become the most visible sign of the conflict heating up on the Lebanon-Israel border

With cease-fire talks faltering in Gaza and no clear offramp for the conflict on the Lebanon-Israel border, the daily exchanges of strikes between Hezbollah and Israeli forces have sparked fires that … more

By ABBY SEWELL and MELANIE LIDMAN | 7/4/24

In this undated photo provided to the Associated Press by Stellenbosch University researcher, Michele Francis, right, and other researchers, pose for a selfie, next to an ancient termite mound in Namaqualand, South Africa. Scientists have been stunned to discover that termite mounds that are still inhabited in an arid region of the country are more than 30,000 years old, meaning they are the oldest known active termite hills. (Photo/Michele Francis via AP)

These oldest inhabited termite mounds have been active for 34,000 years

Scientists in South Africa have been stunned to discover that termite mounds that are still inhabited in an arid region of the country are 34,000 years old, meaning they are the oldest known active … more

By GERALD IMRAY | 7/4/24

Reformist candidate for the Iran's presidential election Masoud Pezeshkian clenches his fists during a campaign rally in Tehran, Iran, Wednesday, July 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

Masoud Pezeshkian, a heart surgeon who rose to power in parliament, runs to be Iran's next president

The stances of Iran's presidential candidate Masoud Pezeshkian reflect the dualities of being a reformist politician within Iran’s Shiite theocracy. They are always pushing for change but never … more

By JON GAMBRELL and AMIR VAHDAT | 7/4/24

Britain's Prime Minister Rishi Sunak looks on as journalists ask him questions, during a visit to Braishfield primary school as part of a Conservative general election campaign event in Hampshire, England, Wednesday July 3, 2024. (Claudia Greco/Pool Photo via AP)

Labour is hopeful and Conservatives morose before voters deliver their verdict on UK's election day

British voters are picking a new government Thursday. They are voting in a parliamentary election that delivers a verdict on Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s Conservative Party. The Labour Party led by … more

By JILL LAWLESS | 7/4/24

The plaintiffs, their lawyers and supporters hold the signs reading "Winning lawsuit" outside the Supreme Court after in Tokyo, Japan, Wednesday, July 3, 2024. Japan’s Supreme Court, in a landmark decision Wednesday, ordered the government to pay compensation to dozens of victims who were forcibly sterilized in the 1950s to 1970s under a now-defunct Eugenics Protection Law that was designed to eliminate offsprings of people with handicaps. (Kyodo News via AP)

Japan's top court orders government to compensate disabled people who were forcibly sterilized

In a landmark decision, Japan’s Supreme Court has ordered the government to pay suitable compensation to about a dozen victims who were forcibly sterilized under a now-defunct Eugenics Protection … more

By MARI YAMAGUCHI | 7/3/24

A Kenyan police officer patros an area near the international airport in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Wednesday, July 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)

Haiti's prime minister says Kenya police is crucial to controlling gangs, calls early days positive

Haitian Prime Minister Garry Conille told the U.N. Security Council that recently-deployed Kenyan police will be crucial to helping control the country’s gangs and moving toward democratic … more

By JADE LOZADA | 7/3/24

State employees evacuate turtle eggs from the beach to protect them from the incoming Hurricane Beryl, in Cancun, Mexico, Wednesday, July 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)

Mexico evacuates sea turtle eggs from beaches as Hurricane Beryl heads to the Yucatan peninsula

Stung by past failures to prepare for hurricanes, the Mexican government is evacuating even sea turtle eggs from beaches ahead of Hurricane Beryl. Beryl remains far offshore in the Caribbean near … more

By FERNANDO LLANO | 7/3/24

FILE - Haitian Prime Minister Garry Conille, left, speaks to Transitional Council President Edgard Leblanc Fils, during Conille's swearing-in ceremony in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, June 3, 2024. U.S. officials asked Conille on July 2, 2024, to prioritize the establishment of an electoral council as the country strives to rebuild its government. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph, File)

US asks Haiti to prioritize electoral council amid gang violence and a humanitarian crisis

U.S. officials have asked Haiti’s prime minister to prioritize the establishment of an electoral council as the country strives to rebuild its government amid rampant gang violence. U.S. Assistant … more

By CORAL MURPHY MARCOS | 7/3/24

Ethan Elder, left, back to camera, father of Finnegan Lee Elder, hugs his son before the reading of the judgment at the end of a hearing for the appeals trial in which Finnegan is facing murder charges for killing Italian Carabinieri paramilitary police officer Mario Cerciello Rega, in Rome, Wednesday, July 3, 2024. At right sits Gabriel Natale Hjorth charged for the same killing. (AP Photo/ Alessandra Tarantino)

Italy appeals court upholds conviction of 2 Americans in death of policeman but reduces sentences

An Italian appeals court has upheld the convictions of two American men in the slaying of an Italian plainclothes police officer during a botched sting operation but reduced their sentences. The new … more

By PAOLO SANTALUCIA, COLLEEN BARRY and NICOLE WINFIELD | 7/3/24

In this photo provided by Egypt's presidency media office, Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi, center, pose with Egypt's new cabinet, led by Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly, fourth left, at Al-Ittihadiya Palace in Cairo, Egypt, Wednesday, July 3, 2024. (Egyptian Presidency Media Office via AP)

Egypt swears in a new Cabinet as mounting economic challenges fuel public discontent

Egypt’s new Cabinet has been sworn in and features major changes in the defense, foreign ministry and economy portfolios as the country faces mounting public discontent and conflicts in neighboring … more

By SAMY MAGDY | 7/3/24