World News - The Morning Sun

A devotee garlands a senior Hindu holy man walking in a procession, a day before the 45-day-long Maha Kumbh festival, in Prayagraj, India, Sunday, Jan. 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Ashwini Bhatia)

India kicks off a massive Hindu festival touted as the world's largest religious gathering

Millions of Hindu devotees and mystics have gathered in the northern Indian city of Prayagraj for the Maha Kumbh festival, which is the largest religious congregation on earth. Nearly 400 million … more

By SHEIKH SAALIQ | 1/12/25

Zeytin, a 5-month-old male gorilla infant who was rescued at Istanbul Airport, drinks milk in a specially created section of a zoo, in Istanbul, Turkey, Sunday, Jan. 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)

A young gorilla rescued from aircraft hold recovers at Istanbul zoo

A young gorilla rescued from a plane’s cargo hold is recovering at an Istanbul zoo while wildlife officers consider returning him to his natural habitat. The 5-month-old gorilla was discovered in a … more

1/12/25

Protesters walk holding Romanian flags during a rally organized by the right wing Alliance for the Unity of Romanians (AUR), calling for free elections after Romania' s Constitutional Court annulled the first round of presidential elections last December, in Bucharest, Romania, Sunday, Jan. 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)

Tens of thousands protest in Romania’s capital against annulled presidential race

Tens of thousands protested in Romania’s capital against a top court’s decision last month to annul the presidential election after an outsider candidate unexpectedly emerged as the frontrunner. … more

By STEPHEN McGRATH and ANDREEA ALEXANDRU | 1/12/25

Sweden Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson speaks to the Associated Press during an interview at the Estonian Knighthood House in Tallinn, Estonia, on Dec. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Sergei Grits)

Sweden to contribute up to 3 warships to reinforced NATO presence in the Baltic

Sweden's government says the country will contribute up to three warships to a NATO effort to increase the alliance’s presence in the Baltic Sea as it tries to guard against sabotage of underwater … more

1/12/25

Wang Liping, left, researcher for the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention speaks during a press briefing by the National Health Commission as concerns surfaced in recent days over a surge in human metapneumovirus (HMPV) infections in northern China after images circulated online of hospitals overrun with masked patients, in Beijing, Sunday, Jan. 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)

The rate of HMPV infections in northern China is declining, Chinese health official says

The rate of infections with the flu-like human metapneumovirus (HMPV) in northern China is declining, a health official said, amid some international concern over a potential pandemic. HMPV causes … more

1/12/25

In this photo released by the Syrian official news agency SANA, Syria's de facto leader Ahmad al-Sharaa, formerly known as Abu Mohammed al-Golani, right, meets with German foreign minister, Annalena Baerbock, left, and French foreign minister, Jean-Noel Barrot, center, in Damascus, Syria, Friday, Jan. 3, 2025. (SANA via AP)

Germany's top diplomat calls for 'smart approach' to sanctions at start of Riyadh meeting on Syria

Germany’s foreign minister says sanctions against Syrian officials responsible for war crimes must remain in place but called for a “smart approach” to provide relief to the Syrian population … more

By BARAA ANWER | 1/12/25

Emergency services attend the scene of a fire at a restaurant in Most, Czech Republic, Sunday Jan. 12, 2025. (Ondrej Hajek/CTK via AP)

Fire in a restaurant in northern Czech Republic kills 6 people

A fire in a restaurant in northern Czech Republic has killed six people and and left six others with serious injuries. Firefighters say the blaze broke out before midnight Saturday at the U Kojota … more

1/12/25

FILE - Rescue workers use a bulldozer to remove rubble of destroyed buildings at the site of an Israeli airstrike that hit several branches of the Hezbollah-run Qard al-Hassan Association in Beirut's southern suburb, Lebanon, Oct. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar, File)

Lebanese whose homes were destroyed in the war want to rebuild. Many face a long wait

It's been six weeks since a ceasefire halted the war between Israel and Hezbollah and many displaced Lebanese whose homes were destroyed in the fighting want to rebuild. But reconstruction and … more

By SALLY ABOU ALJOUD | 1/12/25

Croatian Presidential candidate Dragan Primorac, right, shakes hands with President incumbent Zoran Milanovic before a TV debate, ahead of the run-off of the Croatian presidential election, in Zagreb, Croatia, Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025. (Damir Sencar/Pool Photo via AP)

Croatia's President Milanović overwhelming favorite to win reelection in a runoff vote

Croatia’s President Zoran Milanović is the overwhelming favorite to win reelection against a ruling conservative party candidate in a runoff presidential vote. The left-leaning Milanović … more

By SASA KAVIC | 1/12/25

FILE - Soldiers wearing face masks to help curb the spread of the coronavirus rally to welcome the 8th Congress of the Workers' Party of Korea at Kim Il Sung Square in Pyongyang, North Korea, on Oct. 12, 2020. (AP Photo/Jon Chol Jin, File)

North Korean troops in Ukraine gain battlefield experience, cementing alliance with Russia

North Korean troops have been deployed to bolster Russian forces in the Kursk border region with Ukraine, where they are gaining battlefield experience despite initial heavy losses. Their involvement … more

By HANNA ARHIROVA | 1/12/25

A girl walks amidst destruction in Mbouyougou, Mayotte, Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Adrienne Surprenant)

Mayotte on red alert again as another cyclone heads toward the French territory off Africa

The French territory of Mayotte is on red alert again with another cyclone heading toward the islands off Africa that were devastated by their worst storm in nearly a century last month. The … more

By GERALD IMRAY | 1/11/25

Trams collide in Strasbourg, France injuring dozens, though none critically, officials say

Firefighters say two trams have collided in Strasbourg in eastern France, injuring dozens of people, though none critically. The collision happened in the afternoon in a tunnel near the city’s … more

1/11/25

This image taken from video and made available by the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland shows a lynx in the Cairngorms National Park, Scotland, Dec. 9, 2024. (Royal Zoological Society of Scotland via AP)

One of four lynx captured in the Scottish Highlands dies

Wildlife officials in Scotland say one of four lynx thought to have been released illegally in the Scottish Highlands has died the day after it was captured. The medium-sized wildcats extinct in … more

1/11/25

People celebrate following the reports that, Sudan's army had entered the central city of Wad Madani and pushed out its paramilitary rivals the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), in Merowe, Sudan, Saturday, Jan.11, 2025. (AP Photo/Marwan Ali)

Sudan’s military retakes a strategic city from RSF rebels, dealing them a major blow

Sudanese officials says the military and its allies had taken back the strategic city of Wad Medani more than a year after the Rapid Support Forces seized it. The miliary says its forces entered the … more

BY SAMY MAGDY | 1/11/25

FILE - A cardboard cut-out of Selahattin Demirtas is pictured at an election kiosk in Istanbul, June 20, 2018. (AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis, File)

Turkey's Kurdish leaders meet jailed politician as the two sides inch toward peace

A delegation from one of Turkey’s biggest pro-Kurdish political parties has met a leading figure of the Kurdish movement in prison, the latest step in a tentative process to end the country’s … more

By ANDREW WILKS | 1/11/25

FILE - Rescue team members work at the site of a plane crash at Muan International Airport in Muan, South Korea on Dec. 31, 2024. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon, File)

Black boxes from South Korea plane crash failed to record final 4 minutes, officials say

Officials say the black boxes of a Boeing jetliner that crashed in South Korea last month stopped recording about four minutes before the accident. The discovery could complicate investigations into … more

By KIM TONG-HYUNG | 1/11/25

In this photo taken from video distributed by the Russian Defense Ministry Press Service on Saturday, Jan. 11, 2025, a Russian sniper fires towards Ukrainian forces from an undisclosed location. (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP)

Ukraine says it captured 2 North Korean soldiers fighting for Russia

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says Ukraine's forces have captured two North Korean soldiers fighting alongside Russian troops in Russia’s Kursk border region. He made the comments days after … more

1/11/25

FILE - French far-right leader Jean-Marie Le Pen, center, flanked by his daughter Marine Le Pen, and Bruno Gollnisch, arrives for a wreath-laying ceremony at the statue of Joan of Arc, within the party's traditional May Day march Saturday May 1, 2010, in Paris.(AP Photo/Jacques Brinon, File)

As Jean-Marie Le Pen is buried, here's a look at key dates of the rise of the far right in France

Jean-Marie Le Pen, the founder of France’s main far-right party and a polarizing figure in French politics, is being buried in a private family ceremony in his hometown of La Trinité-sur-Mer in … more

1/11/25

Police stand outside an immigration detention center of the Immigration Bureau where Uyghur detainees are held in Bangkok, Thailand, Saturday, Jan. 11, 2025. The detainees say they are facing deportation back to China, where they fear persecution. (AP Photo/Haruka Nuga)

Uyghurs detained in Thailand say they face deportation and persecution in China

A group of Uyghurs who were detained in Thailand over a decade ago say that the Thai government is preparing to deport them to China, alarming activists who say the men are at risk of abuse and … more

By DAKE KANG and HUIZHONG WU | 1/11/25

Lynx spotted on the loose in the Scottish Highlands raise concern over the big cats' re-introduction into the wild.

Lynx on the loose in Scotland highlight debate over reintroducing species into the wild

Scottish environmental activists want to reintroduce the lynx into the forests of the Highlands. But not this way. At least two lynx were spotted in the Highlands on Wednesday. It has raised concerns … more

By DANICA KIRKA | 1/10/25