World News - The Morning Sun

FILE - In this undated handout provided by Greece's coast guard on Wednesday, June 14, 2023, scores of people sit on a battered fishing boat that later capsized and sank off southern Greece. The legal defense team for nine Egyptian men due to go on trial in southern Greece next week accused of causing one of the Mediterranean's deadliest shipwrecks said Thursday they will argue Greece has no jurisdiction in the case, and insisted their clients were innocent survivors who have been unjustly prosecuted. (Hellenic Coast Guard via AP, File)

Greek defense team says 9 Egyptians accused of causing deadly shipwreck were misidentified as crew

The legal defense team for nine Egyptian men due to go on trial in southern Greece next week accused of causing one of the Mediterranean’s deadliest shipwrecks say they will argue Greece has no … more

By ELENA BECATOROS | 5/16/24

In this photo provided by Kherson Regional Military Administration, a destroyed apartment building is seen at the site of a Russian army attack with guided aerial bombs in Kherson, Ukraine, Thursday, May 15, 2024. (Kherson Regional Military Administration via AP)

Ukraine says it has checked Russia's offensive in a key town, but Moscow says it will keep pushing

Military officials in Ukraine say their units locked in street battles with the Kremlin’s forces in a northeastern Ukrainian town have halted the Russian advance. Even so, a senior Moscow official … more

By ILLIA NOVIKOV | 5/16/24

Members of a pro-cannabis group gather at Public Health Ministry to oppose Thai government's plan to relist cannabis as narcotics in Nonthaburi province, Thailand, Thursday, May 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)

Pro-cannabis advocates in Thailand rally ahead of the government's plan to recriminalize the plant

Dozens of pro-cannabis advocates in Thailand gathered at the health ministry on Thursday to oppose the government’s plan to relist it as narcotics, two years after it was decriminalized. The rally … more

5/16/24

FILE - Doctors stage a rally against the government's medical policy in Seoul, South Korea, on March 3, 2024. A South Korean court ruled in favor of the government's plan to drastically boost medical school admissions on Thursday, May 16, 2024, media reports said. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon, File)

South Korean court rejects effort to block plan that would boost medical school admissions

A South Korean court has ruled in favor of the government’s contentious plan to drastically boost medical school admissions. A standoff between the government and doctors opposed to the plan has … more

5/16/24

This 2021 photo provided by Haim Parag shows David Ben-Avraham at a supermarket in the Israeli town of Beit Shamesh, where he briefly worked, in Jerusalem. Ben-Avraham, a Palestinian who was born a Muslim but made the almost unheard-of decision to convert to Judaism years earlier, was fatally shot by an Israeli soldier. (Courtesy of Haim Parag via AP)

A Palestinian converted to Judaism. An Israeli soldier saw him as a threat and opened fire

At first, it seemed like the kind of shooting that has become all too common in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. A Palestinian aroused suspicions and an Israeli soldier shot him dead. But then the … more

By JACK JEFFERY | 5/16/24

Ella Anthony, left, and her partner Doris Ezuruike Chinons pose for a photo with their dog Paddy, during an interview in their house in Passo Corese, near Rome, Monday, March 11, 2024. Knowing that she faced a possible prison term since Nigeria criminalizes same-sex relationships, Anthony fled with her partner to Libya in 2014 and then Italy, where they both won asylum. Their claim? That they had a well-founded fear of anti-LGBTQ+ persecution back home. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

As countries tighten anti-gay laws, more and more LGBTQ+ migrants seek safety and asylum in Europe

While many of the migrants who reach Europe are escaping war, conflict and poverty, an increasing number are fleeing possible prison terms and death sentences because they are gay. International law … more

By VERONICA ANDREA SAUCHELLI, MARIA GRAZIA MURRU and GIADA ZAMPANO | 5/16/24

Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado addresses supporters gathered in Sabana de Mendoza, Venezuela, Wednesday, May 8, 2024. Edmundo González Urrutia became the opposition Unitary Platform's candidate for president after Machado, who won the opposition's presidential primary in 2023, and her handpicked alternative were banned from registering for the July 28 election. (AP Photo/Regina Garcia Cano)

Venezuela's barred opposition candidate is now the fiery surrogate of her lesser-known replacement

At an intersection packed in four directions, rally-goers scream and light up cellphones in the evening as Venezuelan opposition figure María Corina Machado climbs onto a flatbed truck like a … more

By REGINA GARCIA CANO | 5/16/24

Students, many who are deaf or hard of hearing, from Chileshe Chepela Special School react as Bridget Chanda, center, signs for them during a climate smart technique lesson on drip irrigation outside a garden at the school in Kasama, Zambia, Wednesday, March 6, 2024. Chanda is intent on helping educate Zambia’s deaf community about climate change. As the southern African nation has suffered from more frequent extreme weather, including its current severe drought, it’s prompted the Zambian government to include more climate change education in its school curriculum. (AP Photo/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi)

As Zambia schools take on climate change, one teen is spreading the word in sign language

Bridget Chanda is intent on helping educate Zambia’s deaf community about climate change. As the southern African nation has suffered from more frequent extreme weather, including its current … more

By TSVANGIRAYI MUKWAZHI | 5/15/24

FILE - Brazilian singer Anitta performs during the Global Citizen Festival at Central Park in New York, Sept. 23, 2023. Anitta released a music video Tuesday, May 14, 2024, depicting rituals of the Afro-Brazilian faith Candomble, sparking some controversy. It is a rare personal offering from the artist, who grew up practicing the religion in Rio de Janeiro’s north zone. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura, File)

Anitta defends her Afro-Brazilian faith after new music video costs her some followers

Brazil’s biggest pop star, Anitta, has released a music video depicting rituals of the Afro-Brazilian faith Candomble, sparking controversy in a country where religious intolerance is all too … more

By ELÉONORE HUGHES | 5/15/24

Burned trees from the 2016 wildfire stand sentinel over a neighbourhood in Fort McMurray, Alta., on Wednesday, May 15, 2024. (Jeff McIntosh /The Canadian Press via AP)

Canadians are hopeful shifting winds may push wildfire away from the oil sands hub of Fort McMurray

Canadian officials say favorable winds are expected to push an “out of control” wildfire away from Canada’s oil sands hub of Fort McMurray, Alberta, a day after thousands were evacuated. … more

5/15/24

FILE -President Joe Biden, right, greets China's President President Xi Jinping, left, at the Filoli Estate in Woodside, USA, Wednesday, Nov. 15, 2023. The National Security Council says high-level U.S. government envoys raised concerns about “the misuse of AI” by China and others in closed-door talks with Chinese officials in Geneva. NSC spokesperson Adrienne Watson said the countries exchanged perspectives on AI safety and risk management in “candid and constructive” discussions a day earlier. (Doug Mills/The New York Times via AP, Pool, File)

In first AI dialogue, US cites 'misuse' of AI by China, Beijing protests Washington's restrictions

The National Security Council says high-level U.S. government envoys raised concerns about “the misuse of AI” by China and others in closed-door talks with Chinese officials in Geneva. A council … more

By JAMEY KEATEN and KELVIN CHAN | 5/15/24

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken sang and played the guitar at a night club in Kyiv on Tuesday. The performance came amid Blinken's unannounced visit to the Ukrainian capital, where he sought to rally the spirits of Ukrainians facing a new Russian offensive, assuring them that they are not alone and that billions of dollars in American military aid on its way to the country would make a “real difference” on the battlefield.

Blinken's Kyiv song choice raises eyebrows as Ukraine fights fierce Russian attacks

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, an amateur musician, may have thought he had the perfect upbeat song to perform with a Kyiv bar band. Fresh from a day of delivering optimistic prognoses about … more

By MATTHEW LEE | 5/15/24

FILE - Slovakia's Prime Minister Robert Fico speaks during a press conference with Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban at the Carmelite Monastery in Budapest, Hungary, Tuesday, Jan. 16, 2024. Prime Minister Robert Fico returned to power in Slovakia last year. Having previously served twice as prime minister, from 2006 to 2010 and again from 2012 to 2018, the 59-year-old's third term made him the longest-serving head of government in Slovakia’s history. . (AP Photo/Denes Erdos, File)

Robert Fico, Slovakia's populist prime minister, returned to power on a pro-Russian platform

Prime Minister Robert Fico returned to power in Slovakia last year. Having previously served twice as prime minister, from 2006 to 2010 and again from 2012 to 2018, the 59-year-old's third term made … more

By JUSTIN SPIKE | 5/15/24

This picture provided by Interpol shows Mohamed Amra, a convict that escaped from prison on Tuesday. May 14, 2024. A massive manhunt is underway in France on Wednesday, May 15, 2024, for an armed gang that ambushed a prison convoy, killing two prison officers, seriously injuring three others and springing the inmate they were escorting. (Interpol via AP)

'The Fly’ has become notorious in France after a brazen escape. What's his criminal history?

A 30-year-old prisoner nicknamed “The Fly” has become notorious in France overnight after a daring and bloody escape from a prison convoy in Normandy that left two guards dead. Mohamed Amra has a … more

By THOMAS ADAMSON | 5/15/24

FILE -Tourist look at a road blocked with barrels and sand bags, with a banner showing the island in division at the top, across the UN buffer zone that divides the Greek, south, and Turkish Cypriots, north, controlled areas, in the divided capital Nicosia, Cyprus, Wednesday, July 5, 2023. Chances of restarting formal talks to mend Cyprus’ decades-long ethnic division appeared dimmer as the leader of the breakaway Turkish Cypriots told a U.N. envoy that he saw no common ground with Greek Cypriots for a return to negotiations. (AP Photo/Petros Karadjias, File)

Chances of Cyprus peace talks restart look dimmer as Turkish Cypriot leader sees no common ground

Chances of restarting formal talks to mend Cyprus’ decades-long ethnic division appeared dimmer as the leader of the breakaway Turkish Cypriots told a U.N. envoy that he saw no common ground with … more

By MENELAOS HADJICOSTIS | 5/15/24

Independent UN experts say radical Saudi Arabia scholar held for years should be tried or released

A radical Sunni scholar whose criticisms of Saudi Arabia’s government and the West drew praise from the late al-Qaida founder Osama bin Laden should be immediately tried or released from a … more

By JON GAMBRELL | 5/15/24

Yemen's Houthi rebels acknowledge attacking a US destroyer that shot down missile in the Red Sea

Yemen’s Houthi rebels have claimed targeting a U.S. Navy destroyer and a commercial ship in the Red Sea. However, the attack on the warship apparently happened nearly two days earlier and saw the … more

By JON GAMBRELL | 5/15/24

FILE - Smoke rises after a fire broke out at the Liseberg amusement park's new water world Oceana in Goteborg, Sweden, Monday Feb. 12, 2024. A welding operation caused a huge fire in February at a water park that was under construction at one of Sweden’s biggest amusement centers, causing the death of one person. Police said Wednesday, May 15, 2024, that when carrying out some welding on the water slide “a fire started which then spread to the rest of the building,” causing "great destruction.” (Björn Larsson Rosvall/TT News Agency via AP, File)

Report: Welding at water slide caused huge fire in Sweden that killed one person

A welding operation sparked a huge fire in February at a water park that was under construction at one of Sweden’s biggest amusement centers, causing the death of one person. A local daily quoting … more

5/15/24

FILE - Mosquitoes infected with a dengue-blocking bacteria called "wolbachia" produce eggs at the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation bio-factory in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on Feb. 27, 2024. The World Health Organization on Wednesday, May 15, 2024. authorized a second dengue vaccine, a move that could provide new protection for millions worldwide against the mosquito-borne disease, which has already sparked numerous outbreaks across the Americas this year. (AP Photo/Bruna Prado, File)

UN agency authorizes second vaccine against dengue amid outbreaks in the Americas

The World Health Organization has authorized a second dengue vaccine, a move that could provide protection for millions worldwide against the mosquito-borne disease that has already sparked numerous … more

5/15/24

Philippe Currat, lawyer for Gambia's former Interior Minister Ousman Sonko, talks to the media after the conviction of her father, in front of the Federal Criminal Court of Switzerland in Bellinzona, Wednesday, May 15, 2024. Switzerland’s top criminal court has convicted Ousman Sonko for crimes against humanity over the repression by the west African country’s security forces against opponents of its longtime dictator, a legal advocacy group said Wednesday. (Maria Linda Clericetti/Keystone via AP)

Swiss court convicts a former interior minister of Gambia for crimes against humanity

Switzerland’s top criminal court has convicted a former interior minister of Gambia for crimes against humanity over the repression by the west African country’s security forces against opponents … more

By JAMEY KEATEN and ABDOULIE JOHN | 5/15/24