World News - The Morning Sun

Smoke rises from a ferry in Surat Thani province, Thailand, Thursday, April 4, 2024. The ferry caught fire off the southern Thailand coast on Thursday morning while carrying more than a hundred people, sending panicking passengers to jump into the sea to escape the raging blaze. (Maitree Promjampa via AP)

People jump into the sea to escape raging ferry fire in Gulf of Thailand. All 108 on board are safe

Panicked passengers have jumped into the sea to escape a raging ferry fire in the Gulf of Thailand, and all 108 people on board are safe. The overnight ferry was about to arrive at the popular … more

4/4/24

From right, Luxembourg's Foreign Minister Xavier Bettel, Belgium's Foreign Minister Hadja Lahbib, Bulgaria's Foreign Minister Mariya Gabriel, Romania's Foreign Minister Luminita-Teodora Odobescu and British Foreign Secretary David Cameron pose during a meeting of the North Atlantic Council in foreign ministers format at NATO headquarters in Brussels, Wednesday, April 3, 2024. NATO foreign ministers gathered in Brussels on Wednesday to debate plans to provide more predictable, longer-term support to Ukraine. (AP Photo/Geert Vanden Wijngaert)

NATO marks its 75th birthday as war in Ukraine and rising populism gnaw at its unity

NATO is marking its 75th anniversary. But Russia’s war on Ukraine and rising populism is eating away its unity and resolve. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and his counterparts will mark on … more

By LORNE COOK | 4/4/24

FILE - Miners dig for diamonds in Marange, eastern Zimbabwe, Nov. 1, 2006. The United States and its Western allies are feuding with Russia over its diamond production, but they joined forces Wednesday, April 3, 2024, to keep supporting the Kimberley Process, which aims to eliminate the trade in “blood diamonds” that helped fuel devastating conflicts in Africa. (AP Photo/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi, File)

Russia and West join forces to tackle trade in 'blood diamonds' despite feud over Moscow's diamonds

The United States and its Western allies are feuding with Russia over its diamond production, but they joined forces to keep supporting the Kimberley Process, which aims to eliminate the trade in … more

By EDITH M. LEDERER | 4/4/24

FILE - Tourists visit the Holocaust Memorial in Berlin, Germany, on International Holocaust Remembrance Day, on Jan. 27, 2024. More than 250 Holocaust survivors have joined an international initiative to share their stories of loss and survival with students around the world during a time of rising antisemitism following the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel that triggered the war in the Gaza Strip. The Survivor Speakers Bureau was launched Thursday by the New York-based Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany, also referred to as the Claims Conference. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber, File)

Jewish group launches Holocaust survivor speakers bureau to fight increasing antisemitism worldwide

More than 250 Holocaust survivors have joined an international initiative to share their stories of loss and survival with students around the world during a time of rising antisemitism following the … more

By KIRSTEN GRIESHABER | 4/4/24

Debris surrounds a titled building a day after a powerful earthquake struck, in Hualien City, eastern Taiwan, Thursday, April 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Chiang Ying-ying)

Rescuers search for people out of contact in Taiwan after strong earthquake

Rescuers are searching for dozens of people out of contact a day after Taiwan’s strongest earthquake in a quarter century damaged buildings, caused multiple rockslides and killed nine people. In … more

By JOHNSON LAI and KANIS LEUNG | 4/3/24

The panel of five judges of the Constitutional Court led by the country's chief justice, Richard Buteera, in Kampala, Uganda, Wednesday, April 3, 2024, gives its seal of approval on the anti-homosexuality law, declaring that the Anti Homosexuality Act of 2023 complies with the Constitution of Uganda.(AP Photo/Hajarah Nalwadda )

Ugandan court rejects bid to nullify anti-gay law that provides for the death penalty in some cases

Uganda’s constitutional court has upheld an anti-gay law that allows the death penalty for “aggravated homosexuality.” President Yoweri Museveni signed the bill into law in May last year. The … more

By RISDEL KASASIRA | 4/3/24

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg speaks with the media as he arrives for a meeting of NATO foreign ministers at NATO headquarters in Brussels, Wednesday, April 3, 2024. NATO foreign ministers gathered in Brussels on Wednesday to debate plans to provide more predictable, longer-term support to Ukraine. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)

NATO weighs a plan to provide long-term military help to Ukraine as Russian troops assert control

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg says the organization is debating a plan to provide more predictable military support to Ukraine as better armed Russian troops assert control on the … more

By LORNE COOK | 4/3/24

FILE - James Tshuma, a farmer in Mangwe district in southwestern Zimbabwe, stands in the middle of his dried up crop field amid a drought, in Zimbabwe, Friday, March, 22, 2024. Zimbabwe declared a state of disaster Wednesday, April 3, 2024, over a devastating drought that's sweeping across much of southern Africa, with the country’s president saying it needs $2 billion for humanitarian assistance. (AP Photo/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi, File)

Zimbabwe declares drought disaster, the latest in a region where El Nino has left millions hungry

Zimbabwe’s president has declared a state of disaster over a devastating El Nino drought sweeping across much of southern Africa. President Emmerson Mnangagwa said the country needs $2 billion for … more

BY FARAI MUTSAKA | 4/3/24

FILE - Monkeys eat fruit during monkey feast festival in Lopburi province, Thailand. Sunday, Nov. 27, 2022. Thai wildlife officials laid out a plan on Wednesday, March 3, 2024, to bring peace to a central Thai town after at least a decade of human-monkey conflict. (AP Photo/Chalida EKvitthayavechnukul, File)

Officials have a plan to end years of monkey mayhem in a central Thai city

Thai wildlife officials laid out a plan on Wednesday to bring peace to a central Thai city after at least a decade of human-monkey conflict. The macaques that roam Lopburi are a symbol of local … more

By JINTAMAS SAKSORNCHAI | 4/3/24

Pope Francis holds his weekly general audience in St. Peter's Square, at the Vatican, Wednesday, April 3, 2024. Pope Francis showed tourists and pilgrims the rosary and Gospel booklet that the 23-year-old Ukrainian Alexander had with him when he was killed in Russia's war.(AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

Pope shows off rosary of slain Ukrainian soldier, denounces 'madness of war'

Pope Francis has led thousands of people in a moment of silence to pray for the aid workers killed by an Israeli strike in Gaza. At the end of his general audience Wednesday, Francis also showed … more

4/3/24

FILE - Newly recruited soldiers who mark the end of their training at a military base close to Kyiv, Ukraine, on Sept. 25, 2023. Ukraine on Wednesday, April 3, 2024, lowered the military conscription age from 27 to 25 in an effort to replenish its depleted ranks after more than two years of war following Russia’s full-scale invasion. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky, File)

Ukraine lowers its conscription age to 25 to plug a shortfall in troop numbers fighting Russia

Ukraine has lowered the military conscription age from 27 to 25 in an effort to replenish its depleted ranks after more than two years of war following Russia’s full-scale invasion. The new … more

By HANNA ARHIROVA | 4/3/24

Carole, a 32-year-old former combatant, sits in her home in Bouar, Central African Republic, Thursday, March 7, 2024. Nearly 5,000 fighters have put down their arms in Central African Republic since a disarmament program launched nearly a decade ago. Yet former rebels, communities and conflict experts say it's hard to halt fighting in a country still in conflict and where little other paid work exists. (AP Photo/Sam Mednick)

Former rebels in Central African Republic disarm but face few options. Wagner is one of them

Nearly 5,000 fighters have put down their arms in Central African Republic since a disarmament program launched nearly a decade ago. Yet former rebels, communities and conflict experts say it’s … more

By SAM MEDNICK | 4/3/24

Indonesian Defense Minister and President-elect Prabowo Subianto, left, is shown the seat for talks by Japanese counterpart Minoru Kihara, right, at the Defense Ministry in Tokyo, Japan, Wednesday, April 3, 2024. (Kimimasa Mayama/Pool Photo via AP)

Indonesian president-elect vows to further strengthen ties with Japan after visiting China

Indonesian President-elect Prabowo Subianto said on a visit to Japan that he wants to “further strengthen” relations between the countries. He met with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on … more

By MARI YAMAGUCHI | 4/3/24

FILE - Haitian migrants wade through water as they cross the Darien Gap from Colombia to Panama in hopes of reaching the United States, May 9, 2023. Colombia and Panama are failing to protect hundreds of thousands of migrants who are crossing the Darien jungle on their way to the U.S. and have become increasingly vulnerable to robberies and sexual violence, Human Rights Watch said in a report published Wednesday, April 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Ivan Valencia, File)

Panama and Colombia fail to protect migrants on Darien jungle route, Human Rights Watch says

Human Rights Watch says Colombia and Panama are failing to protect the hundreds of thousands of migrants who cross the Darien jungle on their way to the United States and have become increasingly … more

By MANUEL RUEDA | 4/3/24

A vehicle carrying Fu Bao, the first giant panda born in South Korea, arrives for a farewell ceremony before Fu Bao is transferred to the airport for China at the Everland amusement park in Yongin, South Korea, Wednesday, April 3, 2024. A crowd of people, some weeping, gathered at the rain-soaked amusement park in South Korea to bid farewell to their beloved giant panda before her departure to China on Wednesday.(AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

With tears, a crowd of South Koreans bids farewell to beloved panda before her departure to China

A crowd of people, some weeping, has gathered at an amusement park in South Korea to bid farewell to a giant panda before her departure to China. Fu Bao has been a major attraction at the Everland … more

By HYUNG-JIN KIM | 4/2/24

This photo provided by the North Korean government shows the test-fire of what they call an intermediate-range ballistic missile on the outskirts of Pyongyang, North Korea Tuesday, April 2, 2024. Independent journalists were not given access to cover the event depicted in this image distributed by the North Korean government. The content of this image is as provided and cannot be independently verified. Korean language watermark on image as provided by source reads: "KCNA" which is the abbreviation for Korean Central News Agency. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP)

North Korea says it tested new solid-fuel intermediate-range missile with hypersonic warhead

North Korea says it tested another new hypersonic intermediate-range missile powered with solid propellants as it continues to expand its nuclear and missile program while tensions deepen with its … more

By KIM TONG-HYUNG | 4/2/24

In this image taken from a video footage run by TVBS, a partially collapsed building is seen in Hualien, eastern Taiwan on Wednesday, April 3, 2024. A powerful earthquake rocked the entire island of Taiwan early Wednesday, collapsing buildings in a southern city and creating a tsunami that washed ashore on southern Japanese islands. (TVBS via AP)

A strong earthquake shakes Taiwan, damaging buildings and causing a tsunami

A strong earthquake has shaken Taiwan, damaging buildings in a southern city and creating a tsunami that washed ashore on Japanese islands. A five-story building in lightly populated Hualien appeared … more

4/2/24

People observe the body of a man lying on the street of the Delmas 30 neighborhood in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Monday, April 1, 2024. Witnesses reported that he was struck by a stray bullet during a shootout between police and gangs. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)

Haiti's surge in gang violence has led more than 53,000 to flee the capital in less than three weeks

More than 53,000 people have fled Haiti’s capital in less than three weeks as deadly gang violence continues. That's according to a new U.N. report. The majority of people fleeing are headed to … more

By EVENS SANON | 4/2/24

Russian President Vladimir Putin attends the annual meeting of Russian Interior Ministry Board in Moscow, Russia, Tuesday, April 2, 2024. (Pavel Bednyakov, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)

Putin vows to find the masterminds of the Moscow concert hall attack and urges tighter security

Russian President Vladimir Putin has vowed to track down the masterminds of the Moscow concert hall massacre that left 144 people dead. It was the worst attack on Russian soil in two decades. He … more

4/2/24

Bassirou Diomaye Faye holds a press conference after winning the presidential elections in Dakar, Senegal, Monday, March 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Mosa'ab Elshamy)

Senegal prepares to swear in former opposition figure, recently freed from prison, as new president

Senegal is inaugurating Bassirou Diomaye Faye as its new president, completing the previously little-known opposition figure’s dramatic ascent from prison to the palace in recent weeks. Faye was … more

By BABACAR DIONE and JESSICA DONATI | 4/2/24