World News - The Morning Sun

FILE - This undated file photo provided by The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration shows a vaquita porpoise. Gillnet fishing for wild totoaba is illegal and one of the leading killers of critically endangered vaquita porpoise, of which recent surveys suggest less than a dozen may exist in the wild. On Thursday, Dec. 7, 2023, a coalition of environmental groups said exporting totoaba or its parts violates an international convention on trading endangered species. (Paula Olson/NOAA via AP, File)

Advocates say a Mexican startup is illegally selling a health drink from an endangered fish

Environmental watchdogs have accused a Mexico-based startup of violating international trade law that protects the endangered totoaba fish. A health company called The Blue Formula sells a powder … more

By DANIEL SHAILER | 12/7/23

A pedestrian passes by banners promoting candidates for upcoming district council elections in Hong Kong, Tuesday, Nov. 28, 2023. (AP Photo/Louise Delmotte)

Hong Kong's new election law thins the candidate pool, giving voters little option in Sunday's polls

While Hong Kong's government is working to spotlight its upcoming local elections, some district council members are preparing for their exits under the sharply shifting political landscape. New … more

By KANIS LEUNG | 12/7/23

FILE - Ethnic Armenians flee Nagorno-Karabakh to Kornidzor, in Armenia's Syunik region, Tuesday, Sept. 26, 2023. Armenia and Azerbaijan have agreed to exchange prisoners of war and work toward signing a peace treaty in what the European Union is hailing as a major step toward peace in the long-troubled region. The two countries said in a joint statement Thursday, Dec. 7, 2023 that they “share the view that there is a historical chance to achieve a long-awaited peace.” (AP Photo/Vasily Krestyaninov, File)

Armenia and Azerbaijan announce deal to exchange POWs and work toward peace treaty

Armenia and Azerbaijan have agreed to exchange prisoners of war and work toward signing a peace treaty in what the European Union is hailing as a major step toward peace in the long-troubled region. … more

By AVET DEMOURIAN | 12/7/23

FILE - Residents gather for a planned distribution of food, after El Niño rains damaged their houses in Bangale town in Tana River county, Kenya, Nov. 26, 2023. Ongoing catastrophic rains in Eastern Africa have been worsened by human-caused climate change that made them up to two times more intense, an international team of climate scientists said Thursday, Dec. 7. (AP Photo/Brian Inganga, file)

Scientists: Climate change intensified the rains devastating East Africa

An international team of climate scientists says the ongoing catastrophic rains in East Africa have been made worse by human-induced climate change. An analysis by World Weather Attribution found … more

By CARLOS MUREITHI | 12/7/23

FILE - Gen. Zaw Min Tun, spokesman and deputy information minister, speaks during a media tour fo the sitting Maravijaya Buddha statue, Friday, July 21, 2023 in Naypyitaw, Myanmar. Maj. Gen. Zaw Min Tun, the spokesperson for the ruling military council, was quoted Tuesday, Dec. 5, 2023, in state media as saying that about 1,000 soldiers who deserted or went absent without leave or had retired had gone through the process of requesting the military for their return to service. Myanmar’s military government has been freeing soldiers and police who had been jailed for desertion and absence without leave, seeking to get them to return to active duty, a police officer and an army officer said Thursday, Dec. 7, 2023. (AP Photo/Aung Shine Oo, File)

Myanmar' army is facing battlefield challenges and grants amnesty to troops jailed for being AWOL

Reports from Myanmar say its military government has been freeing soldiers and police who had been jailed for desertion and absence without leave as authorities seek to get them to return to active … more

By GRANT PECK | 12/7/23

FILE- Former Sierra Leone President Ernest Bai Koroma smiles in Massessehbeh village outside Freetown, SierraLeone, Aug. 14, 2015. Koroma has been invited by the nation's police to be questioned over the recent attacks that officials called a failed coup, a government spokesman said Thursday, Dec. 7, 2023. (AP Photo/Sunday Alamba, file)

Sierra Leone ex-president is called in for questioning over attacks officials say was a failed coup

A Sierra Leone government spokesman says that a former president has been called in for questioning by police over recent attacks that officials say was a failed coup. The information minister said … more

By KEMO CHAM | 12/7/23

Adrian LeBaron talks to the press outside the Attorney General's office in Mexico City, Wednesday, Dec. 6, 2023. LeBaron, the father of a woman who was one of nine American citizens killed in a drug cartel ambush in northern Mexico on Nov. 4, 2019, says the Mexican government systematically undercounts both homicides and disappearances. (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo)

Mexico focuses on looking for people falsely listed as missing, ignores thousands of disappeared

Mexico’s government is pouring resources into detecting what it suggests are “fake” missing people. It says they are cases reported by political opponents to embarrass the government, or … more

By MARK STEVENSON | 12/7/23

FILE - Denmark's Minister of Foreign Affairs Lars Loekke Rasmussen, centre, Minister of Justice Peter Hummelgaard, left and acting Minister of Defense Troels Lund Poulsen address the media after a briefing by members of the Danish Parliament on the international reactions to the Quran burnings, in Copenhagen, Monday, July 31, 2023. A new law was passed in Denmark's parliament on Thursday, Dec. 7, 2023, that makes it illegal to desecrate any holy text in the country, after a recent string of public desecrations of the Quran by a handful of anti-Islam activists sparked angry demonstrations in Muslim countries. (Mads Claus Rasmussen/Ritzau Scanpix via AP, File)

Denmark's parliament adopts a law making it illegal to burn the Quran or other religious texts

A new law has been passed in Denmark’s parliament that makes it illegal to desecrate any holy text in the country. The vote on Thursday came after a recent string of public desecrations of the … more

12/7/23

FILE - UN soldiers stand guard in Goma, Democratic Republic of Congo, on Nov. 30, 2012. The United Nations Peacekeeping efforts is under resourced as its $5.5 billion budget for worldwide operations is less than the New York Police Department's $6.1 billion budget, even though it has 30,000 more personnel, the UN Under-Secretary General, Peace Operations Jean-Pierre Lacroix said Wednesday, Dec. 6, 2023 at a two-day UN Peacekeeping Ministerial Meeting in Accra, Ghana. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay, File)

United Nations bemoans struggles to fund peacekeeping as nations demand withdrawal of missions

The United Nations’ top peacekeeping official has defended its missions worldwide even as many countries where peacekeepers operate are demanding their withdrawal. Undersecretary General for Peace … more

By FRANCIS KOKUTSE and SAM METZ | 12/7/23

FILE - Civil Defense workers remove the body of Reuters videographer Issam Abdallah who was killed by Israeli shelling, at Alma al-Shaab border village with Israel, south Lebanon, Friday, Oct. 13, 2023. Two Israeli strikes that killed a Reuters videographer and wounded six other journalists in south Lebanon nearly two months ago were an apparent deliberate and direct attack on civilians "that must be investigated as a war crime," two international human rights groups said Thursday. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar, File)

Rights groups say Israeli strikes on journalists in Lebanon were likely deliberate

Two international human rights groups say two Israeli strikes that killed a Reuters videographer and wounded six other journalists in south Lebanon nearly two months ago were apparently deliberate … more

By BASSEM MROUE | 12/7/23

Greece's Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, right, shakes hands with Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan after their statements at Maximos Mansion in Athens, Greece, Thursday, Dec. 7, 2023. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is visiting Greece in an effort to mend strained relations and reset ties with Western allies. (AP Photo/Michael Varaklas)

Turkish, Greek leaders signal markedly improved ties between the two NATO allies

After several years of strained relations that raised tensions to alarming levels, longtime regional rivals Greece and Turkey have made a significant step in mending ties during a visit to Athens by … more

By DEREK GATOPOULOS and ELENA BECATOROS | 12/7/23

The aftermath of a massive explosion at an industrial area on the main island in Mahe, Seychelles, Thursday, Dec. 7, 2023. Authorities in Seychelles declared a state of emergency Thursday after a blast at an explosives store caused “massive damage” in an industrial area also facing flooding amid heavy rainfall, according to the presidency. The blast happened on Wednesday night in the Providence area of Mahe, the largest and most populous island of the Seychelles. (AP Photo/Emilie Chetty)

Seychelles declares state of emergency after huge explosion; at least 3 dead in separate flooding

The president of Seychelles has declared a state of emergency after a huge blast at an explosives depot and flooding in other parts of the country’s main island. Local media say three people have … more

12/7/23

Britain's former Prime Minister Boris Johnson arrives for the COVID Inquiry at Dorland House in London, Thursday, Dec. 7, 2023. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

Former UK leader Boris Johnson defends efforts to balance health and economy at COVID-19 inquiry

Former U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson is defending his efforts to balance the health and economic impacts of COVID-19. Johnson gave a second day of testimony on Thursday to Britain’s public … more

By DANICA KIRKA | 12/7/23

In this photo released by the official Facebook page of the Ream Naval Base, former Cambodian Defense Minister Tea Banh, second from right, reviews navy members before a training at Ream Naval Base in Sihanoukville, southwestern of Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Sunday, Dec. 3, 2023. (Ream Naval Base's Facebook page via AP)

Chinese navy ships are first to dock at new pier at Cambodian naval base linked to Beijing

Chinese naval vessels have become the first ships to dock at a new pier at a Cambodian naval base that the United States and some international security experts say is destined to serve as a … more

By SOPHENG CHEANG | 12/7/23

Britain's Prime Minister Rishi Sunak leaves 10 Downing Street to attend the weekly session of Prime Ministers Questions in Parliament in London, Wednesday, Dec. 6, 2023. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

UK leader Rishi Sunak faces a Conservative crisis over his blocked plan to send migrants to Rwanda

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is struggling to avert a leadership crisis. It erupted after his plan to revive a blocked asylum deal with Rwanda triggered turmoil in his party and the resignation … more

By JILL LAWLESS | 12/7/23

FILE - Lech Walesa former President of Poland, speaks after being awarded withthe "Golden Medal for services to reconciliation and understanding among peoples" in Berlin, Monday Sept. 26, 2022. Poland’s former president and Nobel Peace Prize winner, 80-year-old Lech Walesa has been hospitalized with a bad case of COVID-19, an aide said Tuesday, Dec. 5, 2023. (Britta Pedersen/dpa via AP, file)

Former Polish President Lech Walesa, 80, says he is better but remains hospitalized with COVID-19

Lech Walesa, Poland’s 80-year-old former president and Nobel Peace Prize winner, says he is improving after being hospitalized with COVID-19. A post on Walesa’s Facebook page Thursday shows him … more

12/7/23

FILE- Agnes Chow, center, a prominent pro-democracy activist who was sentenced to jail for her role in an unauthorized protest, is released in Hong Kong Saturday, June 12, 2021. One of Hong Kong’s best-known pro-democracy activists, who moved to Canada to pursue further studies, said she would not return to the city to meet her bail conditions, becoming the latest politician to flee Hong Kong under Beijing's crackdown on dissidents.(AP Photo/Vincent Yu, File)

Democracy activist Agnes Chow says she still feels under the Hong Kong police's watch in Canada

Hong Kong pro-democracy activist Agnes Chow says she feels she's still under the watch of the Chinese territory’s police even after moving to Toronto. Chow was arrested in 2020 under a … more

By TIAN MACLEOD JI | 12/7/23

Russian President Vladimir Putin listens to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman during their talks at the Al Yamamah Palace in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on Wednesday, Dec. 6, 2023. (Alexei Nikolsky, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)

Russian lawmakers set presidential vote for March 17, 2024, clearing a path for Putin's 5th term

Russian lawmakers on Thursday set the date of the 2024 presidential election for March 17, moving Vladimir Putin closer to a fifth term in office. Putin hasn’t yet announced his intention to run … more

12/7/23

Australia's Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, left, meets with Papua New Guinea's Prime Minister James Marape at Parliament House in Canberra, Australia, Thursday, Dec. 7, 2023. The Australian government signed a security pact with its nearest neighbor Papua New Guinea on Thursday that strengthens Australia’s place as the preferred security partner in a region where China’s influence is growing. (Mick Tsikas/AAP Image via AP)

Australia pushes against China's Pacific influence through a security pact with Papua New Guinea

The Australian government has signed a security pact with its nearest neighbor Papua New Guinea that strengthens Australia’s place as the preferred security partner in a region where China’s … more

By ROD McGUIRK | 12/7/23

In this photo provided by the Ihor Moroz, Head of the Donetsk Regional Military Administration, rescuers work at the scene of a building damaged by shelling, in Novogrodivka, Ukraine, Thursday, Nov. 30, 2023. (Ihor Moroz, Head of the Donetsk Regional Military Administration via AP)

UN: Russia intensifies attacks on Ukraine’s energy facilities, worsening humanitarian conditions

U.N. officials say intensifying Russian attacks on Ukraine’s energy facilities are worsening humanitarian conditions across the country, where heavy snow and freezing temperatures have already … more

By EDITH M. LEDERER | 12/6/23