World News - The Morning Sun

Reporters raise their hands to ask questions as Foreign Ministers, from left, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, Palestinian Minister of Foreign Affairs Riyad al-Maliki, Qatari Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani, Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan, Jordan's Minister of Foreign Affairs Ayman Safadi, and Egyptian Foreign Affairs Minister Sameh Shoukry, attend a news conference about the Israel-Hamas war, and pressure to reduce civilian casualties, Friday, Dec. 8, 2023, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

UN chief and many nations demand immediate humanitarian cease-fire in Gaza, but US remains opposed

The United Nations chief and many Security Council members are demanding an immediate humanitarian cease-fire in Gaza. But the United States is reiterating its opposition, virtually dooming any … more

By EDITH M. LEDERER and ELLEN KNICKMEYER | 12/8/23

FILE - The flags of Britain, Scotland and European Union wave outside the Scottish parliament in Edinburgh, Friday, Jan. 31, 2020. Scotland’s highest civil court on Friday upheld the British government’s move to block a landmark gender-recognition law passed by the Scottish parliament, underscoring the growing divide over local control of legislation in the nations of the United Kingdom. (AP Photo/Scott Heppell, File)

Scottish court upholds UK decision to block Scotland's landmark gender-recognition bill

Scotland’s highest civil court has upheld the British government’s move to block a landmark gender-recognition law passed by the Scottish parliament. The decision underscores the growing divide … more

By DANICA KIRKA | 12/8/23

An Israeli army vehicle removes tires blocking roads that Palestinians had set on fire during a military raid into Faraa refugee camp, West Bank, Friday, Dec. 8, 2023. The Palestinian Health Ministry says that five Palestinians were killed when Israeli forces raided the camp prompting fighting with local militants. (AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed)

Six Palestinians are killed in the Israeli military's latest West Bank raid, health officials say

Palestinian health officials say Israeli forces stormed into a refugee camp in the occupied West Bank to arrest Palestinian militants and unleashed fighting with local gunmen in which six … more

By ISABEL DEBRE | 12/8/23

FILE - Taiwan military vessels are seen in Keelung Harbor in Taiwan, on Aug. 4, 2022. Taiwan’s Defense Ministry said a Chinese military surveillance balloon passed over the northern port city of Keelung Thursday night, Dec. 7, 2023, then continued travelling east before disappearing. (AP Photo/Johnson Lai, File)

Taiwan says it spotted a Chinese surveillance balloon as the island's election nears

Taiwan's Defense Ministry says it has spotted a Chinese surveillance balloon in the Taiwan Strait along with a large-scale movement of military aircraft and ships. It says the balloon passed over the … more

12/8/23

FILE - The U.S. Embassy is seen from across the Tigris River in Baghdad, Iraq, on Jan. 3, 2020. A rocket attack at the sprawling U.S. embassy in Baghdad Friday Dec. 8, 2023 caused minor material damage but no casualties, U.S. and Iraqi officials said. (AP Photo/Khalid Mohammed, File)

A rocket attack targets the US Embassy in Baghdad, causing minor damage but no casualties

U.S. and Iraqi officials say a rocket attack at the sprawling U.S. Embassy in Baghdad has caused minor damage but no casualties. Iran-backed militias in Iraq have claimed responsibility for dozens of … more

BY QASSIM ABDUL-ZAHRA | 12/8/23

In this photo provided by South Korea Presidential Office, U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan, left, poses for a photo with his South Korean counterpart Cho Tae-yong during their meeting at the presidential office in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Dec. 8, 2023. (South Korea Presidential Office via AP)

South Korea's defense chief vows retaliatory strikes on 'heart and head' of North Korea if provoked

South Korea’s defense minister has vowed massive retaliatory missile strikes on “the heart and head” of North Korea in the event of provocation, as the rivals escalate their rhetoric over their … more

By HYUNG-JIN KIM | 12/8/23

Activists participate in a demonstration with a sign that reads "adaptation finance now" at the COP28 U.N. Climate Summit, Friday, Dec. 8, 2023, in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)

How to adapt to climate change may be secondary at COP28, but it's key to saving lives, experts say

As United Nations climate talks enter their second week, negotiators who are largely focused on how to curb climate change have another thing on their plates: how to adapt to the warming that’s … more

By SIBI ARASU | 12/8/23

Journalists' rights group counts 94 media workers killed this year, most of them in Gaza

The International Federation of Journalists says 2023 has been an unprecedented year for the number of media workers killed on the job. The organization that represents journalists worldwide said … more

12/8/23

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