World News - The Morning Sun

An empty flagpole stands between the national flags of France and Estonia outside NATO headquarters in Brussels, Monday, April 3, 2023. Finland awaits an official green light to become the 31st member of the world's biggest security alliance as NATO foreign ministers prepare to meet in Brussels on Tuesday and Wednesday. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)

Finland set to join NATO, in blow to Putin

Finland is joining NATO. It will become the 31st member of the military alliance on Tuesday. Turkey, the last country to have ratified Finland’s membership, will hand its official texts to U.S. … more

4/4/23

Grassroots faith leaders navigate a Northern Ireland in flux

Twenty-five years ago, the Good Friday Agreement halted much of the violence of Northern Ireland’s Troubles. Today, grassroots faith leaders are trying to build on that opportunity. They're working … more

By PETER SMITH | 4/4/23

A fire rages at a popular market for cheaper clothes in Bangladesh's capital Dhaka, Bangladesh, Tuesday, April, 4, 2023. The fire broke out at Bangabazar Market in Dhaka on Tuesday, but no casualties were reported immediately. (AP/Mahmud Hossain Opu)

Fire races through clothing market in Bangladesh capital

A massive fire was burning through a popular market for cheaper clothes in Bangladesh’s capital. Officials say no casualties were reported immediately. The fire started at Bangabazar Market in … more

4/4/23

Australia bans TikTok from federal government devices

Australia has become the last of the “Five Eyes” security partners to ban the Chinese-owned video-sharing app TikTok from its federal government's devices. Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus said in a … more

By ROD McGUIRK | 4/4/23

Women wait for their turn to collect water in barrels from a tanker in the Chellanam area of Kochi, Kerala state, India, March 1, 2023. Saltwater's intrusion into freshwater is a growing problem linked to climate change and in Chellanam rising salinity means residents can no longer depend on ponds and wells for the water they need to drink, cook and wash. (Uzmi Athar/Press Trust of India via AP)

On India's shore, rising salinity means daily water struggle

Saltwater's intrusion into freshwater is a growing problem linked to climate change, and its effects can be seen in places like India's southwestern shore. In the Chellanam neighborhood of Kochi, a … more

By UZMI ATHAR, Press Trust of India | 4/3/23

Cheryl Korbel, center, mother of nine-year-old Olivia Pratt-Korbel stands outside Manchester Crown Court, England, Monday, April 3, 2023. A drug dealer who killed a 9-year-old Liverpool girl when he tried to gun down a rival was sentenced to life in prison Monday for murder during an emotional hearing he refused to attend. Thomas Cashman, 34, who declined to appear in Manchester Crown Court because he said the proceedings were “turning into a circus,” was convicted of murder in the Aug. 22 death of Olivia Pratt-Korbel. (Peter Byrne/PA via AP)

Drug dealer gets life for killing 9-year-old Liverpool girl

A drug dealer who killed a 9-year-old Liverpool girl when he tried to gun down a rival has been sentenced to life in prison for murder during an emotional hearing he refused to attend. Thomas … more

By BRIAN MELLEY | 4/3/23

Soldiers from the South Sudan People's Defence Forces (SSPDF) prepare to board a flight to transport them to eastern Congo, where they are due to operate as part of the East Africa Community Regional Force (EACRF), at the airport in Juba, South Sudan Monday, April 3, 2023. East African regional forces have regained control of Bunagana, a strategic town in eastern Congo that had been held by M23 rebels for more than nine months, a spokesman for the regional force said Monday. (AP Photo/Samir Bol)

Ugandan forces take over east Congo town as M23 rebels leave

A spokesman for the East African regional force says that Ugandan troops took control of Bunagana, a strategic town in eastern Congo that had been in the hands of M23 rebels for more than nine … more

By CHRISTINA MALKIA and JUSTIN KABUMBA | 4/3/23

Rights group urges eastern Libya to free singer, blogger

Human Rights Watch has urged authorities in eastern Libya to release a singer and a blogger arrested for allegedly violating a widely criticized cybercrime law. The group said Monday that both women … more

By SAMY MAGDY | 4/3/23

FILE - Oscar Pistorius leaves the High Court in Pretoria, South Africa, Tuesday June 14, 2016 during his trail for the murder of girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp. Pistorius has applied for parole and is expected to attend a hearing on Friday, March 31, 2023 that will decide if the former Olympic runner is released from prison 10 years after killing girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp. (AP Photo/Themba Hadebe, File)

Oscar Pistorius' lawyer: 'Mistake' to deny parole, appealing

Oscar Pistorius' lawyer says there was an “obvious mistake” in the process to deny him parole last week. Lawyer Julian Knight tells The Associated Press that the former Olympic runner is seeking … more

By GERALD IMRAY | 4/3/23

FILE - The Wall Street Journal journalist Evan Gershkovich is shown in this undated photo. The State Department says Secretary of State Antony Blinken urged his Russian counterpart, in a rare phone, to immediately release Gershkovich, who was detained last week, as well as another imprisoned American, Paul Whelan. (The Wall Street Journal via AP, File)

Jailed US reporter's defense appeals his arrest

A court in the Russian capital says that lawyers for an American reporter for The Wall Street Journal arrested in Russia on espionage charges have appealed his arrest. Evan Gershkovich was detained … more

4/3/23

A Ukrainian serviceman of 12 aviation brigade sits inside an Mi-8 combat helicopter before flight during a combat mission in Kharkiv region, Ukraine, Sunday, April 2, 2023. (AP Photo/Alex Babenko)

With no peace in sight, NATO countries eye more Ukraine help

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg says Ukraine’s Western allies have sent the country 65 billion euros ($70 billion) in military aid to help thwart Russia’s full-scale invasion. He said … more

By HANNA ARHIROVA | 4/3/23

Finland to join NATO military alliance this week, chief says

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg says Finland will become the 31st member of the military alliance on Tuesday. Stoltenberg said that Turkey, the last country to have ratified Finland’s … more

4/3/23

French President Emmanuel Macron delivers his speech on the end-of-life options after a panel of citizens worked the issue in recent months, Monday, April 3, 2023 at the Elysee Palace in Paris. (AP Photo/Aurelien Morissard, Pool)

France's Macron to draft bill legalizing end-of-life options

French President Emmanuel Macron says a new bill to be drafted this year will address end-of-life options. The move comes after a panel of citizens issued a report in favor of legalizing medically … more

4/3/23

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy speaks to the media at joint press conference with Slovakia's Prime Minister Eduard Heger, Moldova's President Maia Sandu, Slovenia's Prime Minister Robert Golob and Croatia's Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic during Bucha Summit in Kyiv, Ukraine, Friday, March 31, 2023. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)

Zelenskyy to visit Warsaw to meet with Poles, Ukrainians

Poland's presidential office has announced that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will pay a visit to Warsaw this week. The visit is scheduled for Wednesday and will begin with talks between … more

4/3/23

In this photo provided by the Saudi Royal Palace, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, right, meets with Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Siss in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, late Sunday, April 2, 2023. (Bandar Aljaloud/Saudi Royal Palace via AP)

Leaders of Egypt, Saudi Arabia meet after months of tension

The leaders of Egypt and Saudi Arabia have met in the kingdom amid months of tension between the two regional powers. An Egyptian statement said President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi met with Saudi Crown … more

By SAMY MAGDY | 4/3/23

A Palestinian demonstrator kicks tear gas canister during clashes with Israeli forces during a raid in the West Bank city of Nablus, Monday, April 3, 2023. Two Palestinian men were killed by Israeli troops in an army raid in the occupied West Bank city of Nablus on Monday, the Palestinian Health Ministry said.The Israeli military said that troops arrested two people suspected of assisting a gunman who shot two soldiers in the occupied West Bank town of Hawara last month. The army said its soldiers came under fire during the raid and shot back. (AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed)

Palestinians say 2 killed in Israeli army raid in West Bank

Palestinian health officials say two Palestinian men were killed by Israeli troops in an army raid in the occupied West Bank city of Nablus. The incident on Monday was the latest in a year-long surge … more

4/3/23

Former Kosovo president Hashim Thaci, left, appears before the Kosovo Tribunal as he defends himself against charges including murder, torture and persecution allegedly committed during his country's war for independence from Serbia in the Hague, Monday, April 3, 2023. The trial of Kosovo's ex-president and three other former high-ranking members of the Kosovo Liberation Army charged with war crimes and crimes against humanity opens Monday. (Koen van Weel/Pool via AP)

'Nobody is above the law:' Kosovo ex-president's trial opens

Kosovo’s former president has pleaded not guilty to charges including murder, torture and persecution as he went on trial with three other former leaders of the Kosovo Liberation Army. Hashim Thaci … more

By MIKE CORDER | 4/3/23

FILE - Israeli-born Australian Malka Leifer, right, is brought to a courtroom in Jerusalem on Feb. 27, 2018. Leifer, a former principal of a Jewish girls school, was found guilty Monday, April 3, 2023, of sexually abusing two students. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean, File)

Jewish school principal in Australia guilty of sexual abuse

The former principal of a Jewish girls school in Australia was found guilty of sexually abusing two students. Malka Leifer was convicted on 18 counts and acquitted of nine other charges, including … more

4/3/23

FILE - Police officers scuffle with protesters during a demonstration in Lyon, central France, on March 23, 2023. French authorities see the police as protectors ensuring that citizens can peacefully protest President Emmanuel Macron’s contentious retirement age increase. But to human rights advocates and demonstrators who were clubbed or tear-gassed, officers have overstepped their mission. (AP Photo/Laurent Cipriani, File)

Pension protests raise tension between police, demonstrators

French authorities see the police as protectors who ensure that citizens can peacefully protest President Emmanuel Macron’s contentious retirement age increase. But to human rights advocates and … more

By ELAINE GANLEY | 4/3/23

Russian President Vladimir Putin chairs a Security Council meeting in Moscow, Russia, Friday, March 31, 2023. (Alexei Babushkin, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)

Russia to put nukes near Belarus' western border, envoy says

Russia's ambassador to Belarus says that Moscow will deploy tactical nuclear weapons close to Belarus’ border with NATO neighbors. Sunday's statement from Ambassador Boris Gryzlov comes amid … more

By YURAS KARMANAU | 4/2/23