World News - The Morning Sun

This is a locator map for Iran with its capital, Tehran. (AP Photo)

State news: Iran executed 4 people it says spied for Israel

Iran's state-run IRNA news agency says authorities have executed four people accused of working for Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency. IRNA said Sunday the country’s powerful Revolutionary … more

12/4/22

A man looks on as Mount Semeru releases volcanic materials during an eruption on Sunday, Dec. 4, 2022 in Lumajang, East java, Indonesia. Indonesia’s highest volcano on the country’s most densely populated island of Java erupted Sunday. (AP Photo)

Indonesia's Mt. Semeru unleashes lava river in new eruption

Indonesia’s highest volcano on its most densely populated island has spewed ash skyward and released searing gas clouds and rivers of lava in its latest eruption. Monsoon rains eroded and finally … more

12/4/22

Participants get ready for the Miss Trans Northeast 22, beauty pageant in Guwahati, India, Wednesday, Nov. 30, 2022. In a celebration of gender diversity and creative expression, a beauty pageant in eastern Indian state of Assam brought dozens of transgender models on stage in Guwahati. Sexual minorities across India have gained a degree of acceptance especially in big cities and transgender people were given equal rights as a third gender in 2014. But prejudice against them persists and the community continues to face discrimination and rejection by their families. (AP Photo/Anupam Nath)

AP PHOTOS: Pageant celebrates transgender life in India

GUWAHATI, India (AP) — Anilya Boro may not have won the crown at India's Miss Trans NE pageant this year, but having her parents there in support was a validation in its own right. “I must … more

By ANUPAM NATH | 12/4/22

Migrant workers with their belongings leave a barricaded village after authorities' easing of COVID-19 curbs in Haizhu district in Guangzhou in south China's Guangdong province on Friday, Dec. 2, 2022. Local Chinese authorities on Saturday announced a further easing of COVID-19 curbs, with major cities such as Shenzhen and Beijing no longer requiring negative tests to take public transport. (Chinatopix Via AP)

Beijing, Shenzhen scrap COVID-19 tests for public transport

Chinese authorities have announced a further easing of COVID-19 curbs with major cities such as Shenzhen and Beijing no longer requiring negative tests to take public transport. The slight relaxation … more

12/3/22

A resident wounded after a Russian attack lies inside an ambulance before being taken to a hospital in Kherson, southern Ukraine, Thursday, Nov. 24, 2022. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)

AP PHOTOS: Residents face new reality in retaken Kherson

KHERSON, Ukraine (AP) — When Ukraine wrested back Kherson from Russian occupiers nearly a month ago, it was a moment of glory and pride, hailed as the beginning of the end of the war. But hardship … more

By BERNAT ARMANGUE | 12/3/22

Members of the Cargo Truckers Solidarity union stage a rally against the government's return-to-work order on cement truckers in Uiwang, South Korea, Tuesday, Nov. 29, 2022. South Korea's government issued an order Tuesday for some of the thousands of truck drivers who have been on strike to return to work, insisting that their nationwide walkout over freight fare issues is hurting an already weak economy. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

Thousands protest in South Korea in support of truckers

Thousands of demonstrators representing organized labor marched in South Korea’s capital on Saturday to denounce government attempts to force thousands of striking truckers back to work after they … more

By KIM TONG-HYUNG | 12/3/22

Former South Korean National Security Director Suh Hoon, center, arrives at the Seoul Central District Court in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Dec. 2, 2022. South Korean prosecutors arrested the country’s former national security director on Saturday over suspicions that he engaged in a cover-up to hide details and distort the circumstances surrounding North Korea’s killing of a South Korean fisheries official near the rivals’ sea boundary in 2020. (Han Sang-kyun/Yonhap via AP)

Seoul arrests ex-top security official over border killing

South Korean prosecutors arrested the country’s former national security director over suspicions he engaged in a cover-up to hide details and distort the circumstances surrounding North Korea’s … more

By KIM TONG-HYUNG | 12/2/22

FILE - Cattle graze on land recently burned and deforested by cattle farmers near Novo Progresso, Para state, Brazil, on Aug. 23, 2020. The Amazon region has lost 10% of its native vegetation, mostly tropical rainforest, in almost four decades, an area roughly the size of Texas, a new report released Dec. 2, 2022, says. (AP Photo/Andre Penner, File)

Amazon loses 10% of its vegetation in nearly four decades

The Amazon region has lost 10% of its vegetation in nearly four decades, according to a new report. That's an area roughly the size of Texas, From 1985 to 2021, the deforested area surged from … more

By FABIANO MAISONNAVE | 12/2/22

An Israeli activist gives a tour of the embattled West Bank city of Hebron, Friday, Dec. 2, 2022. Israeli peace activists toured the occupied West Bank's largest city Friday in a show of solidarity with Palestinians, amid chants of "shame, shame" from ultra-nationalist hecklers. The encounter in the center of Hebron signaled the widening rift among Israelis over the nature of their society and Israel's open-ended military rule over the Palestinians, now in its 56th year. (AP Photo/ Maya Alleruzzo)

Palestinian assailant killed, fatal shots caught on video

Israel’s paramilitary border police says an officer killed a Palestinian assailant in the occupied West Bank after they wrestled over a weapon. Dramatic amateur video captured the moments Friday … more

By SAM McNEIL and FARES AKRAM | 12/2/22

Ukraine's ambassador to the Vatican, Andrii Yurash, uses his phone prior to the start an interview with the Associated Press at the Vatican, Friday, Dec. 2, 2022. Yurash confirmed that both Ukraine's consulate in Naples and its embassy to Italy received letters, with the one in Naples containing fish eyes. In addition, Yurash said the entrance to his Rome residence was vandalized with what he believed was animal feces on Thursday afternoon. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)

Ukraine says animals' eyes sent to some of its embassies

A Ukrainian official says Ukrainian embassies and consulates in six European countries have received packages containing animals’ eyes in recent days. A Foreign Ministry spokesman said Friday that … more

12/2/22

Residents wearing masks cross an intersection in Beijing, Friday, Dec. 2, 2022. More cities eased restrictions, allowing shopping malls, supermarkets and other businesses to reopen following protests last weekend in Shanghai and other areas in which some crowds called for President Xi Jinping to resign. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)

WHO pleased to see China ease harsh zero COVID policies

A top official at the World Health Organization said the U.N. agency was “pleased” to see China loosening some of its coronavirus restrictions, saying “it’s really important that governments … more

12/2/22

FILE - Paul Whelan, a former U.S. marine who was arrested for alleged spying, listens to the verdict in a courtroom at the Moscow City Court in Moscow, Russia, June 15, 2020. The family of Paul Whelan, an American imprisoned in Russia for espionage, said Friday, Dec. 2, 2022, that he has resumed contact after unexpectedly becoming unreachable in November. Along with WNBA star Brittney Griner, Whelan is the focus of efforts by the United States to arrange a prisoner swap with Russia.(Sofia Sandurskaya, Moscow News Agency photo via AP, File)

Brother of Russia-imprisoned American says contact resumed

The family of Paul Whelan, an American imprisoned in Russia for espionage, says that he has resumed contact after unexpectedly becoming unreachable in November. Along with WNBA star Brittney Griner, … more

By JIM HEINTZ | 12/2/22

In this photo released by Army's public relations wing 'Inter Services Public Relations', Pakistan's outgoing Army Chief Gen. Qamar Javed Bajwa, right, hands over a ceremonial baton to his successor Gen. Asim Munir during the Change of Command ceremony, in Rawalpindi, Pakistan, Tuesday, Nov. 29, 2022. Pakistan's new army chief Munir, took command of the country's armed forces amid a deepening political rift between the government and the popular opposition leader, as well as a renewed threat from a key militant group that has been behind scores of deadly attacks over 15 years. (Inter Services Public Relations via AP)

US names anti-Pakistan groups 'terrorist' organizations

The State Department says it has added a key anti-Pakistan militant group and its al-Qaida branch to its list of "global terrorists.” Thursday’s move comes days after the Tehrik-e-Taliban … more

By MUNIR AHMED | 12/2/22

City workers set up a billboard in Kherson, southern Ukraine, Thursday, Nov. 24, 2022. The billboard reads in Ukrainian "Kherson Hero City". (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)

AP PHOTOS: Propaganda billboards embodied Russian occupation

KHERSON, Ukraine (AP) — In the liberated city of Kherson, Ukrainians have been tearing down a glaring symbol of occupation -- billboards spreading Russian propaganda. Throughout the southern … more

By BERNAT ARMANGUE | 12/2/22

Winnipeg Police Inspector Shawn Pike provides an update to an ongoing homicide investigation in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Thursday, Dec. 1, 2022. Police alleged Thursday that Jeremy Skibicki, of Canada, previously charged with murdering an Indigenous woman also killed three other women — two also confirmed to be Indigenous and one believed to be. Pike shows a jacket that may help identify the fourth subject. (John Woods/The Canadian Press via AP)

Canadian man charged in deaths of 3 more Indigenous women

Police in Canada allege a man previously charged with murdering an Indigenous woman also killed three other women — two also confirmed to be Indigenous and one believed to be. Jeremy Skibicki was … more

12/1/22

FILE - A fighter from the Christian Syriac militia that battles the Islamic State group under the banner of the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces, burns an IS flag on the front line on the western side of Raqqa, northeast Syria, July 17, 2017. The leader of the Islamic State group, Abu al-Hassan al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi, was killed in a battle recently, the group’s spokesman said in audio released Wednesday, Nov. 30, 2022, without giving further details. No one claimed responsibility for the killing. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla, File)

Syrian rebels did not know Iraqi militant killed was IS head

Syrian opposition activists and state media apparently did not know that an Iraqi militant who was killed in October in southern Syria was the leader of the Islamic State group. It became clear on … more

By BASSEM MROUE | 12/1/22

FILE — South African President Cyril Ramaphosa responds to questions in Parliament Cape Town, South Africa, Thursday, Sept. 29, 2022 where he denied allegations of money laundering while being questioned over a scandal that threatens his position and the direction of Africa's most developed economy. Ramaphosa is facing serious calls to step down after a parliamentary probe found he may have breached the country's anti-corruption laws related to the theft of millions of dollars at his Phala Phala game farm. (AP Photo/Nardus Engelbrecht/File)

More calls for South Africa leader to quit over theft probe

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa is facing calls to step down after a parliamentary probe found he may have breached anti-corruption laws in connection with the alleged theft of a large amount … more

By MOGOMOTSI MAGOME | 12/1/22

Search teams work on a landslide in Casamicciola, on the Italian resort island of Ischia, in southern Italy, Wednesday, Nov. 30, 2022, which killed eight people and left four missing where a big chunk of the Mount Epomeo detached destroying houses and pushing vehicles down into the sea. (AP Photo/Salvatore Laporta)

Death toll in landslide on Italian resort island hits 11

Search teams on Thursday recovered three more bodies buried under mud and debris from a weekend landslide on the Italian resort island of Ischia, raising the death toll to 11. One person remains … more

12/1/22

Pope Francis leaves at the end of his weekly general audience in St. Peter's Square at The Vatican, Wednesday, Nov. 30, 2022. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

Pope reschedules Congo, South Sudan trip for Jan. 31-Feb. 5

Pope Francis has rescheduled his delayed trip to Congo and South Sudan for Jan. 31-Feb. 5. The Vatican published the new itinerary Thursday. It roughly matches the original with one exception: It … more

By NICOLE WINFIELD and DENG MACHOL | 12/1/22

Police officers stand guard as other officers in yellow vests walk back at the cordoned off area next to the Ukrainian embassy in Madrid, Spain, Wednesday, Nov. 30, 2022. Spain's Interior Ministry says police are investigating reports of a blast at the Ukrainian embassy in Madrid. The ministry says police were told an employee at the embassy was slightly injured handling a letter in what it described as "a deflagration." (AP Photo/Paul White)

Spain: 2 new letter bombs detected after Ukraine blast

Spanish police say they are investigating a suspect letter bomb sent to an air base outside Madrid, a day after a letter bomb exploded at the Ukrainian Embassy, injuring an employee. Officials said … more

12/1/22