World News - The Morning Sun

FILE - Shoppers walk through a reopened shopping mall after authorities started easing some of the anti-virus controls in Beijing on Dec. 6, 2022. Chinese manufacturing weakened for a third consecutive month in December, in the biggest drop since early 2020, as the country battles a nationwide COVID-19 surge after suddenly easing its anti-epidemic measures. (AP Photo/Andy Wong, File)

Chinese manufacturing weakens amid COVID-19 outbreak

Chinese manufacturing contracted for a third consecutive month in December, in the biggest drop since early 2020, as the country battles a nationwide COVID-19 surge after suddenly easing … more

12/31/22

A TV screen shows a file image of North Korea's rocket with the test satellite during a news program at the Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, South Korea, Saturday, Dec. 31, 2022. North Korea fired three short-range ballistic missiles toward its eastern waters on Saturday, the latest in a barrage of weapons tests this year that came days after it increased tensions by allegedly flying drones into South Korean airspace. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

N Korea fires 3 missiles amid tensions over drone flights

North Korea has fired three short-range ballistic missiles toward its eastern waters, the latest in a barrage of weapons tests this year that comes days after it increased tensions by allegedly … more

By HYUNG-JIN KIM | 12/30/22

San Pedro inmates protest against the possible transfer of Santa Cruz Gov. Luis Fernando Camacho to the detention facility in La Paz, Bolivia, Thursday, Dec. 29, 2022. Police on Wednesday detained Camacho, the main opposition leader in Bolivia, near his Santa Cruz home. The Chief Prosecutor’s Office said Camacho was detained as part of a case in which he is accused of leading what the government characterizes as a coup in 2019. (AP Photo/Juan Karita)

Bolivia judge orders pre-trial detention for opposition head

A judge in Bolivia has sentenced opposition leader Luis Fernando Camacho to four months of pretrial detention on terrorism charges. After a virtual hearing that lasted more than seven hours, Judge … more

By CARLOS VALDEZ and DANIEL POLITI | 12/30/22

FILE - Brazil's soccer legend Pele greets the crowd ahead of a Spanish league soccer match, in the Santiago Bernabeu stadium in Madrid, Jan. 16, 2005. Pelé, the Brazilian king of soccer who won a record three World Cups and became one of the most commanding sports figures of the last century, died in Sao Paulo on Thursday, Dec. 29, 2022. He was 82. (AP Photo/Jasper Juinen, File)

Loyal to Santos, Pelé toured and scored in Europe

Arguments over who was the greatest player in the history of men’s soccer can often see cheap hits aimed at Pelé. The claim is that he wasn’t tested on the European stage against some of the … more

By TALES AZZONI | 12/30/22

Brazil's newly-named Minister of Indigenous Peoples Sonia Guajajara attends a meeting where Brazil's President-elect Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva announced the ministers for his incoming government, in Brasilia, Brazil, Thursday, Dec. 29, 2022. Lula will be sworn-in on Jan. 1, 2023. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)

Brazil will have first Indigenous woman chief for key post

Brazil’s President-elect Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva announced Thursday Sonia Guajajara as the nation’s first Indigenous person to head up a ministry. She will lead the new Ministry of Indigenous … more

By FABIANO MAISONNAVE | 12/30/22

Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, third from left, meets with the winners of the 2022 Ratzinger Prize, Joseph Halevi Horowitz Weiler, left, and father Michel Fedou, partially hidden at right, at the Mater Ecclesiae monastery inside the Vatican where Benedict XVI lives, in this photo taken Thursday, Dec. 1, 2022. Second from left, is the foundation's president Father Federico Lombardi, and fourth from left is Benedict XVI's long-time personal secretary Bishop Georg Gänswein. (Fondazione Vaticana J.Ratzinger via AP)

Vatican: Benedict in stable condition, participated in Mass

The Vatican says Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI is in stable condition and was able to participate in Mass in his room amid a deterioration in his health. Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni said Friday that … more

12/30/22

A picture of Mohammad Moradi, an Iranian activist who took his own life after jumping in the Rhone river in the French city of Lyon, lies on the floor, Friday, Dec. 30, 2022. When a 38-year-old man anguished over the protests in Iran took his own life in the French city of Lyon, fellow members of the Iranian diaspora felt his pain. Three months into the anti-government protests that have swept Iran, Iranians abroad are going through a spectrum of emotions. (AP Photo/Nicolas Vaux-Montagny)

Iranian man's death in France shakes distressed diaspora

When a 38-year-old man anguished over the protests in Iran took his own life in the French city of Lyon this week, fellow members of the Iranian diaspora felt his pain. Three months into the … more

By ARNO PEDRAM | 12/30/22

The light trail is seen in Goyang, South Korea, Friday, Dec. 30, 2022. South Korea's military confirmed it test-fired a solid-fueled rocket on Friday, after its unannounced launch triggered brief public scare of a suspected UFO appearance or a North Korean missile or drone flying. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

South Korea's unannounced rocket launch causes UFO scare

South Korea’s military confirms it test-fired a solid-fueled rocket after its unannounced launch triggered brief public scare of a suspected UFO appearance or a North Korean missile or drone. The … more

By HYUNG-JIN KIM | 12/30/22

Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks during a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping, seen onscreen, via a video conference at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, Friday, Dec. 30, 2022. (Mikhail Klimentyev, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)

Putin, Xi hold talks as Russia fires another Ukraine barrage

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese leader Xi Jinping have vowed to deepen their bilateral cooperation against the backdrop of Moscow’s 10-month war in Ukraine. Putin and Xi made no direct … more

By FELIPE DANA | 12/30/22

Cambodian and Thai rescue experts walk through a ruined building for a searching operation at the scene of a massive fire at a Cambodian hotel casino in Poipet, west of Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Friday, Dec. 30, 2022. The fire at the Grand Diamond City casino and hotel Thursday injured over 60 people and killed more than a dozen, a number that officials warned would rise after the search for bodies resumes Friday. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)

More victims recovered from Cambodia casino hotel fire

The confirmed death toll from a massive fire at a casino hotel complex in western Cambodia has risen to 25 as search efforts resume. The blaze at the Grand Diamond City casino and hotel in the town … more

By HENG SINITH and SOPHENG CHEANG | 12/30/22

FILE - Then Myanmar's leader Aung San Suu Kyi waits to address judges of the International Court of Justice in The Hague, Netherlands, Dec. 11, 2019. On Dec. 30, 2022, the court in army-ruled Myanmar convicted Aung San Suu Kyi on more corruption charges, adding 7 years to her prison term. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong, File)

Court in Myanmar again finds Suu Kyi guilty of corruption

A legal official says a court in military-ruled Myanmar has convicted the country’s ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi of corruption, sentencing her to seven years in prison in the last of a string of … more

12/30/22

Travelers crowd at a departure lobby of Haneda airport in Tokyo Thursday, Dec. 29, 2022. Japan on Thursday reported a record 420 single-day coronavirus deaths, one day after reaching an earlier record of 425 deaths, according to the Health Ministry. (Kyodo News via AP)

Japan tests all China arrivals for COVID amid surging cases

Japan has started requiring COVID-19 tests for all passengers arriving from China as an emergency measure against surging infections there and as Japan faces rising case numbers and record-level … more

By MARI YAMAGUCHI | 12/30/22

FILE - A Chinese J-11 military fighter jet flies above the Taiwan Strait near Pingtan, the closest land of mainland China to the island of Taiwan, in southeastern China's Fujian Province on Aug. 5, 2022. The U.S. military says a Chinese navy fighter jet flew dangerously close to an Air Force reconnaissance plane over the South China Sea earlier in December 2022, forcing the American pilot to maneuver to avoid a collision. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan, File)

US says Chinese intercept could have caused air collision

The U.S. military says a Chinese fighter jet flew dangerously close to an Air Force reconnaissance plane over the South China Sea, forcing the American pilot to maneuver to avoid a collision. U.S. … more

12/29/22

FILE -Legendary Canadian singer-songwriter Ian Tyson, center, performs at the Western Folklife Center during the 28th annual National Cowboy Poetry Gathering, Thursday, Feb. 2, 2012, in Elko, Nev. Ian Tyson, the Canadian folk singer who wrote the modern standard “Four Strong Winds” as one half of Ian & Sylvia and helped influence such future superstars as Joni Mitchell and Neil Young, died Thursday, Dec. 29, 2022 at age 89. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren, File)

Ian Tyson, half of Ian & Sylvia folk duo, dies at age 89

Ian Tyson, the Canadian folk singer who wrote the modern standard “Four Strong Winds” as one half of Ian & Sylvia and helped influence such future superstars as Joni Mitchell and Neil Young, has … more

12/29/22

Workers set up tents at the Vila Belmiro stadium, the home of the Santos FC soccer club where soccer legend Pele played most of his career, in Santos, Brazil, Sunday, Dec. 25, 2022. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)

Pele's funeral and burial to take place in hometown Santos

The stadium where Brazilian soccer great Pelé played some of the best matches of his career will also hold his funeral on Monday and Tuesday. The club outside Sao Paulo where Pelé played in Brazil … more

By MAURICIO SAVARESE | 12/29/22

Pelé, who died at 82, was a sports star and cultural icon

Pelé will be famous for 15 centuries. The Brazilian soccer star said Andy Warhol told him that. It was a twist on something else the American artist is widely credited with saying, that “in the … more

By MAURICIO SAVARESE | 12/29/22

A picture of Pope emeritus Benedict XVI is placed besides a baptistery in the St. Oswald church in Marktl, Germany, Thursday, Dec. 29, 2022. The health of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI has worsened due to his age, and doctors are constantly monitoring the 95-year-old's condition, the Vatican said Wednesday. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)

Prayers for ailing Benedict in retired pope's native Bavaria

People in Pope Benedict XVI’s Bavarian homeland are praying for the retired pontiff, a favorite son of the region even 40 years after he left Germany for the Vatican and nearly a decade after his … more

By KIRSTEN GRIESHABER and GEIR MOULSON | 12/29/22

Protesters wave flags and hold banners against Benjamin Netanyahu's new government in front of Israel's Parliament in Jerusalem, Thursday, Dec. 29, 2022. Netanyahu was set to return to office Thursday at the helm of the most religious and ultranationalist government in Israel's history, vowing to implement policies that could cause domestic and regional turmoil and alienate the country's closest allies. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)

As Israel's Netanyahu returns to office, troubles lie ahead

After five elections that have paralyzed Israeli politics for nearly four years, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has finally returned to power with the government he has long coveted: a … more

By JOSEF FEDERMAN | 12/29/22

FILE - Brazil's former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who is running for reelection, right, and congressional candidate Marina Silva, campaign in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Sept. 12, 2022. Brazil's President-elect Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva named Silva as environment minister for his incoming government, indicating he will prioritize cracking down on illegal deforestation in the Amazon. (AP Photo/Andre Penner, File)

Brazil's Lula picks Amazon defender for environment minister

Brazil's President-elect Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has appointed Amazon activist Marina Silva as environment minister. It's the reaapointment of a woman who carried Brazil's most effective strategy … more

By FABIANO MAISONNAVE | 12/29/22

3 men in South Africa charged for racist attack at swim pool

Three white men in South Africa have been charged with crimes including attempted murder after an alleged racist attack on two Black boys that has sparked public outrage. The men were caught on video … more

By MOGOMOTSI MAGOME | 12/29/22