World News - The Morning Sun

FILE - President Joe Biden reaches out to shake hands with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy as they meet in the Oval Office of the White House, Tuesday, Dec. 12, 2023, in Washington. The White House says funding for Ukraine has run out and it has been increasing pressure on Congress to pass stalled legislation to support the war against Russia. On Tuesday, however, Biden touted a new military aid package worth $200 million for Ukraine. That may seem contradictory, but it’s due to the complex programs used to send aid to Ukraine. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)

The West supports Ukraine against Russia's aggression. So why is funding its defense in question?

Hungary's Viktor Orban's veto of an aid package from Europe to war-torn Ukraine was the latest sign that Western support for the country's defense against Russia has become complicated. Member … more

By LAURIE KELLMAN | 12/15/23

FILE- In this Jan. 29, 2016 file photo, Biafran separatist leader Nnamdi Kanu attends a court hearing at the Federal High court in Abuja, Nigeria. Nigeria’s Supreme Court on Friday, Dec. 15, 2023, ordered the continued detention of Nnamdi Kanu, a popular separatist leader whose terrorism trial has been blamed for the violent extremism in the country’s southeast region. (AP Photo/ File)

Nigeria's Supreme Court reinstates terrorism charges against separatist leader

Nigeria’s Supreme Court has overturned a lower court ruling dismissing terrorism charges against a popular separatist leader whose trial has been blamed for an outbreak of violence in the … more

By CHINEDU ASADU | 12/15/23

FILE - Rogelio Jiménez Pons, director of Fonatur, points to a map of a planned tourist train line through the Yucatan Peninsula known as the Maya Train, during an interview in Mexico City, March 18, 2019. Mexico’s president on Dec. 15, 2023 inaugurated the first part of this project of his administration. (AP Photo/Marco Ugarte, File)

Mexico's president inaugurates first part of $20 billion tourist train project on Yucatan peninsula

Mexico’s president has inaugurated the first part of the pet project of his administration, a tourist train that runs in a rough loop around the Yucatan peninsula. The $20 billion, 965-mile line, … more

12/15/23

FILE - Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, listens to French President Emmanuel Macron during their meeting in the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, Feb. 7, 2022. French President Emmanuel Macron said Friday, Dec. 15, 2023, he would still consider talking with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin if it helps creating a “sustainable peace” between Ukraine and Russia.Macron and Putin enjoyed a good working relationship before Russia invaded its neighbor in Feb. 22, 2022. In the weeks preceding the start of the war, Macron's diplomatic efforts failed but he then kept an open line of communication with the Russian head of state for months. (Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP, File)

'I didn’t change my number': Macron still open to dialogue with Putin if it helps to bring peace

French President Emmanuel Macron says he'd still consider talking with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin if it helps to forge a “sustainable peace” between Ukraine and Russia. Macron and … more

By SAMUEL PETREQUIN | 12/15/23

FILE - Migrants stand at the Arguineguin port in Gran Canaria island, Spain, after being rescued in the Atlantic Ocean by emergency workers on Thursday, Oct. 12, 2020. The deployment of two Spanish surveillance planes to watch for migrant boats heading on the treacherous route from West Africa to Spain’s Canary Islands has enabled authorities to stop 59 canoes from Senegal and Gambia carrying around 7,200 migrants in the past two months, a senior Spanish official said Friday, Dec. 15, 2023. (AP Photo/Javier Bauluz, File)

A Spanish official says spotter planes are helping curtail the number of West African migrant boats

A senior Spanish official says the deployment of two Spanish surveillance planes to watch for migrant boats heading on the treacherous route from West Africa to Spain’s Canary Islands has enabled … more

12/15/23

A woman holds her child waving a national flag as they celebrate Georgia's EU candidacy at Liberty Square in Tbilisi, Georgia, on Friday, Dec. 15, 2023. Several thousand people attend a march in support of Georgia's EU candidacy. European Union flags waved across Georgia Friday after the European Council took a step forward along the long road towards granting Georgia and Moldova as EU membership. (AP Photo/Zurab Tsertsvadze)

Moldova and Georgia celebrate as their aspirations for EU membership take crucial steps forward

Moldova and Georgia celebrated after European Union leaders buoyed their aspirations to join the 27 member nation bloc by removing key hurdles on their long path toward membership. Lawmakers in both … more

By EMMA BURROWS | 12/15/23

FILE - Niger's President Mohamed Bazoum smiles before a working lunch with French President Emmanuel Macron, Feb. 16, 2023 at the Elysee Palace in Paris. A court of the West African regional bloc ordered the release and reinstatement of Niger's democratically elected president Friday Dec. 15, 2023 nearly five months after he was overthrown by mutinous soldiers. (AP Photo/Michel Euler, File)

West African court orders Niger's president to be released and reinstated nearly 5 months after coup

A court of the West African regional bloc has ordered the release and reinstatement of Niger’s democratically elected president. The legal team of President Mohamed Bazoum said on Friday that the … more

By SAM MEDNICK | 12/15/23

Germany's Chancellor Olaf Scholz, right, and Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez arrive for a round table meeting at an EU summit in Brussels, Friday, Dec. 15, 2023. European Union leaders conclude a second day of meetings on Friday in which they will discuss the situation in Gaza. (AP Photo/Omar Havana)

The EU struggles to unify around a Gaza cease-fire call but work on peace moves continues

A number of European Union leaders are trying to use mounting concern about civilian deaths in Israel’s military offensive against Hamas to rally their partners around a united call for a ceasefire … more

By LORNE COOK | 12/15/23

Hussein, brother of Hezbollah fighter Ali Hassan al-Atat, who was killed by an Israeli strike, lies on top of his brother's coffin during his funeral procession in the southern Beirut suburb of Dahiyeh, Lebanon, Thursday, Dec. 7, 2023. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)

US national security adviser says a negotiated outcome is the best way to end Lebanon-Israel tension

U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan says he has discussed with Israeli officials the volatile situation along the Lebanon-Israel border. He added that a “negotiated outcome” is the best … more

By BASSEM MROUE | 12/15/23

Chief police inspector and operational chief of PET Flemming Drejer, right, and senior police inspector and head of emergency services in Copenhagen Police Peter Dahl give a press briefing on coordinated police action, at the police station in Copenhagen, Denmark, Thursday Dec. 14, 2023. PET and a number of the country's police circles have early Thursday morning made arrests in a coordinated action several places in Denmark. The operation was carried out on the basis of suspicion of preparation for a terrorist attack. (Martin Sylvest/Ritzau Scanpix via AP)

Denmark widens terror investigation that coincides with arrests of alleged Hamas members in Germany

A prosecutor in Denmark says authorities are holding two people in custody and four others are the target of a terrorism investigation. The case coincides with one arrest in the Netherlands and … more

By JAN M. OLSEN | 12/15/23

Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban arrives for a round table meeting at an EU summit in Brussels, Thursday, Dec. 14, 2023. European Union leaders, in a two-day summit will discuss the latest developments in Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine and continued EU support for Ukraine and its people. (AP Photo/Omar Havana)

Hungary's Orbán says he won't hesitate to slam the brakes on Ukraine's EU membership

Hungary's prime minister says he will have plenty of opportunities in the future to interrupt Ukraine’s process of joining the European Union despite a historic decision Thursday to move forward … more

By JUSTIN SPIKE | 12/15/23

FILE - Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny is seen on a TV screen as he appears in a video link provided by the Russian Federal Penitentiary Service from the colony in Melekhovo, Vladimir region, during a hearing at the Russian Supreme Court in Moscow, Russia, on June 22, 2023. The Kremlin on Tuesday Dec. 12, 2023 bristled at the U.S. voicing concern about Navalny who has vanished from his prison colony, denouncing it as “inadmissible interference” in the country's domestic affairs. Worries about Navalny, who has been serving a 19-year term on charges of extremism in a penal colony in western Russia spread Monday after prison officials said he was no longer on the inmate roster, possibly indicating his transfer to another penitentiary. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko, File)

Where is Kremlin foe Navalny? His allies say he has been moved but they still don't know where

Allies of imprisoned Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny say penitentiary officials are reporting that earlier this month he was moved from the region where he was serving time, but have still … more

By DASHA LITVINOVA | 12/15/23

Police officers watch over near the site of train collision on the western district in Beijing, Friday, Dec. 15, 2023. Two subway trains have collided in heavy snow in Beijing, sending over 500 people to the hospital, including more than 100 with broken bones. Authorities said Friday the accident occurred the previous evening in Beijing's mountainous west on an above-ground portion of the sprawling subway system's Changping line. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)

515 injured in a Beijing rail collision as heavy snow hits the Chinese capital

Two subway trains have collided in heavy snow in Beijing, sending 515 people to the hospital, including 102 with broken bones. Authorities said Friday the accident occurred the previous evening in … more

12/15/23

FILE - Cardinal Angelo Becciu talks to journalists during a press conference in Rome, Friday, Sept. 25, 2020. Lawyers for the once-powerful cardinal have accused Vatican prosecutors of being “prisoners to their completely shattered theory" in closing arguments of a two-year trial. Becciu is on trial along with nine other people in a case that is focused on the Vatican’s 350 million-euro investment in a London property. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)

The Vatican's 'trial of the century,' a Pandora's box of unintended revelations, explained

Verdicts are expected for a cardinal and nine defendants in the most complicated financial trial in the Vatican’s modern history. It's a case featuring a Hollywood-worthy cast of characters, … more

By NICOLE WINFIELD | 12/15/23

FILE - From left, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and European Council President Charles Michel walk together during an EU summit in Brussels on Feb. 9, 2023. The European Union decided Thursday, Dec. 14, 2023 to open accession negotiations with Ukraine, a stunning reversal for a country at war that had struggled to find the necessary backing for its membership aspirations and long faced opposition from Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo, File)

Ukraine’s a step closer to joining the EU. Here’s what it means, and why it matters

Ukraine has gotten a green light to start sped-up talks on joining the European Union. That’s a big boost for war-ravaged Ukraine and a loud message to Vladimir Putin. But it could be years or even … more

By ANGELA CHARLTON | 12/14/23

Indigenous leader Cacique Raoni and incoming President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva stand side by side at the Planalto Palace after Lula's swearing-in ceremony, in Brasilia, Brazil, Jan. 1, 2023. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)

Brazil’s Congress overrides president's veto to reinstate legislation threatening Indigenous rights

Brazil’s Congress has overturned a veto by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva so it can reinstate legislation that undoes protections of Indigenous peoples’ land rights. The decision sets a new … more

By MAURICIO SAVARESE | 12/14/23

Israel's President Isaac Herzog poses for a portrait in the shade of an olive tree on the grounds of his official residence in Jerusalem, Thursday, Dec. 14, 2023. (AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo)

Israeli president speaks against 2-state solution ahead of meeting with U.S security chief

Israel’s president has joined the ranks of high-ranking Israeli officials to speak out against a two-state solution after the war in Gaza. In an interview with The Associated Press on Thursday, … more

By JULIA FRANKEL | 12/14/23

FILE - A woman passes in front of photographs of missing persons in front of the Attorney General's office in Mexico City, Dec. 6, 2023. The Mexican government announced Dec. 14, 2023 that its controversial effort to look for people falsely listed as missing has turned up thousands of individuals who had returned to their homes but not notified the authorities. (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo, Fille)

Mexico's search for people falsely listed as missing finds some alive, rampant poor record-keeping

The Mexican government's controversial effort to look for people falsely listed as missing has turned up 16,681 who had returned to their homes but not notified the authorities. The massive effort … more

By MARK STEVENSON | 12/14/23

An activist holds a sign reading "Exchange city council for drones" during a protest in front of city council of Kyiv, Ukraine, Thursday, Dec. 14, 2023. 500 representatives of the territorial community of Kyiv and the "Money for the Ukrainian Armed Forces" initiative group came to the protest to support the Security and Defense Forces of Ukraine from the budget of Kyiv, which is filled at the expense of taxpayers, subventions and other revenues. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)

Kyiv protesters demand more spending on the Ukraine's war effort and less on local projects

Hundreds of protesters angered by what they view as wasteful municipal spending by Kyiv officials have gathered outside the Ukrainian capital's city hall. The demonstrators at Thursday's protest … more

By ILLIA NOVIKOV | 12/14/23

COP28 President Sultan al-Jaber gestures at the end of the COP28 U.N. Climate Summit, Wednesday, Dec. 13, 2023, in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. (AP Photo/Kamran Jebreili)

Experts at odds over result of UN climate talks in Dubai; 'Historic,' 'pipsqueak' or something else?

The climate negotiations that just finished in Dubai hit upon the essence of compromise, finding common language that everyone accepted, at times grudgingly. But for an agreement so steeped in … more

By SETH BORENSTEIN | 12/14/23