World News - The Morning Sun

Friends, family and soccer fans attend a public memorial ceremony for slain hostage Tsachi Idan, a fan of Hapoel Tel Aviv F.C., who was killed in Hamas captivity in the Gaza Strip, at Bloomfield Stadium in Tel Aviv, Israel, Friday, Feb. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

Mourners bury one of the last hostages released from Gaza as talks start for ceasefire future

Mourners are burying the remains of one of the last hostages released in the first phase of the ceasefire between Hamas militants and Israel. Negotiators are seeking to iron out a second phase of the … more

By JULIA FRANKEL | 2/28/25

A Pakistani mourns next to the caskets of the victims of bomb explosion in a mosque within a pro-Taliban seminary, at a hospital in Nowshera, a town in the Pakistan's northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, Friday, Feb. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Riaz Khan)

Suicide bomb at a seminary in northwest Pakistan kills top cleric and 4 others ahead of Ramadan

Police say a suicide bomber has struck a mosque within a pro-Taliban seminary in northwestern Pakistan, killing a top cleric and four other worshippers and wounding dozens of others. District police … more

By RIAZ KHAN | 2/28/25

Pope Francis spent a quiet night and continues to rest, the Vatican said on Friday morning. Francis’ conditions continue to improve as he battles double pneumonia, though doctors say he needs more days of “clinical stability” before they revise their guarded prognosis.

Pope reaches 2-week mark at hospital with pneumonia and doctors suggest he's overcome the worst

Pope Francis has reached the two-week mark in his recovery from pneumonia amid a guarded sense of optimism. Doctors are suggesting he's overcome the most critical phase of the infection while holding … more

By NICOLE WINFIELD | 2/28/25

FILE - A group of men and a woman carry bananas and fish from the port, in Leticia, Colombia, Oct. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Ivan Valencia, File)

UN talks end in Rome with nations backing $200 billion a year plan to protect nature

Global negotiators concluded an extended session of the United Nations biodiversity conference, COP16, with key commitments on funds needed and the institutions through which the funds will be … more

By STEVEN GRATTAN and SIBI ARASU | 2/28/25

Syrian nuns pray at the Greek Orthodox Convent of Saint Thecla in the town of Maaloula, Syria, Sunday Jan. 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Omar Sanadiki)

A Christian town in Syria keeps the biblical language of Aramaic alive. But it fears for its future

An ancient town in Syria is one of the world’s few places where residents still speak Aramaic, the language that Jesus is believed to have used. But since the fall of former President Bashar Assad … more

By KAREEM CHEHAYEB | 2/28/25

Panama and Costa Rica are among a number of Latin American nations that have agreed to cooperate with U.S. President Donald Trump as he ramps up his deportation machine and restricts access to asylum in the U.S. (AP Video: Abraham Terán and Matías Delacroix)

Panama and Costa Rica turning into a ' black hole' for migrants, deportees from US, observers warn

Officials in Costa Rica and Panama are confiscating migrants’ passports and cellphones, denying them access to legal services and moving them between remote outposts as they wrestle with the … more

By MEGAN JANETSKY, MATÍAS DELACROIX and JOSHUA GOODMAN | 2/28/25

A bird's eye view of a corrugated tin roof house, center in red, of the Angh, or tribal chief, which lies both in Myanmar and India, as seen from Longwa village, India, Friday, Dec. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Anupam Nath)

In northeast India, a border fence could cut through villages, houses and lives

An international border fence may soon split the village of Longwa in two. In the extreme northeast of India live the Nagas, an indigenous people whose traditional land stretches into Myanmar. People … more

By YIRMIYAN ARTHUR | 2/27/25

FILE - Senegalese opposition leader Ousmane Sonko addresses journalists following his release from police custody in Dakar, Senegal, on March 8, 2021. (AP Photo/Sylvain Cherkaoui, File)

Senegal has signed a deal with separatist rebels. But will it end one of Africa's longest conflicts?

Senegal’s government has signed an agreement with separatist rebels to bring peace in its southern region, where an armed rebellion has been raging for over 40 years over calls for independence. … more

By BABACAR DIONE and BABA AHMED | 2/27/25

FILE - In this photo provided by the North Korean government, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un delivers a speech at a meeting held during Dec. 23 until Dec. 27, 2024, in Pyongyang, North Korea. Independent journalists were not given access to cover the event depicted in this image distributed by the North Korean government. The content of this image is as provided and cannot be independently verified. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP, File)

North Korea says it performed cruise missile tests, days after it vowed to respond to US threats

North Korea says it has test-fired strategic cruise missiles to demonstrate its nuclear counter-attack capability. The announcement comes days after the North vowed to respond to what it called … more

By HYUNG-JIN KIM | 2/27/25

FILE - South African President Cyril Ramaphosa addresses the opening session of the G20 foreign ministers meeting in Johannesburg, South Africa, Feb. 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay, File)

South African president slams Afrikaner lobby group's White House visit

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has slammed a visit by a lobby group for the country’s white minority Afrikaner community to the White House this week. The visit comes as tensions with the … more

By MICHELLE GUMEDE | 2/27/25

A hemorrhagic fever outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo has left more than 50 people dead. (AP Graphic)

Malaria endures in northwest Congo as officials seek cause of illnesses that have sickened hundreds

Hundreds of people have tested positive for malaria in northwest Congo as health officials try to understand what is behind illnesses that have surpassed 1,000 cases and killed at least 60 people. … more

By CHINEDU ASADU, GUY MASELE SANGANGA and JEAN-YVES KAMALE | 2/27/25

FILE - A woman grieves at a memorial for those killed and abducted during the Oct. 7, 2023, cross-border attack by Hamas militants, near the kibbutz Reim, southern Israel, May 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Leo Correa, File)

Israel's army admits failures on Oct. 7. Its probe of the attack could put pressure on Netanyahu

An investigation by Israel's military has determined that Hamas was able to carry out the deadliest attack in Israeli history on Oct. 7, 2023, because the much more powerful Israeli army misjudged … more

By TIA GOLDENBERG | 2/27/25

FILE - Sheep are offered for sale for the upcoming Islamic holiday of Eid al-Adha in a market on the outskirts of Rabat, Morocco, Thursday, July 30, 2020. (AP Photo/Mosa'ab Elshamy, File)

Morocco urges people to not buy sheep for Eid al-Adha celebrations

With Morocco’s sheep herds dwindling at an alarming rate, King Mohammed VI made a rare break with tradition by urging families to forego buying sheep to sacrifice during the upcoming Eid Al-Adha. … more

By SAM METZ and AKRAM OUBACHIR | 2/27/25

A singer and a trumpeter performed a serenade of Ave Maria below Pope Francis' windows at Rome's Gemelli Hospital where he is being treated for double pneumonia. The impromptu performance took place before a statue of John Paul II where the faithful have been leaving messages, candles and flowers as they pray for the Pope to recover. (AP video shot by Florent Bajrami)

Pope beats back speculation of imminent death or conclave as he continues pneumonia recovery

Pope Francis is continuing his slow recovery from double pneumonia and beating back speculation of an imminent death, resignation or conclave. The Vatican said the 88-year-old pope once again slept … more

By NICOLE WINFIELD and SILVIA STELLACCI | 2/27/25

Journalists work outside U.S. Consul General residence where Russian and U.S. diplomats are met to discuss operation of embassies, in Istanbul, Turkey, Thursday, Feb. 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)

Russian and US diplomats discuss normalizing embassy operations at Istanbul talks

Russian and U.S. diplomats are holding talks in Istanbul on Thursday to discuss ways to normalize the operation of their respective embassies after rounds of diplomats’ expulsions in the past … more

By MEHMET GUZEL | 2/27/25

Thai soldiers provide security for the transfer of Indonesia nationals who had worked at scam centers in eastern Myanmar, on their arrival at Thailand's Mae Sot, Tak province before being sent back to Indonesia on Thursday, Feb. 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)

84 Indonesians taken out of scam centers in Myanmar are set to go home

Eighty-four Indonesians freed rom scam centers in Myanmar arrived at the Thai border city of Mae Sot earlier on Thursday, part of an ongoing large scale repatriation effort following a crackdown by … more

By JINTAMAS SAKSORNCHAI | 2/27/25

People walk near South Korea's capital Seoul tour bus in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, Feb. 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

The number of babies born in South Korea last year rebounded for first time in nearly a decade

The number of babies born in South Korea has rebounded for the first time in nine years, welcome news for a country grappling with one of the the world’s most serious demographic crises. South … more

By HYUNG-JIN KIM | 2/27/25

Neighbor, Alberto Masakay, points to the second floor of a building in San Isidro Galas village in suburban Quezon city, Philippines that caught fire, Thursday, Feb. 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Joeal Calupitan)

Fire kills 8 in the Philippines after flames gutted a residential building in less than an hour

Eight people have been killed in a nighttime fire in the Philippines' capital region that gutted a three-story residential building in less than an hour. The blaze early Thursday also injured at … more

By JOEAL CALUPITAN | 2/27/25

This photo provided by Thailand's daily web newspaper Prachatai shows trucks with black tape covering the windows leave a detention center in Bangkok, Thailand Thursday, Feb. 27, 2025.(Nuttaphol Meksobhon/Prachatai via AP)

A group of Uyghur men detained in Thailand for more than a decade may have been deported to China

Thai lawmakers, activists, and lawyers believe a group of Uyghur men detained in Thailand for more than a decade may have been deported to China early Thursday after trucks with covered windows were … more

By DAKE KANG and HUIZHONG WU | 2/27/25

Amsatou Vepouyoum, president of Nouadhibou's Organization for the Support of Migrants and refugees, sits in her office, Mauritania, Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Khaled Moulay)

A school helps migrants in Mauritania. Is it enough to keep them from leaving for Europe?

A school for migrant children in Mauritania is an example of what's to come after the European Union pledged more than $200 million last year to help persuade people there against coming to the … more

By SAM METZ | 2/27/25