World News - The Morning Sun

FILE - In this grab taken from video released by Belarus' Defense Ministry on Thursday, July 20, 2023, Belarusian soldiers of the Special Operations Forces (SOF) and mercenary fighters from Wagner private military company attend the weeklong maneuvers conducted at a firing range near the border city of Brest, Belarus. The Polish prime minister says that over 100 mercenaries belonging to the Russian-linked Wagner group in Belarus have moved close to the border with Poland. Mateusz Morawiecki said at a news conference Saturday, July 29, 2023 that the mercenaries had moved close to the Suwalki Gap, a strategic stretch of Polish territory situated between Belarus and Kaliningrad, a Russian territory separated from the mainland. (Belarus' Defense Ministry via AP, File)

Nervous NATO nations are beefing up security due to Wagner fighters across their borders in Belarus

NATO allies located along the alliance’s eastern front are growing increasingly worried about the presence of Russia-linked Wagner group mercenaries in Belarus. Poland, Lithuania and Latvia, have … more

By VANESSA GERA | 8/2/23

FILE - A woman looks at a portrait of Turkey's founding father Mustafa Kemal Ataturk as she waits with others to pay respect during the 84th anniversary of his death at Dolmabahce palace in Istanbul, Turkey, on Nov. 10, 2022. Turkey's broadcasting watchdog has launched an investigation into claims that digital platform Disney+ pulled a series on the country's founder Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the group's chairman said. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco, File)

Turkish broadcasting watchdog investigates 'cancellation' of Ataturk TV series

The head of Turkey’s broadcasting watchdog says it has launched an investigation into claims that digital platform Disney+ pulled a series on Turkey’s founder Mustafa Kemal Ataturk. Turkish media … more

8/2/23

Relatives and mourners carry the casket of a victim killed in Sunday's suicide bomber attack in the Bajur district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan, Monday, July 31, 2023. Pakistan held funerals on Monday for victims of a massive suicide bombing that targeted a rally of a pro-Taliban cleric the previous day. (AP Photo/Mohammad Sajjad)

Deaths from IS bombing at Islamist rally in Pakistan rise to 63 after more wounded people die

Pakistani officials say the death toll from the IS-claimed weekend suicide bombing at a rally of a pro-Taliban Islamist party has jumped to 63 after eight more wounded people died at hospitals. The … more

By ANWARULLAH KHAN and MUNIR AHMED | 8/2/23

Leader of Pheu Thai party Chonlanan Srikaew speaks during a news conference at Pheu Thai Party headquarters in Bangkok, Thailand, Wednesday, Aug. 2, 2023. Move Forward Party that won the most seats in May's general election will not be part of the coalition to form the next government amid strong opposition from conservative lawmakers over its proposed reform of laws surrounding the country's monarchy, its former coalition partner said Wednesday. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)

Reformist Thai party is excluded from coalition to form the next government, runner-up party says

The progressive political party that won the most seats in Thailand’s general election has been excluded from a coalition to form the next government. Conservative lawmakers strongly oppose the … more

By JINTAMAS SAKSORNCHAI | 8/2/23

This shows a rainstorm brought by Typhoon Khanun in Naha, Okinawa prefecture, southern Japan Wednesday, Aug. 2, 2023. The powerful typhoon slammed Okinawa and other islands in southwestern Japan with high winds, damaging homes and forcing transportation to halt and stores to close as it slowly moved west. (Kyodo News via AP)

A powerful typhoon pounds Japan's Okinawa and injures more than 20 people as it moves toward China

A powerful typhoon has slammed Okinawa and other islands in southwestern Japan Wednesday with high winds injuring more than 20 people as it moved west making its way toward mainland China. Typhoon … more

By MARI YAMAGUCHI | 8/2/23

Iran's Revolutionary Guard runs drill on disputed islands as US military presence in region grows

Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard has launched a surprise military drill on disputed islands in the Persian Gulf, just as the U.S. military increase its presence in the region over recent … more

By NASSER KARIMI and JON GAMBRELL | 8/2/23

FILE - Security personnel stand in front of a grain storage terminal at the Odesa Sea Port, in Odesa, Ukraine, on July 29, 2022. Russia has repeatedly fired missiles and drones at Ukrainian ports key to sending grain to the world. Moscow has declared large swaths of the Black Sea dangerous for shipping. (AP Photo/David Goldman, File)

Russian drone strikes on Odesa region cause fires at port

Russian troops hit port infrastructure in Ukraine’s Odesa region with Shahed drones overnight, the Ukrainian military reported, damaging a grain elevator and causing a fire at facilities that … more

By HANNA ARHIROVA | 8/2/23

An Indian paramilitary soldier guards at a busy market in Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Tuesday, Aug 1, 2023. India’s top court Wednesday began hearing a clutch of petitions challenging the constitutionality of the legislation passed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government in 2019 that stripped disputed Jammu and Kashmir’s statehood, scrapped its separate constitution and removed inherited protections on land and jobs. (AP Photo/Mukhtar Khan)

India's top court hear petitions challenging government's removal of Kashmir's special status

India’s top court began hearing petitions challenging the constitutionality of the legislation passed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government in 2019 that stripped disputed Jammu and … more

By SHEIKH SAALIQ and AIJAZ HUSSAIN | 8/2/23

FILE - A Taiwanese soldier holds a Taiwan national flag near a group of soldiers with red markings on their helmets to play the role of an enemy during the annual Han Kuang military exercises simulating an attack on an airfield at Taoyuan International Airport in Taoyuan, Northern Taiwan, Wednesday, July 26, 2023. Taiwan's defense ministry says Wednesday, Aug. 2, that it has detained an army officer and several collaborators on suspicion of handing military secrets to China. (AP Photo/Chiang Ying-ying, File)

Taiwan detains army officer suspected of leaking military secrets to China

Taiwan has detained an army officer and several collaborators on suspicion of handing military secrets to China. The defense ministry said Wednesday that a lieutenant colonel surnamed Hsieh and other … more

By SIMINA MISTREANU | 8/2/23

FILE- A United Nations vehicle is seen on the MINUSMA Main Operations Base in Bamako, Mali, June 23, 2018. The pending pullout of U.N. peacekeepers from Mali is creating worries about what the withdrawal will mean for thousands of citizens who built livelihoods at and around the mission's bases.(Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press via AP-File)

Malians who thrived with arrival of UN peacekeeping mission fear economic fallout from its departure

The pending pullout of U.N. peacekeepers from Mali is creating worries about what the withdrawal will mean for thousands of citizens who built livelihoods at and around the mission's bases. In June, … more

By ZANE IRWIN and BABA AHMED | 8/2/23

FILE - A North Korean flag flutters in the wind atop a 160-meter (525-foot) tower in the North's Kijong-dong village near the truce village of Panmunjom in the Demilitarized Zone in Paju, South Korea on Sept, 28, 2017. North Korea hurled misogynistic insults Wednesday, Aug. 2, 2023 at a newly confirmed United States special envoy to monitor the country’s human rights issues and warned of unspecified security consequences if Washington continues to criticize its human rights conditions. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man, File)

North Korea calls US human rights envoy a 'political housemaid' in protest of criticisms

North Korea on Wednesday hurled misogynistic insults at a newly confirmed United States special envoy to monitor the country’s human rights issues and warned of unspecified security consequences if … more

By KIM TONG-HYUNG | 8/2/23

With the headquarters of the ruling party burning in the back, supporters of mutinous soldiers demonstrate in Niamey, Niger, Thursday, July 27 2023. Not everyone is hostile to last week's coup in Niger. Neighboring Burkina Faso and Mali have taken the unusual step of declaring that foreign military intervention in Niger would be a declaration of war against them, too. Both have had coups in recent years. (AP Photo/Fatahoulaye Hassane Midou)

Some of Niger's neighbors defend the coup there, even hinting at war. It's a warning for Africa

Not everyone is hostile to last week's coup in Niger. Neighboring Burkina Faso and Mali have taken the unusual step of declaring that foreign military intervention in Niger would be a declaration of … more

By CARA ANNA | 8/2/23

People use umbrellas to protect themselves from rainfall brought about by tropical storm as they walk through an underneath highway in Beijing, Tuesday, Aug. 1, 2023. Days of unusually heavy rains around China's capital, Beijing, have flooded houses, torn apart roads and left more than dozen people dead and missing, state media reported Tuesday. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)

29 inches of rain from Saturday to Wednesday was Beijing's heaviest rainfall in 140 years

China’s capital has recorded its heaviest rainfall in 140 years over the past few days. The city recorded 29.3 inches of rain between Saturday and Wednesday morning, the Beijing Meteorological … more

8/2/23

A group of Vietnamese from the United States travelling to attend International World Youth Day stand in front of the 16th century Jeronimos monastery in Lisbon, Tuesday, Aug. 1, 2023. Pope Francis will visit the monastery when he arrives Aug. 2 to attend the event that is expected to bring hundreds of thousands of young Catholic faithful to Lisbon and goes on until Aug. 6. (AP Photo/Ana Brigida)

Pope Francis will be in Portugal for 5 days. Here's what he will visit

Pope Francis is beginning a five-day trip to Portugal for World Youth Day. The international Catholic jamboree is expected to attract around 1 million people. Francis is in Portugal from Wednesday. … more

By BARRY HATTON | 8/1/23

A World Youth Day pilgrim waves a Spanish flag by the water on the Tagus river bank Comercio square in Lisbon, Tuesday, Aug. 1, 2023. Pope Francis will arrive in Portugal Aug. 2 to attend the international event that is expected to bring hundreds of thousands of young Catholic faithful to Lisbon and goes on until Aug. 6. (AP Photo/Ana Brigida)

Pope Francis can expect to find heat and hope in Portugal, along with fallout from sex abuse scandal

Pope Francis is heading to Portugal to open the first post-pandemic edition of World Youth Day. He's hoping to inspire the next generation of Catholics while coping with fallout from the ongoing … more

By NICOLE WINFIELD, HELENA ALVES and BARRY HATTON | 8/1/23

Relatives of Abhishek, who was killed in communal clashes, wait for his body outside a hospital in Nuh in Haryana state, India, Tuesday, Aug., 1, 2023. Deadly clashes between Hindus and Muslims began in the area Monday afternoon during a religious procession by a Hindu nationalist group forcing Indian authorities to impose a curfew and suspend Internet services. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)

India's northern Haryana state tense after 5 killed in communal clashes between Hindus and Muslims

Indian authorities have imposed a curfew, suspended internet service and deployed thousands of paramilitary forces to parts of northern Haryana state after deadly communal clashes. The violence began … more

By PIYUSH NAGPAL | 8/1/23

People enter the Lagardere News headquarters Tuesday, Aug. 1, 2023 in Paris. The journalists of French emblematic Sunday newspaper Le Journal du Dimanche have decided to put an end to a 40-day strike as they unsuccessfully protested against the appointment of a new editor-in-chief, Geoffroy Lejeune, they denounce as an outspoken far-right supporter. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)

French reporters end an unsuccessful strike against a new editor known as a far-right supporter

The journalists of French emblematic Sunday newspaper Le Journal du Dimanche have decided to put an end to a 40-day strike. They unsuccessfully protested against the appointment of a new … more

By SYLVIE CORBET | 8/1/23

Son of Colombia's president is charged with money laundering

The son of Colombia’s president has been charged with money laundering and illicit enrichment. Prosecutors at a hearing Tuesday said he took tens of thousands of dollar from drug traffickers and … more

By MANUEL RUEDA | 8/1/23

Israeli police inspect the site of a shooting attack in the West Bank Israeli settlement of Maale Adumim, Tuesday, Aug 1, 2023. A Palestinian gunman opened fire in an Israeli settlement east of Jerusalem on Tuesday, wounding at least four people, Israeli medics said. The Palestinian assailant was shot and killed by an off-duty Israeli police officer outside a shopping mall. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

Palestinian opens fire in West Bank settlement, wounding 6 people before being killed

Israeli authorities say a Palestinian gunman has opened fire in an Israeli settlement east of Jerusalem, wounding at least six people before being shot and killed. The shooting in the sprawling … more

By ISABEL DEBRE and OHAD ZWIGENBERG | 8/1/23

Carl Skau, deputy executive director of the U.N. World Food Program (WFP), speaks during an interview with The Associated Press in Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, Aug. 1, 2023. A halted landmark wartime grain deal that allowed grain Ukrainian grain to flow and donor fatigue is rattling the operations' of the United Nations food agency. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

Halted Ukraine grain deal, funding shortages rattle UN food aid programs

A halted landmark grain deal that allowed Ukrainian grain to flow to countries in Africa, the Middle East and Asia is rattling the operations of the United Nations food agency, its deputy executive … more

By KAREEM CHEHAYEB | 8/1/23