World News - The Morning Sun

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin welcomes Kenya's President William Ruto during an arrival ceremony at the Pentagon in Washington, Friday, May 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

The US defense secretary will visit Cambodia, one of China's closest allies, after regional talks

U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin is scheduled to make an official visit to Cambodia, one of China’s closest allies in Southeast Asia, after holding talks with his Chinese counterpart at an … more

By SOPHENG CHEANG | 5/25/24

A tourist takes a photographs of cats gathered at a restaurant at Nitoda Port on Tashirojima island in Ishinomaki, northeast of Japan, Saturday, May 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Hiro Komae)

Shrine honors cats at a Japanese island where they outnumber humans

TASHIROJIMA, Japan (AP) — On a small island off Japan’s northeastern coast, visitors make offerings at a shrine for unlikely local guardians: cats. The “Neko Jinja,” or Cat Shrine, … more

By HIRO KOMAE | 5/25/24

Voters pose for a photograph at a selfie kiosk after casting their vote in the sixth round of polling in India's national election in New Delhi, India, Saturday, May 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)

Millions vote in India's grueling election with Prime Minister Modi's party likely to win a 3rd term

Millions of Indians are voting in the next-to-last round of a grueling national election in the searing summer heat. The combined opposition is trying to rattle Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s … more

By ASHOK SHARMA | 5/24/24

Workers celebrate after reinstalling the Notre Dame de Paris cathedral's Croix du Chevet, right, Friday, May 24, 2024, in Paris. The Croix du Chevet is the only piece of the cathedral roof that did not burn in the devastating April 2019 fire. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

Notre Dame cathedral cross reinstalled in Paris amid restoration efforts

The cross at the apse of Notre-Dame de Paris, which survived the devastating 2019 fire, has been reinstalled atop the cathedral’s framework after a meticulous restoration by artistic ironworkers … more

5/24/24

Efforts to draft a pandemic treaty falter as countries disagree on how to respond to next emergency

A global treaty to fight pandemics like COVID is going to have to wait: After more than two years of negotiations, rich and poor countries have failed to come up with a plan for how the world might … more

By JAMEY KEATEN and MARIA CHENG | 5/24/24

This undated handout issued by Cheshire Constabulary shows of nurse Lucy Letby. A British neonatal nurse who was convicted of murdering seven babies and the attempted murder of six others has lost her bid to appeal. Lucy Letby had asked for permission to challenge the verdict after she was convicted and sentenced to life in prison last year. (Cheshire Constabulary via AP)

A British neonatal nurse convicted of killing 7 babies loses her bid to appeal

A British neonatal nurse who was convicted of murdering seven babies and the attempted murder of six others has lost her bid to appeal. Lucy Letby had asked for permission to challenge the verdict … more

5/24/24

FILE - A Myanmar police officer stands on a road as they provide security at a checkpoint in Buthidaung, Rakhine State, western Myanmar on May 28, 2017. The U.N. human rights office warned Friday May 24, 2024 of “frightening and disturbing reports” about the impact of new violence in Myanmar's northern Rakhine state, pointing to new attacks on Rohingya civilians by the military and an ethnic armed group fighting it. (AP Photo, File)

UN human rights office decries beheadings, other violence in Myanmar's Rakhine state

The U.N. human rights office has warned of “frightening and disturbing reports” about the impact of new violence in Myanmar's western state of Rakhine and new attacks on Rohingya civilians by the … more

5/24/24

FILE - Protesters wave their smartphones as they sing "Glory to Hong Kong" during a rally for secondary school students near the Hong Kong Museum of Art in Hong Kong, Friday, Dec. 13, 2019. The distributor of a popular protest song in Hong Kong has decided to remove the music from all platforms because of a court ban in the city, the group that created the song said Friday, May 24, 2024, a week after YouTube blocked access to videos of it. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, File)

The distributor of a popular Hong Kong protest song will remove it from all platforms, creator says

The distributor of a popular protest song in Hong Kong has decided to remove the music from all platforms because of a court ban in the city, the group that created the song says. Dgxmusic said on … more

By KANIS LEUNG | 5/24/24

FILE - Men fish near the fortresses of Narva, left, in Estonia, and Ivangorod, right, in Russia, on Wednesday, May 24, 2023. The EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell says the removal of 25 Estonian buoys by Russian border guards on a river separating the Baltic country from Russia was “unacceptable.” (AP Photo/Jim Heintz, File)

European Union criticizes Russia for removing Estonian buoys, demand an explanation from Moscow

The EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell says the removal of 25 Estonian buoys by Russian border guards on a river separating the Baltic country from Russia was “unacceptable.” Early Thursday, … more

5/24/24

Britain's Prime Minister and Conservative Party leader Rishi Sunak visits a maritime technology centre at a dockyard in Belfast, Friday May 24, 2024 as part of his campaign ahead of a general election on July 4. (Henry Nicholls/Pool Photo via AP)

UK Parliament to break up ahead of election day with pomp, ceremony and hard-nosed politics

Britain’s lawmakers will leave Parliament on Friday for the last time before an election is held in six weeks. Parliament will be prorogued, or formally suspended, in a ceremony featuring … more

By JILL LAWLESS | 5/24/24

Monkeys eat rambutan in a cage which was set to trap monkeys in Lopburi Province, north of Bangkok, Thailand, Friday, May 24, 2024. A Thai town, run ragged by its ever-growing population of marauding wild monkeys, began the fight-back, Friday, using trickery and ripe tropical fruit. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)

Thai town maddened by marauding monkeys launches plan to lock them up and send them away

A Thai town, run ragged by its ever-growing population of marauding wild monkeys, has launched an offensive against the simian raiders, using trickery and ripe tropical fruit. Several high-profile … more

By JERRY HARMER | 5/24/24

FILE - Smoke rises during protests in Noumea, New Caledonia, Wednesday May 15, 2024. France has imposed a state of emergency in the French Pacific territory of New Caledonia. The French prosecutor for New Caledonia says there's been another shooting death in the riot-hit French Pacific territory, with a police officer taken into custody after using their firearm Friday May 24, 2024 when they were set upon by a group of about 15 people. It comes a day after French President Emmanuel Macron made an emergency round-trip from Paris to de-escalate the violence in New Caledonia where Indigenous Kanak people have long sought independence from France. (AP Photo/Nicolas Job, File)

Police officer detained after 7th death in France's restive New Caledonia territory

The French prosecutor for New Caledonia says a police officer has been taken into custody after shooting and killing a man when the officer was set upon by a group of about 15 people. Yves Dupas says … more

5/24/24

Medics take injured people away from a building that collapsed in Palma de Mallorca, Spain, Thursday May 23, 2024. Spanish emergency authorities say that four people have died and 21 more have been injured when a building collapsed on the island of Mallorca. (Isaac Buj/Europa Press via AP)

2 Germans, a Spaniard and a Senegalese killed in building collapse in Spain's Mallorca island

Spain’s National Police have released details on four people killed when a building housing a bar and restaurant club collapsed on the island of Mallorca. Police said two German women, aged 20 and … more

5/24/24

Philippine Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro, left, receives a memento from Philippine Navy Chief, Vice Adm. Toribio Adaci Jr, during the 126th Philippine Navy anniversary in Manila, Philippines on Friday, May 24, 2024. The Philippines would press efforts to build security alliances and stage realistic combat drills, including joint naval sails with the United States, Japan and Australia in disputed waters, to defend its territorial interests, Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro said Friday, dismissing China's criticisms of such moves as a sign of paranoia. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)

Philippines says it will forge security alliances and stage combat drills despite China's opposition

The Philippine defense secretary says it will continue to build security alliances and stage joint combat drills in disputed waters to defend its territorial interests. Defense Secretary Gilberto … more

By JIM GOMEZ | 5/24/24

Judges enter the International Court of Justice, in The Hague, Netherlands, Thursday, May 16, 2024. The U.N.'s top court opened two days of hearings in a case brought by South Africa to see whether Israel needs to take additional measures to alleviate the suffering in war-ravaged Gaza. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)

The top UN court is set to rule on a request for it to order Israel to halt its offensive in Gaza

The top United Nations court is set to rule on an urgent plea by South Africa for judges to order Israel to halt its military operations in Gaza and withdraw from the enclave. Israel is unlikely to … more

By MIKE CORDER | 5/24/24

Security Council to vote on resolution decrying attacks on UN and aid workers, demanding protection

The United Nations Security Council is scheduled to vote Friday on a resolution that strongly condemns attacks on humanitarian workers and U.N. personnel. It also demands that all combatants protect … more

By EDITH M. LEDERER | 5/24/24

FILE - A family uses a boat after fleeing floodwaters that wreaked havoc in the Githurai area of Nairobi, Kenya, April 24, 2024. Extreme weather events have hit parts of Africa relentlessly in the last three years, with tropical storms, floods and drought causing crises of hunger and displacement. They leave another deadly threat behind them: some of the continent's worst outbreaks of cholera. In southern and East Africa, more than 6,000 people have died and nearly 350,000 cases have been reported since a series of cholera outbreaks began in late 2021. (AP Photo/Patrick Ngugi, File)

Extreme weather. A lack of lifesaving vaccines. Africa's cholera crisis is worse than ever

Extreme weather events have hit parts of Africa relentlessly in the last three years, with tropical storms, floods and drought causing crises of hunger and displacement. They leave another deadly … more

By SEBABATSO MOSAMO, FARAI MUTSAKA and GERALD IMRAY | 5/24/24

This photo shows the aftermath of a fire at a house in Hanoi, Vietnam Friday, May 24, 2024. Authorities said the fire has killed a number of people and injured a few others. (Phan Nhat Anh/VNA via AP)

A fire in an apartment building in Hanoi, Vietnam, kills 14 people and injures 6, state media say

State media say a fire in a small apartment building in Hanoi, Vietnam, has killed at least 14 people. Six people were injured. The official Vietnam News Agency said the fire started around 12:30 … more

By HAU DINH | 5/24/24

FILE - People gather in the Zocalo to celebrate Mexico's newly sworn-in president, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, in Mexico City, Dec. 1, 2018. Lopez Obrador swept into office with the motto laying out his administration’s priorities: “For the good of all, first the poor.” (AP Photo/Marco Ugarte, File)

Mexico's poorest receiving less government funds under president who brought poor to the fore

President Andrés Manuel López Obrador swept into office nearly six years ago with a simple motto laying out his administration’s priorities: “For the good of all, first the poor.” His … more

By CHRISTOPHER SHERMAN | 5/24/24

FILE - A family uses a canoe after fleeing floodwaters that wreaked havoc in Ombaka Village, Kisumu, Kenya, April 17, 2024. The impact of the calamitous rains that struck East Africa from March to May was intensified by a mix of climate change and rapid growth of urban areas, an international team of climate scientists said in a study. (AP Photo/Brian Ongoro, File)

Climate change and rapid urbanization worsened the impact of East African rains, scientists say

The impact of the calamitous rains that struck East Africa from March to May was intensified by a mix of human-caused climate change and rapid growth of urban areas, an international team of … more

By CARLOS MUREITHI | 5/23/24