World News - The Morning Sun

Venezuela's Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia thanks parliament members after delivering his speech as he and compatriot Maria Corina Machado are awarded the EU's top human rights honor, the Sakharov Prize, Tuesday, Dec.17, 2024 at the European Parliament in Strasbourg, eastern France, Tuesday, Dec.17, 2024 in Strasbourg, eastern France. (AP Photo/Pascal Bastien)

Venezuela's government offers $100K reward for whereabouts of opposition's presidential candidate

Venezuela’s government has announced a $100,000 reward for information on the whereabouts of Edmundo González, the opposition candidate who claims to have defeated President Nicolás Maduro in … more

1/2/25

A migrant carries a child through Tapachula, Chiapas state, Mexico, Thursday, Jan. 2, 2025, as part of a caravan of migrants trying to reach the U.S. border. (AP Photo/Edgar H. Clemente)

A small caravan of migrants sets out from southern Mexico but is unlikely to reach the US

A new caravan of migrants has begun walking north toward the U.S. border from southern Mexico. It started out on Thursday from the city of Tapachula, near the border with Guatemala. Most of the … more

By EDGAR H. CLEMENTE | 1/2/25

One of the strikes early Thursday hit a tent in an Israeli-declared humanitarian zone known as Muwasi, where hundreds of thousands of displaced people are sheltering in tents during the cold and rainy winter. It killed three children, three women and four men, according to the Nasser Hospital, which received the bodies. (AP video shot by Mohammad Jahjouh; Production: Wafaa Shurafa)

New Israeli airstrikes in Gaza humanitarian zone and elsewhere kill at least 26

Israeli airstrikes have killed at least 26 people across Gaza as they struck Hamas security officers and an Israeli-declared humanitarian zone. The daily bombardment continues as the latest efforts … more

By WAFAA SHURAFA and FATMA KHALED | 1/2/25

In this undated photo provided by the University of Birmingham on Thursday, Jan. 2, 2025, work underway as five extensive trackways that formed part of a “dinosaur highway” are uncovered, at Dewars Farm Quarry in Oxfordshire, England. (University of Birmingham via AP)

'Dinosaur highway' tracks dating back 166 million years are discovered in England

Researchers in England have unearthed nearly 200 dinosaur tracks that date back 166 million years. The discovery, announced Thursday by the universities of Oxford and Birmingham, were made last … more

By BRIAN MELLEY | 1/2/25

This image released Friday Dec. 27, 2024 by Chora Media shows Cecilia Sala, an Italian journalist who was detained on Dec. 19 as she was reporting in Iran, Italy's foreign ministry said. ( Chora Media via Ap )

Italy summons Iran's ambassador to demand release of Italian journalist arrested in Tehran

Italy has summoned Iran’s ambassador to demand the immediate release of an Italian journalist detained in Tehran. Cecilia Sala, a reporter for the Il Foglio daily newspaper, was detained on Dec. … more

By NICOLE WINFIELD | 1/2/25

FILE - Stormzy performs at the Reading Music Festival, England, Friday, Aug. 27, 2021. (AP Photo/Scott Garfitt, File)

British rapper Stormzy banned from driving for using phone behind wheel of his Rolls-Royce

British rapper Stormzy has been banned from driving for nine months after admitting that he drove his Rolls-Royce through London while using his phone. The 31-year-old whose real name is Michael … more

1/2/25

FILE - Agnes Keleti, former Olympic gold medal winning gymnast, smiles at her apartment in Budapest, Hungary Wednesday Jan. 8, 2020. (AP Photo/Laszlo Balogh, File)

Ágnes Keleti, Holocaust survivor and the oldest living Olympic medal winner, dies at age 103

Ágnes Keleti, a Holocaust survivor and the oldest living Olympic medal winner, has died at age 103. Hungary's state news agency says Keleti died Thursday morning in Budapest. She was hospitalized in … more

By BÁLINT DÖMÖTÖR | 1/2/25

Wang Yongxun shows his snake shaped lanterns on display at his workshop factory in Weifang ahead of the Chinese Year of the Snake in eastern China's Shandong province on Dec. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)

AP PHOTOS: A lantern workshop in China makes snakes cute for the Lunar New Year

WEIFANG, China (AP) — The brightly lit snake lanterns coil from oversized heads that don't fit the usual image of the slithery reptile — they are cute. It's the year of the snake in the … more

1/2/25

Bangladesh court again rejects bail for Hindu leader who led rallies

A court in southeastern Bangladesh rejected a plea for bail by a jailed Hindu leader who led large rallies in the Muslim-majority country demanding better security for minority groups. Krishna Das … more

By JULHAS ALAM | 1/2/25

FILE - In this photo provided by the South Korean President Office, the country's President Yoon Suk Yeol speaks at the presidential residence in Seoul, South Korea, Dec. 14, 2024. (South Korean Presidential Office via AP, File)

Impeached South Korean president issues defiant message as authorities mull his detention

Impeached South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol has issued a defiant statement to his rightwing supporters gathered outside his residence in the capital of Seoul. Yoon vowed on Wednesday evening to … more

By KIM TONG-HYUNG | 1/1/25

FILE - El Salvador President Nayib Bukele speaks after receiving Costa Rica's highest honor from President Rodrigo Chaves at the presidential palace in San Jose, Costa Rica, Nov. 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Jose Diaz, File)

El Salvador closes 2024 with a record low number of homicides

El Salvador closed 2024 with a record low 114 homicides, continuing notable security gains under a second full year of a state of emergency that has given the government extraordinary powers and … more

By MARCOS ALEMÁN | 1/1/25

Saudi Arabia says it executes 6 Iranians for drug smuggling

Saudi Arabia says it has executed six Iranian men over drug smuggling, sparking strong objections from Iran at a time when the two countries are trying to mend relations. The Saudi Interior Ministry … more

1/1/25

FILE - A utility pole with loose cables towers over a home in Loiza, Puerto Rico, Sept. 15, 2022. (AP Photo/Alejandro Granadillo, File)

Power is restored to nearly all of Puerto Rico after a major blackout

Electric power has been restored to nearly all affected customers across Puerto Rico after a sweeping blackout plunged the U.S. territory into darkness on New Year’s Eve. By Wednesday afternoon, … more

By AMANDA PÉREZ PINTADO | 1/1/25

Rain falls as performers prepare to take part in the New Year's Day Parade in central London, Wednesday Jan. 1, 2025. (Jonathan Brady/PA via AP)

Parts of the UK are flooded by heavy rain as wild weather continues to disrupt New Year's events

Parts of the United Kingdom have been swamped by heavy rains and powerful winds that disrupted New Year’s celebrations. Parts of the Manchester area were flooded on Wednesday, with cars submerged … more

1/1/25

Relatives take part in a protest demanding the whereabouts of four activists who disappeared during the war between opposition groups and former President Bashar Assad's forces, in Douma, Syria, Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Mosa'ab Elshamy)

Protesters in Syria demand justice for disappeared activists and accountability from all factions

Protesters in Syria have held a sit-in demanding justice for four activists who were forcibly disappeared in 2013 and whose fate remains one of the most haunting mysteries of the country’s 13-year … more

By OMAR ALBAM and SALLY ABOU ALJOUD | 1/1/25

Elders in Pakistan broker a peace deal between Sunni and Shiite tribes after deadly clashes

Pakistani officials say tribal elders, backed by local authorities, have brokered a peace deal between minority Shiite and majority Sunni tribes in the restive northwest. The breakthrough on … more

By RIAZ KHAN | 1/1/25

FILE - Arnold Ruutel stands outside the Estonia Concert Hall where delegates assembled in Tallinn, Friday, Sept. 21, 2001. (AP Photo/Peeter Langovits, File)

Former Estonian President Arnold Rüütel dies at age 96

Arnold Rüütel, the last communist leader of Soviet Estonia and the Baltic country’s second president after the restoration of independence, has died. He was 96. The office of the president … more

1/1/25

People demonstrate in solidarity with Palestinians amid the ongoing war in Gaza, in Istanbul, Turkey, Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2025. (Berkman Ulutin/DIA Photo via AP)

Tens of thousands of people in Istanbul protest Gaza war

Tens of thousands of people have gathered on Istanbul’s Galata Bridge on New Year’s Day to express solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza. Demonstrators waved Turkish and Palestinian flags and … more

1/1/25

Pope Francis is flanked by Vatican Head Master of Ceremonies, Bishop Diego Giovanni Ravelli, right, and Master of Ceremonies, Bishop Krysztof Marcjanowicz as he presides over a mass in St. Peter's Basilica at The Vatican on New Year's Day, Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

Pope calls for commitment to protect life as he doubles down on abortion in New Year's Day message

Pope Francis ushered in the New Year with an appeal for the faithful to reject abortion, calling for a “firm commitment” to protect and respect life from conception to natural death. Francis … more

By NICOLE WINFIELD | 1/1/25

Manal Lubbad, a 49-year-old mother of eight and a displaced woman from Gaza City, tries to clean her flooded tent after heavy overnight rainfall at the refugee tent camp for displaced Palestinians in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip, Tuesday, Dec. 31, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Israeli strikes kill 9 in Gaza as war grinds into the new year with no end in sight

Palestinian medics say Israeli strikes have killed at least nine people in the Gaza Strip, mostly women and children. The nearly 15-month war ground on into the new year with no end in sight. One … more

By WAFAA SHURAFA and SAMY MAGDY | 1/1/25