World News - The Morning Sun

Vega-C rocket lifting off from its launch pad at the Kourou space base, French Guiana, Tuesday, Dec. 20, 2022. The launch of a European Vega C rocket carrying two Airbus satellites failed less than three minutes after lift-off from the European base in French Guiana on Wednesday. (JM Guillon/ESA via AP)

Failure of Vega-C rocket launch in French Guiana

The launch of a European Vega C rocket carrying two Airbus satellites has failed less than three minutes after liftoff from the European base in French Guiana. Arianespace, which provided the launch … more

12/21/22

FILE - People displaced by the fighting between M23 rebels and FARDC government forces gather North of Goma, Democratic Republic of Congo, on Nov. 25, 2022. Hundreds of thousands of people have been uprooted from their homes by fighting that began over a year ago in eastern Congo between M23 rebels, militias and government forces. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay, File)

More pressure on Rwanda as France condemns backing rebels

International pressure is growing on Rwanda as France is the latest party to openly accuse the country of supporting armed rebels in neighboring eastern Congo _ with possible repercussions for … more

By CARA ANNA | 12/21/22

Activists of the "Last Generation" hold the top of a Christmas Tree and show a banner reading: 'It's just the top of the Christmas tree' at the Pariser Platz in Berlin, Germany, Wednesday, Dec. 21, 2022. Climate activists have cut off the tip of the Christmas, tree erected in front of Berlin’s iconic Brandenburg Gate. The group Last Generation said two of its members used a hydraulic lift and a hand saw to cut six feet off the top of the 50-foot tree. (Paul Zinken/dpa via AP)

Climate activists decapitate prominent Berlin Christmas tree

Climate activists say they have sawed off the tip of the Christmas tree erected in front of Berlin’s iconic Brandenburg Gate. The group Last Generation said two of its members used a hydraulic lift … more

12/21/22

Afghan women weep as Taliban fighters enforce university ban

Taliban security forces in Afghanistan's capital city are upholding a higher education ban for women by blocking access to university campuses. The country’s Taliban rulers have ordered women … more

12/21/22

FILE - Resident walks amid debris after a Russian attack in Kherson, southern Ukraine, Nov. 24, 2022. In a deliberate, widespread campaign, Russian forces systematically targeted influential Ukrainians, nationally and locally, to neutralize resistance through detention, torture and executions, an Associated Press investigation has found. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue, File)

'We will find you:' Russians hunt down Ukrainians on lists

About a week after the first Russian bombs struck Ukraine, Andrii Kuprash, the head of a village north of Kyiv, got a threatening call from an unknown number. “We will find you,” the man said in … more

By ERIKA KINETZ | 12/21/22

In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Presidential Press Office, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, looks on as he meets soldiers at the site of the heaviest battles with the Russian invaders in Bakhmut, Ukraine, Tuesday, Dec. 20, 2022. (Ukrainian Presidential Press Office via AP)

Kremlin warning: More US arms to Ukraine will aggravate war

The Kremlin is warning that increasing the supply of U.S. arms to Kyiv will aggravate the devastating 10-month war ignited by Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov … more

By EDUARDO CASTILLO | 12/21/22

Depiction of Viktor Maruniak. (AP Illustration/Peter Hamlin)

The Hunted: These are the Ukrainians Russia wanted to find

One was asked to be an informant for Russia. Another’s 16-year-old son was abducted as leverage. A third is still in Russian custody. All were among the prominent Ukrainian politicians, … more

By ERIKA KINETZ and SOLOMIIA HERA | 12/21/22

Theatre actors perform to children at the Dzherelo rehabilitation center during celebrations for Saint Nicholas Day, in Kyiv, Ukraine, Monday, Dec. 19, 2022. In a country where children have seen the horrors of a 10-month war, there are people trying to bring some peace and happiness to kids, at least for a moment during this holiday season in Ukraine. That has been happening this week in the outskirts of Kyiv at what used to be the upscale Venice hotel. Now it’s a rehabilitation center housing children who have experienced the horrors of the Russian invasion. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)

On the holidays, efforts to distract Ukrainian kids from war

In a country where children have seen the horrors of a 10-month war, there are people trying to bring some peace and happiness to kids, at least for a moment during this holiday season in Ukraine. … more

By HANNA ARHIROVA | 12/21/22

FILE - Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director General of the World Health Organization (WHO), gestures as he speaks to journalists during a press conference organized by the Geneva Association of United Nations Correspondents (ACANU) at the World Health Organization (WHO) headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, Wednesday, Dec. 14, 2022. In recent days, social media has been flooded by posts from Tigrayans who say they have learned of the deaths of loved ones. The most prominent was World Health Organization director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. (Martial Trezzini/Keystone via AP, File)

Long-cut phones ring again in Ethiopia's Tigray, bring grief

For a year and a half, phone calls to people trying to survive one of the world’s worst conflicts didn’t go through. Now, as phone lines start to be restored to parts of Ethiopia’s Tigray … more

By CARA ANNA | 12/21/22

Whirling dervishes of the Mevlevi order perform during a Sheb-i Arus ceremony in Konya, Turkey, Saturday, Dec. 17, 2022. (AP Photo/Emrah Gurel)

AP PHOTOS: Dervishes on mystic Rumi's path whirl for God

The robes of Turkey's whirling dervishes symbolize funeral shrouds, the cloaks a tomb and the hats a tombstone. The dervishes, a Sufi order of Islam that is rooted in mysticism, are chiefly known for … more

By EMRAH GUREL | 12/21/22

Policy, climate, war make 2022 'pivot year' for clean energy

The past year saw major governments around the world green lighting ambitious renewable energy policies. The United States signed into law its Inflation Reduction Act while the European parliament … more

By SIBI ARASU | 12/20/22

FILE - Afghan students queue at one of Kabul University's gates in Kabul, Afghanistan, on Feb. 26, 2022. Women are banned from private and public universities in Afghanistan with immediate effect and until further notice, a Taliban government spokesman said Tuesday, Dec. 20, the latest edict cracking down on their rights and freedoms. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla, File)

Taliban say women banned from universities in Afghanistan

The Taliban have banned women from private and public universities in Afghanistan with immediate effect and until further notice, the latest edict cracking down on their rights and freedoms. The … more

12/20/22

In this image made from video provided by the Russian Emergency Situations Ministry press service on Tuesday, Dec. 20, 2022, firefighters work at the site of gas explosion, near the village of Yambakhtino, some 50km (31miles) south of Cheboksary, Chuvashia region, Russia. An explosion on a section of Europe-bound natural gas pipeline in western Russia has killed three people but hasn't affected export supplies, officials said. The explosion ripped through a section of the Urengoy-Pomary-Uzhhorod pipeline in the Chuvashia region during repair works on Tuesday. (Ministry of Emergency Situations press service via AP)

Explosion tears through Russian gas pipeline during repairs

Officials say an explosion during repairs on a section of Europe-bound natural gas pipeline in western Russia has killed three people but hasn't affected export supplies. The explosion ripped through … more

12/20/22

York Regional Police Chief Jim MacSween speaks to the media during a press conference in Aurora, Ontario, on Monday Dec, 19, 2022. Canadian authorities say the man who killed five people and wounded a sixth at a condominium building near Toronto before an officer killed him was a 73-year-old resident, Francesco Velli. (Arlyn McAdorey/The Canadian Press via AP)

Canada condo killer faced possible eviction before shooting

A suburban Toronto man who was killed by police after authorities say he fatally shot five people in his condominium building, including three members of the condo board, had a court hearing … more

By ROB GILLIES | 12/20/22

President of the African National Congress Cyril Ramaphosa gives a black power salute at the end of the 55th National Conference in Johannesburg, South Africa, Tuesday, Dec. 20, 2022. (AP Photo/Denis Farrell)

South African leader urges his ANC party to fight corruption

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has urged his party, the ruling African National Congress, to fight corruption. Ramaphosa said the ANC has “no choice" but to deal with corruption or … more

By MOGOMOTSI MAGOME | 12/20/22

Benin bronzes looted in the past and returned to Nigeria are examined during a handing over ceremony in Abuja, Nigeria, Tuesday, Dec. 20, 2022. Germany returned 20 historic bronze sculptures to Nigeria as part of efforts to address what its foreign minister called its “dark colonial past.” Nigeria officials said that more than 5,000 ancient artifacts are estimated to have been stolen from Nigeria, the majority by England, the country’s former colonizer and some by Germany. (AP Photo/Olamikan Gbemiga)

Germany returns Nigerian bronzes, notes its 'dark past'

Germany returned 20 historic bronze sculptures to Nigeria as part of efforts to address what its foreign minister called its “dark colonial past.” Nigeria officials said that more than 5,000 … more

By CHINEDU ASADU | 12/20/22

Jordan's Crown Prince Hussein and French President Emmanuel Macron attend a welcome ceremony at the airport in Amman, Jordan, Tuesday, Dec. 20, 2022. Leaders from the Middle East and Europe gathered in Jordan Tuesday in a conference focused on bolstering security and stability in Iraq. (The Royal Hashemite Court via AP)

Mideast, Europe leaders meet in Jordan on security in Iraq

Leaders from the Middle East and Europe have gathered in Jordan on bolstering security and stability in Iraq. Participants convening Tuesday included regional rivals Saudi Arabia and Iran, along with … more

OMAR AKOUR | 12/20/22

FILE - A US military vehicle on a patrol in the countryside near the town of Qamishli, Syria, Sunday, Dec. 4, 2022. U.S. and Kurdish-led forces had arrested an Islamic State group militant in eastern Syria. The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces said in a statement Monday, Dec. 19, 2022 that they raided the home of an unnamed IS militant leader in the western countryside of Deir el-Zour and arrested him. (AP Photo/Baderkhan Ahmad, File)

U.S. forces detain 6 Islamic State group militants in Syria

American forces have conducted three raids in eastern Syria and arrested six Islamic State groups militants. U.S. Central Command in a statement on Tuesday said the raids took place over the … more

Associated Press | 12/20/22

A view shows the interior of a 2000-year-old Second Temple-Period burial cave designated the Salome Cave that was recently uncovered in the Lachish Forest in Israel, Tuesday, Dec. 20, 2022. Archaeologists say that the cave continued to be used in the Byzantine and Early Islamic periods, becoming known as the Salome Cave, due to a popular tradition that identified it as the burial place of Salome, the midwife of Jesus. (AP Photo/ Maya Alleruzzo)

Israeli archaeologists excavating 'Jesus midwife' tomb

The Israeli antiquities authority says archaeologists are excavating an ancient tomb traditionally associated with Jesus’s midwife in the hills southwest of Jerusalem. The intricately decorated … more

12/20/22

A man walks in front of the Constitutional Court in Madrid, Spain, on Monday Dec. 19, 2022. Spain's top court has handed down a ruling preventing the Senate from voting on three controversial law amendments in an unprecedented interference in the legislature that poses potential political turmoil for the leftist coalition government heading into election year. The decision is the first of its type in Spain's democracy could have untold effects on future legislative procedures.(Fernando Sanchez/Europa Press via AP) **SPAIN OUT**

Spain: Top court puts brakes on govt in unprecedented move

Spain’s top court has handed down a ruling preventing the upper house of Parliament from voting on a controversial amendment to the country's penal code. That represents unprecedented interference … more

By CIARÁN GILES | 12/20/22