World News - The Morning Sun

FILE - Cattle graze on land recently burned and deforested by cattle farmers near Novo Progresso, Para state, Brazil, on Aug. 23, 2020. After four years of rising destruction in Brazil’s Amazon, deforestation dropped by 33.6% during the first six months of President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's term, according to government satellite data released Thursday, July 6, 2023. (AP Photo/Andre Penner, File)

In Lula's first six months, Brazil Amazon deforestation dropped 34%, reversing trend under Bolsonaro

Deforestation in Brazil's Amazon rainforest dropped 33.6% in the first six months of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s term, providing an encouraging sign for his administration's … more

By FABIANO MAISONNAVE | 7/6/23

FILE - Pope Francis arrives for his weekly general audience in St. Peter's Square at The Vatican, March 8, 2023. Pope Francis travels to the periphery of Roman Catholicism this summer when he becomes the first pontiff to visit Mongolia, a central Asian nation squeezed between Russia and China with just 1,500 Catholics. The Sept. 1-4 schedule released on Thursday, July 6, 2023, is light by papal standards, and includes a full day of rest upon arrival, which appears to be a concession to the 86-year-old pope’s recent health issues. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini, File)

Pope Francis' trip to Mongolia in September will be closely watched by Russia and China

Pope Francis travels to the periphery of Roman Catholicism this summer when he becomes the first pontiff to visit Mongolia. The Central Asian nation is squeezed between Russia and China and has … more

7/6/23

FILE - Boris Johnson leaves his house in London, on March 22, 2023. A U.K. court on Thursday, July 6, 2023, rejected the British government's request to keep former Prime Minister Boris Johnson's unredacted WhatsApp messages and diaries from being made public at an official COVID-19 inquiry. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali, File)

UK government loses legal bid to keep Boris Johnson's messages from COVID-19 inquiry

A U.K. court has rejected the British government’s request to keep former Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s unredacted WhatsApp messages and diaries from being made public at an official COVID-19 … more

By SYLVIA HUI | 7/6/23

FILE - Cars burn after a march for Nahel, Thursday, June 29, 2023 in Nanterre, outside Paris. The killing of 17-year-old Nahel during a traffic check Tuesday, captured on video, shocked the country and stirred up long-simmering tensions between young people and police in housing projects and other disadvantaged neighborhoods around France. After more than 3,400 arrests and signs that the violence is now abating, France is once again facing a reckoning (AP Photo/Michel Euler, File)

Macron says France needs to address causes of unrest prompted by police killing of teen

French President Emmanuel Macron called for order and calm and efforts to address the roots of several days of unrest around the country sparked by the police killing of a 17-year-old boy. The police … more

7/6/23

U.N. peacekeepers patrol on the Lebanese side of the Lebanese-Israeli border in the southern village of Wazzani with border village Ghajar in the background, Thursday, July 6, 2023. Israeli forces shelled a southern Lebanese border village on Thursday after several explosions were heard in a disputed area where the borders of Syria, Lebanon and Israel meet. (AP Photo/Mohammad Zaatari)

Israeli forces shell southern Lebanon border village after rocket lands near disputed territory

Israeli forces have shelled a southern Lebanese border village after several explosions were heard in a disputed area where the borders of Syria, Lebanon and Israel meet. Tensions continue to flare … more

By BASSEM MROUE and KAREEM CHEHAYEB | 7/6/23

In this photo taken by 29-year-old migrant from the Ivory Coast, a group of sub-Saharan Africans is seen stranded on a beach allegedly at the Tunisian-Libyan border on Thursday 6 July 2023. The migrants, including women and small children, told AP by phone they were rounded up by Tunisian authorities since Saturday and progressively dumped on the border where they have been stuck for days. (UGC via AP)

Mass expulsions and mistreatment of migrants reported in Tunisia as tensions spike in port city

Tensions have spiked dangerously in a Tunisian port city after three migrants were detained in the death of a local man. There have been reports of retaliation against Black foreigners and accounts … more

By BOUAZZA BEN BOUAZZA and RENATA BRITO | 7/6/23

FILE - Rana kisses a photo of her son, Eyad Hallaq, in their home in Wadi Joz, a Palestinian neighborhood in East Jerusalem on June 3, 2020. An Israeli court on Thursday, July 6, 2023, acquitted a border police officer who was charged with reckless manslaughter in the deadly shooting of an autistic Palestinian man in Jerusalem’s Old City three years ago. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean, File)

Israeli court acquits border police officer charged with killing autistic Palestinian man

An Israeli court has acquitted a border police officer who was charged with reckless manslaughter in the deadly shooting of an autistic Palestinian man in Jerusalem’s Old City three years ago. … more

By JULIA FRANKEL | 7/6/23

A music band plays in the town hall square after the 'Chupinazo' rocket, to mark the official opening of the 2023 San Fermín fiestas in Pamplona, Spain, Thursday, July 6, 2023. (AP Photo/Alvaro Barrientos)

Thousands party in Spain's Pamplona city as firework blast begins San Fermin bull-running festival

Tens of thousands of people have packed the town hall square in the northern Spanish city of Pamplona to celebrate the traditional “chupinazo” firework blast that starts the San Fermín … more

7/6/23

FILE - People walk through floodwaters near flooded farmlands after heavy rainfall in Hadeja, Nigeria, Sept 19, 2022 .Authorities in Nigeria say they have activated a national response plan for another round of deadly floods blamed mainly on climate change and infrastructure problems. The West African nation's National Emergency Management Agency said Thursday, July 6, 2023 it has begun to work based on dire forecasts by seeking air support for search and rescue missions while stockpiling relief materials. (AP Photo, file)

Nigeria triggers national response plan for annual deadly floods; 14 states on alert

Authorities in Nigeria say they have activated a national response plan ahead of what's expected to be another round of deadly floods blamed mainly on climate change and infrastructure problems. … more

By CHINEDU ASADU | 7/6/23

President Joe Biden meets with Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson in the Oval Office of the White House, Wednesday, July 5, 2023, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Top officials from Turkey and Sweden head to NATO to try to overcome membership concerns

Senior officials from Sweden and Turkey are converging on NATO headquarters to examine President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s objections to the Nordic country joining the military alliance. They want to … more

By LORNE COOK | 7/6/23

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese smiles at the end of a press conference in Sydney, Tuesday, July 4, 2023. The Australian government distanced itself Thursday, July 6, from a decision of U.S. President Donald Trump’s oldest son to defer a speaking tour to Australia. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)

Australian government distances itself from Donald Trump Jr.'s postponed tour

Australia’s center-left government has distanced itself from the postponement of Donald Trump Jr.’s speaking tour in Australia. His promoters said the eldest son of the former U.S. president was … more

By ROD McGUIRK | 7/6/23

Young Buddhist monks hold ceremonial scarves and stand in queue to offer prayers in front of a portrait of their spiritual leader the Dalai Lama during his 88th birthday celebration in Kathmandu, Nepal, Thursday, July 6, 2023. (AP Photo/Niranjan Shrestha)

Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama celebrates 88th birthday

The Dalai Lama, the Tibetan spiritual leader, is celebrating his 88th birthday at his hillside Indian headquarters in Dharamsala. The celebrations Thursday are taking place in the courtyard of the … more

By ASHWINI BHATIA | 7/6/23

FILE - A woman wearing a face mask carries a child as they walk at a public park in Beijing, on June 1, 2023. China reported Thursday, July 6, 2023 that 239 people died from COVID-19 in June in a significant uptick months after it lifted most containment measures. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, File)

China says 239 people died from COVID-19 in June in a significant uptick

China says 239 people died from COVID-19 in June in a significant uptick months after it lifted most containment measures. The country had reported 164 deaths in May and none at all in April and … more

7/6/23

FILE - Pro-China lawmakers attend the second reading of a bill that will overhaul district council elections in Hong Kong, on July 5, 2023. Hong Kong lawmakers on Thursday, July 6, passed an amendment to a law to eliminate most directly elected seats on local district councils, the last major political representative bodies chosen by the public, shutting down further democratic challenges in the city. (AP Photo/Louise Delmotte, File)

Hong Kong changes law to slash directly elected council seats, undermining democratic challenges

Hong Kong lawmakers on Thursday passed an amendment to a law to eliminate most directly elected seats on local district councils, the last major political representative bodies chosen by the public. … more

By KANIS LEUNG | 7/6/23

FILE - Youth throws a bottle to police forces during riots Thursday, June 29, 2023 in Nanterre, outside Paris. In all, more than 3,600 people have been detained in the unrest across France since the death of Nahel on June 27, with an average age of 17, according to the Interior Ministry. The violence left more than 800 law enforcement officers injured, French courts are working overtime to process the arrests, including opening their doors through the weekend, with fast-track hearings around an hour long and same-day sentencing. (AP Photo/Michel Euler, File)

French justice is working overtime and the mood is stern after thousands of teen arrests

French courts are working overtime in fast-track trials for more than 3,600 people arrested in unrest sparked by the police killing of a 17-year-old boy captured on video. Courts opened their doors … more

By JADE LE DELEY and LORI HINNANT | 7/6/23

FILE - In this photo reviewed by U.S. military officials, a flag flies at half-staff in honor of the U.S. service members and other victims killed in the terrorist attack in Kabul, Afghanistan, as seen from Camp Justice in Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, Cuba, Aug. 29, 2021. The first U.N. independent investigator to visit the U.S. detention center at Guantanamo Bay said Monday, June 26, 2023, that the 30 men held there are subject “to ongoing cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment under international law.” The U.S. response said Irish law professor Fionnuala Ní Aoláin was the first U.N. special rapporteur to visit Guantanamo and had been given “unprecedented access” with “the confidence that the conditions of confinement at Guantanamo Bay are humane and reflect the United States’ respect for and protection of human rights for all who are within our custody.” (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)

Guantanamo detainees tell first independent visitor about scars from torture and hopes to leave

At the U.S. detention center at Guantanamo Bay, the aging men known by their serial numbers arrived at the meeting shackled. For the first time since it had opened in 2002, a U.S. president was … more

By EDITH M. LEDERER | 7/6/23

Blinken says a multinational force is needed to help Haiti's National Police restore order

U.S. State Secretary Antony Blinken says a multinational force is needed to help Haiti’s National Police as he echoed recent appeals made by U.N. officials who warn that the country’s insecurity … more

By DÁNICA COTO | 7/5/23

Members of the media gather outside the Shevchenskivskyi court during a news conference by Ukraine's Minister of Internal Affairs Ihor Klymenko in Kyiv, Ukraine, Wednesday, July 5, 2023. A man brought to court to stand trial blew himself up in the courthouse. The accused was attempting to escape custody at the time, according to a statement from the Kyiv city administration. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

Suspect in Ukraine detonates explosives at a courthouse, killing himself and wounding 2 officers

Ukrainian officials say that a criminal suspect has died when he detonated explosives inside a court building in the Ukrainian capital. Two police officers were wounded. Ukraine's interior minister … more

7/5/23

In this handout photo released by Novaya Gazeta Europe via web site Novayagazeta.eu on Tuesday, July 4, 2023, Novaya Gazeta journalist Elena Milashina sitts after giving her a medical treatment in Grozny, Russia. Unidentified masked assailants in the Russian province of Chechnya have attacked and beaten a journalist and a lawyer. The violent incident underlines human rights abuses in the region. Novaya Gazeta journalist Elena Milashina and lawyer Alexander Nemov had just arrived in Chechnya to attend the trial of Zarema Musayeva, the mother of two local activists who have challenged Chechen authorities. (Novaya Gazeta Europe Novayagazeta.eu via AP)

Russian journalist sustained a brain injury and fractures during a brutal beating in Chechnya

A prominent Russian investigative reporter has received a brain injury and multiple fractures when she and a lawyer accompanying her were brutally beaten by unidentified assailants in the Russian … more

7/5/23

Hong Kong police arrest 4 men accused of supporting people overseas endangering national security

Hong Kong police have arrested four men they accused of providing financial support to people who fled overseas and are involved in activities endangering national security, escalating a high-profile … more

By KANIS LEUNG | 7/5/23