Italy may not support EU-Mercosur free trade deal without changes

BRUSSELS (AP) – Italy signaled on Wednesday that it might not support a massive transatlantic free trade deal between the European Union and South American countries, casting further doubt on the agreement as European leaders gather for a summit in Brussels and farmers enraged by the trade pact descend on the capital.

Wall Street steadies as chip stocks bounce back

NEW YORK (AP) - Stocks steadied on Wall Street. The S&P 500 rose 0.3% Thursday, breaking a two-day losing streak and edging back toward the all-time high it set on Monday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.6%, and the Nasdaq composite climbed 0.2%. Nvidia and other formerly high-flying tech stocks helped lift the market.

Farmers threaten EU's free-trade deal with South America

BRUSSELS (AP) – France is throwing up a last-minute obstacle to a massive trans-Atlantic trade deal between the 27-country European Union and the five South American nations of the Mercosur bloc that’s taken a quarter-century to negotiate.

Moscow Agrees With Trump That Ukraine is Holding up Peace Deal

Moscow agrees with U.S. President Donald Trump’s view that Ukraine is holding up a peace deal to end the almost four years of fighting since Russia invaded its neighbor, a Kremlin official said Thursday. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said, “Yes, we can agree with it, it’s indeed so.”

Bolivian court orders ex-president jailed for 5 months on corruption charges

LA PAZ, Bolivia (AP) – A Bolivian court on Friday ordered the country’s former President Luis Arce to remain detained for five months while he awaits trial on corruption charges, the latest development in a case that threatens to exacerbate Bolivia’s political tensions.

What Americans Think About Trump's First Year

WASHINGTON (AP) – President Donald Trump’s second term has been eventful. You wouldn’t know it from his approval numbers.  An AP-NORC poll from January found that about 4 in 10 U.S. adults approve of Trump’s performance as president. That’s virtually unchanged from March 2025, shortly after he took office for the second time.

 

Former Bolivian President Arce arrested in corruption investigation a month after leaving office

LA PAZ, Bolivia (AP) – Bolivian law enforcement officials on Wednesday arrested former President Luis Arce as part of a corruption investigation, opening an uncertain chapter in the country’s politics a month after the inauguration of conservative President Rodrigo Paz ended 20 years of socialist rule.

Editorials from New York Times, Wall Street Journal and Washington Post

Excerpts from recent editorials in the United States and abroad:

16,000 fossil footprints in central Bolivia reveal dinosaur behavior

TORO TORO, Bolivia (AP) – Legend once had it that the huge, three-toed footprints scattered across the central highlands of Bolivia came from supernaturally strong monsters – capable of sinking their claws even into solid stone.