NEW YORK (AP) - Sharp drops hit Wall Street as technology stocks sank even more and bitcoin's price plunged again to roughly half its record set in the fall. The S&P 500 fell 1.2%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 1.2%, and the Nasdaq composite sank 1.6%. Bitcoin fell below $65,000, while gold and silver prices resumed their sharp slides.

JOHANNESBURG (AP) – The leader of South Africa’s second biggest political party said Wednesday that he will not stand for reelection for the leadership of the Democratic Alliance.

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) – Taiwan’s ties with the United States are “rock solid,” the island’s president said Thursday, hours after President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping spoke on the phone about topics that included the self-ruled island’s future. “The Taiwan-U.S. relationship is rock solid, and all cooperation projects will continue uninterrupted”.

CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) – U.S. President Donald Trump has extended a 26-year-old free-trade agreement with African countries that was left in doubt last year when his administration allowed it to expire while enforcing his policy of reciprocal tariffs.

WASHINGTON (AP) – Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent says it would be “up to the president” whether or not to sue Kevin Warsh, if he fails to lower interest rates. During remarks at a private black-tie dinner of the elite Alfalfa Club on Saturday night, Trump said he might sue his newly selected Fed chair nominee if he didn’t lower interest rates.

CAIRO (AP) – Seif al-Islam Gadhafi, the son and one-time heir apparent of Libya’s late dictator Moammar Gadhafi, was killed in the northern African country, Libyan officials said Tuesday.

Excerpts from recent editorials in the United States and abroad:

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (AP) – Ethiopia’s government Tuesday for the first time acknowledged the involvement of troops from neighboring Eritrea in the war in the Tigray region that ended in 2022, accusing them of mass killings, amid reports of renewed fighting in the region.