NEW YORK (AP) - U.S. stocks pulled back from their record heights on a shaky Wall Street. The S&P 500 fell 0.4% Thursday to halt its weekslong rally. The Dow Jones lost 0.4%, and the Nasdaq composite fell 0.9%. Stocks also took a hit after the price for a barrel of Brent crude briefly jumped above $107.

EAST LANSING, Mich. (AP) – There’s a surprising amount of science in a bag of potato chips. Researchers have spent decades developing potatoes for chip makers that can grow in all kinds of climates, avoid diseases and pests, sit in storage for months and still deliver a satisfying crunch.

BANGKOK (AP) – China’s role as an unofficial mediator in the latest war in the Middle East is drawing attention across the world as it seeks to project the image of being a responsible global power while U.S. actions are straining its long-standing alliances.

BATA, Equatorial Guinea (AP) – Pope Leo XIV told inmates at one of Equatorial Guinea’s notorious prisons on Wednesday that they are not alone as he drew attention to prison conditions, human rights abuses and injustices that campaigners have denounced for years here.

ABOARD THE PAPAL PLANE (AP) – Pope Leo XIV urged the United States and Iran to return to talks to end the war Thursday and condemned capital punishment, in a wide-ranging press conference en route home from his trip to Africa.

MALABO, Equatorial Guinea (AP) – Pope denounces the “colonization” of Africa’s minerals as he arrives in Equatorial Guinea. MALABO, Equatorial Guinea (AP) - Pope Leo XIV arrived in Equatorial Guinea on Tuesday on the fourth and final leg of his Africa journey, and denounced the "colonization" of Africa's minerals.

Excerpts from recent editorials in the United States and abroad:

N’DJAMENA, Chad (AP) – Chad will deploy 1,500 troops to Haiti as part of the United Nations security force to the Caribbean country to combat gang violence, according to a letter from the president to the legislature.